Hello, everyone! Time for more mini album reviews! As always, this is all just based on how I personally feel about these albums. Even if I give an album a negative review, it’s not meant to be mean or anything, and I’m not pretending to be ‘objectively right’ about these ratings. Even if it sounds like I’m trying to be ‘objective’, it’s all just how I personally feel.

Unfortunately, this is a pretty underwhelming list of albums for me, without a lot that really wowed me, but at least there are some interesting albums here, for better or for worse … and let’s start with a new album that’s gotten a lot of attention from music critics …

3D Country by Geese:

I think it’s pretty funny that on the same day as Swans’ highly anticipated album, Geese released an album and it ended up getting a lot of critical acclaim.

And it reminds me a lot of Radiohead, especially in the vocals, but also a lot of the instrumentation, too. For example, the noisy “Undoer” reminds me a lot of “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead … not nearly as great as “Paranoid Android”, but it reminds me a lot of that track!

But unfortunately, I can’t say I really love this album … I think it starts really strong with the great guitar distortion and hard-hitting percussion of “2122”, with great bass and guitar riffs, and the noisier parts of this song work really well! And that can mostly be said about the next track, too, and there are other moments here that click for me … but parts of the album feel like they drag on longer than I’d like, and the longer the album goes on the more bored I get.

At times the vocal melodies can get kind of boring, and a big example is “Cowboy Nudes”, easily my least favourite song on the album as it’s also got an annoying snare, underpowered bass and a guitar melody that I don’t like at all. And speaking of which, I do find the production pretty inconsistent—and yes, I do really like the production at points, but it depends on the song. The first two tracks feature production I really like, but there are also some parts of the album where I feel the production holds it back from hitting a lot harder, like the blazing guitars in the chorus of “Domoto” that sound underpowered in the mix.

But again, there is a lot to like here, such as a lot of the noisier moments which sound really well produced and mixed … it’s definitely an interesting album, but overall it just didn’t fully click for me. 6/10 for me, still pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it’s great.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “2122”, “3D Country”, “Mysterious Love”, “Domoto”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Cowboy Nudes”, “Gravity Blues”

For Better, For Worse by joe unknown:

Here’s a pretty short post-punk album (or at least I think it’s probably post-punk) with great production, and I really like the sound of the percussion!

I couldn’t find all the lyrics for this album when I looked them up, but I do like a lot of the lyrics I could find, and I can hear some of the other lyrics, too. That being said, at points I do feel like some ideas could have been expanded on lyrically, but there are a lot of good lines, and sometimes I do like the lyrics that just get right to the point.

The instrumentals are quite groovy and often fit with the lyrics, despite some dark subject matter. There’s just this strange sense of intrigue I feel with this album and the way some of the depressing lyrics fit so well with the groovy instrumentals, and I’m not really sure why that’s the case.

I really like a lot of the synths here, and while at points the pacing of the album feels thrown off and often there seems to be a strange feeling I get that something’s missing, I still mostly do like this, so I’ll give it a light 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Gang”, “Hell of Mine”, “Palate Cleanser”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Silent”

In The End It Always Does by The Japanese House:

Here’s some mostly mellow pop—or at least kind of pop—with a kind of airy sound to it but only kind of, and at points it feels more upbeat, and there are some catchy moments here.

It reminds me a lot of MUNA’s album from last year (still the only MUNA album I’ve listened to, but I’ll get around to listening to their other albums eventually), but whereas that album ended up being one of my favourite albums of last year with its terrific grooves, punchy snares, and phenomenal mixing, this kind of feels like a more underwhelming version of that album, with less catchy vocal melodies, more awkward percussion choices, and I don’t find the basslines nearly as interesting, either.

MUNA actually feature on this album—or at least their lead singer Katie Gavin does (I often can’t tell whether a band really featured on another artist’s song or if it was just the band’s lead singer)—and Katie Gavin’s verse on “Morning Pages” is easily one of my favourite parts of the album! And I also like the closing track which was co-written by Katie Gavin. And even outside of that, there are elements that I like. I like a lot of the emotional lyrics, a lot of which are about yearning, and there are also some lyrics relating to getting caught in cycles—possibly from mental exhaustion after breakups.

But a lot of the time when this album is showing so much potential, something very notable holds it back for me, and it’s different depending on the song. One big example is “Touching Yourself”, which has one of the catchiest choruses on the album, and I like some of the vocal melodies here and the yearning lyrics, but the bass feels mixed really awkwardly and too all-over-the-place melodically and just has this strangely watery sound to it.

But the more I listened to this, the more I started to realize another easy comparison for me to make—The 1975. And it didn’t really shock me when I found out Matty Healy provides vocals in “Friends”. It’s worth mentioning I’m not super familiar with The 1975’s discography, but I haven’t really liked most of what I’ve heard of their music, and this album has some similar vocal production and a similar style of instrumentation. And while I like it more than most of what I’ve heard from The 1975, it still gives me that same feeling where I wish the songs had more punch to them, and it just sounds kind of messy.

Overall … well, I don’t think this is a bad album, and it’s got some redeeming moments, but a lot of the percussion choices just don’t work for me, the production and melodies feel inconsistent, and it holds this album back from really clicking for me. I’m going to give it a 6/10, and I think the seeds of a great album are here, but as it is, I’d only call it pretty good.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Touching Yourself”, “Sad to Breathe”, “Morning Pages”, “Friends”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Indexical reminder of a morning well spent”

Honey by Samia:

This album was released back in January, and I’d say it mostly sounds like a pop album, although I still don’t understand if ‘pop’ is a genre or if it just means it’s popular. And, well, Samia seems to have quite a large fanbase, but this isn’t super mainstream or anything.

But anyway, I was curious to listen to this album, and … well, it’s one of those albums where there’s a lot of emotion here in the performances and song writing, and it makes me really wish I liked this a lot more than I do.

I often find the production just doesn’t click for me, with a kind of messy sound to it like in “Nanana” where, to my ears, the vocal production doesn’t fit with the rest of the production at all. And speaking of vocal production, “Breathing Song” is a very emotional song, and it seems to be about trauma, so I understand why the vocals at the end are so loud and overpowering—but even though it’s an artistic choice that makes sense to me, I still don’t enjoy listening to it. And overall, that kind of sums up my feelings on the album overall; I respect it a lot (honestly, I respect almost all music), and there’s a lot of emotion here … but as much as I’d love to say I ended up liking this album, that just wouldn’t be true.

This album kind of reminds me of Maisie Peters, in which almost any time something really grabs me in the writing or production, I notice something else that makes me like it less … but even as someone who isn’t a Maisie Peters fan at all, I at least hear her personality shine through in her music more … and I’m not trying to be mean to Samia, and I’m not saying that there isn’t any personality here, I’d just personally have a hard time recognizing her music out of a lineup … that’s probably a me thing, though.

For me, this is a 4/10 … I really wanted to like this more, but I didn’t click for me at all if I’m being honest.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “Charm You”, “Dream Song”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Kill Her Freak Out”, “To Me It Was”, “Honey”

I’ve Loved You For So Long by The Aces:

Here’s a synth-pop album that’s been getting a decent amount of acclaim, and it seems to be going for huge, anthemic choruses. And usually with albums like these the big question for me is whether or not the production lets the songs really go off like I want them to. So, does that happen here?

Honestly, not really. I mean, there are some really good melodies in these choruses, and at points the production works for me, but I often find the mixing kind of messy, with the percussion often sounding too loud in the mix to me. Also, one thing that really holds this album back for me is a lot of the reverb, which takes away from the punch these songs could have.

And while there’s clearly a lot of emotion here, the lyrics don’t always work for me here. Some of them do, but there’s also some points where the lyrics hold it back for me. “Girls Make Me Wanna Die” delivers pretty much what you’d expect from a song with that title aside from the fact that it’s mostly a good song, but … well, I’m not sure whether or not this song is about a personal story or not, but while I’m not trying to be insensitive here, the song just comes across as overdramatic, and while I’m not saying there’s no emotion here, I don’t really hear the emotion shine through in the music. Again, I don’t want this to sound mean or insensitive, but that’s just how I hear the song. And “Not the Same” has a similar feeling to it of not being as interesting as I’d like, at least to me.

And there’s also “Attention” which kind of seems like one of those ‘I’m-so-over-you’ songs in which that being such a big theme just makes it seem more like the narrator still cares … and I’m pretty sure that was the point, but the way it’s done is still kind of cringey, considering that the line, ‘You’re in my head,’ comes right before the line, ‘And I’m just here waiting to show you how over you I am.’

But that being said, I do like a lot of the lyrics, like how the feelings of something being missing in life are expressed in “Suburban Blues”, and I also like the lyrics here about the mental toll feeling shunned by society takes on people. And I like that the album ends on a positive, optimistic note with “Younger”, which is probably my favourite song on the album! Also, Cristal Ramirez is a good singer, and sometimes I like the production here … I mean, the vocal melodies are good, there is quite a bit to like here … but overall, to me personally, it just feels kind of underwhelming, and it feels so close to great yet so far at the same time … but again, as always, that’s just me. I’ll give it a 6/10, but if you’re into synth-pop—even though I’m into synth-pop and I don’t really love this album—there’s a good chance you’ll like this more than I do. And I do still like it, I just don’t love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Suburban Blues”, “Person”, “Younger”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Not the Same”

s*x m*ney dr*gs by LUCKI:

This album seems to have gotten a very mixed reception from critics, and … well, it’s my first time listening to a LUCKI album, and as someone who’s not really a fan of mumble-rap, I can’t say I had high expectations for this.

And … well, there are a lot of toxic lyrics here, and sometimes the music fits them well, giving these songs a feeling of ‘playing the role of the villain’, in which case it leads to some of the better songs here … but often there seems to be no depth to these lyrics at all—at least from what I can tell, and I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics—and at times here this gets infuriating, for example one of the worst songs here, “Wholeworldslatt” which features some very concerning lyrics from Veeze which I hope aren’t meant to be taken seriously … I mean, there’s a line in which he seems to possibly be likening himself to the Taliban, although I’m probably misunderstanding that line (I’m not sure what he means by ‘Taliban-der’)—maybe it’s really obvious what that line means and it’s just me who doesn’t get it, I’m not sure. But there’s also a line in which he calls himself worse than Hitler, and also the line, ‘I’ma die, still go just like I’m Nip’,’ probably referring to Nipsey Hussle, who was shot … that line is genuinely concerning, and I hope he’s doing okay. And LUCKI himself also has some lyrics that genuinely concern me, like in the song “Pop Star” when he says he can’t give up on drugs, and he seems to be saying he’s just going to let the drugs kill him. Is he okay? I certainly hope so, but this song worries me.

Overall, this isn’t an album I like at all, and it’s not even one that’s fun to talk about. And it’s actually got some moments that click for me, so I can’t even say it’s one of the worst albums I’ve heard this year … but still, 4/10, even aside from the issues I already mentioned, I don’t even think this sounds all that good for the most part. I mean, it’s an interesting listen at least, but not interesting in a good way.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “No Bap”, “Super Ski”, “Almighty Tune”, “Chrome Denim”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Tunevert”, “2021 Vibes”, “Mubu”, “Str8 Syrup”, “Pop Star”, “Wholeworldslatt”

Strangeworld by Throw the Fight:

I was looking for new albums to listen to, and I came across this metal album from a band I’d never heard of before. Or maybe it’s not metal, I’m not sure how to define ‘metal music’ … either way, it’s some kind of hard rock, and it’s got a lot of melody in the vocals.

And while this is a style of music I do like more than a lot of critics, I can’t say this album really clicked for me. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the band, STARSET, in some of the production and just the overall style. And as someone who’s not really a fan of STARSET (although it’s worth noting I haven’t listened to them that much), I can’t say I really like this, either. The snares often sound out of place with the instrumental, and a lot of the guitar sounds underpowered.

I don’t think the melodies are terrible, but I just don’t find them all that interesting. Lyrically, there are some interesting ideas, but a lot of it feels pretty cliché to me. However, like I often say, analyzing lyrics is not one of my best strengths as a music reviewer.

Overall … I mean, I don’t hate this album, but I don’t really like it, either. For me, it’s a strong 3.5/10 … at least it’s short, and I like some parts of the album. But overall, this isn’t for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Snake Mountain (Remix)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sorry, Not Sorry”, “Shadow Self”, “Lost in the Lies”, “Wake up! (Remix)”