Lav's Music Corner

PORTALS  - Melanie Martinez A few years ago when I reviewed Melanie's long-awaited sophomore album K-12  I called her a cult pop star because her dark and thematic songs attracted a cult following with the way they tackled adult subjects through childhood imagery, but they hadn't broken into the mainstream. In the years since however, Melanie's music has repeatedly gone viral and her fans have gotten a LOT louder. One thing that hasn't changed is my opinions on Melanie's first two albums. Crybaby  still deserves its cult status and probably deserves a lot more recognition in retrospect for how many indie and underground pop artists of today were clearly influenced by it. While her sophomore record K-12  is more inconsistent it's also rewardingly conceptual and the plotless but heavily stylized movie it was attached to is equally fun. In combination with those two albums and the fact that I still enjoyed the lead single DEATH  a good bit, I was fully anticipating...

On time edition! 5.  Cure For Love  - Ellie Goulding For the first time in this new era I can say for certain, this new Ellie Goulding song is kind of a banger. It's a super dancy little pop number that won't do anything you haven't heard before but I'll say the stripped-down pre-chorus expanding into a fully realized shimmering catchy vision is an effect that still works on me.  Listen 4.  Until I Know  - Panchiko The fact that Panchiko is refusing to feel burdened by the extremely unique set of circumstances that caused their popularity is a bit of a double-edged sword for the band. While this slightly nocturnal piece of indie rock is certainly a solid song that continues to tease towards an album I'm legitimately anticipating, it also feels like yet another act that blew up on something unique then turned their back on it. If there was ever a situation where a band can be forgiven for that though, it's Panchiko. Listen 3.  Psychos  - Jenny Lewis Jen...