Photo Credit: Neil Krug Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is Lana Del Rey’s version of the Beatles’ untitled “The White Album.” Like the Beatles had done the previous year with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lana Del Rey has already written her magnum opus. Norman F*cking Rockwell! was a fantastic album on so many… Read more
Photo Credit: Eleanor Petry Taking its title from a popular alcoholic beverage of her youth, Molly Rankin and her band members reach new heights on their delayed third album. “’cause we’re always…,” Molly Rankin assures halfway through a sentence on the second track of Alvvays’ new record, almost as if she felt a reminder could… Read more
Photo Credit: Helen Kirbo Surely you haven’t heard a more ambitious album concept in 2022 than this: a 105-minute concept album – the first installment of a trilogy – that traces the journey of a character escaping a fundamentalist home only to meet a gruesome end at the hands of a cannibalistic psychopath. All of… Read more
Photo Credit: Beth Garrabrant (All Photos) Taylor Swift’s re-recordings have, so far, been largely successful – beyond achieving their central aim of giving Swift back control of the masters of her first six albums, they’ve earned her another No.1 with “All Too Well,” as well as jumpstarting an overdue critical re-evaluation of her earliest works…. Read more
Photo Credit: Empire/Atlantic Records With her 2018 debut Expectations, former Disney star Hayley Kiyoko was crowned Lesbian Jesus. Now, with Panorama, she offers up her second coming – in the form of 13 sleek, ready-for-radio pop numbers. Kiyoko’s LGBTQ+ identity has always been central to her music and to her core appeal. The embrace of her… Read more
Photo Credit: Ashley Osborn Future Shine, the third full-length release from Hood River, Oregon band flor is an impressive collection of synth-heavy uptempo dream pop. Songs are lyrically confounding at times, but that never becomes off-putting. Lead singer Zach Grace (who also plays guitar and keyboards) projects a highish voice that often comes off as childlike,… Read more
Photo Credit: Ryan Rundle On stage, Cannons lead singer Michelle Joy is an enigmatic presence – sporting glam-rock looks and exuding a sense of effortless cool. On her band’s third album – and first since their breakthrough LP Shadows (which boasted the band’s first AAA chart-topper) – Joy seeks to transplant this effortless cool into her band’s… Read more
Photo Credit: David Belisle Perhaps Beach House decided to roll out their latest LP Once Twice Melody in four separate chapters to gradually acquaint listeners with its sprawling length. Clocking in at a little over 84 minutes in length, it’s the band’s longest album by a noticeable margin. The dream-pop innovators did not need to worry, however. Once… Read more
Photo Credit: Bad Suns Promo via Website The fourth full-length studio album by Woodland, California band Bad Suns Apocalypse Whenever doesn’t actually convey either indifference or the end of the world. On the contrary: most of it is both characteristically fun (if not “fun” with a serious side), and a great deal of care and planning went into making… Read more
Photo Credit: Mat Hayward/Getty Images Ever since Lana Del Rey had her breakthrough back in 2012 with what some critics described as the “shallow,” “overwrought,” and “depressing” Born to Die, Lana has remained a contemporary pop mystery who rarely appears on TV shows or in interviews. Even though Born to Die would prove some of the most negative… Read more