Album Review: Arca ‘KiCk i’
“Taken as a whole, ‘KiCk i’ is a delirious tour-de-force, a compilation of experiments that don’t fully cohere but still build up to an intriguing final image.”
Album Review: Phoebe Bridgers ‘Punisher’
“Bridgers, like all her millennial contemporaries, contains multitudes as yet unseen. She is living any number of lives all at once — but, at the core of it all, there’s still a vulnerable child of the 90s adrift in a merciless world…”
Album Review: Jehnny Beth ‘To Love Is to Live’
“Unafraid of what makes her difficult, idiosyncratic or complex, Jehnny Beth ties a bow on this project with an impressive clarity that serves to reinforce her already-established and considerable talents while boldly traversing new, untested, innately personal ground with aplomb.”
Album Review: Run the Jewels ‘RTJ4’
“The verbal gymnastics and musical dynamism on display serve as an exacting call to attention, turning listeners’ eyes and ears onto a reality long disregarded by the privileged.”
Album Review: The 1975 ‘Notes on a Conditional Form’
“By the end, ‘Notes on a Conditional Form’ reveals itself to be about very little — too incoherent to justify its length and too scattershot to feel like a unified whole.”
Album Review: Hayley Williams ‘Petals for Armor’
“Although ‘Petals for Armor’ continually returns to a well of torment and reflection, there is a sense of reinvigorated purpose and direction at play in both Williams’ words and her aesthetic choices.”
Album Review: Car Seat Headrest ‘Making a Door Less Open’
“Much of what Toledo communicates in ‘Making a Door Less Open’ taps aptly into the strangeness and hysteria of the present moment, reaffirming his ability as an assuredly human and fallible rock ’n’ roll troubadour.”
Album Review: JG Thirlwell and Simon Steensland ‘Oscillospira’
“In conjunction with the religious references of the track names, the music on ‘Oscillospira’ evokes the drama of creation and destruction on a grand scale.”
Album Review: Wasted Shirt ‘Fungus II’
“‘Fungus II’ is another reminder that not only is Segall one of the most hard-working and talented artists of the last decade, but also a genuine musical omnivore.”
Album Review: Bambara ‘Stray’
“Stray’s expanded timeline, along with Bambara’s skill in conjuring a distinctly Southern kind of horror, feels akin to True Detective’s spectacular first season.”
Album Review: Redd Kross ‘Beyond the Door’
“Redd Kross remains the greatest American band most people have never heard of, much less heard. Don’t be like ‘most people.’ Join the party underground of Redd Kross fandom. You won’t regret it.”
Album Review: Ty Segall ‘First Taste’
“If ‘Manipulator’ is Segall’s White Album, and ‘Emotional Mugger’ his ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ then ‘First Taste’ might be his ‘Abbey Road’: brazenly eclectic yet wonderfully cohesive; deeply personal yet superbly tuneful.”
Album Review: Jesca Hoop ‘Stonechild’
“It’s a cruel world, but with music like this around, we are never truly alone.”
Album Review: Lust for Youth ‘Lust for Youth’
“Lust for Youth now have seven albums under their collective belts. It’s high time pop fans took notice and started giving them the attention they deserve.”
Album Review: Cate Le Bon ‘Reward’
“‘Reward’ may traffic in ambiguity and absurdity, but the feelings it evokes are genuine. At a time when authenticity is considered the ultimate musical currency, Cate Le Bon’s music is rich indeed.”
Album Review: Ioanna Gika ‘Thalassa’
“Ioanna Gika has evolved from a promising artist to a fully-fledged talent to be reckoned with. Her uncommon, authentic voice has been sorely missed; it’s good to have her back.”
Album Review: Ty Segall & Freedom Band ‘Deforming Lobes’
“There is nothing quite like a Ty Segall show. Witnessing this talented wunderkind and his equally spectacular band in a live setting is nothing short of mind-blowing (and eardrum-rupturing, for that matter).”
Album Review: Boy Harsher ‘Careful’
“There’s no solace in the music of Boy Harsher, only a feeling that we are all facing the same fears and uncertainties. Yet, sometimes, that is solace enough.”
Album Review: Neil Hamburger ‘Still Dwelling’
“Yes, Turkington does sing in the same grating timber as his alter ego, but — thanks to a top-notch back-up band — the effect is quite charming.”
Album Review: Street Sects ‘The Kicking Mule’
“Street Sects is the kind of band that a lot of people would call ‘problematic,’ but they’re a much-needed smack in the face in a world that seems less compassionate with each passing day.”