Lav's Music Corner

For the people who can tell the difference between all these genres, I'm sorry, and I promise I can to. But this was the best way to quickly talk about a bunch of records I wanted to comment on regardless in a rapid fire fashion. Enjoy <3 THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED - The Armed When The Armed broke through to a massive new audience on their 2021 album ULTRAPOP  they seemed to hit on something unique. They mixed the sounds and compositional styles from the indie rock umbrella into the pure ferocity of their screamo and hardcore demeanor. While I appreciated what the band did, I had an issue with the actual sound of the record. The production and mixing seemingly robbed the band of their most intense elements, with screams and churning guitars that felt like they never sounded as heavy as they were supposed to. Unfortunately, the EXACT same issue plagues this record.  The trio of singles for the album are the main reason I decided to cover it at al...

Pile are a long-running, Boston-based indie rock band who have crossed over into other genres like post-punk throughout a pretty versatile career. I've touched on the band occasionally but never in a full review, something I knew I would have to amend after hearing the excellent trio of singles that preceded  Sunshine And Balance Beams . Even though the full record wasn't quite everything I hoped it might be, it still sports some of the best songs of Pile's already long and storied career.  That trio of singles pops up in the record's middle section, and what a run it is. "Bouncing In Blue and "Uneasy" are a stunning back-to-back punch. "Blue" has a brooding and plodding introduction that contrasts wonderfully with the high register singing. Even though the composition wanders around a lot, it manages to keep up its momentum and pay everything off with a satisfying finale. "Uneasy" deploys one of many great lyrical moments on the album...

Earl Sweatshirt really needs no introduction for hip-hop fans at this point. The Odd Future alum has transitioned his edgier, more provocative rap style into a much more earnest and human darkness as the years pass and collected heaps of critical acclaim every step of the way. I'll tip my hand and say that I got to catch the record early at a listening party Earl threw in LA. Because of that I went into my first proper listen already knowing that Earl recently became a father. As a result, both the sonic and thematic palettes have taken a turn for the brighter, but none of his unmistakable talent has faded in the transition.  That's how the album starts, with "gsw vs sac." It has this vibrant psychedelic instrumental that sets up the record's woozier sonic palette. It also concludes with a spoken word passage about introspecting and facing problems rather than running away from them, which feels perfectly aligned with the album's themes of fatherhood and matur...

 \ Ethel Cain is a singer-songwriter who has ridden a wave of popularity spawning from her 2022 album Preacher's Daughter . The record's vivid conceptual portrayal of rural living, vibrant coming-of-age narratives, and willingness to tackle difficult subject matter made it a critical darling and developed Ethel an instant cult following. Personally, I liked but didn't love the record, with my biggest complaint being the length of the album overall and the length of the individual tracks that often extend past what feels necessary for their emotional impact. That issue extended to her record Perverts  earlier this year. It proved divisive with her fanbase as she abandoned many of her folk and singer-songwriter conventions in favor of an indulgence into the world of drone. But on Willoughby Tucker , Ethel returns to her familiar style and encounters similar pros and cons.  I went into Willoughby  with high expectations based on its two singles. The longer, darker, and ...

Review by Lavender: JID is an Atlanta MC who spent the latter half of the 2010s establishing himself as a versatile and endlessly talented MC with a series of memorable mixtapes and features. His rise all culminated in the 2022 album The Forever Story, one of the best rap albums of the entire decade so far. In the 3 years since, JID has risen drastically in popularity due to a bizarre crossover with Imagine Dragons and an unpredictable TikTok hit in the Forever Story deep cut “Surround Sound.” Now he's back with a frequently promised new record, God Does Like Ugly.  The lead single is as good a place as any to start because it affirms the level of talent JID is working with. “WRK” didn't necessarily blow me away, mostly because its beat feels painfully standard and the chorus is very much nothing. But the longer JID goes on in his verses, it feels like he develops more and more to say. So even though the song is far from a highlight, it's a great example of how, even at th...

Review by Lavender: Tropical Fuck Storm exists within a scene of Australian psychedelic rock bands with silly names that I've only briefly touched on throughout the history of this blog. I briefly talked about their 2019 album Braindrops , but haven't said much since. That was, until earlier this year, when they started dropping one fantastic, experimental, dynamic single after another. In fact, it's Fairyland Codex ’s compositional dynamism that caused me to be so late on covering it. Somewhere in my drafts is an obnoxiously long, extensive, and frankly unbearable review of this album. Instead, I'm keeping it on the shorter side (relatively) as the record really speaks for itself.  Lead single “Goon Show” is a strong way to introduce the record, even if it avoids some of the wildest sonic excesses. It has these brooding undertones and a hypnotic chorus. I love the restraint the band deploys, saving any extra instrumentation for just the right moment. It makes for such...