Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! I said I had a lot more mini reviews on the way, and … well, here are some more of them!

As always, these are just my personal feelings on the albums. Even if I say something negative, it doesn’t mean I’m trying to be mean or anything.

Alright, now let’s get these reviews started!

Jenny from Thebes by The Mountain Goats:

This is only my second time listening to an album by The Mountain Goats, although I’ve heard great things about them. So while their album from last year, Bleed Out, didn’t do much for me at all, I was excited to hear this album.

But unfortunately this isn’t really doing a whole lot for me. The production often seems to be going for this really huge, anthemic sound, and … well, it kind of works for me, but something just seems off about the way the timbres of the instruments blend together, and it holds back songs like “Clean Slate” and “Same as Cash” from hitting a lot harder.

There’s some interesting storytelling here and some really good imagery in the lyrics, but a lot of the lyrics just don’t really do a whole lot for me personally, and I don’t find the compositions super interesting for the most part, although the chord progressions and vocal melodies fit really well together in “Water Tower”.

And the percussion often sounds awkward when paired with the rest of the instrumentation, and it’s just one of many things that leaves this album feeling really underwhelming.

But I don’t think this is bad—again, there are some elements here that I really like, but something just feels missing. It’s got interesting lyrics, and some good melodies here and there, but it feels more consistently decent than anything … so, yeah, while I don’t think there’s a bad song here aside from maybe “Going to Dallas” which has some of the least interesting vocal melodies here, I’m not sure there’s a great song here, either.

But still, I get the appeal, and I’d recommend listening to it if you haven’t already. It’s just not really for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Clean Slate”, “Fresh Tattoo”, “Same as Cash”, “Water Tower”
Least Favourite Track: “Going to Dallas”

Wallsocket by underscores:

I was originally planning on giving this album its own review, but considering how many other mini reviews I’m working on and the fact that this was one of a few individual reviews I was planning to post, I just decided not to give all of them their own review, and now this one’s a mini review.

This album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, and I absolutely understand why it’s getting praised so much.

There is a lot to this album, and it’s an album that really made me think a lot, which is the main reason I was going to give it its own review despite the fact that … well, I’ve got to be honest with you and say that I’m not really loving this album. But still, it’s a super interesting listen that’s got a lot of lyrical depth, and just because I don’t love it doesn’t mean I’m not fascinated by it.

This is a concept album that takes place in a fictional town in Michigan called Wallsocket, and it tells the story of three girls. And there are so many different topics discussed on this album, like parasocial relationships, greed, and possibly some references to horseshoe theory, although it seems to be making fun of horseshoe theory rather than supporting it (but I could be wrong about that). And personally, while I don’t know much about horseshoe theory, from what I do know about it I mostly don’t agree with horseshoe theory, although keep in mind I said ‘mostly’. But getting back on topic, there are many more things discussed here, including some very heavy topics like grooming, like in “Johnny johnny johnny”, which tells the story of a child being groomed, and it’s from the perspective of the child … and as heartbreaking as the lyrics are, this song sounds like arguably one of the most upbeat, happy-sounding songs here, and if I’m being honest the combination of the lyrics and the sound here don’t really work for me at all … and yet, I totally understand how the upbeat sound could represent the fact that a lot of people just want to ignore these huge problems in the world, or it could also have to do with the fact that the narrator is being tricked into doing something, because the listener is being tricked into thinking it’s a happy song … and honestly, this is just one of many examples here where there’s something in this album that doesn’t really work for me, but I can think of a counterargument for it that I can totally understand.

It also seems like a lot of this album is about being transgender, especially because Underscores herself is transgender, and how a lot of society is against transgender people existing. And as a cisgender person myself, I can’t say I relate to it, but that kind of makes it more powerful—this album is another reminder that as much as I and other cisgender people can try to have empathy for trans people, we can’t fully understand what it’s like to be trans. And it’s one of many things on this album that really made me think.

But keep in mind that while I have read some things that underscores has said about this album, a lot of what I’ve said here is just my own personal interpretation of these lyrics, and I could be very wrong about a lot of this. But you’re probably wondering what I’m going to rate this album, and … okay, for me this is a 6/10, but take that rating with a MASSIVE grain of salt, because I should make a few things clear: I rate albums based on how much or how little I personally like them, and considering that some key elements of the story throughout the album aren’t actually in the album itself does make it a little harder for me to associate it with that (such as the concept of the three girls and the town of Wallsocket) even though I totally understand why that wouldn’t matter to some people, and as experimental as the instrumentation is, a lot of it just didn’t really click for me personally as much as I do find it fascinating. And I could go on and on about this album—again, I was going to make it its own review—but in short, it’s not really for me, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend you listen to this album! It’s an incredibly deep album lyrically with tons of potential double-meanings, and super fascinating instrumentation and lots of catchy moments, and while I personally don’t love this album, it’s absolutely worth the hype!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Locals (Girls like us)”, “Horror movie soundtrack”, “Geez louise”, “Good luck final girl”
Least Favourite Track: “Cops and robbers”

Volcano by Jungle:

This is the fourth studio album from Jungle, a duo who I feel like I might have heard of before finding out about this album, although I’m not sure about that. This album came out back in August, and I can’t remember if I knew about it when it came out or not, but I wasn’t planning on listening to it until a friend of mine recommended it to me recently. So, I decided to give this multiple listens, and … unfortunately, it’s not really doing a whole lot for me.

I’m not saying this is bad, but it does feel lacking in elements that really make me want to go back to it. It’s not like the vocal melodies really interest me all that much outside of certain moments, and when they do it’s not always for the better—for example, in the album opener, “Us Against The World”, there are some melodies which I find kind of annoying, at least when combined with what sounds like some pitch-shifted vocals—and really, it’s the combination of the two, which, for whatever reason, sounds really annoying in my opinion. I don’t mind the vocals or even the melody, but the two combined just really annoy me when I’m listening to it for whatever reason.

And while there are moments where I really like the production, it can also sound kind of messy at points, with the instruments not blending all that well together in my opinion. Although I will say I mostly like the percussion, and “Don’t Play” has great production and a really good use of a sample throughout the song.

But overall … well, if you’re looking for some upbeat dance music, I see why this might work, but it just didn’t really do a whole lot for me personally. I did mildly enjoy it, so I’ll give it a 6/10, but I just don’t think it’ll have much replay value for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Holding On”, “Candle Flame”, “Coming Back”, “Don’t Play”, “Pretty Little Thing”
Least Favourite Track: “Us Against The World”

Objects Without Pain by Great Falls:

I don’t think I’d heard of this band until recently, but I’ve seen this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, and based on some genre descriptions I’d seen such as post-hardcore, it seemed like something I’d be interested in hearing.

And it’s worth mentioning that I couldn’t find lyrics for this album when I looked them up, and while I can hear some of them I can’t hear all of them, so they aren’t as big a factor for me on this album than they otherwise would be.

Overall, I kind of get the hype with this one, as it’s got some crushing guitars and drums that feel like they could fit really well with the screamed vocals. But just because I get it doesn’t mean it’s really doing a whole lot for me … and it’s not. I mean, I don’t dislike it, but I don’t think the production has quite the punch for it to really hit as hard as I’d like … I just often feel like the sound is a bit messy, which might be the intent, but it keeps it from having more impact for me.

And the album is also quite long, with a running time of close to an hour, and after a while I just kind of start to get tired of it, considering there’s not much about it that really stands out to me personally all that much. I feel like I’ve just heard this sound done in much more interesting ways. But just like with all of these albums, that’s just my opinion.

And overall, if you’re into metal or post-hardcore or anything like that, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up loving this … but even as a fan of heavy music myself, I can’t say this did a whole lot for me, so here’s another 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Dragged Home Alive”, “Ceilings Inch Closer”, “The Starveling”
Least Favourite Track: “Old Words Worn Thin”

Uma by betcover!!:

Here’s a pretty short album that could be described as art rock, or progressive rock, or something like that. Either way, it’s been getting a lot of critical acclaim, so I was curious to hear it.

It’s worth mentioning that this is in Japanese, and I don’t speak Japanese, so even though I translated the lyrics online, I don’t know how accurate the translations are.

Anyway, do I like the album? I would say yes, but I don’t love it. Often the production feels messy, and while I think that was the intent, I don’t think the instrumental timbres blend super well together, and often the mixing will have specific instruments that feel too loud or too quiet.

It’s very impressive musically, and while I often really like this kind of music, there’s not really a whole lot about this album that really makes me want to go back to it personally.

But still, it’s a pretty impressive album that I recommend … personally, I’m giving this a 6.5/10 (so, I guess I like it slightly more than the first four albums in this post), but I will say this: this band seems like they’d be fun to see live.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Virtual Sex”, “Kagami”, “Himatsuri No Odori”
Least Favourite Track: “Fumetsu No Kuni”

Year of the Newt by Bobbing:

This is the debut solo studio album by Bobbing, an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until this album came out.

It’s a pretty short album which kind of has a bit of a post-punk vibe to it, at least at points. I guess it could also maybe be considered funk music.

But either way, I see how this might work as dance music, or as background music, but it’s just not really doing a ton for me personally. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and I think the production is pretty good albeit not great. But overall, something just feels missing to me and I can’t quite place what.

Also, I don’t think the lyrics are bad, but they also feel full of clichés and just don’t feel all that interesting to me personally, but keep in mind analyzing lyrics is not a strong suit of mine.

While I’m not a huge fan of this album, there are some things that I like here. Again, I mostly like the production, and I think there are some good melodies at points here. I think “Elevator Music” has some really nice synths, and the album opens on a mostly positive note with “It Never Happened”, and I like how the sound of a dog barking creates a melody on the final track.

But overall, this just doesn’t feel super interesting to me, and while it makes me curious to hear more from Bobbing and shows potential, this album in particular just doesn’t do a whole lot to stand out to me personally, and thus … well, I guess this is just the theme of this post, as it’s yet another 6/10 if you ask me. This album is getting a lot of critical acclaim, but I can’t say it’s for me personally.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “It Never Happened”, “Elevator Music”, “A Night Alone”
Least Favourite Track: “Cool With It”