Black Angels - Death Song

Austin Texas's own The Black Angels since the mid 2000's have been pushing out fantastic, slow paced, old school Psych Rock/Metal.  I actually caught on to these guys when they opened up for Queens Of The Stone Age when they were touring with them around 2006, right around when they released "Passover".  This album was sludgy, slow paced Psych Rock with a serious retro vibe going back to bands like The Doors and Black Sabbath.  The tracks they were producing were often visceral and violent, but seriously well done, especially because so many bands during this time wanted to nail this sound.  2008's "Directions To See A Ghost" was different on a multitude of levels.  It had a stronger production, and a bright vibrant atmosphere that worked wonders.  But it wasn't nearly as concise, with a whole lot of songs that didn't need to be nearly as long as they were.  But, tracks like "You In Color" and "Doves" were some of the finest tracks that had made up to that point.  2010's "Phosphene Dream" to be honest, was a really interesting change of pace.  Black Angels were still making heavily psychedelic, fuzzy rock.  But it wasn't nearly as dreary, and the metal influence has almost completely left.  No, there was almost a 60's psych feel to this, and while at first I was iffy on it, it certainly grew on me. 2013's "Indigo Meadow" went for a lot of the same feels, but for me this seriously didn't come off as flattering.  There were great tracks like "Love Me Forever", but a good chunk of the album was just a little too sunshiney for me.  I loved the sort of dark, doomy feel of their early material.  However, Black Angels on "Clear Lake Forest" for the first time in a really long time, absolutely nailed it.  This album wasn't exactly dreary or doomy but there certainly was a sinister feel to it all.  Plus there was a SERIOUS Velvet Underground feel here, especially on "Linda's Song".  These new singles have honestly, been pretty damn good.  They've certainly been the dreariest, and most chaotic and loud Black Angels tracks I've heard in forever I feel like.

(A classic for y'all)

This album starts off with “Currency”, and immediately I feel like I haven’t heard anything this dreary and looming from Black Angels in years.  Like, this seriously brings me back to some of their earliest recordings.  I don’t think there was ever a moment in Black Angels career where they haven’t been on the heavier side of things, but lets be honest they certainly went a little Sunshiney on use for a while.  Here however, this is the closest to the sort of Doomy Psych Rock that I fell in love with years ago.  No there certainly is no happiness here, the chorus here is almost a war cry for the pessimistic, and I love the very hypnotic verses.  Between the almost droning instrumentals and looping bass, I haven’t gotten this feeling from Black Angels in a very long time.  It’s refreshing to here though as depressing as it comes off.  It’s got the sort of Psych Metal feel that came with the group’s earliest material, but I think the biggest element here is the atmosphere.  The atmosphere here is absolutely gigantic.  The Black Angels sound like they’re coming at you from all sides.  Plus, as far as lyrics go, I’m digging them big time.  I feel like in their own way that the biggest horrors in the world aren’t in movies or music, but right in front of us.  It’s a haunting and exciting intro that’s worth numerous listens.  Black Angels continue to impress with the hypnotic and catchy “I’d Kill For Her”.  I feel like throughout the years Black Angels have really gone through so many phases of this very “classic” sound they go for.  But so far, it’s all came full circle in a big way.  I love the very sleazy feel to this one, lyrically I feel like vocalist Alex Maas here is channeling Jim Morrison and instrumentally/harmony-wise are going for a Velvet Underground vibe.   It all comes off really nicely though, it’s haunting when it needs to be, but it’s also the confident sounding Black Angels sound I’ve been dying to hear.  Their last few releases while they haven’t been bad, have seemed a little in the middle of all of these different Psych genres.   But this sound here works so nicely, it’s also strangely melodic.  Black Angels on “I’d Kill For Her” comes off as some black label, taboo band that you couldn’t tell your parents you liked if you grew up in the 60’s, and that’s a great sound for them.  “Half Believing” is up next, with a very haunting and atmospheric intro.  I love the subtleness of this one, the guitars just sound so lonely as they play on.  Not tp mention, these lyrics that open this track up are some of the more deep ones I’ve heard from Black Angels recently.   As a whole, “Half Believing” shows us a seriously heartbroken and emotional side to The Black Angels which we really haven’t heard in some time.  But it works great, I love the serious focus in Alex’s vocals, which is the real star here since everything else is so quiet.  It’s deep, but at the sam time they aren't letting any of their atmosphere go, because it’s just as hazy as well as heavy.  It’s not anything to write home about, but “Half Believing” is a risk that I’m glad Black Angels took.  Black Angels get right back to the sound that got them famous however with “Comanche Moon”.  Right off the bat, Black Angels are right back to the blatant homage to the Sunshine Psychedelic era of rock music, but this one is a whole lot more straightforward.  This riff has a whole lot of funk in it actually, and strangely enough is certainly going to get you moving, which I really didn’t know how to take at first.  But Black Angels pull it off great, and I feel like once again lyrically Black Angels have seriously buckled down and started writing some of their more memorable material.  Not to mention, the pacing on this one is seriously brilliant, it creeps on without any indication of when this very funky chorus is going to pop in  This isn’t nearly in the realm of Psychedelic Metal as we’ve gotten the last few tracks, but if they’re going to go for more of THIS, I’m certainly into it.  Not to mention, I love how even when Black Angels are going for a more conscious sound in their lyrics, there’s still a real darkness to them.  

“Hunt Me Down” is up next, and let me tell you this one is even more straightforward with some very bluesy riffs.  But to be honest, I don’t feel like this one comes off nearly as well.  Black Angels have always to me come off as people who dig the Classic Psych sound and respect it and bring us a modern interpretation of it.  But on “Hunt Me Down”, first off instrumentally they really don’t even sound like themselves.  They sound like just some random Indie-Blues band that decided to go for more of a classic sound.  The end result is seriously one of the flattest sounding Black Angels tracks I’ve heard in years.  While the instrumentals don’t sound really all that bad, there isn’t an atmosphere aside, which really means there’s nothing setting Black Angels aside from every other Psych Revivalist band.   Thankfully Black Angels get right back into their groove with “Grab As Much (As You Can)”.  Right off the bat, this one puts me back into that very dangerous sounding atmosphere of Black Angels that I’ve always loved.  And let me just say right off the bat, when Alex does his vocals just right, it goes right through you and he sounds like he’s singing right in your ear and it’s absolutely chilling.  I love the pounding, animalistic drums here and the haunting yet melodic vocals.  Not to mention, the vocals on the chorus here which are so delicate, often to be immediately answered with a heavy riff is absolutely brilliant. As an album so far, I love the sheer haziness of this thing.  I feel like Black Angels were sort of lost within all of the worlds current events, and I know for certain they wrote this album during election season.  But man, did it ever push them to one out with one of their most consistent works in years.  “Estimate” is up next, and right from this intro I love the very dreary sound and the use of the church organ creates a really fantastic atmosphere.  Not to mention I seriously love Alex’s delivery here too, it’s just so cold as he brings up these very grizzly topics.  But instrumentally, this one is seriously lackluster, and doesn’t give me the same overbearing feel as Black Angels tracks often do.  Not to mention that one riff over and over seriously gets repetitive very quickly.  It doesn’t come off as hypnotic or anything, it just comes off as overly simplified.  And that’s such a pain because everything else about this track is really wonderful.  However, I still feel like I’ve had more to talk about in this album than probably the last three Black Angels releases altogether, so that’s a huge plus.  “I Dreamt” stays in the sort of lackluster realm for Black Angels sadly.  I mean, at the very least, this one certainly has a little groove to it.  We’re right back to Black Angels really doing so well to worship this sound, engulfing this sound completely.  These very fuzzy guitars wailing through the entire track sound like they’re not only from a different time period, but from a different dimension.  This isn’t as instantly gratifying as some of the earlier tunes here.  It’s actually just the opposite, it’s pretty hectic and often hard to place.  But it is a step back in the right direction, and I do love Alex’s very dangerous sounding vocal performance here.  

Thankfully, Black Angels get right back in their groove in time to end this album off right.  “Medicine” to every extent is exactly what I’ve been wanting to hear from these guys.  Here, theres the same sort of groovy throwback riffs, but this one just has this massive, commanding sound to it.  Once again, we see Black Angels diving into some easier to dive into lyrics compare to their usual Psychedelic ramblings, and it makes things real easy to appreciate.  While “Medicine” remains catchy, it also has a wonderful bleakness behind everything.  I feel like these keyboards have been such a great addition to Black Angels sound, it makes their sound go from just another revivalist band to a band that embraces this sound and makes it their own. There are still great freak out moments in the lyrics, like that great line about dancing with the woman over the water.  Overall, “Medicine” is a great freakin’ track.  “Death March” is up next, with a very hypnotic riff that starts us off as well as seemingly endless amounts of reverb.  This one for me though comes off a little too hectic.  “Death March” comes off so twisted and Psychedelic that it practically engulfs the melody so that you can’t make any of it out.  It’s a great sound for Black Angels, and I love the overwhelming atmosphere, but I need a little something to grab onto amongst all of these effects.  Alex’s vocals are twisted however, and this wall of sound does work really nicely, I just wish there was a little more melody here.  This album finishes off with “LIfe Song”, and in these opening moments I can honestly say I really couldn’t have asked for much more from this track.  I love the very slow, dreary and somber tone to this one.  Alex sounds absolutely exhausted in his delivery, but doesn’t let up on his usual vibrant atmosphere.  The band behind him however is what really drives this one home.  It’s slow and quiet, but there’s just so much going on between the very slow and calculating drums to the very far out synths and spacey guitars.  “Life Song” it slow and patience texting, but it’s worth every second.  

Rating: 7.6/10

Give A Listen To: “Currency”, “I’d Kill for Her”, “Comanche Moon”, "Life Song"

Overall Thoughts:  OK so hear me out, I don't think any track here really reinvents the wheel as far as modern Psych Rock goes.  But I think this is easily the best thing Black Angels have done in a LONG time.  Black Angels seem more comfortable in their looming atmosphere and have seemed to give up on the more Sunshine Pop direction they were going in, and in return the very hulking bleak sound of their past has returned.  It's not perfect, but it's a solid Psych Rock album.

Woods - Love Is Love

Woods are a folk band that hand been around since the early 2000's, that haven't always caught my ear to be honest.  On early releases like "How to Survive - In The Woods", I couldn't get passed some of the low-fi production.  Sure, I got what they were going for, but I really didn't think it came off very well.  However, the band had an experimental side that came out late in the album that DID catchy me by surprise, from to the unhinged "God Hates The Faithless", to the truly charming and incredibly sweet "Broke".  Woods continued with this very low-fi Folk on 2007's "At Rear House", and the results really weren't that much better.  There were fine upbeat moments like "Hunover" and sweet folk tunes like "Ring Me To Sleep", but overall I just wasn't getting it. However, Woods really got their shit together on "Songs Of Shame".  They used the same formula here as far as their sound goes.  But here, everything came off so incredibly charming and sweet.  I felt like this was the first time I really GOT Woods.  Plus the almost 10 minute folk epic instrumental "September With Pete" is absolutely breathtaking.  2010's "At Echo Lake" was just as charming to be honest.  Woods was still going for their Low-Fi Folk sound, but this was just so sunny and happy that I couldn't help but love every minute.  But as cheery as and sweet as this was, it was also kinda twisted and freakish deep down, but I love it so much.  Clearly once Woods got their grip on their sound they started really churning out some great stuff.  2011's Sun and Shade" didn't come over quite as well, with more forgettable moments.  But overall this still seriously wasn't terrible.  On 2012's "Bend Beyond" however, Woods started seriously stepping it up.  They brought in elements of Freak Folk and even a little Southern Rock in their songs to create some of their most pleasant tracks yet.  By this point, maybe you've realized but Woods have become pretty prolific with released.  In 2014 they stepped up the production majorly on "With Light and Love" and kept the more southern and freak folk references. The result though, was just as pleasant to listen to.  Woods had comes such a long way since the early 2000's. Even their 2016 album "City Sun Eater In the River of Light" was surprisingly good.  The psychedelic influence was almost completely gone, as a matter of fact the music her was pretty darn straightforward.  There were the same southern flavors the band had adopted, but with their usual breezy vocals it worked very nicely.  The same haunting atmosphere was just as heavy, and funky tracks like "Can't See At All" kept things surprisingly fresh and hip.  These new singles from Woods have been surprisingly funky, and I can certainly get into that.  Let's check the rest out!

Up first on this surprisingly short album is “Love Is Love”.  Right off the bat we’re dealing with some very groovy drums and funky riffs.  There’s always been a sort of Classic Rock vibe to Woods deep down, but now that they’re going with a much funkier sound, I think they sound more Classic Rock oriented than ever.  But to be honest, I can really get into this.  Their usual Low-Fi production is almost completely gone, which I can already tell is going to rub a lot of Woods fans the wrong way.  But in return, the vocals are honestly smokier and hazier than usual.  Some of the guitar solos are just so soulful, if they really fleshed this out into a much longer album I feel like this could have been so special.  There’s a serious sense of longing in these vocal performances.  Not to mention, while Woods have dabbled in using horns for years they’ve never been at the forefront like this, and it’s pretty damn awesome.  It’s funky, it’s got plenty of great grooves, and in a weird way it sort of reminds me of the King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard album “Paper Maché Dream Balloon”, and I can certainly dig this sound.  “Bleeding Blue” is up next, and to be honest right off the bat Woods are going for this almost weird old school Western feel to this, it would have landed very nicely on the last Woods album to be honest.  It’s less funky, and it’s certainly more straight forward sounding, but man these horns and this southern Vibe continue to be a real home run.  Between the very hazy vibe and smoky atmosphere, I’m eating this all up.  But that’s just me, I know that Woods fans are going to hear this and think this doesn’t even sound like Woods.  And yes, it’s pretty obvious that everything that made Woods who they were so many years ago is almost completely gone, but as far as a new direction goes, I think “Bleeding Blue” really works nicely.  There’s still a very spontaneous feel to this, and while this may not be as much of a Low-Fi sounding record, it still comes off strangely D.I.Y, even WITH all of these lavish instrumentals.  Now, I think the biggest problem this album has lies in its consistency and mostly it’s length.  It’s only 6 songs barely reaching a half hour, so when one of those tracks fail miserably, it brings this whole album down a ton of pegs.  “Lost In A Crowd” is just that sort of track to bring this album down.  Right off the bat I feel like this is nothing more than just a whole lot more of the same.  That very whimsical sort of folk sound that has always worked for Woods is here and in full force, but to be honest, I really feel like Woods is in desperate need to mix things up a bit.  I love the vocals and the very Psychedelic lyrics that continue with this very Classic Rock sound, but I need a little diversity, especially on an album this short.  That’s not to say that this isn’t sweet and enjoyable though, there are certainly great Woods qualities to it, hell if you knocked the production down a few pegs this may have came off like an old school Woods track.  But I just seriously can’t get my head around this, especially after how straightforward and refreshing the first few songs were.

Thankfully, Woods DO shake things up in a certainly unexpected kind of way with “Spring Is In The Air” is the most psychedelic track here by far, with heavy emphasis on droning synths and some very jammy percussion instruments in the background.  While this certainly was a stretch, it ends up panning out really great for Woods.  If they weren’t already going for a seriously Classic Rock/Psychedelic Rock sound, they certainly are now.  But this just comes off so tasteful and interesting.  I love the very somber sounding horns that sound so worn out and exhausted, as well as the almost World Music inspired drums and hazy guitars.  On this one, Woods have really dived headfirst into this sound which is seriously a big risk, especially with a run time of 10 whole minutes.  But despite the monolithic run rime, it seems justified and keeps you interested the entire time.  There are even some progressive rock elements within those very quirky instrumentals that pop up occasionally in the back.  Obviously, this is a track you need to sit with and play for its entirety, and that can be rough since it’s completely instrumental, but it’s pretty damn worth it.  Oh boy, but up next “I Hit That Drum” takes everything great that just happened and throws it right out the window.   Immediately, the atmosphere on this track seriously comes off sloppy.  Everything on “I Hit That Drum” from the very droning synths to these very hazy vocals are laid on so heavy, but absolutely nothing comes off well.  This track actually comes off seriously boring and tasteless.  While other tracks on here have had this massive sense of Psychedelic Rock, up until now they’ve all sort of had that Woods feel deep down.  But “I Hit That Drum” is the hardest of left turns, and if this is any inclination of the direction Woods plan on going forward with that’s not good at all.  They’ve always been a sort of experimental band, but THIS is headache inducing.  Then we have this album’s finale, “Love Is Love (Sun on Time)”, which is more or less a reimagined version of this album’s opener.  Now, I have a whole lot of mixed feelings on this one.  In one respect, I certainly love a good reprise.  But I feel like in this case it’s unnecessary.  If this was an hour long album, that would be a completely different story, in this case “Love Is Love (Sun On Time)” comes off as sort of redundant.  Outside of that, this doesn’t come off necessarily too bad.  I like the much more up front and funky guitar riffs here as well as the heavier grooves.  Plus, Woods sound like they’ve got their heads out of this very Psychedelic cloud for the first time this whole album.  Overall, I have sooooo many mixed thoughts on this.  

Rating: 7.0/10

Give A Listen To: “Love Is Love”, “Bleeding Blue”, “Spring Is In The Air”

Overall Thoughts: Overall this album is just sort of OK.  I feel like musically this album is fine and what is here holds up for the most part.  But this is just kind’ve awkward for Woods.  They’ve always been super prolific with releasing music, and out of nowhere I feel like they kind’ve half assed this one.  The “Love Is Love” single is FANTASTIC, but for me, I need more of this.  I needed a few more tracks spread out over a long period of time.  The tracks that are here though are good, and show Woods moving in an interesting direction, I just need more of it.  

Artificial Brain - "Infrared Horizon"

Long Island's own Artificial Brain have only been at it for a few years, but they're already making some HUGE waves in the Metal scene.  2014's "Labyrinth Constellation" combined explosive, face melting instrumentals that were often technical and absolutely huge.  Combined that with space-oriented subject matter and animalistic growls, and you have a pretty ridiculous debut.  Up until now Artificial Brain have been pretty silent since, but these new singles have just been absolutely ridiculous.  Just as technical and brutal, but strangely also a little more melodic.  I need some good metal right about now, so let's talk some more about this bad boy!

“Floating in Delirium” starts use off here, and this one certainly doesn't waste a single second throwing you directly into the pits of hell.  With some explosive growls and brutal guitars and drums however, I feel like this is a little much right off the bat.  Now, I’m not gonna sit here and say that I was expecting some sweet ambient intro, BUT i do feel like this is a little rushed.  Some of the most atmospheric stuff around the 1 minute mark ends up making things a little deeper sounding, which I certainly enjoy a lot.  But overall, it’s an alright introduction to the album.  I still feel like “Floating In Delirium” comes off a little too chock full for my liking with its very technical riffs and pounding drums, but it’s far from bad in the slightest.  It’s still really intense to say the least, and I do love the occasional atmospheric distant guitars.  Let’s move on though, we have a long way to go!  Up next we have “Synthesized Instinct”, and now that I feel like Artificial Brain have warmed up their sound, it all comes off a whole lot better.  Now, I’ve heard PLENTY of technical death metal in my days, but this is certainly some of the most triumphant I’ve heard, the black metal influence in Artificial Brain is slight but it’s there.  I actually really love the background screamed vocals, I would have loved to see these guys push even further into a Black Metal direction.  But who am I to be critical on this one, this track is FANTASTIC.  It’s just as techincal and absolutely brutal, but is it just me or this to an extent more catchy thanks to these screamed vocals and the off the wall guitars.  Compared to the intro of this album, “Synthesized Instinct” is exactly what I want to hear from Artificial Brain.  Plus, the atmospheric break passage comes out surprisingly stunning.  It’s just as heavy as you’d want to hear from Artificial Brain, but for Death Metal it’s still certainly easy to appreciate and dissect.  By the time we get to “Static Shattering”, things are really starting to get rolling here.  Tracks like this seriously have been coming off fantastically so far, and as brutal as they remain it also remains surprisingly smooth.  I love the brooding, dystopian atmosphere that always comes hand in hand with the band’s music, some of those instrumental passages always seem to come off so damn well.  The solos are intense and continue to come off very grand sounding, and the screams that come with them make this all so fantastic.  Now obviously Death Metal, especially technical Death Metal like this is going to be a little hard to swallow, but Artificial Brain really have something special.  The atmosphere, and more of the instrumental breaks give their music such a vibrant personality.  It might be a blood soaked disgusting personality, but it’s a personality nonetheless.  If this world is pummeling into oblivion at light speed, Artificial Brain are certainly holding the wheel.  Next up is “Estranged from Orbit” and right off the bat this one is just hitting everything I love about metal.  The intro here might be on the slow side, but it’s just as explosive and heavy, with a gigantic atmosphere.  Here, I love the fact paced brutal verses and how they’re all complimented by these very slow instrumental passages.  These slower passages are absolutely massive, so much so that when it comes to tracks like “Estranged from Orbit” i can’t help but get caught up in Artificial Brain’s entire atmosphere.  Listening to this I feel like I’ve wandered into some intergalactic bloody war, isn’t it great when Metal takes you places?  But what makes Artificial Brain special, is that not only can they paint these huge atmospheres, but they do so without sacrificing any of what brought people here to begin with, the brutality.  Plus, the dual vocals continue to be fantastic between the animalistic grunts and the tortured screams floating through the back.  It’s brilliant.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5S_BH4PSnM

Up next is the album’s title track, “Infrared Horizon”, and seriously this hulking atmosphere really doesn’t give you a minute to breath.  These very triumphant guitar solos continue to be seriously sharp, and while this one is a little less explosive and exciting, it makes up for that by being just as crushing.  Half of these tracks give me this feeling like I’m watching some really dark Sci-Fi thriller where an astronaut has just ran out of oxygen and is desperately trying to get back to the ship.  Of course, in Artificial Brain’s world, this scene ends up in a horribly gory mess, but that’s what we all signed up for.  That being said, this track doesn’t really hit me as hard.  It really comes off as sort of a generic Death Metal track.  Most of what makes this track a little underwhelming is the lack of personality.  The atmosphere isn’t nearly as powerful and gripping on this track, but thankfully the solos are on point enough to break things up nicely.  Artificial Brain however get right back in their groove however with “Anchored to the Inlayed Arc”.  Here, they’re right back to being this intense fusion of Death Metal and Black Metal that I’ve always loved.  Here, the atmosphere is back in full force, as well as those slight instrumental breaks that come off so nicely.   Let me just say that overall, this is the sound that I want to hear from Artificial Brain.  It’s easily just as intense and bone breaking, but it’s also melodic at parts as well as hugely atmospheric.  I also feel like as this album goes on the vocals get more and more animalistic.  “Anchored to the Inlayed Arc” is absolutely fantastic, not to mention the extended instrumental passage in the last 30 seconds or so is simply mesmerizing.   On “Mist Like Mercury”, once again they’re going for a little more of a slower, more progressive sounding jam.  I love the drum work here, as well as the very majestic guitar chords.  But on this track, I feel like Artificial Brain fall short a little.  I feel like for a while they had something seriously interesting building up, and on “Mist Like Mercury” they wipe that out for a little more of just the same.   It’s not necessarily bad, but I can’t help but feel a little let down.  This, like the intro of this album honestly comes off a little rushed sounding.  The instrumentals aren’t nearly as interesting or even as hard hitting as they usually are.  This one once again, goes right back to that feeling of zero personality being shown here.  And that really sucks when that happens, because what makes so many of the tracks here fantastic is the overwhelming amount of personality that Artificial Brain show.  The chords here don’t even come off as majestic, hell even the vocals sound like they’re trailing off a bit.  I need a wake up call.  Thankfully, Artificial Brain answer back with one of the album’s finest moments, “Vacant Explorer”.  HERE, the band sound suddenly rejuvenated, full of energy, and most importantly right back in their creativity mode.  We’re right back in the middle of this absolutely gruesome display of blood and guts, but with this constant really serene beauty constantly out of reach.  The chords here are absolutely massive and very muscular, to the point where I feel like to every extent this is what they were going for on the last track here.  Not to mention, strangely enough, some of the albums slowest moments are here, but they’re just as powerful and not a minute of this comes off nearly as boring as you would think.  Plus, some of the instrumentals in the last 2 minutes or so are refreshing.  As a matter of fact, the majority of this album is just so refreshing to the Death Metal genre.  Hell yes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q1DERX6-Ic

Artificial Brain aren’t done with us yet, as a matter of fact they’ve saved one of their most brilliant moments for late in the album.  Right from the intro to “Graveyard of Lightless Planets”, this track gives me the chills.  There are some groove metal and progressive metal influences bubbling underneath the usual heavy technical death metal feel.  But here, it’s a little different.  I feel like “Graveyard of Lightless Planets” is the culmination of everything that’s been bubbling up over the past half hour.  This is easily the most determined, streamlines sound I’ve heard here from Artificial Brain yet.  As wild as some of the earlier tracks came off here, a lot of them came off a little too improvised or maybe a little too chaotic occasionally.  But “Graveyard of Lightless Planets” comes off like it’s been worked on for years to be perfected.  It’s explosive and aggressive, but it’s also triumphant and melodic, and most of all seriously exciting.  Moments like this make me want to rewind right back to the first track and sit through this entire album all over again.  Metal needs more moments like THAT.  This track ends with a pretty pleasant 30 second or so ambient piece.  But just when you thought that Artificial Brain were letting you off easy, “Ash Eclipse” begins.  Clearly Artificial Brain aren’t done absolutely assaulting you yet. This track is a little less triumphant, but this track to me comes off as another really great explosion of every bit of tension built up on here, and that’s a solid ending in my book.  

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To: Synthesized Insect, Estranged From Orbit, "Graveyard of Lightless Planets", "Vacant Explorer”

Overall Thoughts:  First off, let me just say that Artificial Brain's first album hit just a little bit harder in the long run.  Now that I have that out of the way, Artificial Brain on this album continue to be just refreshing as far as the Death Metal genre goes.  Their personality and great use of atmosphere continues to come through in a huge way, often creating gruesome bloody atmospheres that compliment their songs brilliantly.  Also, this album is a WHOLE lot more melodic and even catchy in parts bizarrely enough.  If you're looking for a pretty easy Death Metal album to get into, look no further.  

Clark - Death Peak

Clark, aka Chris Clark, has been making dark, ambient electronic music since the early 2000's.  I first caught on to him around the time he started going under the Clark moniker, and the release of his "Body Riddle" album.  I thought this was a solid intro to the Clark moniker.  A handful of the shorter songs seemed a little incomplete to me, but the rest of the material here showed Clark as a an electronic artist ready to start making some waves.  Plus, there was a little bit of everything here to the more up front and funky "Matthew Unburdened", to the MUCH darker and almost drone influenced "Herzog".  2008'S "Turning Dragon" however, wasn't much of an improvement.  It was actually a back step for Clark.  As opposed to his usual more ambient music, "Turning Dragon" was mostly a techno album, a really bland one at that.  Some of the later, more experimental moments were better, but still I expected so much more.  2009's "Totem Flare" got me really excited when I first heard some of the tracks, Clark was certainly going back in the much more experimental direction.  But it was almost a little too gimmicky for my liking, to the point where it came off as a really fucking corny Nine Inch Nails ripoff most of the time.  2012's "Iradelphic" was Clark's strangest album yet, switching over from electronic music to more experimental music with live instrumentation.  It was once again, just OK.  It had been a real long time since I heard anything truly awesome from Clark. Clark did start to get his footing back on the "Feast/Beast" compilation of remixes.  The material was fine, but of course it was all made up of remixes one way or another.  I was happy with the results still, but I needed some new, defining solo work from Clark.  And in every way, I got that with his 2014 Self Titled album.  This album was pretty damn fantastic, focusing much more on ambient tunes as well as a monolithic atmosphere.  There were still plenty of IDM influences here, but to be honest it was all very tasteful and interesting.  Then in 2016 Clark released his soundtrack of "The Last Panthers", which most fans were a little underwhelmed with.  Personally though I love Clark when he's at his most ambient like he was here, so I ended up enjoying this quite a bit, however i DID understand that some of the ideas here were a little underdeveloped.  These new Clark singles have been a bit of a mixed bag, showing that Clark is certainly in experimental mode.  Let's talk about it.

This album starts off with the short “Spring But Dark”.  Now, from this intro, I actually get some pretty high hopes for what’s to come.  As far as a dark sound goes, I haven’t heard anything this menacing from Clark in ages.  Between the children’s choir in the back and the walls of synth that blast in, this is all pretty fantastic.  It’s short, but it’s a highly experimental and noisy intro that makes me happy to hear Clark has his thoughts straight.  It’s absolutely got an experimental edge, but I’ve always felt like Clark is at his best when he’s working in this realm.  However, my dreams of a fully THICK experimental and dark ambient album are crushed by “Butterfly Prowler”.  To be honest, this one sounds like one of the lesser tracks from one of his more forgettable albums.  This just sounds like a sort of dark tinged EDM, and I absolutely can’t stand it when Clark gets in this mindset.  To be honest, it’s still probably more engaging and interesting than most of the EDM out there these days, and there are certainly some good aspects to this.  I like the vocal samples and some of the more wonky sounding synths that pop up later on.  Not to mention, the rising tension used in some of the later synths comes off pretty nicely as well.  However, I just really wish “Butterfly Prowler” had a little more heart to is and had a little more of a left field edge to it.  It does have a pretty decent groove and all, but I feel like as the track rolls onwards it just gets more and more mainstream sounding, and that is not good at all.  But even when those last few moments roll around and Clark breaks out some string samples and some eerie sound effects, I get hope for the rest of the album and Clark in general.    Thankfully, Clark gets on track very quickly and pretty much stays there with “Peak Magnetic”.  Right off the bat this sounds just so much more subtle, which I’m totally into.  I find myself loving the vocal samples here almost constantly, as well as the super glitchy production.  And while the EDM influence on “Peak Magnetic” still shows up and all, it take it’s time building up nicely and isn’t shoved down our throats nearly as much.  I love the sort of ambient approach Clark is taking on this one, with all of these really nice background sound effect flowing through the track as the beat pumps onwards.  This is the sort of atmosphere I love to hear Clark on, walking that very thing line between EDM and more experimental stuff.  It’s also really haunting deep down, and those icy blast of synths blaring through the back give me almost a Tim Hecker vibe.  Now I’ll be honest, when I first heard this tune is really didn’t hit me that hard, but give it some time, it’s certainly worth it.  Plus, those droning synths at the end are absolutely to die for.  

Now, when I saw Clark a few years ago at a festival I was so happy when he stuck to his heavier, more atmospheric material.  But as heavy as he’s gotten over the years, I never expected to hear anything like “Hoova”.  Where in the world is this track even coming from?!  This may be the heaviest, most booming track I’ve ever heard from Clark.  There’s a really hectic groove in between these seriously gigantic drums that’s absolutely to die for.  All I have to say is, where the hell has THIS been?!?  Gimme some more of this!  Everything about “Hoova” comes off so skittish and glitchy, it’s a little hard to keep track of at times but man is it ever worth it.  The vocal samples continue to add a sort of darkness to this, but that’s an element that’s always worked for Clark.  As the album goes on, I still feel like Clark’s EDM side is just dying to break free, but here he lets it shine just enough.  “Hoova” overall is an icy, shimmering electronic track, one that takes a few listens to really get into, but it’s worth it.  Not to mention, I love the more live instrumentation that’s going on in the background, it gives this track a much more experimental edge.  “Slap Drones” is up next, and is much more subtle in every way.  The experimental side of Clark is subtle, the EDM side of him is hushed, and overall this is just a really hard track to get into.  There are a lot of real cool things going on still, like I love how the beat sort of seems to engulf all of the more ambient stuff thats going on here, and then there’s also the seriously twisted atmosphere.  “Slap Drones” is just sort of OK, but I do have one very serious issue with it.  To me, this really doesn’t come off as Clark solo material, this actually to me sounds a little like someone else’s material that Clark remixed.  That’s fine and all, but it just seriously doesn’t interest me.  Meanwhile, with all of the much heavier electronic music I’ve listened to this year, “Slap Drones” funnily enough is much less inviting.  But for the most part it isn’t terribly, there’s still some nice grooves and bizarre samples.  “Aftermath” is up next, and all I have to say is that Clark’s atmosphere has come such a long way from that days that I was constantly worrying about him becoming an EDM stat at any moment.  There are some nice instrumentals here, but they’re all backed by this very hulking sense of despair and sadness.  No, there really isn’t much going on on “Aftermath”, but it’s a decent interlude, and it shows that Clark can certainly “hang” in the world of ambient music.  

Up until now it’s been a decent Clark album, but Clark really ends off this album pretty strongly, starting with “Catastrophe Anthem”.  Right from this intro I can tell you that THIS is what I want to hear from Clark.  These synth notes in the intro are absolutely piercing as hell.  Between the very cold instrumentals and the absolutely massive atmosphere, this one is just so uninviting that I love it.  I love the very hectic instrumentals that are constantly at war behind this absolutely massive synth line.  And then, all of a sudden Clark throws a massive curveball and everything instantly becomes so serene and beautiful.  It really doesn’t last long though, as Clark brings right back that children’s choir and instantly we’re right back to being dark as hell.  To be honest, I can’t really remember the last time I felt this many different emotions listening to Clark’s music.  All of a sudden “Catastrophe Anthem” lives up to its name by going back to being all sorts of hectic and explosive, this almost reminds me of a watered down track from that new Blanck Mass album.  It’s a little ambient, it’s a WHOLE lot of darkness, and it’s quite frankly brilliant.  “Living Fantasy” up next lives up to it’s title for having a very whimsical feel to this one.  But to be honest this one sort of rubs me the wrong way a little bit.  The opening synths are just fine, but the keyboard melodies that pop in later that are constantly rising and falling get old really quickly to be honest.  And it’s a shame, because this one actually has a really nice serene atmosphere that works really nicely.  I just wish this one had a little more variety once things got rolling.  It’s good don’t get me wrong, but this late in the album I just wanted to here a little something more epic and adventurous.  However, my wish is granted with this MASSIVE finale, “Un U.K”.  This, in every way is exactly the sort of adventurous finale I wanted to hear from Clark.  Right off the bat Clark is at his most experimental and weird, but it all flows together so nicely and smoothly that as glitchy and weird as it is, this comes off both beautiful and inviting.  Some of the more progressive synth elements here don’t come off nearly as welcoming, but as a whole, “Un U.K.” is the kind of spectacle that I was expecting a little early from Clark.  Don’t get too comfortable though, because this track goes from stunningly beautiful to some of the noisiest and harshest electronic music I’ve heard all year.  Hey Clark, where can I get a whole album like THIS.

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To: “Peak Magnetic”, “Hoova”, “Catastrophe Anthem”, "Un U.K."

Overall Thoughts:  Overall, this is a pretty darn good Clark album, much more than I expected.  Clark over the years has always been very hit or miss with me, mostly because of his usual forays off into EDM and Techno, and I usually much would prefer to listen to his more ambient and experimental stuff.  That's what I got here.  Most of this material is also surprisingly heavy for Clark, between that and some weird samples and big atmospheres, this is a pretty solid electronic release.  

Timber Timbre - "Sincerely, Future Pollution"

Timber Timbre are a Canadian folk band that I've been meaning to dive into for a while now.  Maybe you've all noticed, but when it comes to folk I'm very picky and probably always will be.  However, I was instantly hooked by their 2008 debut "Cedar Shakes".  This album has a lot in common with mainstream folk artists like The Lumineers which was really evident on the album.  However, there was also something much deeper to their music.  There was a SERIOUS amount of hurt here, like the kind of hurt that you would hear on early 40's and 50's delta blues albums.  That, combined with some of the Gothic imagery on tracks like "It's Only Dark" really made me think about what I was listening to.  On 2007's "Medicinals", Timber Timbre went much heavier into the Gothic imagery territory.  I mean, this was almost a little too dark at times.  Between the often twisted subject matter and the very grimy production, I felt like this was some sort of cursed album that someone dug up in a bayou somewhere, and I loved every last minute of it.  With 2009's "Timber Timbre", the band creeped along with 8 more bluesy, dreary folk tunes that all sounded like they would have been wonderful picks for the theme of the first season of "True Detective".  But the production was upped big time on this album which gave for a bigger atmosphere and some seriously slick instrumentals. 2012's "Creep On Creepin' On" was a little bit of a different animal though.  This one took me a few listens to really take in everything that was going on.  There were some bizarre spin offs into ragtime and rockabilly genres, but it all seemed pretty legit.  Then there was this real sense of insanity and obsession throughout the lyrics.  It was still very dreary and dark, but in a very different way.  In 2014 Timber Timbre released the much grander "Hot Dreams".  While I liked moments of this, I felt like overall I didn't get the same feeling from listening to these tunes.  Tracks like "Grand Canyon" and "Curtains?!" were great, but overall I felt like they had left behind some of the simplicity of their early recordings.  These new singles have been strangely synth heavy, which worked in some cases as a HUGE negative, but other times as a gigantic plus as well, let's talk about the rest of this thing.

This album starts off with “Velvet Gloves & Spit”, and I think the most obvious element that’s new here, is the inclusion of these very 80’s sounding synths.  Like I said in the intro to this review, there are times on this album that actually work really nicely due to the synthesizers.  However, on this opener I really don’t get that at all.  Timber Timbre used to be so subtle and small sounding, and so stripped down.  This is just the opposite of that to be honest.  Outside of this instrumentals however, the rest of Timber Timbre’s performance really isn’t that much better.  The atmosphere here is so bland,  and while it’s certainly big and smokey, this doesn’t come off like a Timber Timbre track at all.  Even Taylor Kirk’s vocals don’t even sound on the level of what they were a few years back.  And while we’re at it, as far as lyrics go, I wouldn’t say that this is that far off from their more decent material.  But let’s be honest, the total package here seriously does not work at all overall.  Plus, the pacing on “Velvet Gloves & Spit” is just so slow, what an absolutely boring start.  “Grifting” is up next, and at the very least the synths that mark the start of this track at the very least give this one much more of a ghoulish funk feel.  Honestly, if Timber Timbre ARE going this route, and are going to be incorporating more and more synths, that’s fine, but this is certainly the way to go.  There’s a nice groove to this one, and Taylor Kirk’s very skittish, hoppy performance makes “Grifting” come off sort of like an updated version of an earlier Timber Timbre track.  Lyrically though, this really doesn’t do that much for me, I actually think it’s a little repetitive and not nearly as engaging as the subtleness of their early recordings.  However, I can appreciate some of the smaller details here, like that one piano note constantly tapping in the back, and personally I think the very BIG synths here are actually really pretty.  But this one still rubs me seriously the wrong way.  Bizarrely enough, the first track that seriously sticks with me is “Skin Tone”, a fully instrumental track.  Now while this is an instrumental, this is easily the pinnacle of atmosphere as far as this album goes.  While at first, things sound so sweet and delicate, it becomes very apparent really quickly that this is actually pretty damn twisted.  The pacing on this one moves so slow, but when you add that in with that seriously sinister synth line and you get one seriously moody instrumental.  Now, I’m not going to say I want to hear a fully instrumental Timber Timbre album because Taylor Kirk’s vocals are most of what made their music so haunting to begin with.  However, this is a sign that Timber Timbre seriously need to do a little something different.

Up next, we have “Moment”, and for a few short minutes I feel like Timber Timbre really sound something special in these synths they’ve added to their music.  Honestly, I actually like a whole lot about “Moment”, even Taylor Kirk’s performance here is great.  But the pacing on these tracks continues to be a serious problem.  There’s tons of elements that I actually love here, like that chorus which is just such a wonderful release of energy that’s so huge that it’s stunning.  But as far as the verses go, they aren’t exactly boring so to speak, but I’m just dying for a little switch-up at this point.  This doesn’t even come off as subtle or as strangely beautiful as some of their early work.  No, sadly some of the verses on “Moment” come off as boring.  But then, just when I think I’m done with this track, I hear this great semi-sinister synth line pop in as well as these really ghoulish backing vocals.  THEN, as soon as I’m done thinking that at the end of the day I ended up liking this track, we have this incredibly necessary solo.  “Moment” while overall is really good, is just as all over the place as the rest of the album.  Now while I have issues with tracks like “Moment”, one track I don’t have a single issue with is “Sewer Blues”.  Let me just start off by saying, if they’re going to continue to use these huge synths and go for a bigger sound, this is the way to go.  There’s nothing wrong with these synths and using cleaner production if they actually know what they’re doing, just as long as they start incorporating that famous atmosphere.  Which they do!  “Sewer Blues” is absolutely hulking, and takes me right back to the old feeling I would get that half of Timber Timbre’s songs would have been great “True Detective” theme songs.  Taylor Kirk here sounds so calculated in his delivery, so absolutely sinister deep down, so much so that it brings me right back to the days of “Creep On Creepin’ On” where there was this feeling of true danger and insanity.  “Sewer Blues” at the end of the day is a really fantastic track, it they made more material like this I would be more than happy to rave and rant about it some more.  Not to mention, the pacing on this one is BRILLIANT, there really isn’t a boring moment on here, and there’s actual tension with each note.  “Western Questions” is up next, and from this intro we certainly get the same haunting atmosphere.  But I dunno, is it just me, or in situations like this do the synths make everything more cheesy and less tolerable?  But that’s all fine and dandy because a few bars later and everything about this instrumental and atmosphere falls apart.  And the resulting bars are some of the album’s most exhausting.  Not even the “Oh wow this is exciting” exhausted, exhausted in the way that I’m literally mere moments away from falling asleep.  The drum machine in the background is the furthest thing from flattering for Timber Timbre.  And while lyrically this is actually really decent, Timber Timbre at the end of the day need to take a big step back and look at their formula.  But there are still more than a few great little details here. For example, I love how twisted this track is lyrically, and those great moments where the instrumentals go silent and were all alone with Taylor Kirk’s vocals and some creepy sound effects.  And don’t even get me started on how fantastic this track’s finale is, when all the instrumentals pick up into this almost dark-tropical feel, I could have seriously ate that up for ages.  

I feel like this album isn’t BAD overall, but it’s just so unbelievably inconsistent.  Every really good track has questionable moments, while every bad track has some moments that are seriously VERY good.  Up next is the album’s title track, “Sincerely, Future Pollution”.  Now, lets be honest, once again Timber Timbre here actually does a really good job of bringing in a sense of danger and true darkness.  This one is seriously VERY heavy, to the point where more or less this comes off almost like a soundtrack to a climax scene in a really twisted thriller.  The synths here are so bold and simple, and the instrumentals that accompany them are all so calculating and piercing.  There are a few goofy moments on this track, like those keyboards or whatever those are that pop in.  But overall let’s be honest, if this track is cheesy, it’s cheesy in the best way.  Not to mention even Taylor Kirk sounds so refreshed and absolutely ghastly once he shows up over halfway through.  I think what this album comes down to is just how much Timber Timbre really bit off a little more than they could chew.  The synthesizers were a BIG gamble for this album, and while it certainly works great here, there are too many tracks that it doesn’t work with at all.  Up next is “Bleu Nuit” which starts off with actually some pretty darn graceful and dare I say gorgeous synth melodies.  Things smooth out real quickly here into a surprisingly decent and funky jam that I actually dig quite a bit.  There are some jazzy elements here, it sort of comes off like the soundtrack to a super campy 80’s Horror Movie (think “Fright Night” or something around those lines).  But you see, once again here Timber Timbre in this case just kinda let things roll out and don’t stray too far from what they know.  The saxophone is a great addition to the sound of this track, hell I wouldn’t have minded hearing more of that throughout the album.  Also on this track there are some weird backing vocals that are constantly right outside of listening range, which gives this track a legitimate creepiness.  This album ends off with “Floating Cathedral”.  This one actually has a nice intro with some cool licks here and there.  But overall I feel like this isn’t even Timber Timbre anymore.  No, on the contrary I feel like I wandered into a Super Mario 64 Water Level.  Taylor’s vocals here don’t even sound like his own anymore to be honest.  Hell, I don’t even feel like I’m listening to the same band anymore, if this was another band, maybe I could work with this.  But I came her for a Timber Timbre album, and this is a poor attempt at that,  the direction this band is going in confuses me.  

Rating: 7.1/10

Give A Listen To - “Sewer Blues”, “Moment”, “Skin Tone”, “Sincerely, Future Pollution”

Overall Thoughts:  This is easily not only the most inconsistent Timber Timbre album I've heard, but one of the most inconsistent albums I've heard all year.  The tracks on here are all over the place.  Every good track I feel like starts off awkward or has plenty of bizarre moments that make me question if this is the same band anymore.  While every track that's really not that good at all, has moments that blow me away.  I'm not really sure where Timber Timbre is going to go next, but hat synthesizer man can go a few ways, and I hope they can lock it in before their music gets even harder to sit through.  

Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

Kendrick Lamar, over the last few years has skyrocketed to being THE hip hop artist.  In 2011, "Section.80" showed that Kendrick, while he was young, had a TON to say.  He said it all too dammit.  While Kendrick was still getting his voice, and while this album wasn't as flawless and game changing as the two he's done since, it showed endless amount of promise.  Not so shockingly, Kendrick followed it up with one of this generations most iconic hip hop albums, "Good Kid, "M.A.A.D. City".  This album was near perfect, not only having truly brilliant singles like "Money Trees" and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe", it also was an unreal album as a whole.  Telling deep, personal stories about growing up and being corrupted by Gang culture, it was emotional, it was rough, and quite frankly it was near perfect.  How in the world could Kendrick top this?! Well, he did just that in 2015 with the jaw dropping "To Pimp A Butterfly".  While I'm always going to be more of a fan of "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City", there was something truly special about "To Pimp A Butterfly".  This tackles a whole lot of the same themes as his previous album, but did it in so much more of an artistic, genuinely stunning way.  It was conscious, with elements of everything to G-Funk to Jazz Rap, and cemented Kendrick as THE hip hop artist of this generation.  Hell, even on his B-Sides album, last year's "Untitled Unmastered", Kendrick seemed just as revolutionary as ever.  Overall this wasn't as jaw dropping as his past few releases.  BUT, it proved something we already kind've knew, and that was that even on Kendrick's worst day, he was better than just about every other rapper out there.  And now out of nowhere, Kendrick is teasing us with something new, powered by two strong singles.  Let's check out the rest of this, and see if Kendrick Lamar can once again change the way the world experiences rap.

This album starts off with “BLOOD.”.  There are some heavy use of soul samples which go wonderfully against this almost ghostly production.  Just by hearing this intro you get the feeling that something is about to happen that probably isn’t too good.  “BLOOD.” is just so dreary sounding, but it’s also right up Kendrick’s alley as far as sampling goes.  Now to be honest, I never really know what to expect from Kendrick.  We’ve heard everything from G-Funk to Experimental Hip Hop from Kendrick, so he certainly can hit us from all sorts of different areas of Hip Hop.  But “BLOOD.” is totally left field of everything I was expecting to hear from Kendrick.  It’s very dark, and it focuses mostly around this very dark beat and Kendrick telling us this story over it.  I think what makes this track works so much is just the pacing behind it.  The way Kendrick keeps pausing as he’s talking to the woman in his story, you can tell SOMETHING is about to happen.  But at this point in his career, Kendrick even though he’s just telling us a story has such a way with it, and it ends up being absolutely mesmerizing.  It’s a powerful, quick intro, and the somber tone and sad sounding beat is just heart wrenching.  And of course, something does happen eventually, Kendrick gets shot.  The album obviously though is just getting started as Kendrick rips into “DNA.”.  Let me just say, Kendrick has always been so damn smart.  He always seems to take something negative in his life, like in this case a negative interview with Geraldo Rivera, and turns that into something larger.  Kendrick, whose not one to be held down by anyone, took that interview and sampled it, making a statement that I’m sure Geraldo could not have expected.  The beat that follows in the opening moments is a little more of a banger and is heavier than the material on “To Pimp A Butterfly” (Not to say that there certainly wasn’t bangers on there).  But at its core, this really just goes straight back to the mentality that made “Good Kid M.A.A.D. City” so damn good.  Kendrick in his delivery sounds absolutely vicious and just as smooth as ever.  That somber, sort of dark tone continues on in these beats, and lyrically Kendrick continues to blast whoever he’s had his sights on in his last few singles.  However the real story on “DNA.” continues to be the use of this Geraldo Rivera interview, Kendrick continues to use it HUGELY.  Not only that, but he’s putting it completely at the forefront of everything to make it even a bigger statement.  Not only is Kendrick gifted lyrically, but as an artist he’s simply put BRILLIANT.  Not to mention, the beat switch up to that much heavier beat is absolutely ridiculous.  Moving On!  Up next is one of my favorite tracks here by far, “YAH.”.  First, let me just say that these beats are near perfection, and they don’t lighten up at all.  They’re sort of jazzy and sort of reminiscent of some of the early 2000’s underground hip hop movement to an extent.  Now, since Kendrick Lamar started recording only a few short years ago, the world has seriously changed a lot.  It’s a whole lot more hectic, and more times than not it’s often dangerous, and here we’re seeing just how much it’s getting to him.  I mean just take a look at this album cover, Kendrick looks exhausted and burned out, it even comes through in his delivery sometimes.  Lyrically here, Kendrick is bringing up everything that the world and himself are feeling on a daily basis, and very quickly it’s becoming pretty obvious why Kendrick feels the way he does.  Geraldo Rivera and Fox News continue to be a serious boiling point for Kendrick, and probably have forced him into feeling the way he’s been feeling on this album and in general.  But Kendrick has always been so good at letting us into his life.  Here he goes into things like his niece seeing him on Fox News, and you seriously end up feeling for the guy.  Also, Kendrick since his debut has also been known to be very religious, and there’s plenty of references to that on here as well.  Now if you listen to the beats, they continue to be very hazy and almost psychedelic, and that’s not going to go anywhere either.  You can take it however you want, you can say that Kendrick is having a near death experience from getting shot, or something else entirely.  But whatever it is, it’s pretty damn stunning.  Up next is “ELEMENT.”, and I guess it’s about time to bring up these ad-libs that show up on practically every track.  Now usually, I feel like this would be a major negative aspect for me, but even the ad-libs on Kendrick Lamar albums come off tastefully.  Plus, they do exactly what they’re supposed to do, and that’s hype up the listener.  Between talking about his enemies once again and bringing up family and religion, this is more of what’s to be expected from Kendrick.  But it’s just presented so damn good.  The beats here continue to be so haunting and dreary, but when you take into consideration that James Blake produced this one, it’s really not that shocking.  I love just how dark and dreary this all comes off, and since this is all coming after Kendrick gets “shot”, it speaks volumes.  And seriously, I don’t know WHAT happened to Kendrick in the last few years, but he sounds so betrayed, not only by whoever it is he’s been referencing but the entire human race I feel like.  It’s powerful stuff. “FEEL.” continues this album on, and by this point it’s pretty damn obvious that “Ain’t Nobody Praying For Me” continues to be a serious theme on this album.  So many of these tracks as this album goes on, continue with this very dreary, laid back sound.  But honestly, it really works for Kendrick.  Kendrick here literally goes down a list of things that he's been feeling lately, and let me tell you this young man has been feeling quite a bit(Betrayal and loneliness however, continue to be huge).  Kendrick says "I feel like it ain't no tomorrow, fuck the world, The world is endin', I'm done pretendin'. And fuck you if you get offended. I feel like friends been overrated, I feel like the family been fakin', I feel like the feelings are changin’.”, powerful stuff.  Kendrick has never been afraid to say what he’s feeling, but this is next level.  Kendrick isn’t holding back a single lick of anything.  And while Kendrick in his delivery still sounds a little worn down, he’s still the most fierce and focused MC out there.  

Up next is “LOYALTY.” featuring Rihanna, and as far as a real “Banger” goes, this is probably the closest you’re going to heat to one on this album.  HOWEVER, it’s a brilliant one.   This one while it’s much heavier and bass-centered, it still seems os beaten down and heartbroken.  I love Kendrick’s flow here, it’s still just as focused and piercing, but it’s a little more chilled out as well.  Now, while I’ve never been exactly a big fan of Rihanna’s solo work, she’s always seemed to win me over when it comes to features and hooks.  Her chemistry with Kendrick here is surprisingly, really spot on.  But once again, we see betrayal being seriously a HUGE element to this album, and of course this track as this one is allllll about loyalty.  And let me just say now, the production of this album is absolutely stellar: While it’s very cleanly produced and very hip, it has tons of old school flare that really sets this apart.  “PRIDE.” is up next, and I continue to can’t get enough of these very ghostly, other worldly sounding samples that make everything so damn dreary sounding.  The beat here is so melancholy and the gloomy sounding guitars compliment the samples so well.  In a weird way, as far as the tone and atmosphere goes this kinda reminds me of Earl Sweatshirt’s “I Don’t Like Shit I Don’t Go Outside”.  Obviously though, as much as I love Earl, this is much more masterfully done.  So much so, that you end up seriously feeling for Kendrick.  Now to be honest though, if I had to choose a track here that I wasn’t completely vining on, it would probably be this one.  I feel like here, Kendrick is lyrically just as sharp as ever.  But here his delivery is just a little too laid back and a little TOO dreary for my liking. Kendrick’s verse certainly wakes me up and all, but the rest of this is just a little too relaxing.  But even when Kendrick is at his sleepiest, he’s still on point with his lyrics, especially that one line about bringing all the world’s religions to the same service.  “HUMBLE” is up next, and “Nobody Pray For Me” continues to be another HUGE theme of this album.  After the sleepy eyes “PRIDE.”, this is the sort of fiery banger I really needed.  In a way, this doesn’t really fit the sound of the album, but lyrically, hell yea it does.  And like I said, while the tone of this one doesn’t really fit with the album, it certainly mixes up the feel of the album.  Whether he knows it or not, Kendrick with “PRIDE.” just casually came out with one of the best Anti-Hater track’s you’re going to hear all year.  Kendrick on this album seriously has proven something that we sort of already knew, and that’s that every time you feel like Kendrick Lamar has run out of things to say, he still has PLENTY to say.  “PRIDE.” is exciting, intense, brilliant, and a fantastic banger.  Next up is “LUST.”, which returns to a whole lot of the feels we got earlier from this.  It’s very hazy in sound, almost a little psychedelic, but with Jazz virtuosos BadBadNotGood on production, I can’t say I’m too shocked.  I love the very glitchy production on this one, as well as Kendrick’s sort of soulful performance.  Instrumentally, there’s just so much going on in this one, between the very lazy synthesizers throughout the back and the guitar licks floating throughout as well.  “LUST.” is probably the most experimental and abstract track we’ve heard here so far.  But it’s wild moments like this that make Kendrick so exciting.  Here, Kendrick takes us deep into vices, namely drugs and sex.  Overall, this album is so well done, as Kendrick once again has reinvented himself to an astonishing level.  But while I’m seriously crazy about so much of this album, “LOVE.”  featuring Zacari kinda doesn’t hit me as hard as I know it’s hitting most people.  Now, it’s certainly good and all, but there are so many other tracks here that I would so much rather listen to.  Zacari’s vocals are really nice and compliment Kendrick very nicely, not to mention that hook is fantastic.  But I dunno, the whole vibe to this track just really doesn’t vibe with the rest of the album.  I think this is still a solid tune, and for a slow jam coming from Kendrick Lamar, I can’t really expect much more.  

Up next we seriously have to address the elephant in the room, meaning U2.  Can I just ask, did anyone really think Kendrick was serious when he said U2 were going to be featured on a track?  Cause I didn’t.  Anyway!  “XXX.” featuring U2 is up next, and I’m gonna be honest this was the track here that I worried about the most.  However, it certainly turned out pretty damn decent.  This is one of the more old school sounding tracks here and certainly is more straightforward as far as the beat goes.  It’s certainly nice to hear Kendrick on a beat that’s a little more up front and explosive and not as hazy.  Not only is the beat explosive here, but Kendrick himself is absolutely explosive and gigantic.  Kendrick after mellowing out just a little, is right back to being pissed off.  Of course he’s been for most of the album, but this is the angriest we’ve heard in a while.  As far as lyrical themes go, we’re dealing with A LOT of what we’ve been accustomed to if you’ve listened to the past few Kendrick albums.  He brings up life int he areas that he’s lived in, as well as gun control, and as many times I’ve heard Kendrick on these topics, it never fails to blow my mind.  Then, we have U2’s contribution, which is honestly done really tastefully (if you know how much I despise U2, you’ll know just how much that sentence killed me to write).  “XXX.” is Jazzy, it’s conscious, and adds plenty to this absolute masterpiece int he making of Kendrick’s.  “FEAR.” is next, and I continue to love the seriously jazzy feel to a lot of these tracks.  I love the funky licks here that remind me of some of the beats on “The Heart Part 4”.  Kendrick continues to bring in a whole lot of religious themes and imagery, but at this point it’s become so engraved in Kendrick’s music that is comes off so well.  Then we have the bizarre backwards vocals that come off so wild and give me just enough of the experimental, edgy vibe that came up on “To Pimp A Butterfly”.  Lyrically, this one dives into Kendrick’s home life, at least it seems that way.  We learn about how he grew to fear who he lived with (And turned to smoking pot), and of course how overtime his fame has brought him to fear much greater things.  Overall, this continues to be so beyond powerful.  Kendrick is this generations great Rap storyteller, and the funky licks and jazzy vibes that back him up here make this brilliant.  We’re almost to the end of this bad boy, but Kendrick isn’t done with us yet.  Up nest is “GOD.”, with its synth heavy beat and shimmering atmosphere.  Kendrick’s verses here show him going into his upper register, with him almost coming off as singing.  But to be honest, it’s actually really stunning and amazing, and seriously really refreshing.  In a way, this album I didn’t really think was possible.  BUT, I think this may just be the most important album Kendrick has made for himself.  In the long run, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” and “To Pimp A Butterfly” seemed to be for others.  But “DAMN.” is 100% for kendrick, and man is it ever well done.  It’s fierce when it needs to be, it’s beautiful occasionally, and once again Kendrick has seriously taken the way people listen to rap and has turned it around completely.  This album finishes off with “DUCKWORTH.”.  Kendrick more often than not, does what so many artists have a real issue with.  And that my friends, it starting an idea, putting in plenty of details to prove a point, and most importantly finishing his thoughts.  On “DUCKWORTH.”, Kendrick brings us right back to the sounds of this album’s introduction, literally bringing us full circle.  And honestly, it makes “DAMN.” feel very complete.  “DUCKWORTH.” is smooth, it’s soulful, it’s a little jazzy, and most importantly it’s just as conscious and smart as other tracks here.  Even as far as song topics go, Kendrick brings us full circle by summarizing this entire album’s vast array of emotions.  The multiple beat changes come off absolutely stunning, each coming off nicer than the last.  Not to mention, we’re getting even MORE of an outlook into Kendrick’s teen years, just when we thought we literally know so much about him.  Not only that, it all comes off brilliantly.  And of course, Kendrick you clever son of a gun, this track ends with the same gun shot that started this album off.  Everything has come full circle, and to be quite honest, hell yes it’s moving.  Kendrick Lamar, may I just say, you’ve outdone yourself.  

Rating: 9.2/10

Give A Listen To: "YAH", "ELEMENT", "LOYALTY", "HUMBLE."

Overall Thoughts: Going into this album, I honestly had my doubts, slight doubts, but doubts nonetheless.  I thought to myself, "In the past few years, Kendrick Lamar has given us so much, yet seemingly constantly kept things fresh and exciting.  So what the hell is he going to do after releasing two of the most critically acclaimed hip hop albums ever".  WELL self, the answer is, go fiercer than ever, hit harder than ever, and lay absolutely everything on the table.  Kendrick on "DAMN." has outdone himself.  Once again, he proves that lyrically he's head and shoulders he's above and beyond everyone else in Rap right now, and conceptually, Kendrick may as well be a damn God of rap.  After releasing two of Hip Hop's most cherish album's, Kendrick believe it or not, has just released his best album yet.  

Future Islands - The Far Field

Future Islands in the last few years, have become one of the biggest Synth-Pop acts in the world, mostly dude to their GIGANTIC singles and brilliant live shows.  You certainly wouldn't know that though looking at their 2008 debut "Wave Like Me".  The songwriting was obviously solid and their performances were OK.  But the production here was AWFUL, and the songs more often than not came off very hectic and not really well thought out.  Even vocalist Sam Herring's vocals which have become such a gigantic part of Future Islands music seemed so small and minuscule.  THeir next album, "In Evening Air", was a big step up, but started to reveal Future Island's big flaw.  Their biggest flaw has always been their deep album cuts.  Future Islands have ALWAYS been so good at making huge singles to garner them attention, but always get real sloppy with later tracks.  The same is true for "In Evening Air", but the production and song structure at least was a huge step up. 2011's "On The Water" was the first time that I really felt like Future Islands really got it right.  The songs on this album were gigantic, cleanly produced, beautiful, and seriously emotionally charged for Synth Pop tracks.  All Future Islands seriously needed was one HUGE song to get the ball rolling.    And boy, did they ever get that.  On their next album, "Singles", Future Islands absolutely nailed it, creating an almost perfect synth pop album.  Most of this, was fueled by the absolutely massive success of the "Seasons (Waiting On You)" single.  A few legendary live shows and one iconic David Letterman performance later, and Future Islands seem to be on the top of the Synth Pop genre.  These new singles, let me tell you, have been absolutely as gigantic as I could have wanted them to be.  Let's chat about the rest of this thing, shall we!

( I'm just gonna leave this here)

This album starts off with "Aladdin", and I dunno, I feel like right off the bat that fade in could have come off so much better.  It's a little awkward, and I would have been just as happy with them bursting out into a huge single.  However, it does smooth out quickly.  You can always tell Sam Herring's performance from a mile away I feel like, his voice is always so distinct and so passionate, even on more low key tracks like this.  In a strange way this is almost a slow jam, but it does come off nicely.  But at the same time, I almost feel like "Aladdin" is a little too "Business As Usual" for Future Islands.  It's a nice track, but for an intro that's supposed to be ushering in the sound of this entire album it sure does come off safe.  There are certainly some great elements however, like Sam's incredible performance as well as the beautiful strings in the background.  "Time On Her Side" though quickly takes things in the right direction.  This track remains pleasant on the ears, but also falls a little more in line with what I usually fell in love with about Future Islands.  Now, there are some points on this album where the group's instrumentals seem a little recycled, but I have to admit they almost always pull it off nicely and make everything sound fresh.  I always love how BIG the atmosphere is in the music of Future Islands.  The much more bouncy atmosphere on this one actually makes  this one a whole lot easier to swallow.  And while this isn't exactly reinventing the wheel as far as Future Islands go, these big verses and even bigger choruses really make this work.  There's such a vastness to this music, which gives tracks like "Time On Her Side" almost a majestic feel, and that's made even bigger by the very faint horns in the back that actually work great.  It's nothing too different, but a great tune is a great tune. So of course, since this IS a Future Islands album, there has to be that one HUGE, epic synth pop tune.  "Ran" is that single.  It starts off with a very pretty synth intro, while the music of Future Islands has always been epic there's also been a certain tranquility here as well.  The rolling bass however helps this one pick up real quick.  Sam here sounds so reinvigorated, so absolutely GIGANTIC.  As far as a single goes, this is pretty unstoppable sounding.  This ends up being such a wonderful, romantic, sweet song, but it's also intense enough to make you want to climb mountains and run marathons.  Simply put, it's the big single I wanted to hear from Future Islands.  The songwriting continues to be on the simpler side of things, but these performances are so incredibly heartfelt and passionate that I think it works out incredibly.  This is probably going to end up being one of my favorite singles of the year to be honest, I can't listen to this track without getting all caught up in everything.  Sam'e Performance is absolutely incredible, but I still have one issue.  When are Future Islands going to be able to match this intensity for an entire album.  "Beauty Of The Road" is up next, and this is certainly a little more on the experimental side.  It does smooth out quick, but it remains so much more less inviting than "Ran".  However, the groove on this one is solid enough to make this track work.  "Beauty Of The Road" has a little bit of a reggae tinge to it, which certainly is weird at first.  But Sam's more subdued, but equally as passionate performance here actually makes things come off really nicely.  It has a serene beauty that I can't help to get all wrapped up in. The only thing I really can't get into about this, sadly is Sam's performance.   It certainly is just as passionate and huge sounding, but on tracks like this he has a sort of spoken word thing going on that I just can't really get into.  But as far as a groovy, low key Future Islands track, yea this is solid.

"Cave" is up next, the second single dropped from this album.  The synths that open this one up have been the warmest I've heard so far on here, and some of the most inviting sounds I've heard so far as well.  Now, you already know my thoughts on these absolutely HUGE sounding synth pop epics, and this one is just as intense and unstoppable sounding.  On "Cave", Sam's more subdued performance is absolutely stunning to say the very least.  It's a little more on the artsy side and it's absolutely jaw dropping.  It's tracks like "Cave" that Future Islands need to stick with.  The atmosphere alone on tracks like this and these driving performances could sell an album just by sticking to this.  This also is absolutely a much darker sound for Future Islands, compared to the usual, very overpowering and sort of inspirational sound that they tend to go with.  It works fantastically though. PLUS, I love of the more abrasive, noisy bits here, they come off unexpected and genuinely exciting.  But at the end of the day, Sam Herring's truly commanding performance is constantly front and center.  The first track on here that doesn't seriously grab me, is "Through The Roses".  This one once again goes for a much more subdued sound, but here it really doesn't come off as strong.  It's at times like this that I really don't feel like Sam's vocals come off that well.  Here, he doesn't sound raspy or cool, he sounds bored.  I still love the lyrics and all and certainly that mystic vibe really sticks, and some of Sam's more theatrical moments are still captivating.  "North Star" starts off a little weird for my liking as well, but this one smooths out pretty quickly.  It's the little details on this one like the added percussion that gives this one actually a seriously nice groove.  Lyrically there has always been something so classy and romantic about the music of Future Islands, but it really never seems to come off as cheesy, and here is no different.  Sam's voice over the years has come out of it's shell so much that is quite frankly practically has its own personality to it.  I also seriously love the sort of world music flair to "North Star".  It's a nice change in direction for these guys, and it's risks like this that I really want to see them take more of in the future.  "Ancient Water" is up next, and here we see Future Islands back in their comfort zone.  But I wouldn't necessarily say that's a bad thing, this actually has a great feel to it.  It's certainly much icier and robotic sounding, but in a way I sort of felt that was missing from the tracks here so far.  Clearly this sounds like a track that would have shown up on their "Singles" album, which if you're like me loved, than you'll certainly dig this.  This album overall is GOOD, but I do have one real issue with all of this that I can see others having too.  Future Islands are a little too far into their comfort zone.  The music here is often fantastic, but you also get the feeling a little too often that you've heard these tracks before.

"Candles" while it certainly has a fine atmosphere down, things are starting to get a little weird.  Earlier, they toyed a bit with a sort of reggae sound, and it came off great.  This, comes off ridiculously cheesy.  "Candles" main problem is that it just comes off so forced, while earlier attempts at this sounds sort of happened on their own.  The hook on this track is seriously not that good either.  And outside of this lukewarm chorus, Sam's performance here is by far his most lifeless one yet by far.  With some of these late album tracks, Future Islands are resorting to some of their old habits.  Like, so much of this material is GOOD, but then tracks like "Candles" come up and I want to forget everything about this album.  I do however, really like some of the later group vocals.  Future Islands however bounce back very quickly with the fantastic "Day Glow Fire".  Their performance here is determined, as this one quickly comes off as another really solid synth pop anthem.  While I understand that it would be hard for ANYONE to write a whole album in this sort of atmosphere, I'd still love to hear them try.  Sam just sounds so over the top and theatrical here, and the amazing imagery in the lyrics tie everything together wonderfully, as well as this huge sense of longing.  I hear tracks like this and I instantly feel tons of hope for Future Islands' future.  Now, I was certainly worried about "Shadows", mostly because it's a collaboration with legendary Blondie singer Debbie Harry.  Now, I'm a gigantic fan of Blondie but in general Debbie hasn't been sounding too hot lately.  But "Shadows" comes off surprisingly really nice.  The synths are icy, but the atmosphere is much more welcoming,  This one actually has a whole lot in common with some of the earlier BIG singles here, and I love how big and bold Sam's performance is here.  Not to mention, is it just me, or does Debbie Harry actually sound fantastic on this?  She sounds literally right at home among this very explosive synth pop anthem.  The huge releases for the chorus are gigantic and some of the dual vocal portions come off really nice, so hell yea this works great.  This album ends off with "Black Rose", which is at the most, decent.  It has a very subtle, very pretty intro, with a really nice laid back bass line and semi-upbeat feel.  But Sam's performance on this one is a little underwhelming.  It has it's moments certainly but I was expecting a little something grander and more epic for a finale, it's still decent for a finale though.  

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To - "Time On Her Side", "Ran" "Cave", "North Star"

Overall Thoughts:  At the end of the day, this album is good.  But I wouldn't say it's necessarily great, and it's still far from perfect.  Future Islands time after time, bring us so many huge singles that easily stand the test of time and are going to continue getting them a gigantic cult following.  But some of these deep cuts here continue to be underwhelming.  Almost every track here has fantastic moments, and Sam Herring's performance throughout this album is almost always flawless.  But am I the only one who thinks that Future Islands need to take just a few more risks in their music?   It's still probably the best thing going in Synth Pop right now.

White Reaper - The World's Best American Band

Now if any of y'all know me personally, you'll know that scratchy, distorted garage rock is one of my favorite genres to really dive into.  Louisville's own White Reaper with their 2014 self titled EP gave me everything that I was looking for at the time.  Around 2014 some of my favorite Garage Rock/Garage Punk artists like Ty Segall and Black Lips really weren't making some of their best material to be honest.  But White Reaper on this short EP gave me the fury and raw energy I had been DYING to hear from the genre.  In 2015, they released their first full length album, "White Reaper Does It Again".  And to an extent, yea, they did do it again.  This wasn't a perfect album, and some times I thought this album had way too much electronic influence (while in other moments I thought it was brilliant however).  BUT, White Reaper had such a fantastic, upbeat, youthful and catchy sound to them that I really did enjoy more of what they were doing.  The newest singles from white reaper however, man oh man have they ever been different.  Not bad, but different.  Let's talk about it.

This album starts off with its title track, “The World’s Best American Band”.  I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the crowd sound effects were necessary here, but it certainly gets you hyped up.  The guitar riff that follows is the pure definition of triumphant.  White Reaper have always done so well with capitalizing on this very youthful sound of theirs.  It’s a little more cleanly produced than their past work, which certainly worried me about this the first few times I listened to it.  But White Reaper really work well with this cleaner production.  Overall, I can’t remember the last time a Rock track just encapsulated such a fun, youthful feel.  It’s bouncy, with obviously tons of classic rock influence (I’m gettin’ a huge Cheap Trick vibe from this).  But these big BIG choruses are what tie this together really nicely, which up until now had certainly been present in White Reaper’s music, but not THIS strongly.  It gives me this feeling that this track and others on this album are seriously going to stand the test of time.  This track is just a straight up, nothing fancy garage rock anthem.  Not to mention, while this track is almost 5 minutes it really doesn't feel like it.  Also, not only is this a great introduction to this album, I feel like this is just a great intro to their music in general.  “Judy French” up next is a little more modern sounding, but man oh man is this ever a seriously punchy balls out rock track.  This riff is absolutely gold, and the off the walls blast of energy in that vocal delivery just makes this track a BLAST.  There’s a certain simplicity to this that just comes off so obvious, like a “Why the hell hasn’t anyone else done this lately” kind of feel.  There are sweet lyrical moments, there are blast of energy throughout the verses, there really is so much going on.  Overall this is just a great single that is going to really define White Reaper, and that’s not a bad thing.  This one’s also got a certain punk sort of attitude.  If we’re sticking with classic rock analogies, it’s more of a Buzzcocks sound than a Sex Pistols sound, but it works for White Reaper REALLY well.  All of the same youthful energy is here in droves, and the solo here will alleviate any worries that you felt about White Reaper going for a cleaner sound here.  Up next is “Eagle Beach”, which is a little grimier and heavier in sound while slowing things down quite a bit.  These guitar licks here are a little sleazy, and just so much much of this gives me this overwhelming sense that White Reaper are having a blast.  There are still plenty of sweet sentiments throughout these lyrics, White Reaper continue to write songs that most bands wouldn’t touch in this generation (and of course, the retro vibe sticks to that like a glove).  I honestly feel like White Reaper sat down recording this album and just wrote a straight up rock n roll album with no rules whatsoever, but hell it works for them so well.  There’s not really a ton to dive into on these songs, most of them are pretty straightforward.  But that’s far from a bad thing.  “Little Silver Cross” is up next, and listening to this intro I’m half expecting for them to go into Prince’s opening monologue from “Let’s Go Crazy”.  But no, even over this very calming opening synth part, White Reaper are ready to go.  This one picks up quickly, but that synth doesn’t go anywhere which I actually think comes off nicely.  The riff here is fantastic, so many of these tracks have such simple structures, being made up of buildup during the entire verse and exploding for the chorus.  And boy, do tracks like “Little Silver Cross” ever explode.  As simple as this one ends up being, moments like the chorus here end up being some of the most memorable on the entire album.  In a time period where so many rock albums need a recurring theme or a gimmick or a sub genre to get over and stand out, this is one of the more refreshing things I’ve heard in a while.  

When we get into later tracks like “The Stack” some of the production gets seriously grimier.  But I love it to be honest, it certainly gives these tracks a much more wild and unpredictable feel.  Listening to these tracks, I feel like I’m back at college at some 15$ entry, beer soaked show on a Friday night.  The piano on this one plunking in the background gives this one a nice backing as well, and reminds us that we’re still in the presence of a very classic sounding album.  And while tracks like this are short and simple, most of them give you a strange feeling of completion:  These tracks show up, give you some catchy hooks and memorable licks and they’re on their way.  To be honest, not a lot of the tracks here really fall under my radar.  However, “Party Next Door” is a little underwhelming.  This one just doesn’t have the same kind of old school sound that made other tracks here just such a joy to listen to.  The hook here even falls flat sadly and ends up being one of the most forgettable here by far.  Even the riff here ends up not flowing well at all.  All of the simplicity earlier that was making this all so refreshing comes off a little too simple here.  The only thing refreshing here is the synths towards the end, which were a huge part of the last album which haven’t really shown up much here.  However, White Reaper don’t stay down for long.  After a disappointing track like “Party Next Door”, the triumphant blast that is “Crystal Pistol” is seriously needed.  White Reaper tend to not wast any time with their music.  Usually there are no drawn out intros or gimmicks, just care free rock n’ roll.  I just can’t seem to get enough of Tony Esposito’s vocals, listening to them along will make you feel energetic and ready to hop on stage just in time for a stage dive or two.  The solo here is fantastic, and I continue to love the simplicity of the lyrics.  One thing I do wish there was a little more of were the solos.  They are present, but it’s a huge part of garage rock and I feel like I don’t hear it enough.  But outside of that, this is just a great rock album.  “Tell Me” is up next, and this one has a whole lot of blues elements that we haven’t heard yet here.  It’s a little something different for White Reaper, and it really doesn’t come out bad at all.  It gives “Tell Me” a sleazy, sexy sound that’s been absent for the last few tracks, but hell yes does it ever work.  The funk here is so undeniable, that I really wouldn’t mind hearing more groove-heavy tracks like this in the future (Even though I do think their strength lies within these upbeat and explosive garage punk jams).  Solid work boys.  

Now like I said, most of this album is real solid.  But “Daisies” late in the album just comes off sounding sloppy.  This riff really isn’t nearly as memorable even less flattering to their sound.  It’s much grungier in a way and comes off sounding like something from their early EP’s.  But overall, this just really isn’t flattering to them at all.  There’s no catchy hook to hold on to, and the hook that DOES show up doesn’t come off nearly as well.  Also, the main riff here just comes off WAY too much like a early 2000’s Strokes cover band for my liking.  Thankfully though, White Reaper get back into their groove seriously quickly with “Another Day”, the finale and quite possibly the most explosive track here.  It’s the shortest track here, but it works so well for them.  Listening to this you get this feeling of “One last Hoorah”, one more blast of energy, and it seriously comes off fantastic.  White Reaper may have a few projects under their belt, but I feel like for the first time they’ve officially arrived.  

Rating 8.2/10

Give A Listen To: “The World’s Best American Band”, “Judy French”, “Little Silver Cross”, “Crystal Pistol” 

Overall Thoughts:  This is the most complete White Reaper project yet by far.  When I heard them moving towards a slightly cleaner sound I didn't really know what to feel.  But White Reaper ended up really working with it well.  The chords here are rough, the choruses are punchy, and the atmosphere is so energetic and fun that it gives off this really wonderful, youthful sound.  It doesn't overstay it's welcome at only a little over 30 minutes, but where this album shines the most is it's simplicity.  Between the songwriting and the instrumentals themselves, theres an overwhelming sense of "This is so obviously good, I can't believe no one else did this first".  Cheers White Reaper.