Album Review: Things Take Time, Take Time by Courtney Barnett

Album: Things Take Time, Take Time
Artist: Courtney Barnett
Release Date: November 12, 2021
Label: Mom & Pop
Favorite Tracks:

• “Rae Street”
• “Here’s the Thing”
• “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight”

Thoughts: I’ve long been a fan of Australian artist Courtney Barnett, so I’m always excited about a new release.  On this album, the tempo shifts to slower than previous works and Barnett’s singing sounds a bit tired, thematically appropriate to the lyrics that speak of a sense of resignation.  My first sense is that I don’t like this sound as much as Barnett’s earlier albums, but it is still high-quality music worth listening to.
Rating: ***

Related Posts:

• Album Review: Tell Me How You Really Feel
• Song of the Week: “Pedestrian At Best” by Courtney Barnett

Album Review: Valentine by Snail Mail

Album: Valentine
Artist: Snail Mail
Release Date: November 5, 2021
Label: Matador Records
Favorite Tracks:

• “Valentine”
• “Ben Franklin”
• “Automate”
• “Mia”

Thoughts:

Snail Mail is an indie music project of Maryland’s Lindsey Jordan. I hadn’t heard of Snail Mail before the big buzz about this album’s release so I decided to check it out.  The music has a 1990s sound reminiscent to me of something like Letters to Cleo or Velocity Girl, but also more contemporary artists like Girlpool and Clairo.  Songwriting is Jordan’s strong suit with some impassioned lyrics on love and love lost.  She also makes some pretty intense videos as you can see below.

Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Let Me Do One More by Illuminati Hotties

Album: Let Me Do One More
Artist: Illuminati Hotties
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Label: Snack Shack Tracks
Favorite Tracks:

• “Pool Hopping”
• “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA”
• “Threatening Each Other Re: Capitalism”
• “Growth”

Thoughts: I’ve been following illuminati hotties since the group’s first album in 2017 and enjoy the infectious punk rave-up sound with touches of bubblegum.  Sarah Tudzin, who leads the project, calls it “tenderpunk.”  The music may make you overlook the intelligent lyrics that focus on both the personal and the political, so listen carefully.
Rating: ***1/2

Previously Reviewed:

• FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For
• Kiss Yr Frenemies

Album Review: Structure by Water From Your Eyes

Album: Structure
Artist: Water From Your Eyes
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Wharf Cat Records
Favorite Tracks:

• “When You’re Around”
• “Track Five”
• “”Quotations””

Thoughts: This album from the Brooklyn electro-pop duo Water From Your Eyes documents a break-up.  Specifically the end of the romantic relationship between band members Rachel Brown and Nate Amos, although they remain together as a band and as friends.  There’s a lot of variety to hear: Beatles-esque harmonies, shoegaze guitar, ghostly vocals, relentless industrial noise…  It changes from track to track and sometimes within the song.  But there is, er, structure here as the album is broken into two sets of four songs symmetrical to the other four.
Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Get Up Sequences Part One by The Go! Team

Album: Get Up Sequences Part One
Artist: The Go! Team
Release Date: July 2, 2021
Label: Memphis Industries
Favorite Tracks:

• “Let the Seasons Work”
• “Cookie Scene”
• “Tame the Great Plains”
• “World Remember Me Now”

Thoughts: The Go! Team haven’t been as good as they used to be for a while.  Or perhaps, the remarkable sameness of their music is an indication that they are as good as they used to be, they just haven’t changed while the listeners have.  Anyhow, The Go! Team is always fun to listen to as they cobble together from various sources, the weirder the better.  I think I like this album better overall than its predecessor SEMICIRCLE.
Rating: ***

Related Posts:

• Song of the Week: “The Scene Between” by The Go! Team
• Album Review: SEMICIRCLE by The Go! Team

Album Review: Really From by Really From (2021)

Album: Really From
Artist: Really From
Release Date: March 12, 2021
Label: Topshelf Records
Favorite Tracks:

• “Quirk”
• “Try Lingual”
• “I’m From Here”
• “In the Spaces”

Thoughts:

This Boston-based band gets its name from the question asked of its mixed-race members, “Where are you really from?”  The lyrics explore identity and social awareness, set to music that is virtuosic and eclectic.  In one album you can hear jazz fusion, aggressive indie rock, and acoustic singer-songwriter styles seamlessly blended.  The Pitchfork review of this album is very insistent on calling Really From’s style as emo and “math rock,” a genre I’m pretty sure they just made up.  But whatever the style, I know that I really like it.

Rating: ****

Album Review: Tell Me I’m Bad by Editrix

 

Album: Tell Me I’m Bad
Artist: Editrix
Release Date: February 5, 2021
Label: Exploding in Sound Records
Favorite Tracks:

• “Tell Me I’m Bad”
• “Chelsea”
• “She Wants to Go and Party”

Thoughts: The Western Massachusetts trio Editrix combines sweet singsong vocals over shredding guitar. Both the vocals and guitar are provided by Wendy Eisenberg, while Steve Cameron plays bass and Josh Daniel plays drums.  The great punk/indie rock melodies support lyrics that are often political but also humorous.  I found a great piece online that breaks down each song, something I’d love to see more of: https://www.talkhouse.com/a-guide-to-editrixs-tell-me-im-bad/

Rating: ****

Album Review: Self Worth by Mourn

Album: Self Worth
Artist: Mourn
Release Date: October 30, 2020
Label: Captured Tracks
Favorite Tracks:

• “This Feeling is Disgusting”
• “Gather, Really”
• “It’s a Frog’s World”
• “The Family’s Broke”

Thoughts: Mourn, a quartet from Barcelona, is a band that makes loud, energetic punk rock tracks with shouted lyrics.  I like that kind of thing. It feels like an album for “our COVID times” with the feelings of life’s many problems fully expressed, but also counterbalanced by a sense of resilience.
Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Jump Rope Gazers by The Beths

Album: Jump Rope Gazers
Artist: The Beths
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Label: Carpark Records
Favorite Tracks:

• I’m Not Getting Excited
• Jump Rope Gazers
• Do You Want Me Now

Thoughts:

The New Zealand quartet lead by vocalist Elizabeth Stokes performs perfect power pop.  The Beths draw on a lot of pop/rock traditions but never seem to be derivative.  The songs are head boppers while the lyrics are tender and introspective.  In short, it’s perfect music for rocking out in a Covid Summer.

Rating: ****

 

Note: The Beths’ “Future Me Hates Me” was my 19th favorite song of 2018.

 

Album Review: Temple by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

Album: Temple
Artist: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Label: Ribbon Music
Favorite Tracks:

• Temple
• Phenom
• Pure Cinema
• How Could I
• I’ve Got Something

Thoughts:

I’m a long-time fan of the work of fellow William & Mary alum Thao Nguyen, so I was excited when Thao & The Get Down Stay Down released their newest album in May.  Doubly so when I saw that Thao Nguyen and her many collaborators put together the first great pandemic music video, filmed on Zoom, for the lead single “Phenom.”

Lyrically, the album explores Nguyen’s recently outed queer identity and reconciles it with her Vietnamese-American heritage.  Musically, the songs sound different from the band’s earlier works. The sound draws on a variety of influences from blues rock to 80s post-punk to jazz to indie pop with some tracks incorporating hip-hop elements.  It’s creative and original, and a little bit quirky but also very catchy. It’s a great grab bag that rewards multiple listens.

Rating: ***1/2