year: 2018
tones of: bright eyes, perfume genius, freddie mercury, modest mouse, bruce springsteen, velvet underground
genre samples: lo-fi rock, rock and roll, blues, folk, art pop
music: harsh, naked, metaphorical, dark, epic, fantastic, visual, real, lyrical, marching, edgy, anxious, direct, unhinged, extraterrestrial, tragic, raw, crunchy, melodic, weird, comedic, supernatural, busy, triumphant, renegade, theatrical, personal
favs: suck the blood from my wound, no place, maraschino red dress $8.99 at goodwill, i lost my innocence, peel my orange every morning, come here get away from me
score: 8.5/10
year: 2016
tones of: bright eyes, tonic, wilco
genre samples: rock n roll, emo, lo-fi rock, garage rock, college rock, grunge
music: bare, simple, fuzzy, acoustic, detailed, jangly, distorted
lyrics: detached, somber, intellectual, dense, cynical, introspective
vocals: raspy, emotional, straining, punchy, urgent, distressed
favs: old friends, aphasia, size of the moon, cadmium, new friends
nb: this album only clocks in at half an hour, but really maximizes every minute
score: 8/10
year: 2013
tones of: the black keys, red hot chili peppers, the beatles, the strokes, coldplay, the white stripes
genre samples: blues, rock n roll, soul, psychedelic rock, punk, lo-fi rock, garage rock
music: marching, bombastic, busy, drumming, big, winding, jangling, cruising, lazy, swirling, mellow
favs: do you wanna know?, r u mine?, one for the road, arabella, no. 1 party anthem, why'd you only call me when you're high?, knee socks
nb: if you're anything like me, it's been a minute since you've really liked a rock album so give this a couple of spins. feels like a maturation of that early 2000s "post-punk/garage rock revival".
score: 8/10 (and the first half of this is just really on point)
