Lav's Music Corner

Become  EP - Beach House I enjoyed Beach House's new album Once Twice Melody  quite a bit last year so I was excited to get an extra helping of it. Previous times that Beach House has dug into the B-Side well, most notably the wonderful song Chariot , have been exceedingly pleasing. While these tracks are by no means bad, I can kind of see why they were left off of the already dense tracklist of the band's last album. The first two tracks in the project do have all the hallmarks of Beach House but lack some of the heart and feel like they would just blend in really innocuously into any of their best albums. Holiday House  follows and it's much closer to the band's best material. Even then while I think it does an amazing job of building up to the chorus, that chorus doesn't have the punch that I would necessarily hope for. I've also come around to the beautiful textures of Black Magic  whose instrumentation is truly some of the prettiest I've ever heard on a...

5.  Alone  - Kim Petras (feat. Nicki Minaj) Even though I've liked both of these artists a lot in the past, to say I was skeptical of this song would be a huge understatement. While I did think each of their previous two songs were okay it felt like they were both headed for some kind of slump and hearing the relatively lazy sampling on display in the previews for this track didn't help remedy that. Ultimately though this song is also pretty decent with an exciting performance from Nicki and a hook that is sticking with me more and more. It's far from the best either are capable of but it's a plenty serviceable collaboration.  Listen 4.  Undergrowth  - Squid If hearing the funk rock riffs and the repeated Limp Bizkit ass "melt" hook on this song immediately activated your gag reflex, you're not alone. My first reaction to the song was pretty garish as well. In fact it took me a few times of hearing it with completely shifted expectations to realize there a...

In my endless quest for rapid fire review topics we've landed here. Three new albums from bands that people were bumping when I was in middle school. Dance Fever  - Florence + The Machine It always surprises me how Florence + The Machine basically disappear between album cycles only to reemerge pretty much as popular as ever. This is their fifth album and it follows what I think is their least successful and least acclaimed record to date High As Hope . Maybe the fact that their previous album was a letdown made it even more surprising how quickly they slid back into favor off the strength of this record. It's easy to see why as this record gets off to a pretty strong start in the first half, particularly with the two great singles that kick the record off. While there is a bit of a drop-off it's hardly a plummet as the album's thesis of fusing rustic instrumentation with disco flavors provides a bassline of solid instrumentation. While it certainly has its moments of i...

Another week that absolutely filled up the stat sheet with lots of new releases from notable names. While there wasn't a grand, highly anticipated comeback or massive pop collaboration to steal the spotlight there was something new this week for just about anybody and the best of the bunch are here.  5.  If We Get Caught  - Bloc Party After their last few singles I had been begging Bloc Party to dig their heels in and drop something that really rips, but it turns out the secret to making their best single of this era so far was to lean into their sentimentality. There's something very sweet and innocent about the fear of getting caught and the expression of love as if it's the very last thing you'll ever get to say to someone. The song is sweet and infinitely endearing.  Listen 4.  Lost  - Zola Jesus Even though you can never be sure what to expect from Zola Jesus, you can always expect it to be good and this certainly is. The chambered mix of the song with...

Hello and welcome to the almost late for a second week in a row sort of weekly list we do on this little blog. I listened through a number of brand new songs this week and these are the best of them, simple as that.  5.  Sex Magik  - Bloc Party After what I would describe as a bit of a misstep on their previous single Bloc Party are back with style on this new song. From a weird chanted hook that's bouncy in their distinct way to some of those wiry guitar riffs that give everything the band does such a youthful edge this has everything a good Bloc Party song should.  Listen 4.  Zatoichi  - Denzel Curry (Feat. Slowthai) The second single from Curry's new album sports an attention grabbing title and feature, though isn't quite that bold. The Slowthai hook is unrelenting and the beat does occasionally make use of some punchier and more distorted beats but generally this is a far tamer outing than the duos previous. Regardless it's a solid and infectious single...

Bloc Party is a long standing British punk band who blew up off their critically acclaimed debut record  Silent Alarm  in 2005 and after a number of lineup changes the band hasn't been able to match the critical success of their debut. The current roster of the group went on a tour of Europe in 2018 and 2019 playing their debut album in full and assembled a full live album from various performances on the tour. Review Lavender: I am a HUGE fan of Bloc Party, and I have been for just about as long as I can remember. Unlike a lot of music I was into growing up, upon reflection Bloc Party sounds as crisp and refreshing as ever looking back on their career. While I feel so many of their later releases from  Intimacy  to  Hymns  are severely underrated there's no denying that their debut record  Silent Alarm  is the bands true masterpiece as well as one of my favorite rock albums of the 2000's. So after they announced that the tour in which they...