14. Where we've been, Where we go from here by Friko* - 5.2

-New alt-rock band from Chicago shows promise on their debut album. It's almost the opposite of my reviews of the Idles album though. Friko do a much better job of rocking than alting, yet the alternative parts are definitely the majority. Chemical was the best song. Not a bad first try, I might give their second album a shot in a few years (unless they break up or something), but I doubt I'll listen to this one too much longer and I'd most likely forget about it entirely if not for this review thread and the musicboard app.

Remo Drive - Mercy: Solid enough “indie sound” band. The self loathing vibe reminds me of The Avett Brothers. Prefer it to MGMT’s. 6.5/10.

February had a lot of solid stuff around 7/10. I’ll give a few days before deciding my album of the month.

Vultures.


15. Hard To Sell by Mac Saturn* - 6

-This Detroit band adds that funky motown flavor to a traditional rock n rolla sound. "Sleep" and "Mint Julep" were the stand-out songs. Channeling late 70s and early 80s Stones for sure, though not in a total ripoff way like some people do to classic rockers (looking at you, GVF.) I mean, they're still a bunch of white dudes doing black music which is kinda corny, but it's fun anyway. Apparently they have had some real controversy lately as a former member of the band (who they had already kicked out long ago) turned out to be a pedo. Not a good look, but also not the weirdest controversy of the last week when you consider Llrona, whose singer was spiking his fellow band member's drinks ... with estrogen.

Album of the month

January 2024: Lizzie No - Halfsies: 9/10
February 2024: The Paranoid Style - The Interrogator: 7.5/10

Standout songs from February

The Paranoid Style - The Interrogator, Styles Make Fights, Client Sales, The Findings, The Ballad of Pertinent Information, Are You Loathsome Tonight?, Print the Legend
Usher - On the Side, Keep On Dancin', Good Good, A-Town Girl
Slow Moving Pedestrians - Low Saxon, Visby
Frances Chang - First I Was Afraid
Remo Drive - Please, Please Be Smart, Makin' Muzak

It seems most of the indie bands I've found are overtly trying to sound like what they think an indie band should or seem derivative of the mid 2000s golden years. So I appreciate finding one that seemed more unique, with try hard lyrics that are half bad and half good, and kind of a fun vintage rock sound.

March has a Sheryl Crow album who is in my top 5 favorite female singers, however not till the very end of the month.

Paranoid Style is a cool band name. Would have been a good movie title too.

16. Drop 7 by Little Simz - 7

-This is only 15 minutes long but I'm gonna count it because I don't believe in EPs/mixtapes/playlists. Simz does one of these every few years, just spitting some ideas that wouldn't work on the next album but are still worth putting out there. It allows her to regain her more aggressive style from the first album as well as try some new experiments.




About to enter a monster stretch of great stuff. Tonight alone has 4 new albums I wanna hear!

17. Blue Lips by Schoolboy Q - 7.8

-Not quite a full return to form for one of my favorite rappers, but this is definitely a step up over Crash Talk from a few years ago. "Yeern 101" is already one of my fav Q songs. Putting a fast and aggresive rap style over trap beats has worked out really well for a few artists over the last few years and I continue to prefer the sound over the autuned "in the club" vibes. Though this also some Kendrick "reflecting on the streets" style to it. Just good stuff overall and I might have to bump my grade up by the end of the year.

Another Sky - Beach Day: 6/10

This band is mainly made by the lead singer's very United Kingdom-y voice (kind of a female Thom Yorke?), the songwriting is hit and miss but has a few good songs like the Pain, I Never Had Control and Beach Day.

18. Clover by Screaming Females - 7

-Another quickie at 5 songs / 17 minues. These alt-punkers said they were done as a band last year but I guess they had a little more left in the tank. Until they get back together in a few years that is. We all know how this goes lol. "Swallow The World" or perhaps another will probably end up on my favorite tracks of the year as the band usually does.

19. Playing Favorites by Sheer Mag - 8.6

=Sheer Mag return with their groovy, southern-vibed throwback to 70s rock music. Think someone like Thin Lizzy (Boys are Back in Town) if you haven't had the pleasure of hearing Mag yet. Which you all should have, considering I listed them #1 on the 2017 FF! Now, to be fair, that was a weird year for music and I doubt they'll be repeating the feat, but damn if "Moonstruck" in particular isn't a song that sticks around to year-end time. The band also shows some progression here by adding intros to build the hype before kicking in the main part of the song. Would really love to see them live on this cycle.


Ariana tonight!

20. Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande - 8.8

-I was a bit worried this whole album would be like "Yes And" but in reality its a diverse mix of all the different types of sounds she has used throughout her career. She feels very vulnerable, which almosts clashes with some of the glitzy production, but it always ends up working out. I'm not sure any single song here will make my top 5 Ari tracks, but they are all solid. Not one boring one in the bunch. I might even bump it up after further listens (on my second as I write this.) As of now it is comfortably her third best record after TUN and ME.

My good streak continues!

21. Dust of the Human Shape by Ghost Atlas* - 8.3

-This band sounds like a mix of Bring Me The Horizon and Oasis. Pretty random combo but it worked out pretty well. "Gaps In The Armoire" was my favorite song, though "Lesser God" has (rock) radio hit potential. Apparently they've been around for awhile too so I got plenty more to check out.

22. In God We Trust by The Musalini and 38 Spesh - 6.5

-Hip-hop producer Musalini has been a busy dude. I became a fan after really enjoying his Gentlemen of Leisure album last year (with John Dutch as the main rapper.) Not that much of one apparently though, as he has put out five whole albums since then and I'm just getting to the first now haha. This one isn't quite as goof as GoL, though the beats are still very strong, but still a pretty solid record and doesn't overstay its welcome like many others in the genre. "What It Look Like" was my top tsong.

Norah Jones - Visions: 6.5 / 10

The indies were cold for me this week, so I went for the bigger names and I liked this album more than Ariana or Bleachers. Nothing spectacular but has a few decent songs and not just resting on her sound from 20 years ago.

23. I Got Heaven by Mannequin Pussy - 7.5

-Definitely one of, if not the, best band names out there. It is funny that when I first heard of them back in 2019 they were in an experimental new wavey art-rock phase, recommended to me because of Metric. This album, and most of their others, are the type of riotgrrrl punk you would expect from someone called Mannequin Pussy. "Ok? OK! ok? OK!" and "Of Her" were my two favorites on the firstt listen.

I'm still mad at Norah for beating The Eminem Show at the grammys. Same with Steely Dan for MMLP.

24. Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves - 5

-My first big disappointment of the year comes from my (still) favorite country singer. According to the title track she stopped stop doing drugs which would explain the lack of creavity. However, I really think she still could have seen that this album needed more upbeat tracks. Hell, even one would have been nice.

That's my theory for why Lady Gaga declined after her first two albums

25. The Patience by Mick Jenkins* - 8.3

-I had never heard of this rapper before now, but he has some pretty big features on here from Freddie Gibbs, Benny the Butcher (Sitting Ducks is also best song), JID and Vic Mensa. So somebody out there must have been impressed long before I was. This is more of a Kendrick style, socially conscious with instrumental-beats hip-hop rather than Drake's poprap or Travis Scott's trap. Gives me 90s vibes too, a little bit of Wu-Tangish shaolin style. While that is probably my favorite style of modern rap, it is also easy to dip into being boring whilst doing it, so good on Mick for keeping it fresh and flowin.


Also, I decided that I'm not gonna edit my grades anymore like I used to. For instance, I've been playing the Idles album at least once every few days , but will not raise the score on here (though it might get a bump on musicboard!), nor will I lower any of the albums that I quickly forgot about. Will have to wait until the end of the year list to find out just how great the Idles album was!

26. Everything I Thought It Was by Justin Timberlake - 3.3

-Back to back stinkers for JT is disappointing. This one is slightly better than Man of the Woods, but also more frustrating. With that one, it was easy to just write Country Timberlake off as a bad idea. What's most sad about Everything is that these songs would actually be good if they were in he hands of someone willing to have fun with them. Justin seems torn about having fun though, and so it sounds like he is trying to make a serious R&B album while Timbaland is doing something totally different. We wouldn't want people thinking that just because Timberlake finally reunited with NSYNC that he is no longer to be seen as a Very Serious Artist. Ugh, get over yourself.

Timberlake's Selfish sounds great when sung by AI Mariah

Lol.

27. Lola by Goth Babe - 5

-A completely harmless alt-pop band gets the most average score possible. Will I ever listen again? Maybe. Probably not. But at least one or two of these songs is gonna make some killer commercials for Hulu!

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well: 5.5 / 10

Starts off well with the standout track Cardinal and then some songs referencing morning sex and hitting the bong, but at some point all the songs start sounding the same.

Cardinal is solid. But yeah, there's no High Horse or Simple Times or Breadwinner or even a Follow Your Arrow. Just mellow all the way through = zzzz.

Speaking of disappointments....


28. JPEG Raw by Gark Clark Jr. - 5.5

-Forever torn between being the new Jimi and new Stevie, Gary is at his best when he finds a nice mix of the two like with his debut album, Black n Blue, and third album, This Land. The second album was a little too heavy on the soul, but still pretty decent. This one wants to be heavy on soul, you can tell that GCJ has recently become a huge fan of Black Pumas, but he still threw some Jimi songs on here for like commercial purposes or whatever. The problem is that he sounds so tired on those rock songs, like he doesn't want to be here at all. And if the artist doesn't want to be here performing their own songs, then it makes it hard for me to want to be here listening to them.

29. 1998 by Chevy Woods* - 6

-I was gonna call this a fine but forgettable hip-hop album. However, my rating was the very first one logged on musicboard. So it begs the question: can something be forgotten if it was never learned in the first place?

Lauran Hibberd - Girlfriend Material: 8/10

Finally a good find after a mostly discouraging month, like Olivia Rodrigo you can tell she grew up listening to 2000s pop punk bands. Maybe could use one or two more ballads but overall fun album.

Sheryl Crow - Evolution: 8.5/10

Great album! I was looking forward to this the most of early quarter as I'm a fan of her 90s albums and her randomly strong Detours in 2007, seems like she's been doing country stuff for a while so I'm glad to see her back in her old style. Alarm Clock is the catchiest song on the album that I hope makes it way to my radio at work, Evolution is a cool spooked by AI song, Waiting in the Wings is a great mom ballad, Do It Again is very Sheryl Crow-y but it's growing on me and there's some nice ballads like Where? and Don't Walk Away. Almost on skips in concise 9 song album.

I really thought March's album of the month winner would be Lauran Hibbard as it's the catchiest album I've heard in a while, though Crow's lyrical content is obviously deeper, so I might have to blast them both for another week before deciding.

Beyonce - Cowboy Carter: 6/10

I like it more than Beyonce's usually hyped up albums as her voice sounds good with the country style production, with that said, I'm still not sure I care, and I don't hear a banger classic on this.