Converge - The Dusk in Us
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
Perhaps most gratifying for the already-familiar fan is that they continue to create creative metalcore carnage this captivatingly corybantic nine albums in. For the uninitiated, it's as proper a place to start as any and gratifying for the same ol trademark traits you can always Convergely count on -- the suturing of savagery and suffering, melody and turbulence, painstaking prog and pummeling in-the-moment punk filth. Stuffing 2-to-3-minute songs with so much slammin' spry-ass substance that the seldom drawn-out soft-start slowdown is necessary even if just comparably so-so. Exceptional full-album flow. Group-effort dynamism keeping it fresh+fervid with no signs of letting up anytime soon. The Standard In Them. 8/10
Gang of Youths - Go Farther in Lightness
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
Their stagy-n-sentimental nature is a considerable red flag, the ambition overtly overstated, 5+minute loquacities the norm and broken up with stringterludes that transmit waiting for a wedding to start. Gotta hand it to da gang, though: their drive is dogged and rather gorgeous and oh how notably amiable they are in anthemic mode. Intelligent and genuinely emotionally engaging enuff to almost make ya fret that Le'aupepe is too oft-mumbly to let em meld into the rock-band mainstream. Able to tackle wrestling with religion in a mature manner and go noisy and make gripping mantras outta shopworn positivities and seamlessly cop Journey. Corny and/or steep on the whole, but hey -- he's a "heart in the gutter type" with Springsteen in mind and Flowers for posture, Gang Green's the pastor, they're seemingly gunning for a punk rock opera of sorts. Ehh give em a break. 7.5/10
Hamell On Trial - Tackle Box
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
Ed Hamell is seasoned as a rambler-n-rhymer, acoustic thrasher, skillful storyteller, singular homespun punk-scuzzer -- and here sees him pulling together all the concerned yearnin' and unbounded wit and frank force needed to loosely capture the tumult of the Trump era. Besides being perturbed over his kid feeling apprehension rather than admiration for fuckface cops and our browbeater world leader, he fuses raunch and drollery ("She ride it like her panties on fire / She ride it like she binge watch The Wire"); adores an Australian chatterer's verbal inflections as much as her drunkenly eloquent thoughts on America; wistfully reminisces about high school ("Hiding pot in our locker until there's a raid / Getting three new albums cuz we just got paid"); discusses the life he's lived and how he'd like to die ("inevitably"). Resolute repetition guides the way, and when shit gets heavy -- i.e. regularly -- periodic quickies-for-the-kids about Froggy's picturesquely glit-edge lifespan are there to mollify. Proclamation Of One-Man Project That's All The Better For It: "You can spoil the brain broth with too many cooks / Call it Tackle Box cuz it's got so many hooks". 9/10
Igorrr - Savage Sinusoid
///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\
Lots to like and lots to question in this officially oddball genre-jumble. Divinely ornamented yet chopped up mercilessly, honest to god operatics flirting with barefaced shrieks+babble, bewitching black metal beside riffs from the Life is Peachy playbook, touches of sedate piano and polka for good(?) measure. Most damning contrast-combo however is that of the highfalutin and the goofy. And while jumping from ancient castles to front seats at the symphony to pushin' in the pit to glitchin' in the club is for sure made into a twisted and tantalizing tour de force, it's hard to not hear it as novelty -- it's just not all that practical. Like having three r's in Igorrr. 7/10
Kesha - Rainbow
Her legal dealings with predatory producer of yore Dr. Luke invoke accomplished artistic freedom and emotional scarring gettin' tackled by a determined defiance that's silly and striking and sincere. Hence Kesha seemingly on her mettle -- it surely tips the obnox+sappy scales on occasion (intentionally and un) but there's alot to appreciate bout the range and a bulk of the tunes. Country chops, breathtaking balladry, big bright punk-pep barnburners backed by Eagles of Death Metal, a clawed bare-barring-boots rolling stoner one minute and a dittier about the double-edged sword that is dating Godzilla the next, cursing aplenty, catchy as fuck. If it sounds like a somewhat ridiculous romp with a topical twist, that's prolly cuz it kinda is. There's also the hook of "Learn to Let Go" being like a hair away from Miley's "Party in the USA"; but I was aurally swayed to let it go. 6.5/10
Zola Jesus - Okovi
*******HIGHEST RECS*******
Too frigid for pop prominence yet too cautious for the guise of goth, but surely a solid middle ground is struck. Exceptionally stirring is suicide awareness coexisting with adventure advocacy; but right, on the whole it's routinely rather breathtaking. Tho its grandness does get dampened by staying stiff to a hampering degree. It'll soar, thud, rustle, drain, suck you in, maybe even life-affirm -- but I'll be damned if it don't seem inescapably vacant. 7.5/10
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Bicep - Bicep 5.5/10
Enslaved - E 6.5/10
Mastodon - Cold Dark Place [EP] 7/10
Nmesh - Pharma 7/10
Partner - In Search of Lost Time 5.5/10
Shilpa Ray - Door Girl 7/10
Nadia Struiwigh - Lenticular 7/10
Taylor Swift - Reputation 5/10
Tall Friend - Safely Nobody's 5/10
The Black Dahlia Murder - Nightbringers 7/10
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding 6/10
The World is a Beautiful Place... - Always Foreign 6.5/10
Turnover - Good Nature ~*~meh~*~
Kamasi Washington - Harmony of Difference [EP] 6.5/10
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