January 2020 Recap
While the first month of this new decade never really knocked me off my feet, there were still plenty of worthwhile releases, which is especially impressive given how little material usually comes out around this time.
Poppy dives further into the world of experimental rock than ever before penning some of her hardest hitting metal tunes and continuing to push the envelope of her rock and pop crossovers on this very solid outing.
Review
Review
Beach Slang returns with a record that throws out the old and replaces it with the even older as they channel the bouncy dad rock of the 1970's to mixed results.
Selena's return had the potential to be a big one but with an incredibly hit or miss tracklist Rare is more like listening to a rushed album than one five years in the making.
Eminem has some great beats from Dr. Dre and plenty of great features from hip hop icons new and old, but unfortunately none of this can stop him from being himself and dropping bad lyrics, hooks and verses all over this record.
Pinegrove is back and as indie as ever on their low-fi yet emotionally tinged new record that blends folk with then self-depricating hometown songwriting of emo.
The Chef himself does manage to drop a great verse on this short EP, but for the most part he is sounding as far away from his Wu Tang days than ever here.
Algiers third record has some triumphant soaring highs but they come tethered so boring uninspired rock music that feels like its below the group at this point in their career.
Halsey's new record is her weakest yet with no commitment to stylistic cohesion and an epidemic of terrible songwriting this is one of the flattest pop records I've heard in a long time.
Wolf Parade really ups the game instrumentally to deliver one of their most unique and compelling outings in a long time that calls back to their most acclaimed work.
AJJ's folky explosion of politics and nihilism works most of the time to deliver exciting contemporary jams that see the band feeling as relevant as ever before.
070 Shake's debut album contains almost none of the masterful vocals we heard on the Kanye Suite in 2018, and pairs this with dry songwriting and a spotty inconsistent tracklist.
