Lav's Music Corner

Tame Impala is one of the most beloved indie bands of the past 15 years. It's the project of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer extraordinaire Kevin Parker. While the second Tame Impala record,  Lonerism , remains their peak of critical success, its follow-up, Currents , embraced a psychedelic pop style that introduced the band to an entirely new fanbase. In the years since, songs like “The Less I Know The Better” and “Let It Happen” have been cemented as modern indie classics. Despite that, the band's 4th album was met with mixed reviews, though I came away liking the record more than most critics. Deadbeat has taken an even harsher critical beating than its predecessor, but this time I completely agree.  Not to say this record is a complete waste. The lead single “End Of Summer” still works for me. It reminds me of many great, lengthy Tame Impala songs before it, with the way it transitions from one infectious segment to another effortlessly. But it's th...

Maruja are an English post-punk outfit that I've been paying a lot of attention to recently. They represent the newest addition to an ever-growing string of recent acclaimed European post-punk acts and approach the sound with a raw fury and political edge that's unmatched by any of their contemporaries. Like those contemporaries, the band is also off to a red-hot start to their careers with a trio of EPs already under their belt. The first of which, Knocknarea , blew my mind a few years ago. Now the band is back to blow it all over again with a razor-sharp, righteous, and pummeling debut album.  The first half of Pain To Power sports two singles I loved, but not before the ripping opener “Bloodsport.” The track hits the ground running with explosive punky instrumentation and undeniably grimy lyrical themes. By the time the sizzling saxophone pops up on the hook, I'm already fully bought in. The other shorter cut on the first half of the record is the single “Saoirse.” It...

Pile are a long-running, Boston-based indie rock band who have crossed over into other genres like post-punk throughout a pretty versatile career. I've touched on the band occasionally but never in a full review, something I knew I would have to amend after hearing the excellent trio of singles that preceded  Sunshine And Balance Beams . Even though the full record wasn't quite everything I hoped it might be, it still sports some of the best songs of Pile's already long and storied career.  That trio of singles pops up in the record's middle section, and what a run it is. "Bouncing In Blue and "Uneasy" are a stunning back-to-back punch. "Blue" has a brooding and plodding introduction that contrasts wonderfully with the high register singing. Even though the composition wanders around a lot, it manages to keep up its momentum and pay everything off with a satisfying finale. "Uneasy" deploys one of many great lyrical moments on the album...

Earl Sweatshirt really needs no introduction for hip-hop fans at this point. The Odd Future alum has transitioned his edgier, more provocative rap style into a much more earnest and human darkness as the years pass and collected heaps of critical acclaim every step of the way. I'll tip my hand and say that I got to catch the record early at a listening party Earl threw in LA. Because of that I went into my first proper listen already knowing that Earl recently became a father. As a result, both the sonic and thematic palettes have taken a turn for the brighter, but none of his unmistakable talent has faded in the transition.  That's how the album starts, with "gsw vs sac." It has this vibrant psychedelic instrumental that sets up the record's woozier sonic palette. It also concludes with a spoken word passage about introspecting and facing problems rather than running away from them, which feels perfectly aligned with the album's themes of fatherhood and matur...

 \ Ethel Cain is a singer-songwriter who has ridden a wave of popularity spawning from her 2022 album Preacher's Daughter . The record's vivid conceptual portrayal of rural living, vibrant coming-of-age narratives, and willingness to tackle difficult subject matter made it a critical darling and developed Ethel an instant cult following. Personally, I liked but didn't love the record, with my biggest complaint being the length of the album overall and the length of the individual tracks that often extend past what feels necessary for their emotional impact. That issue extended to her record Perverts  earlier this year. It proved divisive with her fanbase as she abandoned many of her folk and singer-songwriter conventions in favor of an indulgence into the world of drone. But on Willoughby Tucker , Ethel returns to her familiar style and encounters similar pros and cons.  I went into Willoughby  with high expectations based on its two singles. The longer, darker, and ...

Review by Lavender: JID is an Atlanta MC who spent the latter half of the 2010s establishing himself as a versatile and endlessly talented MC with a series of memorable mixtapes and features. His rise all culminated in the 2022 album The Forever Story, one of the best rap albums of the entire decade so far. In the 3 years since, JID has risen drastically in popularity due to a bizarre crossover with Imagine Dragons and an unpredictable TikTok hit in the Forever Story deep cut “Surround Sound.” Now he's back with a frequently promised new record, God Does Like Ugly.  The lead single is as good a place as any to start because it affirms the level of talent JID is working with. “WRK” didn't necessarily blow me away, mostly because its beat feels painfully standard and the chorus is very much nothing. But the longer JID goes on in his verses, it feels like he develops more and more to say. So even though the song is far from a highlight, it's a great example of how, even at th...

Review by Lavender: Tropical Fuck Storm exists within a scene of Australian psychedelic rock bands with silly names that I've only briefly touched on throughout the history of this blog. I briefly talked about their 2019 album Braindrops , but haven't said much since. That was, until earlier this year, when they started dropping one fantastic, experimental, dynamic single after another. In fact, it's Fairyland Codex ’s compositional dynamism that caused me to be so late on covering it. Somewhere in my drafts is an obnoxiously long, extensive, and frankly unbearable review of this album. Instead, I'm keeping it on the shorter side (relatively) as the record really speaks for itself.  Lead single “Goon Show” is a strong way to introduce the record, even if it avoids some of the wildest sonic excesses. It has these brooding undertones and a hypnotic chorus. I love the restraint the band deploys, saving any extra instrumentation for just the right moment. It makes for such...

Reviews by Lavender: For this week's rapid fire reviews, I'm taking a look at some rap albums I missed from earlier this year, with the underlying theme of artists who I absolutely adored at one point in their career. That's pretty much it, glad I finally got to talk about a lot of these. Enjoy! 13 Months Of Summer  - Amine My soft spot for Amine has been around for basically his entire career. Since the moment I first heard his song “Caroline,” overflowing with Amine's own charm and charisma, I was hooked on his catchy flows and sense of humor. On the flip side of that, I think most of his projects tend to be on the inconsistent side, including the last time we heard from him on a collaborative record with Kaytranada that seemed like a slam dunk, but didn't quite live up to it. In fact, 2020’s Limbo remains the only time in Amine's career that he's put it all together and made a truly great album.  13 Months Of Sunshine led off with a pair of vibey single...

Review by Lavender:  Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist are a pair of hip-hop veterans who first collaborated on Alfredo  in 2020. For the album, Freddie largely adapted to Alchemist's production style, delivering lowkey rapping over lush jazz-sampling beats. For that reason, it's never been a personal favorite of mine in Freddie's discography, despite how proficient and consistent the talent of both veterans is. With a lead single that feels like it meanders for far longer than it needs to, I went into this record hoping for the pair to simply operate at the level I was used to. With that expectation in mind, this was just about as good as I could hope for.  That was a complaint-heavy intro, so let me go ahead and get my gripes out of the way. Most of those gripes come in a trilogy of tracks right in the middle of the record. Much like the lead single with its lingering, unnecessary outro, "Empanadas" doesn't really feel like there's enough actual song in ...

Review by Lavender: Tyler, The Creator is a California rapper, singer, producer, and all-around creative who has been an iconoclast of music for 15 years now. Though he's certainly had his ups and downs along the way, albums like his timeless embrace of pop, 2017's  Flower Boy , have stood the test of time remarkably well. DON'T TAP THE GLASS  is Tyler's 9th album, and it arrives with virtually no rollout less than a year after 2024's CHROMAKOPIA . That album dug further than ever before into Tyler's vulnerabilities and insecurities, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. But on his new album, Tyler insists that you leave the feelings at home and try dancing instead. While the results aren't as memorable, a lot of his charm persists.  The first song in the tracklist that really blew me away was "Sugar On My Tongue." Longtime Tyler fans will recognize this immediately for what it is: a munch anthem. I love the rumbling drums in the beat and the extremely una...

Review by Lavender: Wet Leg is an English post-punk and indie rock outfit that first debuted back in 2022 to pretty enormous praise from critics. Their tongue-in-cheek revitalization of vintage post-punk struck a chord with a lot of people, myself included. I still love songs like their breakout hit "Chaise Lounge," and my personal favorite "Angelica." But when their debut album as a whole came out, I was a lot more mixed on it than most. But even then, I had a lot of excitement for the band's potential. Though it took a little longer than I anticipated, their sophomore album pays off in pretty much every way I was hoping for.  The singles for this album are among my favorite Wet Leg songs to date, none more than “catch these fists.” It's the perfect combination of the band's punchy energy with their unmistakable humor. Rousing drums on the hook are wrapped around an absolutely irresistible chorus, and their baiting calls for a fight are hilariously dry...

Clipse is the hip-hop duo of brothers Pusha T and Malice. The pair first broke through with a pair of killer albums in the early 2000s, but called it quits when Malice retired from hip-hop for almost a decade while Pusha T pursued a critically acclaimed solo career. Now the duo has re-formed with Malice fully coming out of retirement for their first new album in 16 years. Also along for the ride is Pharrell, a longtime collaborator of Clipse, who dishes out some of his best production in years throughout the record. All parties involved are amazingly still operating at their peak, and with a combination of new ambitions and timeless techniques, the pair crafted a comeback album that most artists can only ever hope for.  We will talk about the album's lead single later, but I want to start off with its stunning second single, "So Be It." It has this eerie beat that is some of the best production work Pharrell does across the entire album. It also has a hook that has been a...

Reviews by Lavender: After finally getting my thoughts out on the new Lorde album, I wanted to look back on the year so far and cover some of the mainstream pop releases I hadn't gotten the chance to yet. So, for better and very much for worse, that's what I did in this week's rapid fire reviews.  Addison  - Addison Rae TikTok star turned pop singer Addison Rae has been one of the most divisive pop storylines of 2025 so far. While she doesn't have anywhere near the most haters of any of the artists we will talk about on this list, a lot of people seem to find her music agonizingly boring and hold her up as an example of why influencers should stay influencers. (Though I'd argue Alex Warren is a much better example.) But there's also a subset of surprisingly devoted Addison Rae fans, and not just among TikTok refugees and teenage pop stans. Actual music critics have been quick to praise her work, and looking at some of the singles from this record, I totally see ...