Lav's Music Corner

underscores is a California-based hyper-pop artist who impressed fans with her 2021 debut fishmonger . After joining Mom + Pop she released her sophomore album and debut project on the label, Wallsocket . Review by Lav: I like fishmonger. I heard the album at the time and thought it was solid. It turned up at a decent spot on my year-end list and spoiled little brat  became somewhat of a personal anthem that stayed in my rotation for a while. That's why I had absolutely no idea what I was in for this year. I won't mince words here. underscores released one flat out incredible single after another until this quickly became one of my most anticipated projects of the year. Then she turned right around and hit a fucking home run. Not only does this project serve as a reset button for hyperpop, but it should stand as one of the best releases in the genres entire history. Wallsocket  opens with two singles which each hit at two of the things the album does incredibly well. The lyric...

Olivia Rodrigo is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. She first broke into the world of pop music in 2021 following her breakthrough in acting in children's shows previously. Her debut album contained numerous massive hits leading to feverish anticipation of a follow-up. Review by Lav: Olivia Rodrigo dropped like a nuclear bomb. In the span of about a week she went from a name I had heard of but couldn't identify quite why into one of the biggest stars in music. Ultimately, I liked her debut album. While it had some moments of inconsistent songwriting and certainly showed her immaturity on occasion, it had immense promise. While GUTS  may not show that progress reaching it's absolute peak, this is definitely an increase in both quality and personality from a young star quickly becoming one of the biggest voices in pop music. The album led off with Vampire , a VERY Lorde-inspired multi-faceted ballad. The song didn't blow me away at first but it definitely starts ...

James Blake is a British electronic musician who has spent a decade transitioning from fragmented experimental electronica and dubstep into more heartfelt balladry. Despite that he never lost his edge with critics and promised fans ahead of the album's release that Playing Robots Into Heaven  would see him transitioning back into a style that fused his more experimental and dance-influenced electronic with his new sound. Review by Lav:  So say I'm a big James Blake fan would be a severe understatement, I'm basically a die-hard. When I was first getting into music Blake was one of the first artists whose music blew me away to much that I immediately dove into every single song he's ever made, which wasn't that much at the time. He's continued to astound me throughout his career with each of his 5 albums sounding not only distinct but fantastic throughout. That's why I had no reason to expect that Playing Robots Into Heaven  would be any different and for the ...

5.  Gem & I  - Animal Collective This may be the simplest of AnCo's new singles yet. That isn't just due to its composition which certainly arrives more slimmed down than the 21 minute epic they led off their new era with. But even thematically and sonically what you see is what you get with the song. Thankfully, I find the refrains very compelling and the gentle indie folk flourishes are pretty satisfying even on repeat listens.  Listen 4.  Motorbike  - Poppy Right out of the gate, I'll say I know that this song does have a kind of critical flaw, the lyrics. To call this clunky would be an insult to a lot of embarrassing songwriting I've described in those terms in the past. It's unfortunate because this song has a chorus that I find absolutely intoxicating and it's been stuck in my head since the moment I heard it. I also think the track has thematic elements that work really well. The sleek and sensual worship of motorcycle girls is pretty easy to get beh...

Earlier this month I dropped part 1 of this series and promised another, here it is. Sorry it took two weeks, I'm moving. Enjoy <3 An Object In Motion  EP - Drab Majesty Drab Majesty is a California music project who have been carrying the torch for some distinctly 80s styles of darkwave and goth rock with a handful of shoegazey elements occasionally mixed in. Despite having a lot of affinity for the eras of music that the band pulls from, I've always thought they were just okay. That once again comes through on this project despite the attention-grabbing appearance of Slowdive's own Rachel Goswell. To be fair, the opening track that she participated in is the highlight of the project with it's most impressive vocals and instrumental palette. In comparison,  Cape Perpetua  is an instrumental cut that spends almost its entire runtime sounding like it's waiting to start without ever really doing so. It kind of sounds like the first 5 minutes of a really forgettable...

Jeff Rosenstock is a New York DIY legend who spent the 2000s with explosive punk and ska bands like Bomb The Music Industry! and The Arrogant Sons Of Bitches. In the 2010s he pivoted to a solo career that received massive critical acclaim for albums like We Cool? , Worry , and No Dream . HELLMODE  is his 5th studio album and follows the longest gap in projects since he began his solo career.  Review by Lav: I've dished out a lot of praise for Jeff Rosenstock on this blog. I loved his previous album No Dream  in 2020 with its jittery punk intensity and distinctive social and political undertones. Even my least favorite of his solo albums the surprise-released Post-  is still quite an enjoyable outing with some incredible highlights like 9/10 . So Jeff Rosenstock gearing up to release a new album is exciting because his floor is higher than almost anyone around and his ceiling is album of the year every time he drops. While the latter is to be determined, HELLMODE ...

Slowdive is one of the most legendary shoegaze bands of all time. The group's 1993 sophomore album Souvlaki  is seen by many as the definitive album in the genre and considered one of shoegaze's "big three" alongside Ride's Nowhere  and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless . The band returned in 2017 after a 22 year hiatus with their 4th album, the self-titled Slowdive . The project was met with heaps of critical acclaim and now 6 years later they've returned with a 5th album. Review by Lav:  I love shoegaze, that's no secret. But even among the many shoegaze acts I covet Slowdive stands above them all. That obviously has a lot to do with their pioneering work across their first three albums painting dreamy layered motifs of sonic bliss on one song after another. But the band is no longer just a legacy act. In 2017 they returned with a stroke of absolute beauty on their comeback album Slowdive . The project featured creativity and beauty far beyond what you...

5.  shake my bones  - Matana Roberts Though this is a much shorter offering than the expansive single Matana led this era off with, the track is no less exciting. She continues to have a style of jazz deeply influenced by world music but firmly rooted in her fundamentals as a composer and the result is individual moments that absolutely soar over the familiar but impressively performed undercurrent of sounds throughout. It's quite a bit of excitement crammed into just 4 minutes.  Listen 4.  WUACV  - Tkay Maidza Tkay's newest short, thumping banger does feel a good bit like her past two as well as tracks in her past like Syrup . But that feels less like familiarity and more like experience on this song which wastes no time getting into some of its most lethal refrains. Could the lyrics be better, certainly, but that isn't really what you put on a song like this for in the first place.  Listen 3.  Mad-Dauber Wasp  - Matmos After releasing an album l...

5.  inferno  - yeule I was surprised by how much I liked the previous yeule single and for that reason I wasn't surprised by how much I liked this one. Both tracks feature MAJOR instrumental improvements from the previous yeule album which creates a drastically more interesting sonic palette for the understated vocals and mysterious songwriting.  Explore 4.  I Got Heaven  - Mannequin Pussy Welcome back, Mannequin Pussy. While this new song lacks the earworm hook they often deliver I find it hard to complain about the dreamy blown-out replacement. Especially when it contrasts with some of the most pointed and explosive verses I've ever heard from the band. It's immediate, vicious, and totally unflinching.  Explore 3.  Demons  - Doja Cat If you had told me that Doja Cat's newest song would see her doing her best Baby Keem impression I wouldn't have necessarily been more excited. But do I like the song? Oh yeah. It sacrifices some of the sheer catchi...

XUL1  EP - Kai Whiston In my opinion, Kai has been improving more and more with every release. That hit a new high-point last year when he dropped the wonderful Quiet As Kept, F.O.G . The album fused together narrative storytelling with an expansive list of electronica microgenres that I really appreciated and led me to call the album one of the most underrated of the decade so far on my YouTube channel. That's why I was excited to see a surprise new EP from Kai dropped onto our collective lap. While these five new songs all up to just 11 minutes and I didn't have any context at all going into them, I was no less excited to see what they had to offer.  Calling the project a "shift" would be tricky because it's hard to even define what Kai is shifting away from, but one immediate observation about the songs is how dancy they are. While the skittering drums of the opening track SPITITOUT  don't really knock my socks off the thumping bass that replaces it on NOT...