Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Geese are a NYC indie rock band that erupted onto the scene in 2023 with a breakthrough sophomore album,  3D Country. That record went on to become a major critical darling, and in 2024, the band's frontman, Cameron Winter, released a solo album that showed off a more intimate and singer-songwriter-influenced style. I was hoping that dynamic range would come together perfectly on the band's third album, which quickly became one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year for many indie fans. While I may not see the album as a slam-dunk masterpiece like some fans and critics have rushed to declare, it's undeniably great regardless.  A big reason for my excitement for this record was the trio of excellent singles released before it dropped. The second single, "Trinidad," is the first song in the tracklist, and what a ferocious start to the record it is. The more sparse elements of the instrumental don't really prepare you for the repe...

God Games  - The Kills It's been a while since we heard from The Kills with their last album Ash & Ice  dropping back in 2016. I do like the album but it's been even longer since they last really sounded like they were hitting their stride. On top of the excitement I already had going into the project I think the singles are a particularly strong bunch. Lead single and opener New York  in particular is a ripping indie rock jam with more muscle than I even knew the band was capable of. Generally speaking, I enjoy almost all the moments where they return with that intensity. For example, I fell in love with the third single 103  pretty much the moment I first heard it rush into a grinding, punchy chorus.  Shockingly, it's some of the quieter moments on the album are some of the least impactful. That's very surprising given the band has long made their name serving up some brilliantly patient tunes and their masterpiece Goodnight Bad Morning  is notoriousl...

the rest  EP - boygenius Earlier this year Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker released their long-awaited debut album as Boygenius. The album itself was, fine. It features some big highlights like Not Strong Enough  but I definitely had my issues with the album which I talked about in my full review. That's why I wasn't particularly thrilled to dive into the leftovers from the album, but given the pure talent of everyone involved it felt worthwhile.  The project leads off with Black Hole  a song whose instrumentation is roughly assembled in a pretty compelling way that I didn't anticipate the band experimenting with. While I think it fits Julien's fragile vocals on the first verse more than the harmonizing on the second I was still surprised to enjoy the song every time. Voyager  is a pretty solid Phoebe Bridgers-led ballad that reminds me of deep-cut Punisher  highlights like Halloween . Yes, it does fall victim to some of her songwriting "quirk...