In the two years of writing these reviews, I’ve grown from a casual indie-rock and experimental hip-hop head who was always with the popular opinion, to someone who has elevated their listening and reviewing and become a bit of a contrarian. The biggest dilemma that I have faced with these reviews is something that is generally a good thing: My taste changing. I’ve made some claims in the past two years that have gotten me into arguments and bickering. While that might come off as immature and annoying, I love that I’m someone that people have come to discuss music with.
It means so much to me that I have been able to vent my opinions on something so important to me. With that being said, this is my final article for the foreseeable future. Because there are so many albums that I’ve wanted to write about for so long, it was really hard for me to make this about just one album. For you, the reader, I want you to remember this article. This is a collection of reviews for albums that I’ve wanted to cover for what feels like ages. Thank you in advance.
I would like to start with what is probably my favorite band of all time, Car Seat Headrest. While it has only been about a decade since frontman Will Toledo added a few band members, they have shown time and time again that they are one of the greatest rock acts of the 21st century.
Unlike the band’s previous albums, their new album, The Scholars, is a progressive opera-esque soundscape. There is a lot to this project that is different from their past works. Until now, Toledo was typically the only vocalist on each album (aside from a few moments on Making a Door Less Open). This time around, all four members of the band have vocal roles spread across the album. Most notably, the guitarist Ethan Ives sounds fantastic in his parts.
Let’s start at the beginning of the album. The intro, “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)” is a brilliant opener that was released as a single not too long ago. What this song does great is progression. The song starts with a very minimalistic piano chord over smooth drums by Andrew Katz. It ultimately builds up to a brilliant collection of synths and powerful vocals from Toledo. In terms of vocal performance, The Scholars is maybe the best collection of performances for the lead singer in at least the last nine years.
The second and third songs, “Devereaux” and “Lady Gay Approximately,” are more good songs that develop the themes of religious anxiety and youth even further, yet don’t accomplish anything instrumentally astounding. The following track however, “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)” is reminiscent of the band’s 2016 project, Teens of Denial, due to its fast-paced and angsty nature. This was the final single released before the album dropped, and while it isn’t my favorite song on The Scholars, it’s a wonderful blend of Toledo’s great lyricism and the band’s excellent playing.
Track number six, “Gethsemane,” is my favorite song on the album. This was the lead single, and I love the risk that the band took by doing that, as it is an eleven-minute progressive rock song. I absolutely love the buildup of the track, as it starts out as a soft rock opera song before exploding into an ocean of heavy drums and synths. To me, this is the best song the band has released in many years, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have competition for being the best on the album.
Track seven is “Reality,” another 11-minute song. It is very different from the prior, however. This song is theatrical, somber, and beautiful. It features guitarist Ethan Ives on lead vocals, and he does a shockingly great job. I don’t have much to say about this song aside from that the vocal performances are excellent.
Track eight is my second favorite on the album, “Planet Desperation.” This is the longest song in Car Seat Headrest’s discography at just under 19 minutes. It is a wildly ambitious song that sees multiple phases. It’s very similar to “Reality” in the sense that it is a piano ballad at first with a secondary lead vocalist, but it transforms into a pathway through all the great things that the band has to offer. “Planet Desperation” is one to remember, as by the end of it, I sat there absolutely dumbfounded.
Following the previous three tracks is really hard. The outro to the album, compared to the previous songs, is definitely weaker, but “True/False Lover” is still a serviceable ending to the album. It ends The Scholars on a high note, which isn’t something you often see from the band.
The Scholars, at its best, is the best material Car Seat Headrest has put out in nearly seven years. The only flaw I have with the album is some forgettable tracks, such as “Equals,” but it feels so great to finally witness another great album from an all-time great band.
My rating for The Scholars: 8.8/10
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (or just The Idler Wheel) released in June of 2012, and is legendary singer-songwriter Fiona Apple’s fourth studio album. On it, Fiona Apple goes back to the same formula she has with her prior albums, but to greater effect. This formula is the embodiment of beautiful piano rock music.
Fiona Apple is truly one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Her voice is astonishing, and her lyrical prowess is commonly recognized as exceptional. On The Idler Wheel, none of this changes. The themes found on the album are of self-acceptance, ADHD, and hatred.
The album begins with “Every Single Night,” and where do I even begin? I’m not entirely confident, but this may be her best song. It’s a gorgeous song. Her vocal range is on full display, and her lyrical prowess found here is among some of the best in her catalogue.
While the second song, “Daredevil,” is another great song, the beginning of which reminds me of Radiohead’s “Decks Dark,” the following song is the best song on the album: “Valentine.” “Valentine” is a crushing song about emotional dependence and the effects that love can have on someone.
“Jonathan” is a very powerful piano ballad about Apple’s ex-boyfriend that she was still close with. Instrumentally, it’s one of my favorites on the album, as it effectively utilizes percussion to complement her vocals. There is minimal percussion on The Idler Wheel, so when there is percussion, it’s very attention-grabbing
“Left Alone” is another personal favorite that sees Apple at her most emotional. It takes themes such as emotional absence from her previous albums like Tidal and amplifies them into a powerful ballad. The song opens with wild percussion, followed by an equally wild piano chord. Apple’s vocals on this are fantastic, as her wailing on the pre-chorus is among the best moments found on the album.
“Werewolf” is a beautifully rhythmic track that sees Apple confronting her demons face to face. While it’s one of the less lyrically great songs on The Idler Wheel, it makes up for it through its powerful piano chord and, once again, fantastic vocals.
Speaking of powerful piano chords, Apple once again delivers. Track seven, “Periphery,” is yet another demonstration of Apple’s creativity and excellent raw instrumental talent. Listen to this album if you want to hear singer-songwriter music at its absolute peak.
The final three tracks on the album, “Regret,” “Anything We Want,” and “Hot Knife,” are a genuinely perfect ending to the album. The first of the three discusses exactly what the title suggests: regret. Apple is brutal on this song, as she violently tears apart the subject of the track.
The outro, “Hot Knife,” is a track to remember. It starts with powerful drums, but instead of the negative connotation that the drums carried through the rest of the album, this song is positive, describing Apple’s chemistry with her current partner.
On The Idler Wheel, Fiona Apple lays it all on the line. While it isn’t as emotional as her previous album, When the Pawn…, the album is a combination of all things great about her catalogue. Her vocal performances are perfect, the piano chords are perfect, and this album is nearly perfect too.
My rating for The Idler Wheel: 9.6/10
Hellfire is the third and final studio album by London rock band Black Midi. Hellfire is absolute insanity from start to finish. Lead singer Geordie Greep has found recent success with his solo career following the band’s sudden cessation, but his greatest performances are found here.
First things first, the instrumentation on Hellfire is unlike anything you’ll ever hear. The drums are chaotic, the guitars strum out of control, and Greep’s awkward voice invokes a sense of panic that I’ve never heard replicated before or since.
Beginning with the opening track, “Hellfire,” the album starts with a brief yet hard-hitting introduction to the world known as Hellfire. This song is very short, but it describes the weakness of humans and the process of dying and being sent to Hellfire. Despite it being the first song, it’s a great tone-setter, as the instrumental is very chaotic, but it only goes deeper.
The second song, “Sugar/Tzu,” is a genuine masterpiece in both storytelling and worldbuilding. The song describes a boxing match set in the future between Sun Sugar and Sun Tzu. The song culminates in Sun Sugar being shot during the match and Sun Tzu being awarded the victory, only a shallow step into the deep waters of corruption in Hellfire. What shines the most on this song is the crazy instrumental that perfectly complements the franticity of the story being told.
Track three is “Eat Men Eat,” a story of two men searching for their friend in a desert, but with no help from their deranged captain, the men realize the mission is a trap. This song is also very frantic, as the instrumental describes the men being chased by their captain throughout the desert.
The fourth song, “Welcome to Hell,” is my favorite song on Hellfire. It truly feels like it is a descent into a cage fight with Satan himself. The song details the PTSD of Tristan Bongo, a fictional character in Hellfire. In “Welcome to Hell,” Bongo struggles to cope with the war he’s experiencing and is ultimately discharged from it. This song is a trip straight to hell and back, with the instrumental as unpredictable as ever.
What follows is the fifth track, “Still,” which takes a more emotional turn. The narrator in the song yearns for someone important to them. The narrator sadly sees this person being joyous on their own without them. To their dismay, the narrator chooses to leave them alone. While this song is instrumentally the weakest so far, the unexpectedly mature nature of it stuck with me throughout the rest of the album.
After a short interlude, the album once again picks up steam with the psychotic “The Race is About to Begin.” On this track, Geordie Greep has his best performance ever, as he continues the story of Tristan Bongo and his ventures in horse racing following his expulsion from the war. What makes his performance so great on this song in particular isthe very fast and specific details that Greep gives to describe Bongo’s surroundings and the significance of the race.
I don’t know how one could possibly follow up a song like that, but regardless, next up is “Dangerous Liaisons.” The story featured in this song is that of a man being asked to kill someone, which he obliges with. At the end of the song, it is revealed that the first man who asked to carry out the murder was Satan himself, further showing the corruption of Hellfire. The instrumental here is a progressive jazz-rock song, as it starts acoustic and quickly progresses to being deafening and layered.
The outro to the album, “27 Questions,” is an epic way to end a fantastic album. On it, the band details one final story, that of Freddie Frost. The song begins as a continuation of the franticity of the tracks that came before, but at the climax of it, it turns into a minimalistic and acoustic ballad where Frost attempts to ask 27 philosophical questions before he is ultimately killed, but he dies before finishing all twenty-seven. The ending to such a chaotic album being so beautiful was quite shocking on first listen, but nothing this band has ever done has been predictable.
If you didn’t notice, all of the people described on Hellfire who sinned in the context of the album were sentenced to Hellfire, such as Freddie Frost, the killer from Dangerous Liaisons. While Hellfire isn’t a very philosophical album, that is still important to note.
Overall, Hellfire is a masterpiece in using instruments to create chaos, worldbuilding, and storytelling. The performances on each song are enough to make the band one of the greatest modern rock acts, even though they have split up.
My rating for Hellfire: 10/10
Parquet Courts is a Brooklyn-based punk rock band that has mastered the craft of making short songs incredibly effective. Every album that the band has released has been a brief yet cohesive effort that showcases their talents.
On their second studio album, Light Up Gold, the band cram loads of excellent punk music in a tight time frame of 33 minutes, and none of it goes to waste. Every second of this record is used effectively to get their point across. While Light Up Gold isn’t as musically diverse or lyrically layered as the albums I’ve already discussed, the thing that makes this album stand out is the pacing, sequencing, and frequency of garage rock masterpieces.
From start to finish, Light Up Gold is quick and intense. It is a beaming and fast-paced take on punk, and the band has never sounded better. One thing that this album does exceptionally well is sequencing. Every song comes immediately after the other and it’s a hard-hitting banger one after the other.
My favorite song is the opener, “Master of my Craft,” because it’s very catchy and the lead riff is one that’s been stuck in my head since the first time I heard it. The second song, “Borrowed Time,” is another favorite of mine for the exact same reason, but to a lesser extent.
Other songs like “Yonder Is Closer to the Heart” and “Light Up Gold ll” continue this pattern of short yet effective songs with killer guitar riffs and perfect complementary vocals. Perhaps the best song on the album is “Stoned and Starving,” the longest track with a wide variety of great and refreshing melodies.
Light Up Gold is a short and fiery album, but no second is wasted. It’s an album that you can turn on at any time and effortlessly listen to all the way through without ever getting bored. It’s one of my most listened-to albums ever, and it’s easy to tell why.
My rating for Light Up Gold: 8.1/10
I’ve had a blast this year doing more music reviews. I hope to continue to make these types of reviews for albums that I need to talk about, but for now, it’ll have to wait.
