Review: Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

The world around us is quite brutal and ugly currently, so who couldn’t use a little optimism that things can and will get better? Dua Lipa has returned to the music world with a shimmering album titled Radical Optimism. With songwriting and producer credits from Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, plus other seasoned veterans like Danny Harle, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Andrew Wyatt, Dua Lipa comes well-armed for success. The album plays out quickly over the 11-song, 37-minute play time that is filled with thrilling moments, great vocal performances from Dua Lipa, as well as plenty new tricks to her arsenal. Radical Optimism is a heat-seeking missile to the eardrums and is bound to make even the most negative person feel a little bit better about their day after spending some time with it. While the current pop scene seems to lean towards darker elements (much like the brooding pop Billie Eilish), Dua Lipa cuts through the negativity with a surgeon-like precision on this instant pop classic.

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Review: Snarls – With Love

When the time came for Snarls to begin work on the material that would become their sophomore LP, they knew they wanted to work with producer Chris Walla again. The only issue was that Walla’s U.S. based Seattle studio wasn’t an option at that time period. When Chris Walla pitched the idea of the Ohio indie rock band to come to his actual home in Norway, the offer was simply too good for the band (whom had never been overseas) to pass up. With Love gets a lot of its charm from this other-worldly opportunity for the band to hunker down and pen some of their most meaningful songs to date, albeit in another part of the globe. Indie rock’s best kept secret shines all over their second full-length record that is urgent, thoughtful, impactful, and immediately gratifying. Snarls continue to show their steady growth as musicians, and Walla can only sit back and gleefully admire this journey the young band is taking with him at the producer helm. The shimmering first chorus on the title track sets the table nicely with its lyrics of, “‘Cause I’ll always love you / I’m in your corner, too / Carry you in my heart everyday / With love.” Much like the album artwork that carefully pens the words “With Love,” in the locket, Snarls keep their music accessible, yet utterly passionate.

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Review: Greywind – Antidote

The Irish sibling duo of Steph and Paul O’Sullivan, better known as Greywind, released their debut full-length record in 2017 and have come full circle now with a renewed focus and energy on Antidote. With creative control firmly in the band’s corner, Antidote is a strong collection of songs that complement the energy that Paul (guitars) and Steph (vocals) have with each other as musicians. The set was produced by Sam Guaiana (Silverstein, Neck Deep), and showcases the band’s continued growth. With a slick-sounding mix between emo and pop-punk, Greywind sound like a blend between Paramore and The Wonder Years.

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Review: Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me

The third major label studio album from Maggie Rogers, called Don’t Forget Me, showcases the singer-songwriter’s continued growth in more ways than one. While I originally saw Rogers in the same realm of pop artists like Kacey Musgraves, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker, it turns out she may just be this generation’s Joni Mitchell. With crisp production that Rogers and Ian Fitchuk co-produce on this outstanding record, Maggie Rogers quickly cements herself as one of the marquee pop acts in the world. Having recently announced a comprehensive arena tour, that is selling extremely well, Rogers takes full advantage of her time in the spotlight on this breezy collection of ten songs that blend pop, country, and captivating storytelling in her most fully-realized album to date. The artist that once had a starry-eyed vision of headlining the places she grew up attending, has come full circle and seeing her hard work come to fruition.

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Review: Hovvdy – Hovvdy

If I was in Hovvdy, I would be very tired of the word “nostalgia” by now. It’s been mentioned in countless write-ups and reviews (this one now included), singling out the band’s biggest strength — down-to-earth earnestness and relatability — and occasionally spinning it as something manufactured. Any detractors of the band are unlikely to change their minds about Hovvdy’s new self-titled double album, although fans will no doubt be pleased that the band continues to retain their carefree and approachable image, likely because it serves as such a complement to their songwriting. Even more than 2021’s True Love, Hovvdy fulfills the goal of most self-titled records, as well as the goal of many records this far into a band’s career; it is kaleidoscopic while remaining cohesive, a defining work by an artist in their prime that captures nearly every sound the band has explored over their first decade of existence.

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Review: Smallpools – Ghost Town Road (East)

There’s a magic feeling when a band you’ve been following for some time puts all the pieces together and delivers an incredible work of art. Smallpools have done just that on Ghost Town Road (East), an electric-charged EP that encapsulates everything that made me fall in love with this band’s style in the first place. This three-piece pop rock band makes all the right moves on this record that has a very 80’s new wave feel to it, while still maintaining a modern flair to it to ensure it connects with new audiences.

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Record Store Day Roundup: 2024 Edition

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Another Record Store Day has come and gone. Did you snag that coveted pressing of that album you had your eye on? Hopefully your experience was as good as mine was, and you were able to grab at least something on your list either in-person or online afterwards. In this article, I’ll be recapping things I noticed about the most popular titles going first, providing feedback on the pressing numbers for this year’s collection, and ways to keep vinyl fans engaged with their local record stores throughout the year.

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Record Store Day Countdown: The 1975 – Live At Gorilla

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The first week of our Record Store Day countdown series wraps up today with a look into the live set from The 1975 called Live At Gorilla. This performance of the band’s debut LP, played in full from front to back for the first time since 2013, was recorded live in Manchester on February 1, 2023 and remains faithful to the original recording. The “RSD First” double LP is limited to 7,500 copies via Interscope Records and is pressed on white vinyl. The artwork for Live At Gorilla can be found below.

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Record Store Day Countdown: Collective Soul – Dosage

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The march towards Record Store Day continues today with a look at Collective Soul and their fourth studio album, Dosage. The record is celebrating a 25th anniversary this year, so the timing was perfect to reissue this LP. This “RSD First” release is limited to just 2,000 copies via Craft Recordings, and it is pressed on “translucent lemonade” vinyl. The set features the singles “Heavy,” and one of my all-time favorite ballads in “Run.”

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Record Store Day Countdown: Paramore – ‘Re: This Is Why/Burning Down the House’

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The countdown to the annual Record Store Day observance continues today by taking a look at Paramore and their three vinyl releases. Paramore will be releasing their remix album, Re: This Is Why on red vinyl, as well as the comprehensive reissue of This Is Why plus Re: This Is Why on red/tan vinyl. This year’s Record Store Day Ambassadors are also releasing a 12″ vinyl single of their cover of a Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House” with David Byrne contributing a cover of Paramore’s “Hard Times” from After Laughter on the A-side.

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Review: Motel Breakfast – I Promise I’m Having Fun

The sophomore album from Chicago’s Motel Breakfast, called I Promise I’m Having Fun was produced by R. Andrew Humphrey (Twin Peaks) and captures an indie rock spirit in the same vein of bands like Cold War Kids, Dr. Dog and The Menzingers. These emo-tinged songs were written by all five band members, and showcase a band starting to come into their own identity. Motel Breakfast is Conor Brennan, Drue deVente, Jimmy Drenovsky, Mick O’Donnell, and Jesse Nasadowski, and their band chemistry pays off on I Promise I’m Having Fun.

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Record Store Day Countdown: Dead By Sunrise – Out Of Ashes

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The countdown to Record Store Day continues today with a look at Dead By Sunrise and their only LP, Out of Ashes, that will be released on “black ice” vinyl for the first time in North America. For those unfamiliar with the band, they were fronted by Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington and included Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Orgy. This album was officially released on September 30th, 2009 and was produced by veteran hit-maker Howard Benson. This “RSD First” release is limited to just 7,500 copies and comes courtesy of Warner Records.

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Record Store Day Countdown: Filter – The Very Best Things (1995-2008)

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Today we are launching the first day of a Record Store Day countdown to the annual vinyl celebration of indie record stores, that occurs this year on April 20, 2024. Each day you can look forward to a different vinyl release that I will dive into with exclusive pictures, reviews of the packaging and material, as well as a brief write-up of what to expect on the recording. Kicking things off is Filter with their Craft Recordings compilation known as The Very Best Things (1994-2008).

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Review: Katie Pruitt – Mantras

Katie Pruitt - Mantras

What do you do when all the things you thought you could count on betray you? Your religion, your family, your significant other, your society, your own mind? On Mantras, Katie Pruitt finds herself grappling with precisely that question. It’s an album about trying to find a new way to exist and thrive – or maybe just cope – in a world that repeatedly insists on ripping the rug out from under you. It is provocative and relevant and unflinching and so very human. And it is the first genuine masterpiece of 2024.

Pruitt arrived on the scene four years ago with her debut album Expectations, a sublime disc about self-discovery, coming-of-age, and reckoning with a world that is a whole lot darker and crueler than you thought it would be when you were young. Pruitt, who is openly gay and making music adjacent to the infamously conservative and old-fashioned country music industry, wrote candidly on that album about her sexuality and how she’d navigated years of fear, guilt, and yearning for acceptance. Expectations ultimately seemed to sketch out a happy ending to that turmoil: Of the last three songs, one was about her parents accepting her for who she was and the other two were earnest love songs for the woman she was sharing her life with.

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Interview: Anthony Raneri of Bayside

Bayside

Recently I was able to catch up with Anthony Raneri of Bayside to discuss everything that went into their new album, There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, that just dropped today. The latest record, Bayside’s ninth in total, is a great mix of all the elements that made the band rise to fame in the genre, and as Anthony puts it in the interview, “It sounds like Bayside, but better.” Bayside are currently on tour in support of the new album, and tour dates are below.

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