The Shins - "Heartworms"

The Shins, aka James Mercer and company, since the early 2000's have been dishing out some seriously sweet indie rock/indie pop, churning out some of my favorite albums in indie while they were at it.  In 2001, The Shins released "Oh, Inverted World".  Tracks on here like "Know Your Onion!" and "New Slang" quickly became synonymous with the word "Indie".  The music of The Shine was just so sweet and likable, and as nerdy and awkward as James Mercer was you couldn't help but love him and be intrigued by his performances.  With 2003's "Chute To Narrow", The Shins went from Indie's best kept secret to mega stars.  The production on this album was loads better then their debut, the harmonies were more on point, and The Shins had a new found fire in between their more sweet pop tunes.  The Shins next album, 2007's "Wincing The Night Away" was a weird one.  This is the album that I first listened to from The Shins, mostly because of the massive success behind fantastic singles like "Phantom Limb" and "Austalia".  The rest of the album wasn't necessarily bad, but James Mercer seemed so much more lifeless and uninterested in writing Indie Pop songs, to the point where so many later tracks on their were straight up boring.  The Shins really needed to reinvent themselves after that one.  But in cases like The Shins, that usually doesn't happen, they usually stick with their usual style.  However, in 2012 The Shins DID reinvent themselves with the surprisingly VERY good "Port Of Morrow".  Here James Mercer took plenty of influence with his spacey side project Broken Bells, and gave us a more spacey oriented Shins.  There were more dance oriented songs, as well as some folky throwbacks, but it all seemed to work very well.  That was almost 5 years ago, The Shins have been VERY quiet ever since.  But here we are with a new album to dive into!  These new singles have been really hit and miss to be honest, but I'll get to those in a few.

(Stone cold classic right here)

This album starts off on an extremely positive note, with the fantastic “Name for You” single.  When I was preparing for this review and I heard this, I was really excited.  This track is just so bouncy and has such a sunny feel that I can’t help but love it.  James Mercer’s performance on this one is one of his better on here by far, and even though it’s been 5 years since we’ve heard from him last it doesn’t really sound like it from his vocals.  As far as lyrics go, this actually has quite the old school Shins feel to it, it has that kinda awkward tint to it.  Mercer pulls it off great though.  The melodies are bright, there are a few bizarre quirks that pop up here and there, and that chorus is absolutely to die for.  If The Shins want to take a step back and go for more of an old school sound, this is the way to go.  The bass groove here even gives this track a really nice snap.  Overall, “Name For You” is actually a fantastic single.  But it’s also very evident that while this has plenty of old school Shins elements, this is far from their usual stripped back sound.  No, this is a much more colorful, vast sound for The Shins.  We see much more of this on the next track, “Painting A Hole”.   The drums here certainly have some punch to them, and it overall  continues to be very colorful, even psychedelic in feel.  Even lyrically once things get going were dealing with much more “out there” imagery than we’re used to.  It’s James’s performance here that I can’t get into at all.  His vocals have always been so sweet and joyful,, but here they just come off as ridged and un-inviting.  He’s done these sort of vocal performances before too, but on “Painting A Hole” it seriously just doesn’t come off as good here.  The energy here is nice, and the fact that The Shins are once again trying something new is commendable, but I’m not into this sound one bit.  Up next is the equally as Psych-Pop feeling “Cherry Hearts”.  Hell, this feel has gotten so thick on the album that I honestly feel like I’ve accidentally put on the latest Animal Collective album.  Now, on the last Shins album James Mercer took a huge leap by incorporating a great deal of synth’s into The Shins music.  But it was just so light and airy still that it ended up meshing so well.  The synths on “Cherry Hearts” to say the least are honestly just really ugly.  Mercer’s song writing continues to be passable, but there’s still a bunch of weird references that I just can’t grasp.  The atmosphere here is just so overpowering and hard to swallow, but to be honest can we really be so shocked that The Shins went a little Psychedelic from looking at that album artwork?  “Cherry Hearts” still has it’s charming moments and has a sweet chorus and all, but most of the rest of it sounds like the audio equivalent of James Mercer throwing paint at a canvas and calling it a painting.  “Fantasy Island” at the very least sees The Shins returning to their comfort zone.  But while they certainly seem more comfortable and are back to sounding like themselves, my gosh is this track every boring.  James himself here sounds like he’s practically falling asleep.  Instantly I feel like I’m having a really bad flashback to one of the truly awful tracks from their “Wincing The Night Away” album.  I do however like the vocal harmonies on the chorus quite a bit, they’re actually some of the purest sounding on the entire album.  But then the verse pops back in and we’re right back to dealing with some of the most lifeless Shins bars ever.

Thankfully, The Shins do a pretty good job of turning this album around for a little while.  “Mildenhall” is once again The Shins going for more of the signature sound that made them famous.  The only difference is, here they nail it, and it ends up being the closest thing to that classic Shins sound.  Mercer here actually sounds like his younger self, and I love the story here that shows someone (Probably James Mercer) growing older and learning to enjoy music.  It actually comes off really sweet and one of the more lyrically interesting tracks here, all while being seriously nostalgic for people who’ve followed The Shins for as long as I have.  I mean, I honestly can’t really see James Mercer being a big Jesus & Mary Chain guy, but I’m just gonna let that go.  “Mildenhall” overall is a really solid tune, one that I wouldn’t be too surprised if it became a modern standard for The Shins.  Mercer & The Shins continue down this more nostalgic feel with “Rubber Ballz”.  The bouncy vocals that start this one off actually give me a really strong “Chutes To Narrow”.  In more ways then one I feel like Mercer’s entire performance on this track is totally reminiscent of his younger self.  I love the kind of awkward, hopeless romantic character he paints himself as.  “Rubber Ballz” as a whole has a little more of an indie pop vibe, but the band carry it well.  It’s bouncy, it’s sweet, and it has one of the most memorable choruses here.  No, it’s not absolutely flooring or outrageous, but it’s a nice track through and through.  Up next is “Half A Million”, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting to hear such an energetic performance from James anytime soon.  This track is absolutely bombastic.  It’s heavier, and a much punchier jam, with some really great lyrical moments here and there as well.  James here goes deep into talking about doing drugs, drinking, ruining friendships, things I honestly never could see him doing.  But to be honest, it really works great with the atmosphere of this track.   Just when you think The Shins are totally playing it safe, “Half A Million” pops in a slaps you right in the face.  Still, I would have to say that even the best material here doesn’t hold a candle to The Shins earlier albums.  BUT, it’s moments like this that save this album from being a complete toss-away.  Sadly, The Shins drop their momentum starting with “Dead Alive”.  Between James’s opening incoherent yell and this thick bass heavy riff, this one moments into it is ugly as anything.  This does have a little “Chutes To Narrow” vibe deep down, but this would have clearly been like, the WORST song on that album if it was written for it.  The Shins have brought us back to this heavily psychedelic atmosphere, which to be honest if they hunkered down hard enough on I think could come off rather nicely.  But it continues to be very messy and even worse forgettable.  The only really memorable element to “Dead Alive” is that chorus, which at the very least brings in some warmth.  Everything else about this track is just The Shins trying to be edgy, which so far hasn’t worked out very well for them at all.

The last few tracks here are hit and miss.  “Heartworms” goes back to The Shins really capturing their classic sound once again.  Lyrically, instrumentally, the atmosphere, it’s all there right in front of us.  It’s James Mercer’s vocals are sweet and the chorus packs quite the wallop.  I mean, I really don’t care for the visual of James Mercer getting heart worms and “feeling them wriggle inside him”, it’s disgusting, but I’ll overlook it.  “So Now What” on the other hand is exactly the sound I was praying that The Shins would completely overlook.  Like the earlier tracks here, listening to this I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment, and not in the relaxing sort of way.  No, this is just boring, and I feel really bad because 95% of the problem is all James Mercer’s performance.  Instrumentally, some of the crescendos and build up to the chorus are seriously epic.  But James’s vocals are way too breezy and so sweet that their suffocating.  Thankfully, The Shins do answer with a great finale with “The Fear”.  To put it bluntly, this track is simply stunning.  This track proves that they can still go for softer tracks and stay relevant and interesting.  Lyrically, James comes off so human and vulnerable in typical Shins fashion.  The string arrangements in the background come off beautiful.  Oddly enough, “The Fear” seriously doesn’t even feel like it belongs on this album, it sure is nice though.  

Rating: 7.0/10

Give A Listen To: “Name For You”, “Mildenhall”, “The Fear”, “Half A Million”

Overall Thoughts: I honestly expected more out of this album.  I saw the path that The Shins were going down on their last album, and I thought it was such a mature direction.  James Mercer realized that The Shins were at risk of getting stale and took them in a new direction.  On "Heartworms", James and The Shins take a big step back and try to go for a more classic sound, while mixing in a ton of elements of Psychedelic Pop.  The results are VERY varied, with sometimes The Shins coming out with some of their biggest and best singles since "Chutes Too Narrow".  The rest of the material here is often filled with bizarre tricks that just seem bloated and are more agitating than anything.  

Blanck Mass - "World Eater"

Blanck Mass, AKA Benjamin John Power of Fuck Buttons fame, since 2011 has occasionally dropped ambient/electronic albums under this moniker.  On his 2011 debut under the Blanck Mass name, Power created 10 stunning, icy, overpowering ambient sounds with often had an incredibly dark undertone.  Half of these tracks sounded like they should have been themes for underwater levels of video games, and I often felt suffocated by the sheer force of these tracks.  On the other hand, they were also very noisy, and showed that Power was eventually go down a much more noise oriented root.  Blanck Mass's follow up EP "White Math" I was on the fence about however.  This EP was made up of two tracks.  Firstly, the EP's title track "White Math" showed Blanck Mass going off in a progressive, exciting new direction that focused more on heavy synth work then ambience.  However, the other track on there "Polymorph" made me feel like I wandered into some trashy EDM festival and caught a DJ set of some of the more faceless electronic music I've heard recently.  I wasn't that crazy about the "Hellion EP" either.  While I dug the whole progressive approach he was going for, I thought the atmosphere he had on his first album hadn't been replicated yet.  With 2015's "Dumb Flesh" however, Blanck Mass really started getting the ball rolling.  The music on here was soul crushing, and some of the heaviest , Noisiest and darkest electronic music I'd heard in a while, a route I had wanted him to go down for for ages.  Some of the late tracks got a little repetitive, and there were some loops and other moments where I thought Power didn't push himself far enough down this path.  But still, this was a huge moment for him, and I ended up LOVING "Dumb Flesh" as a whole.  "The Great Confuso EP" that followed quite frankly was....seriously confusing.  Like, really bad confusing.  Here, Power took a HUGE step back and offered up some his blandest, most repetitive, and least exciting electronic music yet.  His "D7-D5" EP was a step back in the right direction, but it was tough for me to sit through this one.  Mostly because of just how boring it started off, eventually worked its way back up to being intense.  But once again, I felt like Blanck Mass was cutting himself a little short, he could have easily made this darker and noisier and less sounding like every other DJ out there.  I was looking for another really solid Blanck Mass album to completely immerse myself in.  Is "World Eater" that album?

This album starts off with the shortest track by far, the bizarre “John Doe’s Carnival of Error”.  It’s a very dense opener, and very dark in a twisted Blanck Mass way.  While the opening bars aren’t that interesting or wild, I love the sheer heaviness to the atmosphere here.  More than anything, this just comes off as seriously unsettling.  The samples Power chooses are always so far out there and seemingly harmless.  SEEMINGLY harmless, until he screws with them and layers on effects often with ghastly results.  Then he feels the need to mix in these twinkling keyboard nots and blaring synths amongst these icy atmospheres, it’s nothing too wild but the mood of this album is ushered in so quickly.  But just when you really think there’s not too much going on on this opener, “John Doe’s Carnival of Error” ends up bringing in some really intense, tightly would synths that are thrown headfirst into this already claustrophobic atmosphere.  Between all of that, and these twisted vocal samples, add in the fact that by this point everything has sped and and gotten really brutal, you’ve got one hell of an opener.  it’s clear that Blanck Mass is writing electronic music for the apocalypse.  Blanck Mass doesn’t give you a single minute to breath though with his next track, “Rhesus Negative”.  There’s no buildup here, there’s just one huge release right from the word go.  This is absolutely dizzying, intense, and honestly terrifying.  This is the closest thing material here to the sound of his “Dumb Flesh” album of a few years ago, with Blanck Mass sounding so much more primal here.  The wonky synths in the background actually work great with all of the absolute chaos happening at the front of this track.  But what really makes “Rhesus Negative” is the sampling, it makes this track go from kinda twisted to absolutely chilling.  I feel like every time Blanck Mass samples these voice and sound clips from wherever he finds them, they all come off sounding so unnatural.  Obviously they’ve been toyed with and edited so they’re far from “natural”, but it goes so much beyond that.  Then, a little before the two minute mark, those really sinister synths come in behind everything and things get really damn tense for a while.  What this ends up sounding like at the end of the day is the music of Oneohtrix Point Never on about 6 cups of coffee, it’s exhausting to even keep up with.  The drums are intense, the synths are whimsical, and the sheer force of everything together is absolutely overpowering.  Not to mention, that gigantic synth release right after the four minute mark is absolutely tremendous.  The tortured screams that come in later on in the track will keep Prurient fans happy, if you haven’t caught on already if you’re into very left field electronic music producers you’ll love the material here.  You just have to prepare for yourself to be absolutely pummeled by this track for 9 minutes.  Even the last 2 minutes here is entertaining, when beautiful orchestrations pop in behind all of this madness.  Up next, “Please” comes off even icier and even more distant sounding.  If this album didn’t come off as some outsider electronic music already, man does it ever come off like that now.  It’s chilling honestly, and Blanck Mass builds these atmospheres so well and so quickly that each time one of those synths hit I jump a little.  If you were a fan of Blanck Mass’s self titled album, you’re going to want to check out this track.  The vocal samples again are done so well, and even though it’s used fairly often throughout this album it doesn't even come off as played out.  These samples end up taking this already very dark atmosphere and turns it into a truly hellish one.  “Please” overall is MUCH easier to digest, and if you’re just a casual electronic music fan this is going to be more inviting.  Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still very harsh though, and is it ever challenging still.  This is music you really need to sit with.  I love the chopping synths here, and the way everything builds up to the inclusion of that much bass-oriented riff.  While this is still massive and suffocating, there's certainly a really fantastic groove to this that’s just as massive.  Not to mention, as haunting as “Please” gets, it’s also strangely beautiful at the end of the day. “The Rat” up next doesn’t waste a single second bringing in intense tribal drums and a very harsh atmosphere.  I just honestly wish that Blanck Mass took that atmosphere a little bit further.  “The Rat” kinda comes off like any other faceless DJ in the EDM scene right now.  It's still a good track, and it certainly gets me going, but as intense as this sounds, it doesn’t have the same hulking atmosphere as other tracks here.  Thankfully, those icy synths that pop in a little bit later give this more of a Blanck Mass feel to it.  That being said, it’s really probably my least favorite track here.  Things are a little too all over the place, other tracks on here just feel so streamlined no matter how chaotic they get.  That’s not to say that this is a bad track, it just doesn’t have that same freakish atmosphere I love so much.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7UIR38XR6w

By this point in the album, it should be pretty clear that Blanck Mass is a master at creating this heavy, freakish atmosphere.  His work on “Silent Treatment” might be his best ever, and by far the best here.  Every time this track starts up I get chills.  I don’t even know what to call this track.  Everything that’s great about Power’s solo material away from his usual Fuck Buttons fame is on display right here.  The opening vocal samples are absolutely spine tingling, I don’t even know how to begin describing them.  Those drums behind these samples are absolutely to die for, especially when they blast off taking us into the main beat of “Silent Treatment”.    Going forward, it’s a combination of driving beats and freakish breakdowns mixed with some of his most left field vocal samples your going to hear.  The twinkling synths behind the bass heavy rhythms give this one even a slight spacey feel.  There’s just so much going on on “Silent Treatment” that I can’t help but love every second.  And then when that actual singing comes in amongst all of this chaos, it goes from just bizarre to straight up disturbing.  It’s adventurous, it’s heavy, and quite frankly it’s indescribable.  All I can say is, it’s compelling from start to finish and absolutely jaw dropping.  “Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked” shows us very quickly thought that Blanck Mass is far from done with us.  The intro on this one is absolutely ear shattering.  The music on “World Eater” obviously continues to be challenging, and while the whole first minute of this one is pretty noisy it’s almost hypnotizing.  If you’re a drone fan of any sort, this track is an absolute must listen.  As far as a truly heavy track here, this is certainly one of the most crushing tracks here.   However, if you can handle it, man is it ever worth it.  The release here that eventually comes, transforming this track into a much more atmospheric track is absolutely breathtaking.  The synths here are VERY icy, if up until this point you haven’t gotten any Prurient vibes, you are now.  I do have to point out though, this is an album you’re gonna want a good pair of headphones for, one you’re going to want to just sit back and get swept up in.  Listening to “Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked” is strangely both really intense and really calming, it’s fantastic.  I feel like every time I have “World Eater” as a whole all figured out, this album bites back hard. Take this track for example, it’s so serene and beautiful and totally out of left field.  Each and every one of the tracks here are equally patience testing and seriously very hard to dissect, but the results are pretty fantastic.  Not to mention, bizarrely enough the last minute of “Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked” turns into a Chillwave track in a few moments of absolutely bliss.  I mean come on, tell me this doesn’t sound like something off of one of Neon Indian’s first two albums, THAT crossed with the song from the final scene of the original Friday The 13th.  What an absolute monolith of an album.  “Hive Mind” at least starts us off with a little something easier to digest, sounding a little bit more like a progressive house track.  However, Blanck Mass’s looming presence is all over this thing.  But after the last two massive tracks, I can’t really be that upset with a little more of a stripped back track.  While this at first seems a little disappointing, Blanck Mass shows he isn’t completely done with us just yet.  Around the three and a half minute mark he starts throwing in some real production curve balls and unexpected blasts.  All of a sudden, this is far from boring, and there’s tons of layering, great vocals sampling, hell I can barely tell it’s the same track anymore.  All of a sudden, these last few minutes have become just as twisted and bizarre as other tracks here.  Leave it to Blanck Mass to catch me off guard just when I felt like I had a few minutes to relax.  “Hive Mind” ends up being exhausting right to the very last seconds, especially due to those fantastic wailing synths in the background. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi8QMSMb-Bs

Rating: 8.2/10

Give A Listen To:  "Rhesus Negative", "Please", Silent Treatment", "Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked”

Overall Thoughts:  I've been a casual fan of Blanck Mass for years, but I've always felt like he could go so much deeper with his sound.  Here, Blanck Mass certainly did just that.  He took the ambient sound he found on his self titled album, added in the harshness and power of "Dumb Flesh", and made his finest album yet by far.  These aren't electronic songs you can just pop on in a club and dance too (although I'd LOVE to see that to be honest).  Each track here is patience testing and adventurous, kinda like Oneohtrix Point Never's stunning "Garden of Delete" or Prurient's "Frozen Niagara Falls", I mean not nearly as genre defining as those but in the same boat for sure.  It makes me excited to see what Blanck Mass does next, it's fantastic.  

Sleaford Mods - "English Tapas"

Sleaford Mods I've been wanting to talk about for a long time.  This British combination of Post Punk, Rap, Minimalist Music, Spoken Word, and pure anger has been around for quite some time.  Their 2007 self titled album I actually really loved.  Between the very wordy verses and the spit-in-your-face attitude, there was TONS to really get into.  Sleaford Mods continued to bring out a whole lot of the same elements on their next album "The Originator", their style among a whole lot of their early recordings actually stayed fairly similar.  Then Sleaford Mods released their first "real" album "Austerity Dogs", and album that overall didn't really hit me that much at all.  I felt like a ton of these tracks seriously took so long to get going.  Once they did get going they were solid, but they were much more patience testing.  I still enjoyed a ton of what was going on however, especially their attitudes.  Sleaford Mods however on "Divide and Exit" really started to get the ball rolling.  The instrumentals here were certainly still minimal and chilly, but there was atleast a standout post punk sound to everything.  Even the usual rants were much easier to swallow, if that production increased just a little they'd be certainly set. And indeed they did with 2015's "Key Markets".  This album showcased some of Sleaford Mods most intense verses yet, almost pulling out some Punk Rap that bizarrely works wonderfully.  The instrumentals were still very minimal and straightforward, but here they sounded great and better produced.  To put it bluntly, the single "B.H.S." released for this new album is more or less what Sleaford Mods do best, so let's dive in to everything else shall we?

This album starts off with “Army Nights”, which if you’re familiar with Sleaford Mods, is pretty straightforward.  Instrumentally, if you’re not used to their style this could easily be taken as boring or just plain dull.  However, I’ve always found the HUGE contrast between Andrew Fearn’s cold instrumentals and Jason Williamson’s bombastic verses to be absolutely fascinating.  To be honest though, this intro really doesn't hit me that hard.  It has the same blasting vocal passages and lyrical topics that Sleaford Mods have always stuck with, and that usual tongue-in-cheek humor is there as well.  My only real issue here in the intensity.  As the track rolls on Jason certainly gets more and more intense, but I used to get this gigantic feeling of rebellion and totally justified anger from Sleaford Mods.  Here, it’s certainly still there, just a little watered down.  It’s certainly not bad though.  Thankfully, the duo quickly get their shit together for “Just Like We Do”.  Personally, I find the intro on this track to be absolutely hilarious.  In a time where there’s all these sub-genres in music and bizarre gimmicks, Sleaford Mods really are the polar opposite and they do a great job of knocking it here.  Jason’s performance here is so much more intense and in your face, it’s much more in the realm of what I expect from him.    Andrew’s instrumentals here, while lets be honest haven’t gotten a huge production upgrade (and probably never will), come off so much more hypnotic and work so much better.  Not to mention, you can always count on these guys for having plenty of material to bring up and call people out on, from social media outbursts to has-beens.  Overall, this works fantastically for Sleaford Mods.  Sadly though, the duo kinda go easy on us for the rest of the first half of the album.  On “Moptop”, the instrumentals get closer and closer to the post punk feel that they’re known for.  But to be honest, it’s Jason’s performance here that really doesn’t even sound like something Sleaford Mods would touch.  His performance does eventually pick up and get more intense, but overall this one really doesn’t click at all.  In the last few years, Sleaford Mods have slowly been bringing in more tongue-in-cheek humor to their music, but for my liking it just takes over a little too much here.  Plus, I just really don’t care for Jason’s vocal performance.  “Messy Anywhere” starts off with these same off kilter vocals from Jason that seriously don’t do anything for me.  By this point in the album, I just feel like the duo are taking it easy on us.  I remember the feeling of listening to their earlier material for the first time and feeling like I was just getting this constant onslaught of energy.  This is FAR from that feeling.  Then we have these vocals that I really hate to keep bringing up but they’re really getting on my nerves.  I get it, Jason Williamson is no classically trained vocalist.  But this seriously is just not working for him at all.  His little punk rap thing he had going last album was fantastic, here he just sounds like he doesn’t care, which in a way is pretty damn punk in itself.  It’s just not for me.  

On “Time Sands”, I actually seriously dig Andrew Fearn’s funky bass riff.  While the last few tracks here have been a little boring (man, that stung saying that), this is a step in the right direction.  I love Jason Williamson’s performance here, as he starts off by stating that he’s not paranoid, then goes on to sound VERY paranoid in his commute to work among other daily activities.  But when we get to later moments of the track, “Time Sands” just comes off as a little too repetitive for may liking.  And trust me, I know that repetition is a huge element to what post punk was built on, but I just don’t think it works well here.  Thankfully though for the duo, they really shake the rust off completely when it comes to the fiery and easily most angry track yet, “Snout”.  This is honestly what I expected to hear from the get-go.  Here, Andrew’s instrumentals are intense, and Jason pulls together quite possibly his finest rant here as he goes off on all sorts of social media, and it’s absolutely glorious.  Here, Sleaford Mods have really found a great balance of serious anger and bitterness, with just enough humor that doesn’t make them get taken any less seriously.  It’s funny, it’s sharply written, “Snout” is absolutely wonderful.  Up next is “Drayton Manored”, and as the album goes on, these instrumentals just keep picking up.  As simple as they are, they really work well with the very dirty, very blue collar sound of Sleaford Mods.  Also as these tracks roll on, Jason just seems to get more fierce and angrier, which I can’t get enough of.  This one is bizarrely catchy and sticks with you LONG after it’s over.  Let me just say thing though, if you haven’t really followed Sleaford Mods in the past, you’re going to want the lyrics handy for this album.  And even then, your going to need to dive into a British slang dictionary just to get half of what’s going on.  It’s a lot to take in, and a lot of the time you may just need to pause the track and take everything in.  Boy am I ever glad this album picked up a bit.  Up next is “Carlton Touts”, which may have the most actual “punk” sounding instrumental here.  It makes me happy to see Sleaford Mods really getting their energy together.  Topics of the bar and drinking are really taking up a good portion of their lyrics these days, which I’d say works fine with their sound.  “Carlton Touts” overall is a solid tune.  Andrew’s instrumental is hypnotizing, Jason sounds much more fierce, and while over the years I feel like Sleaford Mods have gotten a little less urgent, this is still solid.  

“Cuddly” starts off the last leg of our Sleaford Mods experience for this evening.  This track is probably the closest thing you’re going to hear to actual Rap on this album.  Even more bizarrely, with all of the almost industrial vibes in the instrumental going on, I can see Death Grips fans going nuts over this.  Even Jason’s performance here is absolutely brutal and vicious.  It all works really nicely together actually, and it brings a real sense of reinvigoration to the duo’s music.  The beats are still minimal, but it’s more fleshed out and not just a blast of power.  “Dull” ironically is anything but, and the opening mysterious bass line is brilliant.  Here, we see Sleaford Mods returning to a much more bare bones sound.  While Jason’s delivery is fiery and entertaining, I’m sort of realizing a really big issue with this album.  I feel like honestly they’re sort of running out of ideas.  Their sound is still exciting and all, but a lot of their ideas are slowly being repackaged and reused even if it’s just slightly.  “BHS” on the other hand is an upbeat jam that really hits home on every level.  As far as an instrumental goes, this may just be the most fleshed out one on the entire album.  “BHS” to me is more than just a track for Sleaford Mods, it’s almost like a mission statement, and if you haven’t listened to the group yet, this may be a good place to start.  Let’s round this album off, shall we? This album ends with “I Feel Do Wrong”.  While I may not be into these instrumentals seriously at all, I give them credit for going for a little something out of the box.  My main issue once again are Jason’s vocals.  I know that he’s really going for more singing passages, but man they really aren’t all that good.  It’s an alright album overall, but I certainly wish I could enjoy it more.  

Rating : 7.1/10

Give A Listen To:  “Just Like We Do”, "Snout", "Cuddly", "BHS"

Overall Thoughts:  I was a little let down by this to be honest.  Over the years I've felt like Sleaford Mods have just gotten better and better, but this is a big hiccup for the band.  A lot of the material here seems a little recycled, and Jason and Andrew for the first half of the album really couldn't seem to get on the same page.  That being said, this also has some of the freshest Sleaford Mods material I've heard in a while, and absolutely some of the funniest.  So this is a bit all over the place.  If you're new to the band, this isn't the place to start.  But if you want to hear what Sleaford Mods do best without pushing the envelope too far, this is an alright album.  

Power Trip - "Nightmare Logic"

Thrash Metal these last few years for the most part been a little stale, it's certainly far from dead but the genre hasn't presented anything seriously groundbreaking in a while.  That's where Texas's Power Trip come in.  These guys back in 2013 took the metal world by storm with their debut album "Manifest Decimation".  Power Trip on here took Thrash Metal and threw in massive elements of Hardcore Punk, and without over saturating anything with too much production.  They had the energy down, and the instrumentals were solid, overall "Manifest Decimation" was a pretty fantastic intro to the band.  All I wanted was a little more personality and maybe a little more explosiveness on the production.  And from the sound of these opening singles from this new album, my wish may be coming true!

This album starts off with the very hellish "Soul Sacrifice", armed with a very strong atmospheric intro.  Don't get used to it, for the next half hour it's going to be all Thrash with not much room to relax.  This atmospheric intro really sets the tone fantastically, as if that cover art didn't already take care of that.  When that main riff finally drops, it's honestly exactly what I wanted to hear from these guys.  It's confident and almost has a little groove metal feel to it.  Power Trip always give us such tight musical performances that are so crisp, and while they're heavy as anything else you're going to hear this year, these tracks are very well thought out. One of the big elements I have to point out here, is the production.  Off the top of my head I don't know who produced this album, but whoever did captured Power Trip wonderfully.  They've managed to seriously raise their production value without taking anything away from their brutal sound.  In a time where metal seriously needs gimmicks and sub-genres to stay relevant, this is just so straightforward and classic sounding.  The vocals come off as so tortured here, so vicious, I can't get enough of them.  "Soul Sacrifice" doesn't give you a single inch to breathe, and the solos that come in at about 2:40 are some of the most ridiculous I've heard from the genre in a long time.  Honestly. this is exactly what I want to hear from Power Trip.  Up next is "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe".  This one seriously doesn't waste a single second getting completely unhinged.  There aren't flashy riffs, and Power Trip isn't going for anything super fancy or technical, this is just balls to the wall Thrash Metal.  And it sure is fantastic.  As far as the vocals go, they continue to be just as vicious.  Lyrically however "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe" is special.  The lyrics here are the perfect combination of over-the-top, overly ridiculous lyrics I look for in metal.  Not to mention, believe it or not this track has a lot of really catchy moments too, it ends up really sticking with you.  Plus, this track and almost all of the others as well don't really overstay their welcome, which happens all too often these days in metal.  This continues to be everything I crave for in Thrash.  By the time we get to "Firing Squad", it's apparent that every track here is just going to get angrier and heavier.  This is absolutely brutal.  Lyrically, it continues to be just so damn over-the-top and bloody, basically everything that was one great about Thrash.  The tracks on this album barely give you a single second to breathe, and these solos remain eye popping to say the very least.  Hell, I had trouble taking notes on this album because it's just so non stop.  Power Trip are doing more than just supplying us with one of the years best metal albums, this is redefining Thrash altogether. Their performances are concise, their energy is commendable, and the material isn't too challenging at all.  If you've never give Thrash Metal a listen, this would be honestly a great place to start.  I need a breather after "Firing Squad".  As you can imagine, I'm not going to get that break, and Power Trip are just getting started.  Up next is the title track, "Nightmare Logic", which starts with absolutely ridiculous wailing guitars.  For such a young band to be in touch with their sound this quickly, it's pretty damn awesome.  As these tracks continue, it becomes more and more evident that there's also a ton of Hardcore Punk influence in there as well, mostly in the vocals.  It's a great sound for Power Trip though.  I love the absolutely brute force of "Nightmare Logic", all of these tracks just seem to plow through everything in their path.  This is just another all around very impressive Thrash Metal track.  The riff once again is reminiscent of Thrash Metal's glory days.  The guttural vocals continue to be soul piercing, and the solos continue to be out of control.  All I can say is, hell yes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdE4RO_P-qE

The second half of the album starts off with one of the singles, "Waiting Around To Die".  Now, I love a balls out intro as much as anyone else.  But the intro here is on the slower side and it works out great.  Power Trip really slow things down and end up building a fantastic atmosphere, which almost always works out in the case of metal.  Boy is there ever a huge pay off though.  By the time that main riff hits I'm already invested, and "Waiting Around To Die" quickly becomes quite possibly the most Wild and unhinged track here.  Lyrically and vocally, this is absolutely brutal.  Power Trip have this formula down so well, between the unrelenting instrumentals and just how memorable the verses are.  While lyrically it's still just as ridiculous and over-the-top, it all sticks with you.  "Ruination" offers up a much slower intro for Power Trip, with some more chugging guitars compared to more explosive fast paced ones.  Everything about this one is much more patience testing, with the first verse waiting a whole minute before it explodes in.  This remains just as heavy however, and when everything speeds up eventually it's more of what you expect.  "Ruination" doesn't really hit me that hard, but even at their weakest Power Trip is exhausting and explosive.  Plus, the constant screams of "RUINATION!!!" just work so well in their favor, I just wish this one was a little longer and more fleshed out.  Thankfully, Power Trip pick themselves up and get right back at it with a much more technical jam of "If Not Us Then Who".  This one is a little more all over the place, but in the best way.  "If Not Us Then Who" may be the most unpredictable track on here.  The solos during the breakdown are simply put dizzying, to the point where I actually had to put down my headphones for a second.  I swear, as this album goes on these vocals just get harsher and harsher, and this might just be my favorite vocal performance here.  The instrumental breakdowns later on in the track prove to be just as overwhelming, even that last little instrumental outro is done so well.  Simply put, this is going to go down as one of the years strongest metal albums.  As far as the album's finale goes, "Crucifixation" is pretty straightforward.  At this point in the album, you better believe Power Trip aren't going to go soft on us.  This intro is just as fast paced and dominant as other tracks here.  The galloping riff here is just as brutal, and the rest of the band sounds just as unforgiving.  The only thing I'm not 100% sold on here are the vocals sadly, I wish they were a little more at the forefront.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2qnk1qGSKQ

Rating 8.5/10

Give A Listen To:  “Soul Sacrifice”, “Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)”, “Nightmare Logic”, "If Not Us Then Who"

Overall Thoughts: Like I said earlier, Metal has come to a point where it needs a gimmick or some wild sub-genre just to get noticed.  Power Trip here come at you full force, no gimmicks, no tricks, just raw power, in a surprisingly fantastic album.  Even some of the weaker tracks here have TONS to seriously love about them, and there isn't a single performance here that isn't vicious.  "Nightmare Logic" is one of the most unforgiving metal albums you're going to hear this year.  

Temples - "Volcano"

Temples are an English psychedelic pop/rock band that took off a few years ago with the release of their "Sun Structures" album.  Now, if you know me personally, then you'll know how much of a sucker I am for music from this generation that sounds like it was recorded in another time period.  Whether that be Ty Segall & White Fence's "Hair", The King Khan & BBQ Show's self titled album, The Olivia Tremor Control's entire discography, or the first thee Of Montreal albums, I just eat it all up.  Which is why you think I would have seriously gone gaga for Temples "Sun Structures", and I certainly did for a few tracks.  But overall, it just didn't seem natural, it seemed that way too often Temples were shoving this sound down our throats.  Temples ever since have been pretty quiet.  As far as the singles go from this new album though, they've been hit and miss.  While "Certainty" is obviously is right up the alley of Tame Impala, I feel like Temples pulls it off nicely.  "Born Into The Sunset" on the other hand sounds like every other psych-pop band ever, just with absolutely no pizzazz or really interesting moments.  "Strange or Be Forgotten" was also, VERY good, showing that Temples hadn't gone all electronic on us and giving us this wonderful hazy atmosphere.  So far, it's sounding like this is an improvement, so lets dive in deeper!

This new album starts off with “Certainly”, which right off the bat is a whole lot more lively than their first album.  It’s not by any means heavy or anything, but there’s certainly a bite to it.  The fact that Temples isn’t shoving their usual airy atmosphere down our throats with not intention of letting go actually does wonders for the band.  Trust me, all of their elements from their last album are still there and all, but their heavily veiled by this new electronic sound they're going for.  While this is an improvement, is it just me or are Temples totally ripping off Tame Impala?  It’s certainly a little more playful and bouncy than Tame Impala’s music, but I really can’t shake that feeling that they’re totally ripping them off.  Truthfully, rip off or not, “Certainly” is a solid tune.  The production has gone up tremendously, and the vocals are much more front and center.  My only real complaint is that the outro overstays it’s welcome a bit.  While this is a pretty darn good opener, I’m still not completely sold on Temples.  “All Join In” is up next, and it’s pretty apparent by now just how determined they are to sticking to this electronic sound.  It’s seriously nuts to think that this is the same band that a few years ago was stuck in the 60’s so hard that it began to fault them.  The intro on “All Join In” takes way too long to get going however, and as hard as I try I can’t keep coming back to the fact that this literally sounds exactly like Tame Impala (Specifically a track off of their “Lonerism” album).  And it’s not even just the vocals anymore, it’s the hazy atmosphere and thumping bass as well.  On top of all of that, the chorus here is completely lifeless and more or less sounds like a forgotten Beatles track that wasn’t good enough to make their albums.  Not to mention, man is this ever starting to come off as one dimensional.  So far, pretty bad.  Thankfully, Temples shock me with just how genuinely good “(I Wanna Be Your) Mirror” is.  For starters, this is a genuinely interesting combo of a more up to date Psych Rock/Pop sound within that 60’s Psych Rock they’ve worshipped for years.  On this track, Temples sound totally in their element, and when things speed up this track just keeps getting better.  To be honest, I really can’t think of a Temples track that’s packed more punch than this.  Hell, if they made more tracks like this, I wouldn’t be nearly as critical of their material.  Sure, the Tame Impala sound-alike elements are still all over the place, but this is still the most unique track I’ve heard from Temples in a very long time.  It’s adventurous, it’s colorful, it’s seriously refreshing, overall this track is wonderful.  Even the lyrics come off as snappy and memorable, and the outro here is absolutely breathtaking.  Man, I’d love to hear more like this.  Sadly, Temples throws it all away with….an acoustic track, *shudders*.  Things go from pretty breathtaking to seriously messy very quickly.  Instantly, we’re right back to where Temples were last album, desperately trying to sound like a 60’s British Invasion artist.  While I guess they pull it off, personally I think it’s an awful sound for them.  Honestly though, as boring as the instrumental and vocals are, lyrically I feel like this one is actually really memorable.  I just get the feeling listening to tracks like this that Temples don’t fit comfortably into this sound, and just come off as trying way too hard.  I’d still say that this album overall is an improvement at all, but I still can’t truly invest myself in it.

“Born Into The Sunset” is up next, and it brings back that electronic sound big time.  Overall, this one just comes off as ugly as sin.  The earlier tracks while they weren’t perfect at least were grand sounding and very bright, but this one just comes off as really half assed.  Honestly, I don’t mind the vocals that much on this one, but man is this track just so safe sounding.  As the track rolls on though, I can’t even say I like the vocals anymore, as everything just starts becoming very one-dimensional.  Ironically, even though everything is blending together, tracks like “Born Into The Sunset” have so much going on that it’s overwhelming.  I don’t know if Temples are going for a really experimental or just plain weird sound, but it’s certainly not working.  Not to mention, oh boy are these Volcano references getting old, very fast.  Thankfully, Temples get their shit together for a few tracks.  “How Would You Like To Go?” actually has a really fantastic atmosphere.  Nothing about this track seems really forced at all, and these opening vocals actually come off really nicely.  Obviously this track is a whole lot slower, but there’s some serious buildup going on which I’m loving.  The synths are spacey, the vocals are right where they ought to be, and the pacing is actually fantastic.  We don’t get that much of a release here, but there’s certainly at least a little pick up around the 2 minute mark.  “Open Air” continues with this very impressive sound, and the intro on this one might just be the most striking here.  I can actually seriously get into some of these more upbeat tracks.  There’s just so much energy, which was like my main problem with Temples first album.  The vocals are back to being super breezy, but in this more upbeat environment I have to say they work really nicely.  Not to mention, there’s a serious funk to this track, and most importantly it’s fun.  Temples here just sound so natural and adventurous, I can only hop that in the future they give me more tracks like “Open Air”.  Sadly though, they quickly throw it all out with “In My Pocket”.  Let me just say this, there was a reason that the 60’s style of rock died out in the 70’s.  It was just a whole lot of overly cheery pop at the end of the day, and that’s exactly what’s wrong with “In My Pocket”.  I usually like adorable and sweet rock tracks, but this is absolutely suffocating.  As far as instrumentals go, this one is way too safe for my liking, and the fact that they’re clinging to that acoustic guitar for dear life really speaks volumes.  Not to mention, vocally this comes off so lazy.  I really couldn't say a single good thing about this track if I had to.  

“Celebration” starts off alright and all, even triumphant.  But quickly it becomes evident just how much of the same this really is.  When that first verse hits things go from bad to worse very quickly.  Everything about this track is so unbelievably safe that it isn’t funny.  The synthesizers hanging in the background are probably the most exciting thing here, they’re actually really nice.  But then the chorus pops in and it’s just as unbelievably boring as you can imagine.  No, I don’t have a single good thing to say about “Celebration”.  “Mystery of Pop” at the very least breaks things up a little with some more colorful instrumentals.  The synth here however does absolutely nothing for me.  Outside of that though, a lot of this really works in Temples favor.   I absolutely enjoy how bouncy this is, and some of the vocal work here actually sticks with me.  Once again, when they let this sound of the 60’s that they can’t seem to get away from drift into the background a little, its really helps their sound a ton.  Up next is “Roman Godlike Man”, which has a very eye opening start which quickly devolves into just another alright Temples track.  As far as “bad” qualities to this track there really aren’t that many,  but there really isn’t anything that exciting either.  Temples do at the very least sound confident in their sound, I just wish they pushed this track a little further.  Plus, that chorus is just plain weird.   Let’s just round this album up, shall we.  While I originally enjoyed “Strange Or Be Forgotten” when I initially heard it, over time it’s just become just as bland as most of this album.  Instrumentally it’s solid, but holy shit are these vocals un-listenable.  Temples may have taken a step forward with this album, but they still have a long way to go.  

Rating: 6.1/10

Give A Listen To: “Certainly”, “(I Wanna Be Your) Mirror”, “How Would You Like To Go?”, "Open Air”

Overall Thoughts :  This album man, whoa is it ever messy.  Half the time Temples end up sounding way too much like Tame Impala.  The tracks here are all over the place,  but most of them just come off as very bland and un-exciting.  However, I do think this is a slight step forward.  I think the more electronic tinge to these tracks actually bring out a little life in Temples that I didn't know they had. 

Thundercat - "Drunk"

Thundercat, AKA Stephen Bruner, sure has been picking up some speed over the last few years.  He's been a mainstay on Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label for years, he's had countless fantastic collaborations with Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar and tons of others, and he puts on an incredible live show (if you haven't seen him, it's pretty awe-inspiring).  He's toyed around with a few different genres over the years as well, take for example his 2011 "The Golden Age of Apocalypse".  For the most part this was an electronic album, a pretty decent one too, accompanied by Thundercat's explosive bass playing and high pitched vocals.  I thought it was a solid debut, but honestly I was more interested of seeing how Thundercat would transition his way out of his electronic phase.  And indeed he did, slowly.  On "Apocalypse" Thundercat started showing tons more personality, bringing in elements of funk and jazz to accompany his electronic side.  It wasn't a perfect album, but it was more memorable, and started showing Thundercat really coming into his own.  It was on his stellar 2015 EP "The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam" that I started to really appreciated Thundercat's music.  His lineup for backing musicians here was grade A, for the most part the whole electronic vibe was gone, and while it was a short EP it felt really complete.  By this point, I felt like I was beginning to seriously get who Thundercat was.  But I still felt like I needed more, another full length album for his personality to really come out.  Let's talk about this new Thundercat album, "Drunk"

The album starts off with "Rabbot Ho", which contains countless wonderful harmonies and Thundercat overall sounds fantastic.  But let me just get this out of the way nice and early, why the hell does this album have so many short interludes.  Don't get me wrong, most of them are actually really solid, but it's just a really strange way to plan out an album.  For the most part, "Drunk" is comprised of 3 or 4 interludes back to back then one or two longer tracks.  The result is a whole lot of really short tracks that would be a whole lot better if they went on another minute or so.  "Rabbot Ho" quickly goes from a really sweet opener to more or less an afterthought, which is a real shame.  Up next is "Captain Stupido".  Thundercat's over the years has had sort of a really bizarre sense of humor, but it's never been this front and center.  Thundercat here runs down seemingly countless tasks and activities in a rather mundane day..  However, he's putting his own tongue-in-cheek feel to it.  To be honest, it actually comes together really nicely.  Instrumentally, this is right where Thundercat should be.  There are some jazzy undertones, and if you take the time to pinpoint each instrument there's actually a TON of really fantastic stuff going on.  It's upbeat, it's catchy, it's certainly quirky, but it's still on the short and underdeveloped side.  It's enjoyable for it's entirety, but I really would have loved to hear this flushed out longer.  However, on "Uh Uh" quickly Thundercat takes a big nosedive quality-wise.  This track if anything has a Flying Lotus vibe, which is cool and all, but this doesn't fit Thundercat's sound at all.  When things picks up here, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't awe inspiring.  Thundercat's bass playing is beyond description, and his energy is absolutely fantastic, I can't stress enough how awesome his live shows are.  Once again we find ourselves with a nice little interlude, but as far as the instrumentals go I thought he was past got past this phase with his last EP.  Don't get me wrong, the musical talent here is pretty ridiculous, but I can't get behind this all together.  Thankfully, Thundercat in between these short, underwhelming tunes gives us tracks like "Bus In These Streets".  This one has some serious old school R&B/Funk flair to it, to be honest though it's a sound that works great for Thundercat.  His vocals seem seriously right at home among this light and airy atmosphere.  It's far from what I expected to hear on this album, but it gives us a small look into Thudnercat's major influences, which is really fascinating.  His singing here is a little one dimensional, but that's not enough to bring this track down, I really wouldn't mind hearing more stuff like this in the future.  Thundercat continues down this route with "A Fan's Mail (Tron Song Suite II)".  Thundercat's sense of humor once again is on full display with these bizarre meowing sound effects, and tosses in some Disney references as well with his "everybody wants to be a cat" lyric and Lion King references.  Not to mention, Thundercat takes this moment to return to J Dilla's "Stepson The Clapper" beat which is buried discreetly underneath everything else going on here.  Thundercat's personality continues to be very likable and much easier to connect with as well.  This track for what it's worth still comes off really nicely, but that is mostly because this is a longer track that's actually explored the right way.  When we reach "Lava Lamp" though, things start seriously getting a little bland.  By this point, a whole lot of the sounds that Thundercat is offering up are really starting to blend together.  While there's plenty of great songs and sounds here, Thundercat seriously needs to mix it up a little.  All of these airy atmospheres and vocals are all meshing together to the point where I can barely distinguish some of these interludes.  This certainly isn't bad, but in moments like this I would highly recommend just going to see Thundercat live or listen to his last EP.  The synths that pop in are nice and give this track a nice spacey feel, but the rest is nothing more than just OK.  On the other hand "Jethro" instantly from this intro grabs me.  On this track, Thundercat just sounds so much more energetic and willing to branch his sound out.  His vocals here aren't the slightest bit boring, just the opposite.  The vibe here is so much more bouncy and not airy at all, it's also on the more serious side of things.  But to be honest this EASILY could have been two minutes longer.  I mean it's still fantastic, but why didn't Thundercat take some of these songs and dive deeper into them?  Then we have moments like "Day & Night", which goes right back to sounding like literally every other track on here.  It's 37 seconds long, I would love to get on board and dive in deeper but virtually nothing happens.  Thundercat so far on this album shows fantastic personality and instrumental prowess.  But he seriously needs to hunker down on song structure, cause this is all over the place.  

Thundercat as the album goes on does get a little bit more consistent.  “Show You The Way” bizarrely enough featuring Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald is a HUGE step in the right direction.  To be honest, all of these sort of retro tinged tracks seriously are sounding great for Thundercat.  Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald both sounds fantastic on this smooth R&B jam, and there’s just enough of Thundercat’s goofy side in those introductions to make this track work.  If you would have told me that in the year 2017 a collaboration between these 3 would have worked half as well as it actually did, I wouldn’t have believed you.  Plus, that last little spoken word bit by Thundercat is absolutely hilarious.  But man, what a bummer “Walk On By” is.  Right off the bat these instrumentals sound sort of ugly.  The synth beat here is so sluggish that I’m honestly confused on what I’m even listening to.  I’m all for Thundercat trying some new stuff but this is just boring.  There isn’t a single interesting instrumental in sight, even his vocals don’t sound completely invested.  So of course logic would tell me that of all people to make this track exciting Kendrick Lamar would be the right man for the job.  To be honest though, he really doesn’t do anything to liven up this track at all.  His performance is average at best, but everything else is just so sluggish, this track overall is just awful.  “Blackkk” which is up next certainly has some life to it, and were back to at least a technically sound track.  But really quickly this just becomes bizarre and hard to place.  There are a few cool moments here and there as far as instrumentals go, but the vocals never really add up.  Plus, before this one even gets going, it’s over, once again.  Structurally this album can’t keep on its feet.  While earlier I said that I felt like Thundercat had to seriously step away from the electronics, “Tokyo” I can’t deny one bit.  The vocals here are a nice switch up for Thundercat, and we’re not listening to the same vocal harmonies over and over.  His sense of humor is back in a big way here, as he goes on and on about eating too much Sushi, and spending too much money on Anime.  Honestly, I love it, it makes me feel like I personally know Thundercat.  Overall, this track is a fantastic sound for him.  Ironically these electronic tracks act as a nice break up to the album that was becoming a little stagnant.  “Jameel’s Space Ride” is another upbeat, sweet, and catchy electronic track, that once again let’s Thundercat’s personality come out.  The only problem is, this one is barely over a minute long.  Once again, this structure is killing me.  Thankfully, Thundercat continues on this creative streak by bringing in some serious funk (which this album for the most part has been lacking).  “Friend Zone” is the funky jam that I’ve been looking for.  The cosmic atmosphere is 100% on point, and the constantly rising and falling synths behind Thundercat are a great addition.  As far as some of the longer, more fleshed out tracks here, this is absolutely a standout.  Not to mention that line about “Not texting him after 2am unless your giving me some (Because I Have Enough Friends)” was absolutely hilarious.  As iffy as this album is and continues to be, Thundercat’s personality is right where it should be.  The funk sticks around heavy for “Them Changes”, its certainly just a fantastic sound for Thundercat.  Even his vocals on here come off so jazzy and refreshed.  “Them Changes” is one of the more straightforward tracks on this album, but it works well.  Not to mention, when he ends up popping into his upper vocal registry everything turns stunning.  This is also one of the most instrumentally sound tracks we’ve heard here in a while.  But this marks the end to Thundercat’s real creative streak sadly.  “Where I’m Going” starts off great with a very cool mysterious vibe to everything.  Instrumentally this continues to be on point, but vocally what is Thundercat even going for here.  To be honest, this track would have been a whole lot better as just an instrumental, Thundercat’s vocals come off as distracting.  “Where I’m Going” overall is just solid, frantic Jazzy track that quickly derails and ends up being messy.  

We’ve still got a way to go people.  Up next is “Drink Dat” featuring everyone’s favorite Weed smoker, Wiz Khalifa.  I love how literally just his presence here alone turns this track instantly into a more drug-oriented track.  This beat is just so sluggish, and while the hazy atmosphere I usually really dig, this ends up being awful.  Thundercat’s vocals here come off more awkward than anything and totally out of place, and worst of all repetitive.  This track in general doesn't even fit the feel of this album at all.  When Wiz shows up for his verse things go from awkward to laughable.  I wasn’t a fan of him to begin with, but this is seriously an all time low for him.  His verse is so half-assed and boring, I couldn’t say a nice thing about it if i tried.  Thankfully, Thundercat bounces back quickly with “Inferno”, one of the best tracks here by far.  Instrumentally this is a bit stripped down compared to the rest of the tracks here, and the multiple layered effects on top of Thundercat’s vocals are actually really well done.  To be honest, a little more of these effects throughout the album would have been welcomed massively.  The atmosphere on “Inferno” is colorful and actually stunning, and vocally this may be Thundercat’s biggest track here.  But come on, then the entire last minute of this track has this highly unnecessary 40 second fade out.  The production and structure of this entire album remains very questionable.  And seriously, Thundercat seriously needs to trim down the fat on some of these releases.  There are tons of different sounds here, but only about half of them really go over well.  The last few tracks on this album not to shockingly are all under two and a half minutes, and are just as all over the place as the rest of the album.  “I Am Crazy” is smooth and Thundercat sounds fine, and I do enjoy the funky licks.  But this track is literally 26 seconds long, and I can’t seriously grab on to anything.  “3AM” up next actually gives me some hope listening to this intro.  Thundercat sounds good and all, and I’m really digging this much more minimal instrumental, with only a few quiet plucking and strings behind him.  But at this point this shouldn't be so shocking, this track is only a minute and fifteen seconds long.  I sure would have loved to dive much deeper into this track, but there’s just not enough to it.  Just another bizarre choice.  Up next on “Drunk”, Thundercat’s vocals are once again solid, and there’s plenty of really nice effects on his vocals too.  The instrumentals however are so un-interesting here.  His usual quirky lyrics here just come off as really annoying, and once again this is in and out in under 2 minutes.  As these tracks go on, I feel like I have less and less to say.  Then we have “The Turn Down” featuring Pharrell.  This track with its much more somber tone actually really caught me off guard.  It’s much heavier, and even with Thundercat bringing in bizarre lyrics about Captain Planet it’s done really well.  Overall, what’s most bizarre about this track is that it ends up bringing a sense of realism to this album that I think it needed.  Pharrell’s inclusion is pretty solid too, it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and it works well with Thundercat’s performance.  22 tracks later and we’ve reached the finale, “DUI”.  I wouldn’t say it’s a bad track, but at this point Thundercat’s singing has become beyond one dimensional.  Literally, this track sounds like 6 other tracks on here.  I honestly like the twinkling synths behind Thundercat quite a bit, and the synths that come in later are even better.  But everything else about this one just washes right over me.  

Rating: 7.2/10

Give A Listen To: "Bus In These Streets", "Show You The Way", "Friend Zone", "Them Changes", "Inferno"

Overall Thoughts - I had nothing but high hopes for this album.  I wanted an album that was really going to give me a serious look into Thundercat's personality.  And I certainly got that.  But so many of the production choices here as well as structural choices are just plain BIZARRE.  The features are questionable for the most part, and half of the best songs on here are under two minutes, desperate to be fleshed out more.  It's a mess honestly, and while there's plenty of good about this album there's also a ton of bad.  

Xiu Xiu - "Forget"

Xiu Xiu to me is another one of those bands that I've never been completely sold on.  Their style is absolutely not for everyone for starters, and incorporates elements of Experimental Music, Post Punk,Art Rock, and tons of other bizarre genres.  I've always understood the appeal, trust me, but their material to me over the years has been a little all over the place.  With their debut album "Knife Play", Xiu Xiu actually gained my interest pretty quickly.  This album was trulytwisted in some parts, while in others being strangely gorgeous. It was far from perfect, and there were a few tracks that I found completely boring, but for the most part, I was impressed with "Knife Play".  On their next album, "A Promise", Xiu Xiu's tracks began to to get seriously patience testing and bizarre.  Granted, their was often a fantastic payoff, but I could totally understand why this wouldn't be for everyone.  I however, found it hauntingly beautiful and a strangely brilliant album.  Up next Xiu Xiu would release somewhat of their "breakthrough" album, "Fabulous Muscles".  And while yes, I certainly see what people liked about this album it was far from my favorite.  The album overall had a much easier to digest sound and was much more welcoming, but overall I wasn't as affected by it overall. And while I did REALLY like the bands dive back into Post Punk occasionally, the album overall was so much less exciting I felt. With their next album "The Air Force", instrumentally Xiu Xiu were back on track.  But I dunno everything else about this album justdidn't click with me at all.  Their next album though "Dead God, I Hate Myself", I actually enjoyed quite a bit.  This one was a bit of divider for most people, as this was probably the most accessible album Xiu Xiu had released yet.  I thought it wasn't perfect, but if they WERE going for a more straightforward sound, I certainly didn't mind this at all.  Then in 2012 Xiu Xiu came out with "Always", an album that I feel like most people just glossed over, but to be honest I went absolutely head over heals for this album.  Instrumentally it was a little more straightforward, but Xiu Xiu's performance was still exciting and pretty heavy.  Xiu Xiu's Nina Simone cover album was disappointing, and "Angel Guts" while it had a stellar atmosphere I really hated Jamie's vocals on there.  On the other hand, I actually found the music on 2014's "Unclouded Sky" to be pretty stunning, and Jamie's more theatrical performance totally clicked. Then, oh boy, Xiu Xiu made their boldest move yet.  Cover albums are very iffy, and usually go down as being fantastic or a complete joke.  Xiu Xiu made it their mission to cover the entire Twin Peaks soundtrack, one of my favorites ever.  I grew up with Twin peaks, and the music within it is sacred.  But Xiu Xiu absolutely hit it out of the park, hell I would even say it may just be my favorite album of theirs.  Leading up to this new album, I have to be honest I missed the singles, so we're diving in headfirst!

This album starts off with “The Call”, and it’s certainly an eye opening one.  For one bizarre moment I feel like I may have accidentally put on a Die Antwoord album God help me.  Nahh, all jokes aside what the hell even was that at the opening?  I’m not sure if that was vocalist Jamie Stewart, but man I hope it wasn’t.  Thankfully when Jamie does come in her regains control quickly.  As far as the feel of this track goes, it’s synth heavy, with a ton of post punk underlying feels, so basically this is textbook Xiu Xiu.  Jamie’s signature theatrical performance is on display, and if you’re new to his vocal style this may not be a good place to start, it literally took me years to truly appreciate his vocals.  Whoever that was at the intro returns for the chorus with this bizarre “Clap Bitches” mantra, who the hell even is this dude.  It’s a shame because that alone really brings down “The Call” for me, outside of this guys bizarre performance it’s a solid track.  The only other real issue about this track I want to bring up is just how straightforward this is.  Xiu Xiu have always had two sides to them, the more avant-garde experimental side, and their more straightforward material.  Personally, while I enjoy some of the band’s more avant-garde material, I’ve always enjoyed their pop stuff a little bit more.  “The Call” lands much more on the pop side of things, and I’m sure some old school fans of Xiu Xiu are by this point ready to turn the album off already.  “Queen of The Losers” up next is much more along the lines of what people are expecting to hear here, with an intro filled with pounding drums and much heavier synths.  All I can say is, this album got a whole lot darker and fast.  Jamie’s vocals here seem so fragile and small, especially when he’s surrounded by all of this chaos behind him.  Between the yelps that occasionally jump out of nowhere and these explosive cymbal crashes, there’s a ton to love about this.  Xiu Xiu certainly know a great deal about pacing, they just love to get their listener’s on the edge of their seat ready to expect anything.  Then we have the chorus on “Queen of The Losers”, which while it’s absolutely hulking and damn near suffocating, there’s a strange beauty deep down.  Then we come down off of this gigantic chorus to hear Jamie going off in his usual rants, at the end of the day this is just so Xiu Xiu, and it’s pretty darn good.  Up next is the lead single from this album, “Wondering”, and probably my favorite track here.  The synth work is heavier than it’s been so far here, but so far it’s been working great for them.  I think the real show here is just how confident Xiu Xiu sound, even though overall it has all of the same Xiu Xiu elements.  The chorus on this one is what’s really going to stay with you.  It’s so ghastly and totally bizarre, yet to an extent groovy.  While all of these classic Xiu Xiu elements are present though, I still feel like it’s being presented in a much more inviting way, and there’s going to be a lot of fans that don’t like that at all.  Tracks like “Wondering” would actually be a good place to start for someone who hasn’t listened to Xiu Xiu ever.  It’s chilly, it’s disturbing, and as far as a stand-alone track it actually works really well.  Up next is “Get Up”, one of the most true to form and challenging tracks on here.  Instantly this track is so bare bones sounding as it creeps along, for hardcore Xiu Xiu fans this is certainly a track to check out.  Jamie’s vocals here are fantastic, as for once he eases us into his much more theatrical performance slowly instead of throwing us in headfirst.  This one has such a minimal atmosphere, one that’s so quiet that every time Jamie screams “RISE” you don't expect it at all.  Once again, when it comes to the chorus here there’s almost a strange release, almost a euphoria to everything.  Compared to the first few tracks I wouldn’t say I like this as much but it’s certainly still pretty damn good.  If you’re into the more subtle side of Xiu Xiu, this is going to be ear candy for you, and while I’m not head over heels for the instrumental, Jamie's performance here is absolutely brilliant.

“Hay Choco Bananas” is next, which is about as chilly an uninviting as it gets from Xiu XIu.  In some really bizarre twist I feel like this comes off way too similar to the theme from Lavender Town in Pokemon Red & Blue for the old gameboy, and that alone get’s me all weirded out.  As far as a downright twisted sounding track that’s filled with darkness, look no further than right here.  Jamie here sounds completely shrouded in shadows and actual darkness.  I love the creeping bass here and the fuzzy synths that lay this chilly blanket over everything.  “Hay Choco Bananas” isn’t my favorite track here, but considering how usually “hit or miss” I get with Xiu Xiu overall I’m still enjoying this album a lot.  “Jenny GoGo” up next is the most massive and probably darkest track we’ve heard yet.  The intro here sounds like something off of the legendary Silent Hill soundtrack.  Jamie is so great working with these little details, seriously whatever instrument that is on that pre chorus sounds like it’s actually in a ton of pain.  We’re back to a much heavier synth oriented sound, but Xiu Xiu time and time again have proven that that’s a sound they can work with nicely.  Then, just when I’m about to write this off as just another Xiu Xiu track, that chorus hits and it’s easily the most wild thing I’ve heard here by far.  The synths here are almost cartoonish, practically sounding like a parody of 1940’s horror movies.  But pair that up with Jamie’s desperate sounding screams, HELL yes it works.  The contrast between Jamie’s work on the verses compared to the chorus is actually pretty fantastic.  I can’t help but keep stressing though, this isn’t nearly as challenging as some of Xiu Xiu’s older work.  It’s going to alienate some fans, it’s going to bring in some new ones too.  Also, I don’t know if anyone else besides me remembers that fantastic experimental music band Dirty Beaches, but I’m totally getting a Dirty Beaches vibe here.   Up next is “At Last, At Last”.  The intro here is one of the quietest we’ve heard in a while.  While the instrumental on this one works just fine, there’s too much about this track that does nothing for me, which I haven’t said in a while.  Jamie’s performance here isn’t blowing me away at all, and those bizarre robotic vocals that pop in for the chorus just seem like a desperate attempt to seem artsy to me (which Xiu Xiu are, I just don’t think it’s necessary to try that hard).  While the synths that pop in here and there are heavy and certainly solid, I feel like they don’t connect at all with Jamie’s performance.  Jamie has always seemed like the ringleader of everything to me, but on “At Last, At Last” he really doesn’t seem in control of anything.  Thankfully, Xiu Xiu do in fact pull themselves out of their slump (slightly) on the album’s title track “Forget”.  The beat here is a little off kilter, and I’m having some serious trouble really putting my finger on it.  Jamie’s performance certainly does sound more back in line with what it should be, but the insetumental here doesn’t click with me at all.  The synths sound all beefy and huge for that hook, but that’s honestly about it.  Overall this is an improvement from the last track here, but once again what the hell is up with these bizarre vocal samples.  If they had a purpose I would be totally fine with it, but I seriously feel like they were just thrown in there at the last minute.  Thankfully, the instrumental does eventually pick up a little here, but “Forget” is far from perfect.  

"Petite" certainly takes a very quick turn.  So far it's been an album dominated by synthesizers, it's just unexpected.  However, it really gives Jamie a chance to shine.  Honestly, it comes off wonderfully, and ends up being probably the most beautiful track here, and certainly shows some emotion we haven't heard from Jamie yet.  The strings behind Jamie add a real nice touch, and besides that there's not much going on.  In a good way though, in a very minimal straightforward way. For a Xiu Xiu acoustic cut, I couldn't have asked for much more, not to mention as Jamie's performance marches onward it goes from beautiful to absolutely breathtaking.  The album ends off with "Faith, Torn Apart", which might be the most Avant-Gard track on the whole album, almost sounding like something from Tim Hecker's "Virgins".  It's hypnotic to say the least and it certainly gets you on the edge of your seat.  The keyboards that come in are goofy to an extent, but for Xiu Xiu they work wonderfully.  The background vocals here bring in an almost cult-like vibe, to be honest I wouldn't have minded other tracks here to be this bizarre and freakish.  Jamie's vocal performance is just as "out there" with these bizarre vocal effects, and everything ends up working out great.  "Faith, Torn Apart" is certainly patience testing, but it ends the album on a high note.

Rating: 7.9/10

Give A Listen To:  “Queen of the Losers”, “Wondering”, “Jenny GoGo”, “Faith, Torn Apart”

Overall Thoughts: Like almost every other Xiu Xiu album, "Forgive" is going to be an either love or hate experience, there's not that much of an in between.  There are a lot of great, freakish, synth heavy experimental tracks here, with only a few tracks that don't add up.  If you're into more experimental stuff and can handle some theatrical, dark performances, give this a try.