UNKILLABLE ANGEL - Ada Rook: Review

Review by Lavender:

Ada Rook first rose to prominence earlier this decade as one-half of the difficult-to-define band Black Dresses. The pair's output was absolutely beloved by certain circles of internet music lovers, as were some of Ava's other ventures, most notably her Angel Electronics side project in 2023. Throughout that time she's also put several solo albums under her belt, though UNKILLABLE ANGEL is notable for being her first following the explosive public breakup of Black Dresses last year. 

Not to dig myself a hole RIGHT at the start of the review but I should confess. Yes, I am a trans girl and yes I enjoy the music of everyone from Underscores, to Weatherday, to Backxwash, to Deli Girls. So Black Dresses was always a band I was surprised to not like as much as it seemed like I should. And don't get me wrong there are MANY Black Dresses songs I enjoy from both before and after their 2020 breakthrough album Peaceful As Hell, but I'm not sure they were really ever able to put a tracklist together that clicked from start to finish, an issue I've had with both Ava and Devi's side projects and solo work as well. So while I approached UNKILLABLE ANGEL wish an open mind, I also expected it to ultimately fall into a similar lane. 

To say this album is streaky would be an understatement. Thankfully it gets off to a decent start. "cortisol_inside" opens the album off exactly how you'd expect it to with pummeling, blown-out drums, screamed vocals and weird samples. It's jarring in a familiar way that still hits like a sledgehammer. Next up is "Party Time Sexy Disorder" and I probably shouldn't like this song as much as I do. But even I have to admit that there's an emotional element to this whole "being a music critic" thing. Ada's lyrics about being so brain-rottingly horny and deranged that all you want to do is fuck and party until everyone has lost all respect for you is one of the realest things I've EVER heard put to music. 

Unfortunately from there we hit the album's major skid. It starts with "Rat Kid Lifestyle" a song whose refrains keep under-cutting themselves for seemingly no reason. It also sets up this big breakdown but I don't think the instrumentation comes anywhere close to matching the intensity of the build and the short repeated chorus gets old really quick. The next song "All Tails Death Animations" has the album's funniest lyrics about detransitioning to become Tails but otherwise I think it's pretty forgettable save for the weird blooping synth on the hook. 

And even though "Ruiness" turns for more insightful lyrics I found the entire song difficult to recall even after several listens through the record. From this point on the record gets MUCH better though there is one song in the middle of that run I want to single out. On "Know Yourself" Ada does a difficult to describe singing voice that pops up once or twice on pretty much any record she's involved with. It's ALWAYS bothered me and that's no different here. Even if this was one of the better written songs here, which I don't think it is, the whole thing would kind of be a non-starter for me. 

Surprisingly that's all of the complaints I have about UNKILLABLE ANGEL out of the way, the second half of the record is nearly perfect. It all starts with "Clout Strife" and "Bury Yourself." The former is an absolute blitz with stuttering drums right out of the gate. Even the brief interlude feels propulsive and when it's cut off by a raucous return it's a blood-pumping moment. "Bury Yourself" is catchier despite the fact that Ada's brutally screaming. The decision to present those vocals unusually clearly in the mix pays off big time and there's a reading of the song as being pretty triumphant that I like quite a bit. 

I also love the one-two punch of "Lose Yourself" and "Pee Yuorself." "Lose" stuck out to me on my first listen and is still a huge favorite with Ada's blistering vocals firing off amid a sea of glitchy synths and pounding drums. It's a confrontational and extremely hard-hitting, but also impressively catchy track. "Pee Yuorself" is fittingly funny, though it's far from a joke song. The word-bending repeated refrains set up several explosive breakdowns throughout the track with GREAT results. 

Even with how much I enjoy the record up to this point in its tracklist I'm never prepared for just how good "weed store kratom" is. It's one of the hardest bangers I've heard in a long time and the song is just fucking relentless. Ada rarely lets off the break throughout the full 3 minutes despite starting at full speed right out of the gate. This may also be the catchiest song on the album and is seriously a must-listen. Closing track "sun's violent arc" is really a nice finale to such a loud and emotionally chaotic album. Ada looks internally and eventually forward towards the future and what comes next. Even if it isn't the best tune on the record it's a good finale. 

The last thing I want to talk about is "holding your sleeping body" a song that has sort of taken over the discussion of this album for it's extremely candid portrayal of both the beginning and ending of Ada's relationship with former Black Dresses co-star Devi McCallion. The song is utterly unflinching in both its dissonant sonic palette and the soul-bearing retelling of their story which has no intention of watering anything down. The whole song has this voyeuristic factor to it like the details are TOO raw and TOO unrefined, the kind of thing we shouldn't be hearing. But I'll admit that it has a sort of car crash mythos that I can't look away from and the presentation helps to make the storytelling hit even harder. 

So that's UNKILLABLE ANGEL, which despite its stumbles is probably my favorite of Ada Rook's solo albums yet. She's always been capable of coming up with evocative ways to say things, but more and more on this record those moments feel confessional, vulnerable, and delivered with the weight of real unchecked feelings underneath. Combine that with her usual sonic chaos and the soaring high points of instrumentation and refrains that manage to claw their way through the mess and you get a record that hits hard right away and has a lot of rewarding detail tucked underneath. 7.5/10

For more music from talented trans people check out my review of jasmine.4.t's You Are The Morning