60. Dark Matter by Pearl Jam - 7.9

-Late era Pearl Jam reminds me more of Vedder doing Springsteen or Jagger songs than it does early Pearl Jam ... but Eddie doing Bruce or Mick is not the worst thing. In fact it is quite good. Wreckage was my favorite song.

61. Let's Start Degeneracy by Microwave - 5.5

-Eh, this band has always been right on the line of impressive/not impressive and this album unfortunately falls right below it. It's not bad or anything, this band has alot of fans and I understand why. Their music just does nothing for me and I forget about it immediately. Too bad since they are touring with Origami Angel who I would enjoy seeing.

Going on vacation from 7 to 17. Have a couple more in my queue, but nothing too important. Charli XCX comes out on Friday and I'll listen to that at midnight.

Album of the month

January 2024: Lizzie No - Halfsies: 9/10
February 2024: The Paranoid Style - The Interrogator: 7.5/10
March 2024: Sheryl Crow - Evolution - 8/10
April 2024: Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department - 8/10
May 2024: Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism - 7.5 / 10

My pace fell off for this to be as meaningful an award, but it was a good album. Zach Bryan coming to finally have a male entry.

Hit Me Hard and Soft.

62. Cold World by Death Lens - 7.8

-I guess I'd describe their sound as powerpop-pop ... maybe pop-punkcore? Blink with power chords? Pup without the funny? There's a lot of these type of bands popping up, the most popular being Militarie Gun, so they better come up with a cool name eventually. Anyways, this album is a pretty solid listen and an improvement over their previous one. Cool album cover too.

63. att by Young Miko* - 7

-If someone wanted to be reductive (perhaps because they didn't have a lot of time to write a review) they could perhaps just call her Bad Lola Bunny and be done with it.

...

Almost made it through the whole backlog, but poor ole Conway tha Machine was left waiting and will have to hope I remember when I return.

64. Brat by Charli XCX - 8.2

-Fans of the old Charli should be happy about this one after her brief detour into poptimism with Crash (which I liked but I know some fans didn't.) This one is 100% small venue, sweaty dance floor vibes.

The music industry was kind enough to not release anything big while I was away.

65. World Wide Whack by Tierra Whack* - 6.6

-Random female rapper from the Riotfest card, likely opening for Public Enemy as that is the biggest hip-hop act on there. She is alright. Her beats are different. It's not very exciting and I don't think she will ever get big, but nice to know that some of the women out there are rapping about stuff other than their butts.

Ooo, a new Decemberists album out of nowhere. I may not have to cancel June in my album of the month gimmick after all.

I'll listen to Decemberists. King Is Dead was one of my favorites from 2011.

66. Stigma by Wage War - 6.8

-Here is a case where tempered expectations improved my experience. Always have high hopes for a Wage War album, but the metalcore sub has been melting down over the weekend, calling this album the worst thing since unsliced bread. Nonsense. It's not a great album, but its fine and has some tracks that will sound great live. And it only sounds so damn similiar to other stuff this year because the singer writes songs for others too lol.

67. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again by The Decemberists - 7.5

-Vintage Decemberists album and a very pleasant listen. Though the 19 minute final track is something new for them I suppose lol.

I'll also give it 7.5. I liked the 3 first songs from their previous album Severed more than any on this one, but I think this one is more consistent on the rest of it. The 19 minute song seemed like a drab until I actually listened to the last part which would've been one of the best songs on the album.

Imagine Dragons - Loom: I never listened to an Imagine Dragons album before, I guess I was hoping for some early 2000s alt rock powerchords and WWE video package type jams, instead some of these sound like boyband songs with a more masculine lead singer who listens to rap, closer to Post Malone than 3 Doors Down. Why did I listen to this. 5/10.

Lol. Yeah that one is on you.









68. C, XOXO by Camila Cabello - 5.9

-A newly blonde Camila is in the progress of licking a blue lollipop on the album cover, her tongue is blue and everything (I should have saved this for #69.) The first few songs suggest she went to Charli XCX's University of Sweaty Dancehall Pop Songs. I was into it for a few minutes, but like with every album of hers (besides the first solo one with Havana and Never Be The Same which I still like), it just doesn't hold up even over a short runtime of 32 minutes. And gosh she picked a very rough and kind of embarassing group of features. Playboi Carti, Lil Nas X, City Girls and not one, but two songs with Drake. Camila seems so desperate to win her way back to superstardom, but also seems completely oblivious as to why she wants it or how she will achieve it.

At the halfway point of the year Vampire Weekend is the clear leader. Would slightly lower grades on my other 9+s and bump Knocked Loose up to that tier from their original 8.8.

Not sure who can challenge them unless Kendrick makes an entire album of Drake diss tracks. All I have on my release calendar is Dr. Dog, Fucked Up and Pale Waves. Hoping some more biggies get announced soon!

Album of the month

January 2024: Lizzie No - Halfsies: 9/10
February 2024: The Paranoid Style - The Interrogator: 7.5/10
March 2024: Sheryl Crow - Evolution - 8/10
April 2024: Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department - 8/10
May 2024: Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism - 7.5 / 10
June 2024: The Decemberists - As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again - 7.5/10

It took basically listening to no albums this month to get a male voice onto here but I think I'll be back on my weekly schedule this month.

69. Slant Face Killah by Conway the Machine - 7.3

-Probably the best solo record from the former-Griselda rapper with lots of good 90s style beats. Still a few too many reference songs (rhyming stuff with names of famous people) on here, which has always been my issue with this style of hip-hop, but it is mostly kept to a minimum.

Need to listen to the second half of the Zach Bryan a bit more to grade it, but so far another strong album by our best under 30 songwriter.

70. The Death of Slim Shady by Eminem - 4

-The album is mostly a running joke about how "you wanted the old me back, but if I did that I'd surely get cancelled and cause riots." Very topical of Eminem to be making comments on cancel culture in the year 2024. Problem is, nobody really cares anymore. Em never even addresses his biggest controvery - that a white man might have been better at rap than any black man ever has been. That's an opinion (one I disagree with since he's produced a few too many loser albums), but that thought is so much more offensive to certain people than any joke he could make about the long dead Christopher Reeves. And by failing to recognize that, Eminem creates the worst offense of all - being boring. This album sucks.

71. Dr. Dog by Dr. Dog - 7

-Of all the Dr. Dog albums (and there have been many), this one might be the doctor dogiest. But really, its just nice to have them back after their "Final Tour" a few years ago.

72. King Of The Mischievous South Vol 2 by Denzel Curry - 8.9

-After straying off his usual path for a Kendrick-like album (top 5 in 2022), Denzel returns to the hype rap genre with an album full of features. Like literally. There is a feature on every song. While not quite hitting the highs of Melt My Eyez, this is terrific and I've listened to it several times already. Denzel stakes his claim as one of the best of this generation.

73. Incarnation by In Hearts Wake* - 8.5

-Australia has such a killer metal scene right now. I guess these guys have been around for awhile, but kinda changed to a more modern djentish sound for this album. I'm all for it.

74. Big Ideas by Remi Wolf - 4.9

-This name sounded familiar although I still can't place it. Anyway, I was in the mood for a new pop album yesterday. This succeeded at being that, I guess, but little else.

75. Fine Art by Kneecap* - 4.6

-These Irish rappers sound like Gym Class Heroes trying to be Death Grips.

76. Afraid Of Tomorrows by The Mysterines - 7

-Not the first good band to come out of Liverpool, but they did prove one thing that no one else has - Mysterine > Listerine.

77. No Name by Jack White - 9.5

-This is the best "Traditional" rock album (not metal, alt, punk, etc...) I've heard in a long time. The guitar work is just incredible, also right there with best work in Jack's whole 25 year+ career.