this is a fun one because i’ve been lucky to have reviewed singles from three of the four records i’ll write about here! over the last few months my excitement for april 7th has grown and grown. here’s the playlist, and some mini-reviews for each record below:
Blondshell - Blondshell
i have been so psyched for this record since “Kiss City,” and i was not disappointed! this record captures a very full spectrum of emotion and gives me the feeling it was made for me specifically. obviously, it was not, and i can’t even personally relate to half of the themes on this record, but Sabrina has captured something universal in these songs, the experience of being young and confused and having enormous feelings. i think it’s a tremendous debut.
if anything, this record feels short, since five/six of the nine songs were already released before the full LP release. but i like the way the new songs fill out the record, adding some slower and quieter moments on songs like “Dangerous” and “Sober Together.” Blondshell played a free show at Amoeba Hollywood the night before the album release, and i was lucky enough to catch most of it. the band was excellent live, and Sabrina was amazing; i’d love to catch her at another show and i will be blasting this record on all upcoming drives, windows down baby.
favorite tracks: Sober Together, Salad, Veronica Mars
Blondshell live at Amoeba:
Rat Saw God - Wednesday
Wednesday feels like a very special band — i don’t know if it’s the reverence that the fans feel about the group (i’ll admit i’m not deep enough in Wednesday lore to know the origin of them being the “best band in the world” but i do like it whenever that pops up on my twitter feed), or the irreverence of lead singer Karly Hartzman’s lyricism, but it’s probably that special combination. Wednesday has such a huge breadth of what they’re able to do as a band, and this album showcases it so well; from twangy, country, folky songs like “Chosen to Deserve” and “Formula One,” to big and loud and angry anthems like “Hot Rotten Grass Smell” and “Bull Believer.” And then there’s the Waterloo Sunset interpolation that is “Quarry.” i can’t describe how this song makes me feel — Hartzman’s vocals on that Kinks melody is just too good! i think there is absolutely something in this record for everyone.
favorite tracks: “Chosen to Deserve,” “Quarry,” “TV in the Gas Pump”
Drop Cherries - Billie Marten
slowing down now and taking some deep breaths, we have the fourth LP from english singer-songwriter Billie Marten. i like the sonic direction of this record and I think Marten’s poetic approach to songwriting really shines here. straight off the bat, we’ve got lines like “Fresh are the flowers, and air that is sweet / Bringin' me back to you / Tell me what happened when angels once flew / Reached the sublime by a line that they drew / So keep me en route and tie wings on my shoes / As I pull on through.” this kind of romantic imagery feels genuine and earnest when sung in her voice.
in Marten’s third album, she experimented with an alt-rock sound and some unique arrangements. Drop Cherries feels like a matured return to her English folk trajectory, with more interesting additions and arrangements, including some gorgeous strings (see “Devil Swim” and “Tongue”) and some full-band songs (“Nothing But Mine” and “I Can’t Get My Head Around You”) that feel like the slow tracks on a rock album.
favorite tracks: “God Above,” “I Can’t Get My Head Around You,” “Devil Swim,” “Nothing But Mine”
NEVER ENOUGH - Daniel Caesar
i came into this record as a big fan of “freudian” and i have more mixed feelings about this new record. i think the best moments on here are the collaborations, especially with Omar Apollo and Mustafa. and thematically, i’m interested in this record; Caesar gets into religion and reflects on his past self, looking back at himself in 2014, all the way back to childhood. but overall, this is a 15-song album that just didn’t need to be? it feels like a decent amount of filler and songs that just aren’t doing anything new. “Shot My Baby,” for instance, falls flat in the wake of SZA’s “Kill Bill;” a similar concept, but lacking the perspective and intrigue of the comparison. there are a few tracks i’m liking, but for now, this record as a whole doesn’t feel like a super exciting direction for Caesar.
favorite tracks: “Toronto 2014 (with Mustafa),” “Buyer’s Remorse (feat. Omar Apollo), “Vince Van Gogh”
what do you think of these records?