Lav's Music Corner

Protomartyr are a Detroit post-punk band who've been around for over a decade and released 6 albums. Formal Growth In The Desert  is the group's second release of the 2020s and follows Ultimate Success Today  three years ago. Review by Lav: In the span of a few years, Protomartyr made a LOT of post-punk music that I really enjoyed. Their third and fourth albums The Agent Intellect  and Relatives In Decent  are still favorites of mind in retrospect and the band turned around and released some of their best material ever on the Consolation  EP in 2018. Though I did enjoy Ultimate Success Today  when I originally reviewed it back in 2020 but after a recent re-listen of the album I didn't think it was quite as interesting. That's something I wasn't really nervous about going into Formal Growth.  Even though I have very mixed feelings on the singles one thing you can't call them is forgettable. This record definitely lives up to the promise it made of a num...

The Extended Play is either a dying breed with too few songs to rack up meaningful streams or it's the only place where you can discover authentically good indie music anymore. Depending on who you ask. The reality of it is while the EP is mostly dead in popular music save for a few artists who could release literally anything and their fans would listen, it is a thriving medium in the underground. Part of me hates doing this list because 10 years from now we will know about some great EPs from artists who will break out in the next few years and this list will look completely different. But for now lets indulge with artists we know are good right now and count down the top 10 EPs of 2021.  10. Lil Mariko  - Lil Mariko Lil Mariko garnered quite a bit of attention with her appearance on Dorian Electra's My Agenda  last year, but she was really just getting started. Her debut EP is a hyperpop meets hip hop meets metal fusion sort of like Poppy but with more rapped verses. A...

About once a month it is time to quickly clean up a series of EPs that come out and I don't have the time to specifically write full reviews of them, or they're so short that this format works better anyway. These are that, and they're also actually pretty good.  All In  - Skepta Since Skepta released his mixed reviewed 2019 record Ignorance Is Bliss  he has shown up on a few features, dropped a collaborative album last year that rolled up on the short side and then released this EP. It actually gets off to a pretty good start with the hard-hitting Bellator  but most of the talk surrounding the record were on the next two tracks which sport features from Kid Cudi and J Balvin respectively. Unfortunately Peace Of Mind  is an ugly mess with Cudi and Skepta competing for who can deliver the worst sung vocal and they're somehow both winning. The overbearing beat is the final ingredient of the annoying cocktail that spins into something absolutely rotten. Even though...

Protomartyr is a Michigan based post punk band who spent the second half of the 2010's becoming one of the most critically acclaimed groups in the world of post-punk revival. Ultimate Success Today  is the bands 5th record and comes on the back of a 2018 EP that has become both a fan and critic favorite, as well as a trio of singles that appear on the album.  Review By Lavender: I've enjoyed Protomarty's music since they first graced my ears with their sophomore record all the way back in 2014. The band seemed to be improving too given that their Consolation EP and its single Wheel Of Fortune  in particular were big hits. Seeing that the years since their last record has been the bands longest break yet I was expecting big things and while Ultimate Success Today  didn't completely blow me away I enjoyed pretty much all of it.  The record had a trio of singles but they didn't blow me away and I only really consider one of them to be among the best tracks here. Th...