In case Flava'd has already listened to new albums.

Not yet but Bad Bunny is supposed to drop today at some point.

You were keeping up last year and then just let go. I challenge you again to hit 100 new albums for the year.

1. Debi Tirar Mas Fotos by Bad Bunny - 8.5

-Another strong effort by the very best spanish rapper out here (Apple calls it Urbano Latino but that seems like something PC Principal would get upset about.) Goes even heavier on the traditional latin elements on the musical side. Voy A llevarte Pa Pr was my favorite, though I still Monaco is his overall best. Hope to see Bad Bunny back in the squared circle at Wrestlemania this year now that he has completed his album.

Lauren Mayberry - Vicious Creature: 7.5/10 (2024 holdover)

Best songs: Something in the Air, Crocodile Tears, Oh, Mother

The rest of the up tempo songs don't quite live up to the start of Something in the Air-Crocodile Tears-Shame, but I liked seeing some of the ballad type songs and personal lyrics from an underrated songwriter. I think I like it more than the last CHVRCHES album.

Lauren <3

2. Louder, Please by Rose Gray* - 6.9

-Dancepopper from London (mate) releasing her first full length album. And its a good time to do it since the whole word is still brat right now. Could see her being a minor crossover success. Free was probably the best song.

3. The Human Fear by Franz Ferdinand - 6

-A slightly more matured version of their previous sound is fine, though not quite as fun. I bet only 2 or 3 of these make it onto their upcoming tour. Still, who would have ever guessed this band would still be going strong 21 years after their debut album? That alone is impressive.

4. Who Let The Dogs Out by Lambrini Girls* - 9

-The first big surprise of the year. Had no idea who this was but was drawn in by song titles like "Cuntology 101" and "Scarcity Is Fake (communist propaganda)." And they lived up to their excellent titles with a great riotgrrrl sound too. Awesome riffs. Very punk, very British.

5. Duel by Jinjer - 9.1

-Another huge surprise! I've always liked Jinjer, Tatiana is one of the better screamers, but more of a like in the 7-8 range. This one is just on point with everything: vocals, riffs, production, the whole shebang. Their last album came out in 2021, and they are from Ukraine, so I guess there was a lot of material to mine from that time period as their home country was under constant attack from a ruthless dictator. Maybe Canadian bands will elevate themselves and put out some of their career best work in 2029?

What, Drake released a new album where he unlistenably whines about girls in an fake sounding autotune voice, beats that sound the same and lyrics that sound like he came up with them an hour before recording? No way.

6. My Apologies To The Chef by Winona Fighter - 8.7

-Another great record to kick off the year with! Winona Fighter are obviously appealing to the emo/pop-punk/when we were young crowd on their debut album here so if you like that type of music then you will enjoy them. I'd like to give them credit for something much simpler than just making good music though: they included all the singles they've released over the past few years. Alot of people would be like "thats the old us lets focus on the new" and instead Winona Fighter just have an album full of bangers instead of wasting our time with filler. Again, its a simple thing, but its always a pet peeve of mine when artists leave their singles albumless.

7. Horror by Bartees Strange - 7.5

-Bartees is a busy guy. His debut album released in 2021 and he's already on album number four! This one might even be his best too. He's a fella who lives up to the alternative genre name as he fluidly moves between genres so that no two songs ever sound the same. "Sober" was my favorite, but I'm guessing every one who listens to it will have their own picks.

The Lumineers - Automatic: 5.5/10

I've been playing You're All I Got on repeat but nothing else is really clicking for me.

8. So Close To What by Tate McRae - 8

-I like Tate with the melodies. Its nothing groundbreaking, just an album full of fun dance bops. Tate wears this style well and I'm glad she has at least temporarily stepped away from the break up ballads.

9. The Sky, the Earth & All Between by Architects - 8

-Much like Tate McRae, Architects aren't exactly redefining the metal game here. I'm sure all the cool kids on the internet will just dismiss this album as octanecore. But what's wrong with just making 12 good metalcore songs and putting them all together on all album? And whats wrong with a band like this being played on the radio? Isn't that what we want? I dunno, I guess I should just appeciate the music I like rather than worry about what others say. Maybe I'm just sensitive about it right now cause I saw both "Turnstile is hardcore Weezer" and "Sleep Token is metal Imagine Dragons" on reddit this week and I'm still mad at that guy (presumably a male.)

10. Tsunami Sea by Spiritbox - 5.7

-Figures that, after weeks of new albums outperforming my expectatione, my #1 most anticipated of the year would let me down. The worst part is that the songs themselves aren't bad, its the mixing that ruins it. Everything feels so flat and compressed. Can barely hear Courtney.The songs are just dying to explode out at you but they can't make it through the inpenetrable ceiling. That can be fixed, and hopefully will, but the reviews for this song are crazy high right now (91 on adm.) So whatever is making it less appealing to me is making it more appealing and accessible to others lol. I'll give it another try in a week or so to see/hear if anything has changed.

Lady Gaga - Mayhem: 9 /10

Only issue I'd have is the lyrics could be better, but the production and Gaga's voice works together amazingly making a potential pop album classic.

Best songs: Garden of Eden, How Bad Do U Want Me, Don't Call Tonight, Disease

Yeah, it's a great album, I can't even choose the 4 best songs, it's pretty much all bangers. I only don't like Killah, Zombieboy and Perfect Celebrity that much, all the rest are simply excellent with The Beast probably my favorite.

Great reviews all around for Mayhem, but I don't really like Abracadabra or Die With A Smile.


11. Kamikaze Life by Maja Ivarsson - 6

-The leading lady from The Sounds debuts her first solo project, and it kinda sounds like ... The Sounds minus the instruments lol. Maja is having fun, making Gagalike songs that wouldn't fit with the rest of the band, and thats just fine. Looking forward to the reunion of the full crew.

12. Hot Shock by HotWax* - 6.7

-A solid debut full-length album for these alt-punk riotgrrls. Doesn't quite live up to Lambrini Girls from earlier in the year, but that was more of a exception than a rule, and we shouldn't be pitting these gals against each other anyway. The first song "She's Got A Problem" was my favorite.

13. Hymms In Dissonance by Whitechapel - 8.4

-These deathcore fellas have been around for quite awhile, the first album came out back in 2007, but I didn't really know about them until last year when they were opening for Lorna Shore. So I think this is the first full length album I've heard from them and it is an impressive beginning to a beautiful friendship. I know relentlessly aggressive drumming is common in this genre, but its even more relentless and even more aggresive than usual and I'm here for it.

14. 12 by Westside Gunn - 2.5

-Yikes! My first pure hip-hop listen of the year (Bad Bunny is known as Urbana Latino on apple) did not go well. Westside Gunn, formerly of the group griselda, is great on features and as part of the group but his solo stuff has been lacking and this one really bottomed out early. It was so boring. But, out of respect, I finished it. Just sad that Mach and Conway both have been putting out much better stuff. Oh well, like Patrick Stump once said ... 2 out of a 3 aint bad.

15. Billboard Heart by Deep Sea Diver* - 7.8

-I thought this was a debut album when I added it to the library and came away pretty impressed. Jessica is a great singer and it really captures that 00s alt-rock sound before the genre lost its edge and just became alt-pop music in the 2010s. Well ... turns out there's a good reason for that - they are a 00s alt rock band! I just hadn't heard of them before because their old label did a lousy job of promoting them. Indie darling Sub Pop snatched them up and now they're on to bigger and better things! One would think that labels don't matter that much in the streaming era, but apparently they still do.

16. Big Ole Album Vol. 1 by A Day To Remember - 8

-This album reminds me of Metallica's Death Magnetic or Avril Lavigne's Love Sux. Just an artist I like doing what they do best (in this case, pop-punk with metalcore breakdowns.) ADTRs last album was weird, they were clearly trying for crossover hits but also refused to let go of their old style ... and it was an awkward mix. Nice to have one of my all time favs back on track. Can't wait to hear these live at some point in the future!

17. Dead Channel Sky by Clipping - 5

-This is an experimental/hype rap project with Daveed Diggs, aka Thomas Jefferson, as the vocalist. Some might call it Dork Grips. Its not the worst thing though if you can get over how corny it is lol.