Hello, everyone! Welcome to another mini review post! Today I’m reviewing 9 albums in this one post, and as always this is all just based on how I personally feel about these albums … none of this is an attempt to be mean or anything, even if I give something a negative review.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of these, and now let’s get the reviews started!

1335162011435 by 19 4 3 12 6:

19 4 3 12 6 has released three albums this year, and I’ve already reviewed the first and third of those albums, and I thought why not review the second one, too?

And this is probably my favourite of the three. It’s an instrumental ambient album with a slightly calming feeling to it, but at the same time it’s quite eerie.

Now, I’m not going to say I’m totally blown away by it or anything, but it certainly makes me curious to hear more from 19 4 3 12 6.

The album is only two tracks long, with both tracks being over twenty minutes, and as a full album experience, while I don’t think I’ll be going back to it much, it’s certainly very interesting!

I really like a lot of the subtle details like the instrumental tones, and overall I really enjoyed this! 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “718956”
Least Favourite Tracks: “79620”

No Joy by Spanish Love Songs:

This is the fourth studio album by Spanish Love Songs, a band who makes rock music that sounds nothing at all like typical rock music … and they make very sad music. And as much emotion as there is in their music, if I’m being honest I’m not a big fan of either of their first two albums—I get why it resonates with a lot of people, especially considering how much horrible stuff is happening in the world, and listening to their music sometimes doesn’t feel as much like listening to music, and feels more like listening to an album of someone taking out a bunch of frustration … so, yeah, I get why it works for a lot of people, but something about the production just doesn’t really work for me, and while there’s a lot of emotion in those albums, they just didn’t resonate with me personally all that much.

But Brave Faces Everyone, their 2020 album which many critics called the best album of 2020, not only has production I like more, but the lyrics resonated with me more, and at least as far as I can tell there’s more that ties the whole album together—and I love that album!

But this album … look, I get that there’s a lot of emotion here, and I like the positive message on this album about looking for hope even when it can feel like everything is going wrong, and staying alive even if there might not be any hope. But I’m not going to pretend to be a fan of the album just because of the messages, because this album just didn’t click for me at all.

A big part of why this didn’t click for me is the production, in which the instruments often sound disconnected from each other in the production, and it just doesn’t emotionally resonate with me as much as it would if I thought the production hit harder. This doesn’t have the same crushing distorted guitar and drums of their previous album.

And honestly, this might be my least favourite Spanish Love Songs album to date … something just feels missing from pretty much every track here, and I’m not always entirely sure what. “Haunted” is probably my favourite song on the album with some great lyrics including a callback to a song from Brave Faces Everyone, and also a great synth melody that reminds me of The Killers … and yet I’m not even a huge fan of that song, as the production really holds it back for me—and again, this is my favourite song on the album we’re talking about here.

So, overall … look, I have a ton of respect for this album, and I’d absolutely recommend listening to it. But just because I respect an album doesn’t mean I have to like it … and for me, this is getting a 6/10, and if it weren’t for the lyrics that score would be lower. And considering how emotional this album is, I kind of hate to not give it a higher rating, but as always it’s just how I personally feel about the album.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Haunted”, “Middle of Nine”, “Here You Are”, “Exit Bags”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Lifers”

A Cat in the Rain by Turnpike Troubadours:

The more country music I listen to, the more I wonder if I’m becoming a fan of the genre. And this is another album that makes me wonder that even more!

This is my first time listening to a Turnpike Troubadours album, and for some reason my expectations weren’t super high. I mean, I’d heard good things about this band, but I kind of feel like almost every time I listen to a country album for the first time, I tell myself I’m not going to be a huge fan of it … and I did the same thing with this album, but I ended up pleasantly surprised!

First of all, the production sounds gorgeous, with that incredibly smooth feeling of the strings and guitars, with the drums sounding pretty much perfect in the mix with pretty much perfect tones!

And while there are some points where the vocal melodies don’t really click for me that much, there are some really strong standout vocal melodies here!

There are some great covers, but there’s also a lot of great song writing here, both in the compositions and the lyrics on a variety of topics, and there are a lot of layers to these lyrics, especially in a song like “The Rut”, which shows the narrator hunting for food purposes, and there seems to be some guilt shown in the song—although it’s subtle if there is—and it fits with something morally complicated like hunting for food.

And speaking of the compositions, there are so many great melodies and chord progressions here, and it makes for an album that I absolutely love! It’s rare I get this excited about a country album, but this is absolutely excellent!

So, I’ll give this a 9/10! And even if you aren’t a fan of the genre, I highly recommend this album! It’s awesome!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Brought Me”, “Lucille”, “Chipping Mill”, “The Rut”, “A Cat in the Rain”, “Black Sky”, “Three More Days”, “Won’t You Give Me One More Chance”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Mean Old Sun”

WEEDKILLER by Ashnikko:

For a while, Ashnikko has been one of those artists whose name I’ve seen/heard a lot, but whom I’d never actually really listened to … so, when I first saw that this album was coming out, I was quite surprised to find out this is officially Ashnikko’s debut studio album; she did release a mixtape a few years ago, though.

Anyway, this album is a little over half an hour, and I feel like there are so many artists/albums this reminds me of, but I can’t quite place them … I mean, it kind of reminds me of Maggie Lindemann’s debut studio album from last year, SUCKERPUNCH, although unlike that album this isn’t really a rock album. Now, it’s worth mentioning that I’m not really a fan of SUCKERPUNCH, but while I don’t think this album has a song I love quite as much as “take me nowhere”—which is my favourite song on SUCKERPUNCH—it also doesn’t have the same low points as that album, and I like this album more overall.

Outside of that comparison … I can’t quite place what else this reminds me of. But overall, do I like this album? I mean, yeah, I’d say so, for the most part. But I wouldn’t say I love it, and I can’t help but feel like I ‘should’ like it more than I do.

I do like a lot of the lyrics here, which discuss a range of topics—there are some feminist lyrics, some lyrics about technology and the unknown future of it, and much more. And there are also some songs here which are just meant to be fun, in which the lyrics don’t really have much to them.

Now, I will say, there are also some lyrics I don’t like, with some cringy lines here and there—one that comes to mind is a line from “Worms”, ‘My bones decay, now I’m gelatin’—and there’s also “Miss Nectarine”, which I’ll admit is a complicated song lyrically, and while Ashnikko has explained what the song is about, the lyrics themselves don’t really clearly show what’s going on … but it feels like one of those you-should-be-with-me-instead anthems.

But again, I do like a lot of the lyrics here. There are some funny lines like ‘I can’t help that I want to be titty-smothered’, but also a lot of lyrics I like which have a message to them. I like how “Cheerleader” tears into the stereotype about cheerleaders, with violent lyrics that clearly are not meant literally, but instead as a way of turning the stereotype on its head—she’s not stereotyping cheerleaders as being violent, it’s just intentionally over-the-top to call out the stereotype of cheerleaders needing to be—in her words—‘beautiful and cute in little shorts.’ And I also like the lyrics fighting for abortion rights in “Possession of a Weapon” which have some bite to them—pun intended. (If you read the lyrics you’ll probably know what I’m referring to.)

So, overall, there are moments here that I like, and I also want to mention that awesome part of “You Make Me Sick!” when they yell, ‘I’M MAD!’ And some of the poppier moments work, too … but I also find it quite inconsistent, with the trap percussion often sounding kind of awkward here, especially in “Worms” in which it overpowers the mix. And overall, while there are some interesting ideas here, a lot of it can sound kind of generic to me … I’m not denying the creativity here, it’s just not really doing all that much for me personally, and if I want to listen to this style of music, there are quite a few other albums I’d rather listen to. So, for me, it’s a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Cheerleader”, “Chokehold Cherry Python”, “Possession of a Weapon”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Miss Nectarine”

another triumph of ghetto engineering by Open Mike Eagle:

For a while, Open Mike Eagle has been one of those artists whose name I’ve seen/heard a lot, and I’d heard really good things about his music, but I’d never really listened to it … and I still haven’t listened to any of his other albums, but I decided to check out this new album, and …

Well, it’s a very short album, only nine tracks and under half an hour. There are a few guest features here, and there’s some interesting experimentation in the sound.

I really like the flows here, not only from Open Mike Eagle, but also from a lot of the guests, like STILL RIFT on “the grand prize game on the bozo show”, which might be my favourite guest feature on the entire album!

Like I say very often, I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics … so, I’m not going to pretend that I understand everything that’s being said here, because I don’t. So, take my lyrical analyzations with a grain of salt.

But I do really like the lyrics for the most part! Although I’m not really sure this is trying to be super deep—maybe I’m totally missing something, but even when there are some points being made about serious topics, it usually seems pretty to-the-point.

There’s also some humour in some of the lyrics, and I think it works well with the flows.

I think the album opens really well with that awesome vocal effect on “I bled on stage at first ave”, and from that point on the album stays not only compelling, but very enjoyable! So, yeah, I think this is great! For me it’s an 8.5/10! If you’re a fan of hip hop you’ll probably love this, and if you aren’t … well, this might be a good place to start. This album rules!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “I bled on stage at first ave”, “a new rap festival called falling loud”, “the grand prize game on the bozo show”, “we should have made otherground a thing”, “WFLD 32”, “mad enough to aim a pyramid at you”
Least Favourite Tracks: “the wire s3 e1”

Zach Bryan by Zach Bryan:

This is my first time listening to a Zach Bryan album, although “Something in the Orange” was an honourable mention on my list of my favourite hit songs of last year.

So, was this a good first impression when it comes to Zach Bryan albums? Well, I mostly like it. There are some nice strings, Zach Bryan is a good singer, and there are some good melodies and lyrics, too.

But overall, it’s just not really wowing me all that much. Yes, there’s a lot of great storytelling here, and the production mostly sounds good … but something just feels missing to me, and I’m not entirely sure what.

I mean, there’s a lot of emotion here, but it just didn’t resonate with me personally all that much.

And maybe it’s something in the melodies. Yes, I said I like some of the melodies, but at points it can just get boring to me, in part because of the vocal melodies.

But maybe it’s just me feeling like I’ve heard quite a few similar albums that I like better—even if I’m not sure I actually have. But still, in a year when I’ve arguably become a country fan, the albums this year from Gabe Lee and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, as well as that album I reviewed in this post by Turnpike Troubadours, who are actually mentioned on this album … well, those albums all did more for me personally. Even Luke Combs’ newest album has more I’d go back to on it than this one. But still, I mostly like this, so I’ll give it a 7/10. Good stuff!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Summertime’s Close”, “Jake’s Piano – Long Island”, “I Remember Everything”, “Tradesmen”, “Smaller Acts”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Oklahoman Son”

50,000 Kilogon Puke Lubricated Intestinal Fracturing by Teratoma:

So, let me just say right now that I have never been able to get into the gorenoise genre. And honestly, I don’t really understand the appeal of it. That’s not to say that it’s all objectively bad or anything, I’m just saying I personally don’t get it. But I was looking for new albums to listen to, and I randomly came across this … and you know what? I decided to give it a chance. Maybe this is the album that will help me understand gorenoise.

And nope, it isn’t … to me, this pretty much just sounds like a bunch of random noises, and the songs all blend together for me. I’m not saying there isn’t anything to this, but I personally don’t find it interesting at all … but maybe that’s a me thing.

I couldn’t find lyrics to this when I looked for them, so I can’t really comment on that … but overall, when I say I couldn’t get into this at all and don’t understand the appeal, I don’t mean that it’s the worst album ever or anything like that, I just don’t see why I personally would want to listen to this, and honestly I found it quite annoying.

I mean, at least it’s short … for me it’s a strong 4/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: ???
Least Favourite Tracks: ???

99 Nights by Charlotte Cardin:

This is the second studio album from Charlotte Cardin, following her 2021 debut album Phoenix. I was first introduced to her music when I heard the single, “Passive Aggressive”, which I think is a great breakup song with strong lyrics, really good production, and some great details in the instrumental … but unfortunately, the rest of the album was kind of a slog to get through for me; most of the vocal melodies bored me, and the hooks aren’t that strong if you ask me, and some parts of the album I found pretty annoying—“Passive Aggressive”, to me, is by far the best song on the album.

And unfortunately, I don’t think this is much better. And once again, a large part of that is due to the vocal melodies, which barely do anything for me at all. And considering how much of a fan I am of strong vocal melodies, it can get really frustrating listening through an album with barely any vocal melodies that I really like. That’s not always the case, especially in a lot of hip hop or black metal, but for a pop album like this it would take a lot more in the instrumentation, production, lyrics, etc. to really wow me for me to really like this album despite finding the vocal melodies so boring … and I’m just not all that wowed, personally.

I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics, so take it with a grain of salt when I say a lot of the lyrics feel generic, but of course it’s open to interpretation, and the lyrics just didn’t do much for me for the most part—and while there are some lyrics I like, there are also some that are pretty questionable, like the possessive lyrics of “Somebody First”, which I think is the worst song here.

I will say I probably like the production a little bit more here than on Phoenix, with the basslines sounding really well mixed and a lot of the instrumental tones sound nice when combined with each other, but I’m still not amazed by it to the point where it would really elevate the album above mediocrity for me.

If you want to know what some of the highlights of the album are for me … well, my favourite tracks are listed down below, but I wouldn’t say there’s a great song here outside of “Jim Carrey”, which might be my favourite Charlotte Cardin song to date (although I haven’t heard her EPs yet), and the group vocals in the chorus sound incredibly well harmonized! But the title track has a mostly pleasant chorus and some cool synths, “Next to You” is a nice, mellow closer to the album, and I really like the percussion on “Daddy’s a Psycho”. But overall, I would only consider this a slight improvement over Phoenix. For me, this is a 5.5/10. I can kind of see the appeal of this album, but it’s not for me at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Jim Carrey”, “99 Nights”, “Daddy’s a Psycho”, “Next to You”
Least Favourite Tracks: “How High”, “Somebody First”

Where Do We Go from Here? by Asking Alexandria:

This is the eighth studio album by Asking Alexandria, and it’s the first one of their albums I’ve listened to. Considering that I hadn’t heard super positive things about this band’s music, I can’t say my expectations for this were very high, and I honestly kind of expected this to be bad …

But after multiple listens, I don’t think it is. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t elements of this album that I don’t like—there are—but I don’t find it actively annoying or boring to the point where I just want to stay away from the album. Now, does that mean I’ll be going back to this much? No, I don’t think so, but I don’t dislike this album … to me, it’s just kind of … there.

Lead singer Danny Worsnop has said this album’s lyrics aren’t super personal, which makes me feel a bit less bad for saying that I don’t find the lyrics all that interesting—but as always, that’s just me personally. And if the point of this album was to appeal to the largest possible audience, well … I mean, I can’t say if it worked or not, but the album doesn’t really appeal to me.

The production often sounds quite messy, with the snares sounding awkward when paired with the instrumentals, and outside of the occasional good hook, there’s just not much about this that I personally find all that memorable, and the mixing often drowns the vocals out, with one big example being on “Nothing Left”—and it underpowers that song’s chorus which is otherwise arguably my favourite chorus on the album!

But for the most part this is just mediocre if you ask me … some of the riffs are hard-hitting, and there’s not a ton about this that I find super annoying, even though I would have liked this a lot more if I liked the production more—and considering how much I like the vocal harmonies and melodies on “Let Go”, and that the production gives that song more punch—honestly, it’s the one great song here if you ask me—I’ll give this a 5/10. Not a particularly positive score, but I don’t dislike this … and while a lot of this is kind of forgettable to me, some of the moments I don’t really like I at least find a little bit interesting—for example, while I’m not a fan of “Psycho”,  which sounds to me like a mediocre Fall Out Boy song, it’s quite different from a lot of the other songs here … so, I’d recommend listening to this if you’re into hard rock/metal—it didn’t click for me, and there’s a good chance it won’t for you, either, but you’ll probably be glad you heard it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Let Go”, “Nothing Left”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Dark Void”, “Feel”