top of page

Listening Room: Album Reviews

The Greeting Committee: Everyone’s Gone and I Know I’m the Cause

Every generation has a subgenre that has defined its coming-of-age journey. For much of Gen Z, that subgenre has been sad-girl pop rock… and no one captures the simultaneous shining excitement and heart-wrenching nostalgia of growing up quite like The Greeting Committee.

The Greeting Committee: Everyone’s Gone and I Know I’m the Cause

The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know

The newest release from The Lemon Twigs is, in fact, dreamy. Written about the fictional Mersey Beach, A Dream Is All We Know conjures mental images of vintage boardwalks with women in modest floral swimsuits and chubby tykes licking strawberry ice cream cones.

The Lemon Twigs: A Dream Is All We Know

Local Natives: But I’ll Wait For You

"But I’ll Wait For You" has a mellow, organic flow like swimming through a lazy river at night.

Local Natives: But I’ll Wait For You

Blvck Hippie: Basketball Camp

For genres to continue to be innovative, fusing different styles from a diverse amount of places will inevitably be a part of that process. Blvck Hippie, a Memphis-formed indie rock band, embodies this innovation through their new record, Basketball Camp.

Blvck Hippie: Basketball Camp

Missio: I AM CINCO

Texas duo MISSIO releases their fifth album

Missio: I AM CINCO

Nisa: Shapeshifting

Thirty-two free minutes and an open mind is all you need when preparing to listen to Nisa’s new album, Shapeshifting. This album truly takes you through a dreamlike journey of consciousness as you hear her break the bounds of what music can be defined as and she shows that you can look to the past and the future in the same beat.

Nisa: Shapeshifting

Of Montreal: Lady On The Cusp

A crucial task of any entertainment connoisseur is the process of discovery, always expanding and refining one’s palate. Through this, one not only becomes a better consumer, but grows as a multifaceted individual. Without a doubt, Of Montreal’s discography, especially Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?, has deepened my appreciation for the medium of music and changed the way I perceived what could be possible with songwriting. This most recent entry, Lady On The Cusp, the group’s 19th(!!!) studio album, continues this course.

Of Montreal: Lady On The Cusp

The Kills: God Games

'Rock's Greatest Duo is Back with God Games

The Kills: God Games

Black Pumas: Chronicles of a Diamond

The first Black Pumas self-titled album was an instant favorite of mine. Every song on it was groovy and catchy, making me feel like driving a convertible away from an explosion while smoking a cigar.

Black Pumas: Chronicles of a Diamond

Sufjan Stevens: Javelins

“Everybody grieves different.” We can empathize, but not fully sympathize, with one’s loss. Javelin, however, allows us to do both.

Sufjan Stevens: Javelins

Various Blonde: Love is How We Will Survive

There is no question that independent/local/regional bands are grinding out there and putting out better music than much of what’s heard on the air waves and satellite radio. One such band is Kansas City’s Various Blonde, who could and should be on the radio and on your playlist.

Various Blonde: Love is How We Will Survive

Margo Price: Strays

In a world where country music continually pedals the “pickup truck and tequila” narrative, Nashville songstress Margo Price dares to do things differently and unapologetically her way.

Margo Price: Strays

Boygenius: The Record

In this dissertation I will…just kidding. Kind of. Readers beware: if you’re looking for an unbiased review of boygenius’—the indie supergroup featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker—newest album The Record, this won’t be it.

Boygenius: The Record

M83: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

M83”s ninth studio album, Fantasy, is a beautiful conundrum. The album is filled to the brim with rich, sweeping synths and deliberate, thought-provoking imagery.

M83: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Gorillaz: Cracker Island

Gorillaz: Cracker Island

Lana Del Rey:
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd

Pop’s most prolific princess returns with another sprawling collection of confessional songs ruminating on life, death, love and loss.

Lana Del Rey:
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd

Caroline Polachek:
Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

I have never had writer’s block quite like this when reviewing an album. I have spent weeks sitting on my thoughts, trying to marinate my mind with the record and its use of sound. It’s so familiar, until it isn’t.

Caroline Polachek:
Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Paramore: This Is Why

Confession: I have not listened to a Paramore record before this one. Obviously, I’ve heard “Ain’t it Fun,” “Still Into You,” and “Misery Business” from the radio and various TikTok trends, but I can’t say I’ve sat down and listened to any of their five previous albums.

Paramore: This Is Why

Sylvan Esso: No Rules Sandy

Think you’ve heard every iteration of the “pandemic album”? Think again. Electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso is back with No Rules Sandy, the follow-up to their 2020 album, Free Love.

Sylvan Esso: No Rules Sandy

Maggie Rogers: Surrender

It’s no secret that the aughts are back: the teens are reviving low-rise jeans, Crocs are no longer worn ironically, and the nostalgia around an age before the pervasiveness of social media has never been stronger. So how do you make music that encapsulates that feeling without being completely derivative? Enter Maggie Rogers’ newest album, Surrender.

Maggie Rogers: Surrender

Two Door Cinema Club: Keep On Smiling

Grab your sunglasses, pack your sunscreen, and make sure you’ve still got your summer weekends all freed up, because Two Door Cinema Club has done it again!

Two Door Cinema Club: Keep On Smiling

Interpol: On the Other Side of Make-Believe

On the heels of Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights 20th anniversary comes the band’s seventh studio album, On the Other Side of Make-Believe. Ebbing the flow of any fanfare that will arise from celebrating TOTBL, one of the best indie/alt-rock album releases of the 2000s, Make-Believe has ushered in a new era of Interpol music.

Interpol: On the Other Side of Make-Believe

King Princess: Hold On Baby

King Princess makes her grand return with her long-awaited sophomore effort, Hold On Baby. Under her moniker, songwriter and producer Mikaela Straus has created some of her most earnest work yet.

King Princess: Hold On Baby

Arcade Fire: WE

From the outset, Arcade Fire’s latest album, WE, is about looking, reflection and perspective.

Arcade Fire: WE

Angel Olsen: Big Time

How do you reconcile newfound love and freedom with unimaginable loss? It’s a question most would struggle to answer, but one Angel Olsen—master of heartache and grief—tackles head-on in her new release, Big Time.

Angel Olsen: Big Time

Florence and the Machine: Dance Fever

Rock’s witchiest star (okay, aside from Stevie Nicks) is back in a blaze of glory. Florence + the Machine’s Dance Fever is the long-awaited fifth studio album for the London-based band, helmed by coven leader Florence Welch.

Florence and the Machine: Dance Fever

LucaBrasi: Prefader Postfader

It’s not often that an album you eagerly anticipate takes 10 years to be released (make it 11), but for St. Louis’s LucaBrasi, it’s understandable.

LucaBrasi: Prefader Postfader

Kevin Morby: This Is A Photograph

Muffled voices, birds chirping and slight strumming greet us in the intro of Kevin Morby’s latest album, and they guide us into the album’s namesake, This Is A Photograph.

Kevin Morby: This Is A Photograph

Sharon Van Etten: We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong

Indie-rock darling Sharon Van Etten breaks new ground and gets deep in her latest full-length release, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.

Sharon Van Etten: We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong

Hembree: It's A Dream

This album is a masterpiece, and I do not say that lightly. It is far and few between that an album is able to nuzzle itself inside your brain like It’s a Dream can.

Hembree: It's A Dream
bottom of page