Watching the growing ability for TikTok to catapult songs by essentially unknown artists into global hit singles over the past couple of years has been one of the most captivating musical trends. Now, the creators themselves are getting involved in things. With a track by social media superstar Bella Poarch dominating the charts at the … Continue reading jxdn – Tell Me About Tomorrow
Pop Rock
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Acclaimed indie-pop band Japanese Breakfast have been away from the spotlight for nearly four years, taking some time to distance themselves from back-to-back emotionally charged albums that tackled heavy subjects with soft and somber instrumentation. Returning with the aptly titled Jubilee, frontwoman Michelle Zauner has explicitly stated that she wanted an emotional switch-up, focusing her … Continue reading Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Twenty One Pilots – Scaled And Icy
Experimental pop-rock titans Twenty One Pilots had made a career of blending together just about every sound under the sun in a way that came across as overblown and almost too experimental for its own good until 2018’s incredible Trench album. A cohesive and heavy prog-rock piece that incorporated aspects of bright pop choruses, synth-funk, … Continue reading Twenty One Pilots – Scaled And Icy
Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
While it seems like more and more teen stars are rising to popularity every day, it feels like it’s been a very long time since someone had the kind of overnight success and overwhelming support that 18-year-old Olivia Rodrigo is currently experiencing. The closest comparison might be someone like Billie Eilish, but even she had … Continue reading Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
Three and a half years after teaming up with perennial producer of the moment Jack Antonoff for the excellent Masseduction, alt-rock and indie-pop superstar St. Vincent is back with something completely different – business as usual for the multi-instrumental experimentalist. Her sixth album Daddy’s Home is loosely based off of a moment of reckoning with … Continue reading St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
girl in red – if i could make it go quiet
The influence of TikTok on the music industry can’t be understated enough, but its nature of blowing up songs off of a tiny soundbite can cause the actual artists behind these smash hits to remain in relative obscurity. That’s evidently not been the case for girl in red, who is resonating with Gen Z in … Continue reading girl in red – if i could make it go quiet
Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Lana Del Rey has been a polarizing figure, and one of the most consistently compelling and thought-provoking songwriters working today, for close to a decade now. But after dropping the borderline worship of all things classic Americana and releasing a raw and honest masterpiece responding to the troubling times we’re living through, what could possibly … Continue reading Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Trippie Redd – Pegasus: Neon Shark vs Pegasus Presented By Travis Barker
Continuing the streaming-fueled trend of adding essentially an entire album onto an existing project as the deluxe version, emo-trap star Trippie Redd extends his already overstuffed Pegasus album to a ridiculous 40 songs in length. The difference this time is that the new project is far from more of the same – Redd has completely … Continue reading Trippie Redd – Pegasus: Neon Shark vs Pegasus Presented By Travis Barker
Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
Another very quiet week and another older band coming through with the week’s most popular album. Seattle hard rock legends Foo Fighters have been drawing widely mixed receptions in the latter part of their career as they begin incorporating aspects of other genres into their work, and their landmark tenth studio album is no different. … Continue reading Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
Weezer – OK Human
Much like my discovery of The Strokes’ excellent The New Abnormal album last year, an extremely quiet week in terms of sales numbers likely catapults another album I typically would have avoided a formal review of onto my end of year list. I’ll admit to not following legendary rock outfit Weezer’s entire career as closely … Continue reading Weezer – OK Human
