Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Model/Actriz are a New York industrial outfit whose combination of intimate whispered vocals and pulsating metallic sound has garnered more than a few comparisons to Nine Inch Nails. Back in 2022, they released one of the best debut albums of this entire decade with Dogsbody , immediately capitalizing on all the hype they built up. Now, 3 years later, they've returned with a sophomore effort on the back of some truly spectacular singles. On Pirouette , they build on all of their momentum to soar even higher than before with a record whose vulnerability only heightens the tension of its propulsive, masterful instrumentation.  Speaking of those singles which I liked initially, but became even more fond of within the context of the record. "Cinderella" kicked things off as a lead single and introduced a newfound vulnerability to the band's already existent candor. They pay it off in such dramatic fashion with eerie guitar tones and intimate whispers o...

Dogsbody  - Model/Actriz Model/Actriz is a Brooklyn four-piece experimental rock act that I first heard about last year when they dropped what would ultimately become the lead single to this record. While I kept my eye on the band and wasn't surprised by the positive buzz the record was generating, it still took me too long to get around to listening and reviewing it. While I may not be as glowingly positive towards the record as others, it's a great record that could be used as a springboard into something an all-time great follow-up. The record kicks off with Donkey Show  a ripping introduction that shifts from distant shrill noise into churning riffs and lethal intensity about a minute in. It's a great way to start the album off alongside the lead single Mosquito  which has grown on me a lot with it's bitter repetition on the hook sounding better and better each time. I also love the one-two punch of the very neurotic pummeling Slate  immediately followed up by a ...

RUSH!  - Maneskin Maneskin are interesting for a number of reasons. Not only do they have the potential to be one of the biggest crossover stars in Eurovision history, but their brand of trashy cocaine-influenced glam rock hasn't been represented by anyone in the mainstream for almost a decade. Following the breakout success of their cover of Beggin'  this debut album was their big chance to make an impression and commercially it seems to have worked, but the quality of the record runs the full gambit. With 17 tracks that run over 50 minutes the band is trying on a lot of different ideas and the execution is inconsistent. Make no mistake though there is plenty to like about the record. It kicks off with a roar on the track OWN MY MIND  and the deep cut READ YOUR DIARY  is one of the slickest songs I've ever heard the band record. Against my better judgment, I like GASOLINE  quite a bit too. While the epicness of the track may be pretty obviously manufactured I c...

Royal Blood are an English rock duo who first emerged in 2014 with a hard-rocking debut album that turned heads with high energy performances and songwriting. Typhoons  is the bands 3rd album in 7 years and they have slowly developed quite a bit of popularity becoming a rock radio staple and receiving a surprising amount of attention given their brand of music. Review By Lav: When Royal Blood's self-titled debut album came out in 2014 it sent a jolt through me. I thought their wiry explosive brand of rock was totally intoxicating ad I just couldn't get enough of it. I wasn't quite as impressed by their follow-up album a few years later even though it had some very solid singles. I just didn't see the song having the same intensity that originally made me fall in love with the bands sound. With Royal Blood in the most commercial place of their career I wasn't necessarily expecting them to return to form on this record, but overall I have to say Typhoons  is a solid a...

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...

The Black Keys are an Ohio rock duo that emerged in the early 2000's as a youthful and fiery rock act with their blistering 2004 garage rock album Rubber Factory . The band rose from the underground into the rock mainstream with a change in style that saw higher recording quality and clearer mixing on the part of producer Danger Mouse over the course of 4 studio albums from 2008-2014. This included 2010's grammy award winning Brothers , known as the bands breakthrough album into the commercial rock realm as well as the fantastic El Camino  in 2011. The last release from the band came in 2014 with the critically average Turn Blue  and now four years later the duo has returned and chosen to self produce their 9th studio album Let's Rock . Review By Lavender: While The Black Keys have never been an envelope pushing genre defying rock group they do have a long running consistency of making excellent garage rock and contemporary rock. In their underground days they releas...

The Raconteurs are a Detroit rock band and side project of former White Stripes frontman and multi-instrumentalist Jack White. The band formed in the mid 2000's and dropped two moderately well received albums that included hits like Steady As She Goes  and Carolina Drama  and went on hiatus as Jack White focused on solo albums and his other side project The Dead Weather. The group announced their reuniting last year and have maintained a very active social media prescence as well as dropping numerous singles throughout the lead-up to the release of this new record.  Review By Lavender: The two previous Raconteurs albums have been some of the most mainstream and easily digestible releases of Jack White's career so far. They have his knack for songwriting fit into the mold of contemporary radio rock and this made them very catchy and well done but puts a cap on how much they can really achieve. I had a feeling based on some of the singles that the band would stay...

Catfish And The Bottlemen are a Welsh rock band that rose to prominence in 2014 when their debut album The Balcony  blew up in the wake of the Arctic Monkeys' 2013 album AM  inspiring a market for polished throwback rock and roll sounds the year prior. The band capitalized on the hype with some notable singles and the album ultimately going platinum, before following it up with The Ride in 2016. Despite more initial commercial appeal, the album received mixed reviews and the band was quiet for two years before releasing four singles in the lead up to The Balance .  Review By Lavender: Unlike some people who were maybe a bit too obsessed with AM, I never really pictured Catfish and The Bottlemen somehow saving rock and roll. The Balcony  is a solid rock album that lacks life and variety but makes up for it with some tight and catchy songwriting and great energetic performances. Unfortunately The Ride  took a very different approach that many we're not...

Lux Prima is the first collaborative album between Karen O, lead singer of acclaimed indie band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and super-producer Danger Mouse who has worked with the likes of Cee Lo Green, MF Doom, The Black Keys, Aaron Dessner, and most recently Parquet Courts. The two are coming from very different places in their respective careers and their styles clashing should be of interest to musical fans of all kind given the pedigree of both artists. Review By Lavender: I would say on average I differ from most fans of both of these artists. I think indie fans like Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs more than I do and I think fans don't like Danger Mouse as much as I do. So maybe given that balance and the fact that the title track to this album was released as an excellent single, we can all meet in the middle and anticipate a record that should have some above average qualities pulled from its two collaborators. The album already had a pretty substantial headstart with its f...

Andrew Hozier-Byrne known professionally as Hozier is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in late 2013 on the back of his breakthrough hit song Take Me To Church . He channeled elements of blues and folk music into his debut album Hozier all the way back in 2014 and was largely silent for years after. Until late 2018 when he dropped the critically acclaimed and much loved Nina Cried Power  EP and announced a long awaited follow-up sophomore album shortly after.  Review By Lav: Even though its been a while many of us probably still have the first time we heard Take Me To Church stuck in out memory banks somewhere. The song is an excellent and bombastic pop-rock tune with strong roots in blues and folk music and a spectacular performance from Hozier. His debut album lived up moderately to they hype and I remember in what is now a long lost review giving it a 7/10 and being excited for his future as an artist. This only multiplied once I heard the Nina Cried ...

Weezer is the legendary California alternative rock band that rose to fame in the 90s after dropping two universally acclaimed albums. Following into the 2000's commercial success continued to find its way to Weezer becoming an alternative radio staple and culminating in the biggest hit of the band's career the often maligned Beverly Hills. In the 2010's Weezer traded out their commercial success at large for a return to critical form beginning with the well received Everything Will Be Alright In The End  and peaking with the fantastic Weezer (The White Album). But the stylistic approach changed rapidly in the wake of The White Album  and its follow-up became a much hated return to form making Pacific Daydream  largely viewed as a disappointment, with prominent critics calling out its lead single Feels Like Summer  as being a particularly disastrous pursuit. So with the dropping of largely varied and critically confusing singles in the lead up to The Black Album ...

FIDLAR is a California garage punk band who exploded onto the indie music scene in 2013 with a fantastic self-titled debut that blended punk musics hilarious cynicism with garage's blistering and low-fi rock aesthetic. They dropped numerous well received singles and developed a devoted fanbase before dropping Too  their second project in 2015. The album had some popular and well received singles but ultimately fell short of fans expectations for a follow-up. And now after the long wait for a third release and 3 singles released throughout 2018 FIDLAR gear up for another album. After some moderately good singles last year the band started 2019 off with the fantastic By Myself single, which did a lot to drum up hype for the project and was praised critically across the board. Review By Lav: I, like most people really enjoyed the debut FIDLAR  album when it came out back in 2013, the music reminded me of many of my favorite low-fi genres of the 80s and 90s and the snarky at...

5. "Ti Amo" - Phoenix After a disappointing first single with J-Boy, Phoenix impresses with their second single for the upcoming album. They channel 2009 with a dancy beat complimented by characteristic and self aware vocals with a surprisingly non annoying vocal effect layered chorus. If you weren't excited for the new Phoenix album before, it's time to be. 4. "Hook, Line & Sinker" - Royal Blood If there is one thing you can give Royal Blood's eponymous 2014 debut album, it's that the singles were all fantastic, they look to keep this trend up. Hook Line & Sinker doesn't change up the bands formula or bring anything drastically new, but it doesn't have to. The formula has at least an album more before the staleness sets in and they know it. The song jams like it's 2017 (when rock music is going out of style). 3. "Adeline" - Alt-J Alt-J now have a trifecta of fantastic singles previewing a 3rd studio alb...