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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 5, 2024 21:44:21 GMT
Mike Krol - Power Chords (2019) - 9/102019's best new record......from a guy who had been around a while and was always fun but minor - just this side of a novelty artist ......but here he put it all together in a coherent and thrilling way that upped the ante on his formula - messy garage-pop, lots of hand claps, self-deprecating lyrics with vocal effects and hiss-drenched production - that make it sound like the best radio station that is almost NOT coming in clear at all. He's due for a new record.....was this a fluke......if it was......well it's a great one. I played this because I put it on my "10 Best Albums of the MAR 7 Year Era" yesterday.........and yeah still amazing........back in 2019 it maybe sounded like a great stunt / studio gimmick..........now it sounds like obviously the best record The Strokes never made..............still no followup 5 +years later.....
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 7, 2024 6:49:06 GMT
Gentleman Jesse - Where Time Stand Still / Return of the Mack - single (2024) - 6.5 / 10
I called him one of America's best songwriters on MAR - on the basis of 3 cult albums over the last 15+ years - the only 3 he's ever made under this name.
This isn't nearly as good but is kind of interesting .....and dull .......and not worthy of his 3 full lengths rep :
2 Power Pop knockouts Gentleman Jesse (2008) and Leaving Atlanta (2012).........and (the unique, singery songwritery) Lose Everything (2021) which will make you forget all about this.......I already have .....
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 9, 2024 9:32:17 GMT
The Sleeveens - The Sleeveens (Out today February 9, 2024) - 7.5+ / 10 .....at least - and that's just 1 listenThe first really pacinoyes Rock and Roll album of 2024 - we've had good loud ones (Sprints) and soft-ish ones (The Umbrellas) but this is the most no shit genius cool, ripping one ....... in the manner of classic Pre-Punk and that is what I really like isn't it? "I'm running out of medication" - goes one of the many quotable lines here, shouted over gloriously scratchy guitars and I don't doubt it for a minute. This band - in a full length debut - is essentially just a way to perform the songs of an Irishman (of course, every good act is Irish nowadays) moved to the US - singer / songwriter Stefan MurphyHe's not a young guy and neither is his band ......but they sound and feel young here - sloppy, loose and tight, explosive, scuzzy and.......... funny, shambolic and poetic too................... this year's answer in some ways to last year's (awesome) Tee Vee Repairmann - What's On TV? album - in that it sounds like nothing else contemporary but it does sound like a billion cool things historically. Quite good...quite loud and goes by in a blur ..... this album has 2 songs about porn (Looking for Porno, Gloryholes) and follows them with a heartbreaking ballad (Haunted Neighborhood) and doesn't miss a beat doing it ......which is a trick that at least goes back to the NY Dolls "Lonely Planet Boy"......in mixing trash with heart and this album has a lot of both.......
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Post by themoviesinner on Feb 13, 2024 18:26:32 GMT
Heroes del Silencio - El Espíritu del Vino (1993) -- 9/10This album is heavy, catchy, with unique rhythms and fantastic vocals. Probably one of the best rock albums of the 90's, even though it definitely is a tad overlong. pacinoyes if you're in the mood for a bit of Spanish rock, this is certainly worth a listen.
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 13, 2024 19:17:00 GMT
Heroes del Silencio - El Espíritu del Vino (1993) -- 9/10This album is heavy, catchy, with unique rhythms and fantastic vocals. Probably one of the best rock albums of the 90's, even though it definitely is a tad overlong. pacinoyes if you're in the mood for a bit of Spanish rock, this is certainly worth a listen. THe guitar solo at the 4 and 1/2 mark is ripping stuff.........I like how this is produced too - it's like bombastic and low key at the same time - sometimes the guitars are way up front and then they peel back and the vocal is way up.........but never in an easy to read way........and it ends low key too almost like the song itself disappears or is swallowed.........cool song......I'll give the album a listen at some point - thanks, I always like recommendations from everyone
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 21, 2024 1:45:43 GMT
Geoff Palmer - Charts & Graphs (2021) - ~ 8 / 10 The long, glorious shadow of Paul Westerberg & The Replacements looms large over this record: co-produced by Westerberg main man Dave Minehan - with a great anthem that name checks Jesus himself .........or Saint Paul at least ("What Would Paul Westerberg Do?") and Palmer's publishing company is even named after a Replacements lyric ("Walking Bowl of Punch"). He's almost always worth listening to and sometimes he's spectacular - in any form - solo, with Lucy Ellis, The Connection, The Guts, The New Trocaderos (there's more!).........and that's the case here. On the " where did THAT come from?" title track here - written by Emma Tobin (who?) - he pulls off a highly improbable, straight up piece of AM Pop Radio Song Fellatio that's one of his greatest curveballs ever. On "Count Me In" he is hilarious in listing his favorite artists - in his religion of Rock and Roll of his misspent youth - which is punching his ticket to Hell - nostalgia was rarely so smart and winning. Falls short of the tight flow of ex-bandmate Brad Marino's Looking For Trouble (2021) due to a shaky start (tracks 2 through 4 where he's on autopilot)........ but tracks 5-10 are beyond what Marino can do. Both of these are in my top 5 at the moment..... This ended up my #3 of 2021 and after a couple of years I like track 2 too......but tracks 3 and 4 are still inferior .........and it doesn't matter because the 6 songs that close this record out are superb.......
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Post by pacinoyes on Feb 23, 2024 13:51:28 GMT
The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade (Will Be Released March 29th, 2024) - 7+ / 10.......
The last album The Libertines made - a great, deceptive one imo - spun off its opening track - a great, deceptive one imo - "Barbarians" - which found them curbing their reckless instincts for a kind of beautiful slow, knowing simmer. You may have hated it - but it honestly suited them then .........this time they have upped the songcraft but much of it feels less specific than its predecessor and if you love them you know it's always about specificity with them.....
The Libertines have, in effect, painted themselves into a corner: the most self-referential Great Rock Band ever - or at least since The Clash - now writes good songs that do not have to be performed by them - when that never applied to them before. Most people will claim this is better than that last one - and I get that but I'm not so sure ........ but I'll say if you think that - immediately anyway - well you might just miss them more now that you're older and if they think that it might just be that they are happier now that they're older.
Songs are more straightforward and direct now - where on the last album you had whole songs that acted as a clever running commentary (Fame and Fortune, Belly of The Beast) - now there's no level of shifting interpretations......that's the bad news ..........the good news is the songs are again strong .......... in fact this album plays as a do-over of the last and in their 4 records now splits their catalog into 2 sets of "sister" albums:
12 tracks again........tighter length, less messy, songs don't drag this time (or thrill in that druggy dragging Libertines way) ........more professional but also not as involving ..........and how you feel about it overall may depend on how much you miss a "You're My Waterloo" this time around ......
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 29, 2024 7:05:30 GMT
Various Artists - Moving Away from the Pulsebeat: Post Punk Britain 1977-1981 (2024) - 7 / 10
Way too long box set that has some classics and some really obscure marginalia that I find interesting but most won't......this box set wants to find the rhythmic connection between The Jam, Adam & THe Ants, Sisters of Mercy........occassionally it does it.......but you have to go through a lot of detours.......
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Post by TheAlwaysClassy on Mar 31, 2024 10:40:00 GMT
Cindy Lee, Diamond Jubilee
Two hour double album, possibly Cibdy Lee's retirement record. Strong contender for album of the year.
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 2, 2024 16:18:26 GMT
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes (2024) - 7 / 10
One of the greatest Rock acts - JAMC made 2 classics to start their career but it's their 3rd album Automatic (1989) that hangs over their career......that album was a mix of pummeling junkie anthems and sweet Pop - and it was almost lyrically unintentionally funny - didn't they have a day when they weren't scoring or stoned?
But Automatic had a blueprint that they still try to follow........here too and while some of this is great in their dark comfort zone ......the Pop really isn't and weighs the momentum down.......but at their best.....they're still great after ~ 40 years of this stuff
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 3, 2024 14:19:34 GMT
The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade (Will Be Released March 29th, 2024) - 7+ / 10.......The last album The Libertines made - a great, deceptive one imo - spun off its opening track - a great, deceptive one imo - "Barbarians" - which found them curbing their reckless instincts for a kind of beautiful slow, knowing simmer. You may have hated it - but it honestly suited them then .........this time they have upped the songcraft but much of it feels less specific than its predecessor and if you love them you know it's always about specificity with them..... The Libertines have, in effect, painted themselves into a corner: the most self-referential Great Rock Band ever - or at least since The Clash - now writes good songs that do not have to be performed by them - when that never applied to them before. Most people will claim this is better than that last one - and I get that but I'm not so sure ........ but I'll say if you think that - immediately anyway - well you might just miss them more now that you're older and if they think that it might just be that they are happier now that they're older. Songs are more straightforward and direct now - where on the last album you had whole songs that acted as a clever running commentary (Fame and Fortune, Belly of The Beast) - now there's no level of shifting interpretations......that's the bad news ..........the good news is the songs are again strong .......... in fact this album plays as a do-over of the last and in their 4 records now splits their catalog into 2 sets of "sister" albums: 12 tracks again........tighter length, less messy, songs don't drag this time (or thrill in that druggy dragging Libertines way) ........more professional but also not as involving ..........and how you feel about it overall may depend on how much you miss a "You're My Waterloo" this time around ...... Edit: New single....album comes out in 2 days.........
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 5, 2024 6:47:14 GMT
Kate Clover - The Apocalypse Dream (Released today - April 5th, 2024) - 8.5 / 10 ......."Here.......... they.............come........again"........ That's how this album starts and she ain't kidding........... Bleed Your Heart Out - Part 2 - but with more hooks, more band dynamics, effortless Punky Old Wave / New Wave, better playing and more even keeled, uniform production. Sounding like a Greatest Hits record for the first 7 tracks - and expanding her musical reference palette a bit this is a near perfect Summer album .....it's also, again a near perfect Southern California New Wave record too...........she closes with a kind a delirious short "epic" tribute to her town - L.A. Prayer ........that sort of hints at what a 3rd KC album might sound like - dreamy, catchy af, hazy sugar-spun Pop - the sound of LA that she hadn't explored yet: The Go-Gos, crossed with Concrete Blonde, The Bangles and The Motels - this song takes Clover out of her 1978-1982 comfort zone into at least - uh, 1985 ..........it's a breakthrough song in a way..........it is like her Waterloo Sunset........it is like her Sheena Is a Punk Rocker .......a song informed by her town and that seems more lke her by being so open to its posbilities.....it's her best song........and arguably the first one you didn't really see coming..... Joaquim
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Post by Joaquim on Apr 5, 2024 14:06:46 GMT
Kate Clover - The Apocalypse Dream (Released today - April 5th, 2024) - 8.5 / 10 ......."Here.......... they.............come........again"........ That's how this album starts and she ain't kidding........... Bleed Your Heart Out - Part 2 - but with more hooks, more band dynamics, effortless Punky Old Wave / New Wave, better playing and more even keeled, uniform production. Sounding like a Greatest Hits record for the first 7 tracks - and expanding her musical reference palette a bit this is a near perfect Summer album .....it's also, again a near perfect Southern California New Wave record too...........she closes with a kind a delirious short "epic" tribute to her town - L.A. Prayer ........that sort of hints at what a 3rd KC album might sound like - dreamy, catchy af, hazy sugar-spun Pop - the sound of LA that she hadn't explored yet: The Go-Gos, crossed with Concrete Blonde, The Bangles and The Motels - this song takes Clover out of her 1978-1982 comfort zone into at least - uh, 1985 ..........it's a breakthrough song in a way..........it is like her Waterloo Sunset........it is like her Sheena Is a Punk Rocker .......a song informed by her town and that seems more lke her by being so open to its posbilities.....it's her best song........and arguably the first one you didn't really see coming..... Joaquim I just gave it a listen. 8-8.5/10 sounds about right. Think this review was pretty spot on, particularly the part about those first few songs just being hit after hit. It does lose a little bit of steam on those next two songs - still better than most of today’s “artists” best stuff - before finishing strong
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 5, 2024 23:51:14 GMT
Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us (2024) - around 7 / 10I hate this band - always have - so imagine my surprise that this is the least annoying record - their 5th - they've ever made and is about as consistently good across the whole thing as their occasional best old songs once were (Diane Young, Ya Hey, Cousins) - 16 years into their Yuppie Rock career and without their supposed "crucial" band member Rostam Batmanglij.....who may have been the annoying one maybe? 5th times the charm I guess .......go figure.......shocked tbh......
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 14, 2024 22:50:31 GMT
The Reflectors - Going Out of Fashion (released April 12th, 2024) - 7 / 10 MattsbyNot quite as much fun as their debut from 2020 where they were almost like a slightly goofy, hopped up boy band on a Power Pop sugar rush after being let loose in a candy store............ this sounds like what they wanted their so-so 2nd record to sound like - more adult, but walloping Pop songs with a tight sonic template ........the repetitive choruses let this down though - and that was swerved on the debut by a marvelous energy, but here the cracks show in the writing....... 14 songs and only some stick, but none of it is awful and you root for them - a lot - because we probably like the same records .......and they (still) love Power Pop history from The Nerves, to The Shoes with aspirations to be like The Buzzcocks.....I mean they don't get there......... but how can you not like that with all that is shitty in American Rock in 2024 - and for the last few years tbh...... I'd listen to The Reflectors 3 albums more than I would The Whiffs 3 albums - which is probably a kind of Power Pop critical blasphemy but it's true ..........also this gets better on repeated listens - actually that applies to all of their records ..........
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 19, 2024 6:32:01 GMT
James Sullivan - Vital Signs (2024) - ~ 6/ 10 ......A very odd mix of singer-songwriter, hang out record and Art Rock - part Bob Pollard, part Robyn Hitchcck I guess - that is really interesting without being exactly good Side 1 drops 2 ballads in a row - not Sullivan's strong suit..........Side 2 ends with a droning ballad following 2 other droning Wtf songs that are sort of pretentious time killers...........weirdly I am kind of impressed ............not so impressed that I'll play it again but I admire the balls....... The best music Sullivan has made is not solo - it's with his former band - More Kicks .........especially their standout album Punch Drunk (2022) - but Sullivan has broken up More Kicks now........which is sort of like dumping the Prom Queen so you have more time to concentrate on staying at home, talking to yourself and jerking off
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 21, 2024 22:58:18 GMT
The Heat Inc. Asleep In The Ejection Seat (2023) - 7 /10......BUT one incredible song .......
Pain in the ass punk hippie band dropped this debut album last year and I totally missed it because they did physical copies only like it's 1971 and shit
They are a very strange band - part Doors, part Strokes / Pixies - they dropped an instant classic single in 2022 (pacinoyes best of year list, natch, - Draw Blood For Proof) which they bring out here on the album obvious high point........and which I may be giving a 7 rating because of all by itself tbh .............
The rest of the time they weave poetry (sort of) with volume (at times Motorhead levels) with interesting - mixed bag results...........not really sure how they are mishandling their career releasing this under the radar like that.........wtf........but a classic song is a classic song anyway........
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Post by urbanpatrician on Apr 24, 2024 1:54:17 GMT
Ramones - Rocket to Russia (1977) - (9/10)
Well damn, I loved this. I listened to the Ramones once in my naive youth but never got around to getting back to them, but I'm hooked now. I feel like this has the monopoly on the 70s vibe more than most of the predecessors deemed greater. Actually the vibe is very 60s. It's very very happy. Not a negative thought here. It feels like 4 very surfy personalities perusing the beaches of California or Long Island with carefree bliss. But this is what I like. Ramones combine doo-wop, with rock and obviously some punk, but I feel mostly cool rock vibes from it. And that's cool. From Sheena is a Punk Rocker thru Romana feels like pure bliss. A few songs I could live without, of course, as with any album.... but that stretch is immaculate. Also Needles & Pins and Slug are good too, but Rockaway Beach feels like the epitome of cool, surfing USA. I do believe in retrospect the 70s were not a depressing decade. It's not mostly like Taxi Driver. It's more like what it's portrayed here. 70s were just a bunch of drugs and dancing and partying. Ramones epitomizes this. I don't get the feeling this is elevated to one of the best albums of 1977, but I feel like it deserves to be.... because.... I think it's mostly better than some of the others. Classic stuff. Will not be the last thing I hear from them.
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Post by themoviesinner on Apr 26, 2024 14:39:47 GMT
Primordial - To The Nameless Dead (2007) -- 10/10" Where is the fighting man? Am I he? You would trade every truth For hollow victories" Absolutely monumental, one of the greatest metal albums of all time in my opinion. An epic, powerful work where the music is hefty and vigorous and harmonizes perfectly with the weighty, profound lyrics. The tracks on here feel grandiose and importanat and the band treats them like something that came straight out of their souls. " All the world proclaiming Yesterday's man as traitor Yet welcome with open arms His brother as tomorrows dictator" This album is proof that technical riffs or fancy guitar solos (the album has none) aren't needed to make a metal classic, just a creative and sincere vision. pacinoyes if you're ever in the mood for some metal, this is definitely worth listening to. " And brother, many a crooked day we spent Telling tales and making myths And sharpening our tongues Yet doing little but growing old"
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 26, 2024 16:20:09 GMT
Primordial - To The Nameless Dead (2007) -- 10/10" Where is the fighting man? Am I he? You would trade every truth For hollow victories" Absolutely monumental, one of the greatest metal albums of all time in my opinion. An epic, powerful work where the music is hefty and vigorous and harmonizes perfectly with the weighty, profound lyrics. The tracks on here feel grandiose and importanat and the band treats them like something that came straight out of their souls. " All the world proclaiming Yesterday's man as traitor Yet welcome with open arms His brother as tomorrows dictator" This album is proof that technical riffs or fancy guitar solos (the album has none) aren't needed to make a metal classic, just a creative and sincere vision. pacinoyes if you're ever in the mood for some metal, this is definitely worth listening to. " And brother, many a crooked day we spent Telling tales and making myths And sharpening our tongues Yet doing little but growing old"
Pretty epic tbh..my buddy is gonna LOVE ths - thx 4 the rec
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Post by DaleCooper on Apr 27, 2024 9:58:29 GMT
Primordial - To The Nameless Dead (2007) -- 10/10" Where is the fighting man? Am I he? You would trade every truth For hollow victories" Absolutely monumental, one of the greatest metal albums of all time in my opinion. An epic, powerful work where the music is hefty and vigorous and harmonizes perfectly with the weighty, profound lyrics. The tracks on here feel grandiose and importanat and the band treats them like something that came straight out of their souls. " All the world proclaiming Yesterday's man as traitor Yet welcome with open arms His brother as tomorrows dictator" This album is proof that technical riffs or fancy guitar solos (the album has none) aren't needed to make a metal classic, just a creative and sincere vision. pacinoyes if you're ever in the mood for some metal, this is definitely worth listening to. " And brother, many a crooked day we spent Telling tales and making myths And sharpening our tongues Yet doing little but growing old" Great album indeed, agreed with most of what you say. Empire Falls is an absolute baller, brilliant in every way. They are great live as well, will see again.
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Post by countjohn on Apr 28, 2024 3:20:49 GMT
All Born Screaming St. Vincent
Better than her last ill advised outing into white girl funk, but still feels like she's treading water here. It's her usual amalgam of weird lounge music and synthpop but without the rock flourishes of her middle albums. The opener has a really nice sound, though, great bass sound and well placed uses of pretty acoustic piano. The rest kind of just comes and goes though. A shame since her initial run of albums is some of the best indie music of the 21st century. Still a favorite but I'm starting to get the feeling she's losing her touch.
The vinyl gatefold picture is a funny pic of her peeing on the ground though. Would have been so funny if it was the regular album cover.
6/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 29, 2024 21:48:16 GMT
CMAT - Crazymad, For Me (out today Oct 13, 2023) - 8 / 10 at leastOn the DAY that boygenius drops their new EP.......there is something GREAT happening for music, women's music, women in general and it ain't fncking boygenius.......... No sophmore slump for CMAT........the only way this isn't as good as her stop the presses debut (pacinoyes #6 album of 2022) is the element of surprise is gone....now you expect her to be witty, clever, devastating, fun, hilarious, deeply sad .........and boy is she ever: Bigger, more ornate, across more styles, with more musicality and wildly bipolar - this album says some very dark things and this is from someone who started her career with a masterpiece song about suicide (Nashville) while pretending she was going to be a big star........ As original a Pop Music voice as Lily Allen was once - and better at craft than her.....CMAT is a once in a generation artist and in the style she's playing - a Master of Her Crazymad Universe. This album is more clearly her in full mastery of her Art - and it is as uniquely her own Art - as it was for Patsy Cline........or Aretha Franklin to Soul or Amy Winehouse to Neo-Soul or fnck it even more than it was for Lana Del Rey - who has never made full albums this good - and now Lana has never done it twice, you heard me Del Rey MAR bitches ........ CMAT is a better lyricist than all of them btw - as good a female lyricist as I've heard - ever? - This is Part 2 of a genuine 1-2 punch of Cult music .......say you were in on it while it's happening ffs....... A no shit, shortlist album of the year contender .......“The singer combines the genre’s enduring themes of heartbreak and self-destruction with camp humor and a distinctly Irish sense of the absurd. CMAT Makes Country Music Sad, Smart and Strange - NY Times”
Nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for best writing on an album now ^........I say this all the time.......the most gifted lyricist in contemporary pop........it would be great for her career if she could actually win................
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on May 9, 2024 18:21:20 GMT
after saving albums to my Spotify library for literally 5+ years I'm trying to actually listen to some of them. They're all mixed together so there's no rhyme or reason to how I'm getting through it, just popping them on when I get the chance and keeping an ear out for the earworms.
loved/really liked: All Born Screaming — St. Vincent (is this the rockiest she's ever been?) Comedown Machine — The Strokes Heavy Heavy — Young Fathers Rated R — Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf — Queens of the Stone Age You & Me — The Walkmen
some good tracks but not really for me Cowboy Carter — Beyonce Safe in the Hands of Love — Yves Tumor Yours, Mine & Ours — Pernice Brothers
definitely not for me Stone — Baroness
I guess I like Queens of the Stone Age?!?
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Post by countjohn on May 9, 2024 19:11:28 GMT
All Born Screaming — St. Vincent (is this the rockiest she's ever been?) Ehhh, Actor, Strange Mercy, and the rock tracks on Masseduction are all a lot "rockier" than this was. Felt relatively electronic and new wave-y to me.
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