Monday, February 14, 2022
VALENTINE (2021) 😊 – Snail Mail
Rating: 7.8/10
Favorite song(s): “Ben Franklin”
Favorite lyric: “Woke up without why or how” – “c.et al.”
This album lacks any complexity or depth; it’s just sad. Where other sad-girl indie-pop artists like Phoebe Bridgers or Clairo have distinct sounds, VALENTINE has no trademark.
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
HANADRIEL (2019) 😊 – HANA
Rating: 7.6/10
Favorite song(s): “Nu Leaf” and “Satellite”
Favorite lyric: “I don’t really wanna think tonight / I just wanna be up ’til light” – “ORCA”
Most of the tracks on HANADRIEL are achingly long and slow, making the album as a whole a bore to sit through. However, certain tracks like “Nu Leaf” and “ORCA” have an engaging beat, and I loved the synth-pop, futuristic aesthetic of the album.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
ANIMAL (EXPANDED EDITION) (2010) 🤩 – Kesha
Rating: 9.0/10
Favorite song(s): “Take It Off” and “TikTok” and “Dinosaur”
Favorite lyric: “You’re just an old man / Hittin’ on me, what? / You need a CAT scan!” – “Dinosaur” and “’Cause you’re my object of affection / My drug of choice, my sick obsession / I want to keep you as my pet / To play with and hide under my bed forever” – “Stephen”
ANIMAL is the best party album of the 2000s. Period. Each song has character and personality and with songs like “Stephen” and “Party At A Rich Dude’s House,” Kesha teaches us to be unapologetically psychotic.
Thursday, February 17, 2022
PATCHED UP (2021) 😊 – beabadoobee
Rating: 7.0/10
Favorite song(s): “Everest”
Favorite lyric: “’’Cause even if your eyes are black / Your bones are always gold / ’Cause it’s climbed up every mountain / That no story’s ever told” – “Everest”
PATCHED UP feels like a combination of Billie Eilish’s DON’T SMILE AT ME, without the dynamic production, and Clairo’s IMMUNITY, without the deep-cutting lyricism. It sounds like every other indie-pop album ever made.
Friday, February 18, 2022
BATTLE LINES (2018) 😊 – Bob Moses
Rating: 8.0/10
Favorite song(s): “Heaven Only Knows”
Favorite lyric: “Sacrificed all your life / Heads hang heavy when there’s blood on the line / It’s justified, don’t ask why / ‘Cause Heaven only knows” – “Heaven Only Knows”
BATTLE LINES sounds like the love-child of Imagine Dragons and the XX. Do with that as you will.
Saturday, February 19, 2022
CHILD’S PLAY (2021) 😊 – Alice Phoebe Lou
Rating: 7.8/10
Favorite song(s): “Underworld” and “Silly”
Favorite lyrics: “Communicate like trees / Way down under the ground / Where we’ve got so much going on / Like a whole other hidden universe” – “Underworld”
CHILD’S PLAY is so unexciting, it belongs on an “afternoon nap” playlist.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
SLUT POP (2022) 🤩 – Kim Petras
Rating: 8.5/10
Favorite song(s): “Slut Pop” and “Throat Goat
Favorite lyric(s): “These lips go “la-la-la” / This throat, Lady Gaga / Boys say “Hallelujah” / Give me that ya-ya-ya-ya, yeah” – “Throat Goat”
SLUT POP is a power move. Kim Petras shows us that no matter what she sings, we will listen. The album is powerfully shameless and is a refreshing break from the other bleak and blasé albums of this week. What it lacks in songwriting complexity, it makes for with pure spunk.