Category: Music Reviews
Hiding Places, Out of Hiding: “Homework”
Hiding Places are one of many bands emerging through the bustling post-pandemic creative scene, escaping from an isolation that long limited the ignition of projects in-the-making. Though most of us spent apocalypse-times contemplating survival, it’s quite refreshing to remember how isolation drove many to cultivate time and energy towards their art. I saw this vitality…
Review: Hotel Fiction: “Daydrifter”
Athens-based duo Hotel Fiction released their latest single ‘Daydrifter’ last Friday. Like every other song in their catalog, this one was also produced by Tommy Trautwein of We Bought a Zoo Records. Best friends Jade Long and Jessica Thompson are determined to bring a fresh sound to the table with every new track they put out; “Daydrifter”…
Review: Skee Mask – ‘Pool’
Dance music has found itself in a stalemate throughout the age of pandemic. A genre whose beating heart lies on a club floor surrounded by individuals experiencing spiritual urges to move their bodies was demoralized at the snap of a finger. With physical spaces stolen away, the innate physicality of dance music became isolated inside…
Review: Lucy Dacus: ‘Home Video’
Home Video is a stunning collection of delicate coming-of-age moments packed with emotional vulnerability and scenic poetry. Lucy Dacus, 26, brings to life nostalgic tales of her Christian youth camp days, friends dating subpar boys, awkward firsts and confused teens replacing pop culture references for a personality. Presumably, the effectiveness comes from the way she read through her teenage…
Review: CLOUDLAND: ‘Where We Meet’
As the clock strikes midnight, CLOUDLAND, based out of Athens, Georgia, celebrates the release their debut album, Where We Meet. The four-piece rock group is made up of members: vocalist Zach King, Karmen Smith on drums, guitarist Aidan Hill and Hogan Heim on bass. The ten-track album was written over the last year and a…
REVIEW: Kareem Ali – ‘Getting Through’
Getting Through by Kareem Ali Upon doing research for this review, I noticed that Phoenix-based producer Kareem Ali’s Instagram bio reads “I create music for everything in the universe”. Marry this ethos with Ali’s one-of-a-kind Boiler Room mix, set in the sunset-soaked desert outskirts of Phoenix, and this mission statement tells listeners everything we need…
REVIEW: DoFlame’s “Bat House”
18-year-old DoFlame made his debut just a few weeks ago with single “Bat House.” If I could describe this track in a just one sentence, I’d say, “90s nu trash is back, baby.” But, we have the privilege of free speech, so let’s continue. I can’t say I expected a 2003 baby to make his…
REVIEW: Cities Aviv – ‘The Crashing Sound of How It Goes’
THE CRASHING SOUND OF HOW IT GOES by Cities Aviv I was stuck in a place/I couldn’t get up/what happens next? How does one begin to grieve growth from one chapter of life to another? Loved ones lost, a regressive sociopolitical landscape, and the impending fears of aging all come crashing down on one to…
REVIEW: Bobby Kid – “Blue/Dissonance”
Who am I, and who are you? Growth. Fear. Changes. The nostalgia of it all. Who are we if I am no longer who I used to be? We desperately cling on to our past in hopes of using it as a band-aid, a short term justification, to heal what we face now. And most…
Courting: ‘Grand National’
If there’s anyone who hasn’t lost complete touch over the ever-fleeting artistry of social commentary rock, it would undoubtedly have to be the Brits. Championing the genre as what might be a post-post-punk reaction to the spawn of angsty British lyricism, Courting have recently released a 4-track debut EP that delivers a wonderfully refined twist…