Hello, everyone! Time for more mini reviews!

As always, these are just my personal feelings on these albums. Even if it sounds like I’m trying to be ‘objective’ or whatever, it’s really just how I personally feel.

Alright, time for the reviews!

Heaven knows by PinkPantheress:

This is officially PinkPantheress’s debut studio album, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into it.

And if you’re looking for some simple pop bops, I think this’ll do the job, as there are a lot of catchy hooks and melodies, and the production is mostly strong in my opinion.

But I’m also not going to deny that a lot of it feels like filler to me, with only a small portion of the track list really standing out all that much to me, and even though I do like the production for the most part, there are quite a few points where the timbres don’t blend as well as I would have liked and something just ends up standing out feeling a bit awkward … but throughout most of the album I haven’t really noticed that.

So, yeah, overall I think it’s a pretty enjoyable listen. I’ll give it a 6.5/10, and for fans of pop I’d recommend it if you haven’t heard it yet, but I can’t say I’m as big a fan of this as a lot of critics are. Just being honest.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “True romance”, “Mosquito”, “Blue”, “Capable of love”, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2”
Least Favourite Track: “Nice to meet you”

Nekkuja by Marina Herlop:

This is my first time listening to a Marina Herlop album, and I saw this getting quite a bit of critical acclaim, so I was curious to check it out, and … well, the first thing I’ll mention is that the lyrics are in Catalan, and because I don’t speak Catalan I translated them online, but only the ones I could find, as I couldn’t find all the lyrics to this album. And I’m not sure how accurate the translations I found are. So, lyrics aren’t a huge factor for me with this album.

But I do like the way it sounds! I really like the eerie atmosphere of a lot of these tracks, and there are some good vocal melodies, too!

I think the production and mixing are pretty solid here, too … but overall, there’s just not a whole lot about it that really makes it stand out to me all that much. I mostly just found it pleasant while it’s on without really feeling drawn to go back to it all that much.

I will at least say the vocals are really impressive, and if you’re looking for an album with a lot of small details that add quite a bit, I think it’s worth hearing—again, I think it’s quite good. But with all the music out there, this doesn’t come close to being among my favourite albums of the year. So, for me it’s a fairly light 7/10. I like it, but I wouldn’t recommend going into it with the highest of expectations, that’s all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Cosset”, “Karada”, “Babel”
Least Favourite Track: “Busa”

ONE MORE TIME… by blink-182:

So, believe it or not, this is actually my first time listening to a blink-182 album, and because it’s a blink-182 album released in 2023, I feel like I’m ‘supposed’ to dislike it … but I don’t.

In fact, I actually think this is some pretty solid pop-punk!

Now, I’m not saying I think this album is great, because I don’t, and some of the vocal melodies can be pretty underwhelming at points, and I think the mixing is pretty inconsistent, but other than that I mostly like the production, and there are some really strong hooks here, like in “BLINK WAVE” and “EDGING” and some other songs as well!

And while I don’t think the lyrics are anything all that unique for the most part, there are some good standout lines here and there, and the lyrics are mostly likeable if you ask me.

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some cringey moments here, because I think there are, but overall … light 7/10 for me. Again, it feels like I’m ‘supposed’ to dislike this, but if I’m being honest I ended up enjoying it quite a bit!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “TERRIFIED”, “WHEN WE WERE YOUNG”, “EDGING”, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT”, “BLINK WAVE”
Least Favourite Track: “FELL IN LOVE”

The Enduring Spirit by Tomb Mold:

So, I’m not a huge death metal fan, but I saw this album getting a ton of critical acclaim, and I had heard it was somewhere between death metal and black metal, and I like black metal … and also, I like some death metal. So, I decided to give this a chance, and …

Well, it’s not really clicking for me as much as it is for a lot of people. And part of it is probably the genre, but I also just don’t find the production gives this as much punch as I’d like.

But I will say there are some interesting lyrics, even though I don’t really understand what they’re about. And the guitar does sound pretty good for the most part.

So, overall … well, I don’t dislike this album, but I don’t think I’m going to go back to it much. Still, though, I’ll give it a 6/10, it’s got elements to it that I like, but not much that really wowed me all that much personally.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Perfect Memory (Phantasm of Aura”, “Angelic Fabrications”, “Servants of Possibility”
Least Favourite Track: “Fate’s Tangled Thread”

SUPERBLOOM by Silent Planet:

This is the fifth studio album by Silent Planet, and now four out of five of them have dropped in November. Anyway, this is the follow-up to their 2021 album Iridescent, and considering I wasn’t really a big fan of that album, I can’t say my expectations for this were super high …

And unfortunately, as I expected, this mostly just feels like some pretty by the numbers metalcore which doesn’t really have a whole lot to offer, at least to me.

Now, that’s not to say I think this is bad, because I don’t. I’ll admit the guitar distortion has some nice crunch to it, even though it can feel underpowered at points. And often the drums fit well with these songs.

But overall this album doesn’t really make me feel like going back to it. It’s got its moments, with some of the more melodic moments working well like in “Collider”, “Euphoria”, and in the title track. But I’m not as big a fan of the screamed vocals, and the compositions feel pretty generic to me for the most part. So, I’m going to give this a 6/10. It’s not bad, but I can’t say it’s doing all that much for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Lights off the Lost Coast”, “Collider”, “Euphoria”, “SUPERBLOOM”
Least Favourite Track: “Antimatter”

Hard Light by Drop Nineteens:

Drop Nineteens formed in the early 1990s, released two albums, and then broke up in 1995 … then they reformed as a band last year, and they’ve now released their first album in over thirty years! I don’t think I’d heard of them until this album came out, but I decided to give it some listens, and I mostly enjoyed it!

This album I think falls somewhere between shoegaze and dream pop, and while I’ve heard this style done in ways I like a lot more, and this can feel kind of generic at points, it’s still a mostly well-produced album with an airy sound that isn’t overdone to the point where it just sounds like a mess.

I’m not always a huge fan of the instrumentals as a lot of them just don’t leave much of an impact on me, but there are some interesting lyrics and some of the vocal melodies are pretty good. “Tarantula” has some really nice blazing acoustic guitar, and I love the line, ‘Saw her see me seein’ her, she saw me see her seein’ me.’

So, yeah, overall I’m not wowed by this, so I’m giving it a very strong 6.5/10, but for fans of dream pop or shoegaze, I think you might really enjoy this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Scapa Flow”, “Tarantula”, “Lookout”
Least Favourite Track: “Rose With Smoke”

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips by Armand Hammer:

This is my first time listening to an Armand Hammer album, although I have listened to some of billy woods’ music before, and considering how I’ve felt about the billy woods albums I’ve heard, I was really excited to hear this!

And like both the other billy woods albums I’ve heard, it’s very layered and complicated lyrically. And while I somewhat tried to figure out what the lyrics mean, I didn’t try super hard. I mean, it’s super layered and complicated, and I’ve been very busy … and it’s not like I’m giving the album its own review anyway. I’m just sharing some brief thoughts on it. But still, some of these lyrics really did get me thinking, and I’m fascinated by it. There are a lot of things discussed here, with some of it seeming to be about greed and capitalism, as well as wondering if you’re part of the problem. Although I could be wrong about this.

And there are also quite a few individual lines that I really like, such as when E L U C I D says ‘I feel a way about proving my identity to robots’ on “The Flexible Unreliability Of Time & Memory”.

So, do I like the album? Well, yeah, I do, but I also can’t say I love it as much as a lot of critics do. I’m not denying it’s a fascinating listen, but as much as I really like the lyrics for the most part, the instrumentals don’t feel nearly as experimental as I think they’re supposed to … don’t get me wrong, the instrumentals are creative, but they don’t really wow me as much as they do for a lot of people. Musically, this doesn’t feel as groundbreaking as it seems like it’s supposed to.

And I’m not saying this is bad—in fact, I think it’s quite good. It’s just that musically it doesn’t feel as amazing to me as it does to a lot of people. That’s all.

I do mostly like the production, and while I’m not as wowed by the lyrics here as I am on Aethiopes or Maps I still really like the lyrics, and it’s one of those albums where the mystery of the lyrics kind of makes the album better in my opinion, and I think it’s something about the combination of that with the avant-garde instrumentals, even though I don’t find the instrumentals as mind-blowing as a lot of people seem to.

billy woods and E L U C I D both have a lot of good flows here, although the guest verses can be very hit or miss for me … but overall, I highly recommend you hear this album for yourself and make your own interpretations, or at least don’t take my interpretations too seriously, because while I don’t think most critics really understand this album all that well, I think a lot of them understand it better than I do.

So, you could say it’s just not really for me, I guess … but I still do really like it, so I’ll give it a 7/10. Again, take this with a huge grain of salt, but this album doesn’t feel as interesting to me as a lot of abstract hip hop, although it is still very interesting … but considering I haven’t listened to a ton of abstract hip hop, that might be saying something … although, again, it’s an album that I don’t really understand, and maybe that’s part of the reason it’s not fully clicking with me as much as I’d like … but there are lots of albums I don’t understand that I still love.

So, all I really know is that I’m not really loving this album, but I still highly recommend it!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Woke Up and Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die”, “The Gods Must Be Crazy”, “Y’all Can’t Stand Right Here”, “Supermooned”
Least Favourite Track: “The Key Is Under The Mat”

Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. by †††:

This is †††’s second studio album and their first since 2014. And while I haven’t listened to that album I have listened to some of Deftones’ stuff (although this reminds me I want to listen to more Deftones), and for those of you who don’t know, Deftones’ lead singer Chino Moreno is also the lead singer of †††.

Anyway, how do I feel about the album? Well, I don’t really like it, I’ll start by saying that.

It feels like so many of these tracks would work a lot better as hard rock songs, but the poppier sound really just doesn’t fit well with the vocal melodies in my opinion.

But it’s not like the compositions really wowed me all that much, either. Overall, it just feels like an album I’ve heard before.

I mean, I don’t dislike it. At least it’s mixed pretty well, but the lyrics don’t feel super interesting to me and something just feels so awkward about the instrumentation and vocal melodies when you put them together. And toward the end of the album, there are some super awkward percussion choices, such as in “Natural Selection”. There are moments that I like, but as a whole it just feels kind of like a mess … I think the album starts strong with some of the best melodies on the album, and then it just falls apart from there. 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Invisible Hand”, “Runner”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Big Youth”, “End Youth (Reprise)”, “Natural Selection”