Reviews by galway_rat

Great record. Great record

One of the few live shows I’ve taken in post-pandemic was Future Islands, since concert tickets are like a year’s wage now. They were touring for their sixth album As Long As You Are (2020), but I doubt I was alone in anticipating them bringing the house down with track 1 of Singles, "Seasons".
'Who starts an album like that? I just sat down!'
I have a feeling it isn't #1 on my all-time Apple Music list because I mostly used Spotify during the pandemic; that's where the algorithm foisted this song on me.
But as it turns out... they have other songs. And several of their best can be found on this 2014 release.
Samuel Herring's tortured growl in "Fall From Grace" gives goosebumps every time. Apparently that's him *protecting* his voice, compared to how he sang in earlier releases.
The lyrics can be both overly literary and incredibly direct, which is one of my favourite things about this band. Like you don't need the complete works of Roethke to get down with this album. At least I don't think so. I have yet to read Roethke (his works were a major influence on the band).
Speaking of influence, Future Islands really primed me to like O.M.D., one of their musical forebears that I didn't pay much attention to until this album-a-day business. I now have copies of Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships right next to As Long As You Are.
If there is a skippable song, I'd probably choose "Doves". :0 Just that there's a better song out there with the "baby don't hurt me" refrain.

Kind of like fellow Baltimoreans Beach House, several of their albums would have worked here. In fact, one of the albums I was considering adding to this list was In Evening Air (2010), though my favourite F.I. has changed about three times since then. But in terms of, to paraphrase a YouTube comment, music to cry and do push ups to, you can't really go wrong with Singles.

HL: "Seasons (Waiting On You)", "Spirit", "Sun in the Morning", "Light House", "Fall From Grace", "A Dream of You and Me"

Records show this is only the second Kiwi album I've listened to this year besides Lorde's almost-great Virgin (2025). That's my bad :(

HL: "Pacifier", "Sport and Religion", "Brightest Star"

iz decent

The initial release is the 40-minute one that starts with “Psycho Killer” and ends with “Take Me to the River”, but given that it omits “Heaven”, "This Must Be the Place" and “Crosseyed and Painless”, I’m saying ‘fuck that’ and skipping right to the 2023 remaster. (I can't complain that someone uploaded a 90-minute live album then)

Plus having seen the concert film, I don't care for the idea of "Girlfriend is Better" being at the halfway point, rather than as part of the big finale along with "Take Me to the River".
Oh hell, AllMusic puts it a lot better:
"Since its release, purists have found Stop Making Sense slickly mixed and, worse yet, incomprehensive. The nine tracks included jumble and truncate the natural progression of frontman David Byrne's meticulously arranged stage show."
- Michael Hastings

Well I don't know about the "slick mix", but... yeah.
Poor choices aside, the original cut still contains maybe the best examples of Speaking in Tongues cuts "Swamp", "Girlfriend is Better" and "Burning Down the House". Also, the keyboard wizardry of special guest Bernie Worrell is on full display.
Meaning I still think the original makes for a good listen, but it's hard to recommend when there's a superior (albeit much longer) version available 👀

Just watch the movie. You can't *hear* a funny, over-sized business suit, can you?

HL: "Psycho Killer", "Burning Down the House", "Girlfriend is Better",
bonus tracks "Heaven", "Cities", "Making Flippy Floppy", "Genius of Love", "Crosseyed and Painless"

November 25, 2025

November 20, 2025

HL: "The Gold", "The Alien", "The Wolf"

Oh neat! They scored the movie Swiss Army Man

Also! Maybe the first album I've heard that acknowledges the existence of South Dakota.

As for the music, it’s… decent? Maybe I overdid the 2000s indie recently, but I found only a few songs matched A Black Mile’s cinematic ambitions, Or its dramatic cover that kinda looks like a spinal column.

I continue to be shit when it comes to absorbing lyrics, but I just read that they, along with the album title allude to miners working underground.
On God I have been in a cave in South Dakota, it did not feel this nice

I’ve said this about a few records now, but this would sound a lot better driving down a long highway

3rd Daft Punk on this user list and still no R.A.M.? Is it not cool to like that album anymore, or...
...cuz I still like it...

Anyway, I'm curious how this will go; I've never watched any of the Trons, so my brain can't fill in the blanks like I did with the Blade Runner soundtrack.
I guess the original had Virgin Suicides and Shalimar, soundtracks to movies I have yet to see. And those were fine!
I definitely support soundtracks as standalone pieces of art, and am kinda mad I didn't even consider one when submitting my album(s).

Hmm... while I had my expectations tempered somewhat with the Apple Music blurb- basically "expect something darker and more orchestral than Discovery"- I still didn't have as much fun as I expected. Kind of like Hans Zimmer's work in the Dark Knight, there are a lot of loud, urgent, pounding moments that I'd bet would feel amazing in a movie theatre. But that also means that a lot kinda blended together for me, to the point I have a hard time saying exactly what moments I liked best about it. (Highlights are below ;D )

Damn that synth brass in "Finale" resembles the Shining.
Oh Wendy Carlos did both the Shining and the original Tron? Guess at least part of that must have been lifted from the earlier movie.

HL: "Adagio for TRON", "Derezzed", "Finale", "Sea of Simulation" (bonus)

3.5

December 5, 2025

November 30, 2025

"Vibracobra", "Can I Ride", "Duped"

If it's anything like how I perceived fellow distortion lovers Sonic Youth and Sebadoh, Polvo's 1992 debut has room to grow on me.

Solid lo-fi-ness

don't hug me, I'm scared

Music Has the Right to Children certainly piqued my interest when I first heard it- thanks to this website. But Geogaddi initially unsettled me to the point that I wasn't even sure I liked it. Turns out I loved it, but that combo of "Beware the Friendly Stranger" and "Gyroscope" so early in the album is uniquely dread-inducing. No wonder they put the latter in the movie Sinister.
Of course, Geogaddi isn't content to be mere psychological horror, as through the muck you also get groovy rhythms from the likes of "Julie and Candy" and "Music is Math". A concession to the listener

Definitely don't want to listen to this all the time, but these freaky synths probably make for my favourite BoC album (out of a mere 4)

HL: "Gyroscope", "Alpha and Omega", "Devil Is In the Details", "Julie and Candy",

(I keep skipping to the ones I've heard already, this included, which I admit is kind of against the point of this whole generator. We'll get there when we get there, Tom Misch)

November 28, 2025

HL: "Think", "Bubblehouse", "Henduck", "Jelly Belly"

The phrase "experimental jazz fusion" from Wikipedia had my mind racing, not all of them good thoughts. However, I didn't quite expect an organ workout à la some new-age Jimmy Smith.

Whereas Back at the Chicken Shack is more comforting, Shack-Man throws in just enough dissonance to keep one on edge.
And just when it seems like it could get tedious, it bows out gracefully with "Kenny".

An unexpected 4 stars

Not 1st listen- that one didn't do much for me but maybe this time...

Unexpected CanCon with the guest vocal in "About You" (it's Carly Holt. aka the guitarist's wife. I'm really reaching for this CanCon)

It's gotten shorter since I last listened to this (2023?), with "Human Too" removed as of this month. I checked it out on YouTube; I don't feel the album is any better or worse without it, but it's a strange move to scrub it imho.
There is no eleventh song in Ba Sing Se :0

I think I realized my initial problem with this album. You see, it was not my love of the 1975 but my appreciation of Jack Antonoff/Bleachers that led me to check it out. I quite enjoyed his 2021 release Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, which was met with resounding shrugs from many critics. Being Funny seems to share a lot of aesthetic choices, especially the ghost of Clarence Clemons that haunts both this and the aforementioned Bleachers album. Another example is the baroque stylings of both "Part of the Band" here & "91" from Take the Sadness. And the shoegaze-lite "About You" versus "Chinatown".
Antonoff has proven range- I mean, look at his work with Kendrick Lamar and Lorde- but the similarities bummed me out especially since this was hailed as one of the best albums of 2022.

But let me bury this hatchet. Despite all that I liked this a good deal more tonight, maybe because I'm more familiar with The 1975 thanks to whoever submitted A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships (these long-ass titles, I swear to God). Songs that left me feeling hollow before, such as "All I Need to Hear" and "Somebody to Love", clicked today even if they aren't my FAVOURITE, and the highlights listed below sounded richer and more anthemic than ever. It doesn't have to fight with Bleachers for the right to bring back 80's Big Music™.

3 if I'm in a bad mood, 4 if I'm in a good mood. I'm in a good mood

HL: "Part of the Band", "Oh Caroline", "About You", "Happiness"

Les $heriff, more like les Sh€riff, amirite!
Be-because of the... French don't use dollars...

I'll just play the fuckin' album

HL: (D1) "Tout les temps pareil/Je veux savoir pourquoi", "Ça fait mal"
(D2) "J'aime jouer avec le feu"

Not bad, but on the other hand... ehhh

I'm getting to feel like Charlie Brown having the football taken away every time I encounter a new punk band.
'Oh this time, it's going to be different. They don't sing in English!'

Toutefois... 70 minutes of "OI OI OI".

It's impressive how little it deviates from the formula. No really, they just don't quit! It's the best quality about Les deux doigts, and also my biggest problem with it.
At least they didn't spring for 20 minutes of feedback drone or drum solos just to make it 2 discs worth of music.

Mes oreilles, ils sifflent!

More enjoyable than the Stooges live album tho

HL: "Me and Your Mama", "Have Some Love", "Riot", "Redbone", "Stand Tall"

Hm, pretty hard to be unbiased about an album I've been coming back to since about its release date.

Let's say that I continue to love this in spite of its over-earnest homages to its funk predecessors. We remember Maggot Brain and There's a Riot Goin' On from the original list, both of which "Awaken My Love!" seems to repurpose. (For specific examples, see "Have Some Love" for the former album and "Terrified" for the latter.)
The time I came across it (late 2016-early 2017) as well as its place in Childish Gambino's discography, definitely helped my appreciation for it. Cold winter. Teeny tiny chequing account balance. Professors on strike. Fucking States letting us down in perhaps a never-ending series of letdowns.
Then the guy who rapped "Bonfire" does a psych-funk album. Did it fix any of the problems listed above? No, but it didn't exacerbate them, either. Gambino's knack towards more melodic songs (heard earlier in "Sober" and "3005") really benefited from the vehicle of 70's funk and soul.

Fun fact: this lost the Album of the Year Grammy to Bruno Mars. And I'm actually not mad! Who's going to put 24k Magic here...

November 24th, 2025 again
(I'm playing some catchup today. Been more focused on stuff that's been on my radar for a long time, rather than total surprises like the Velvet Opera)

HL: "Mary Jane", "I Was Cool", "Long Nights of Summer", "Reactions of a Young Man", bonus b-side "Dreamy"

-RYM says the real album ends at "Now She's Gone", so I'm basing my review off that.
-Off to a great start, weirdly great pairing with Baroness's Yellow and Green, which I also happen to be hearing for the first time this afternoon.
-"Dream Starts" might be one of the best songs through all the FX

on the acidic side of 60's psych. More Piper than Sgt. Pepper; less Zombies than Iron Butterfly

I'm grateful for whoever submitted this, even tho I was wary, as not all the 60s psych from the 1001 hit in the way I expected (Country Joe, 13th Floor Elevators, Byrds). It's just close enough to its contemporaries to not be a total surprise- obligatory sitar by track 6- but Elmer Gantry's Opera finds a good balance between delivering some fine pop rock ("Mary Jane") and freaking out ("Dream Starts").

November 24th, 2025

HL: (Yellow) "Take My Bones Away", "Little Things", "Cocainum", (Green) "Green Theme", "Stretchmarker"

Closer to mainstream rock than I expected, but I'm not complaining. Recent attempts to get into heavier subgenres (Agalloch, Burzum) were a bit punishing, so I'll accept things like melody and songs that end before the 10 minute mark.
Oh, I realize now I probably enjoyed this metal album because it isn't... really. Curses, my horizons aren't as broadened as I thought. Still, the swathes of atmospheric noodling ("Green Theme", "If I Forget Thee") were lovely and cooperated with the more straightforward rockers ("Take My Bones Away").
If anything, this evokes Make Yourself by Incubus the most out of the original 1001, in that it sounds like a heavy metal band disinterested with heavy metal. However, despite the intimidating 2-disc length, I wound up liking this more than Incubus.
⚓ Plus some nautical roguishness never hurt a rock album ("Sea Lungs", "March to the Sea")

November 24, 2025

HL: "Wildegeeses", "Valley of Tears", "Molly Malone/Loch Lomond"

Cozy as hell, really like the interplay with Michael Hurley's gentle playing and the band that is more indie rock than folk/country.
"Hoot Owls", even though it is not the best song, is really the moment where I thought to myself "How could I NOT love this album"

Let's put a pin in that

Some of the album feels aimless and jammy, but then occasionally hits with a thing of beauty ("Else"). I think a future listen would be rewarding, since being new to the Built to Spill party, I was more occupied on trying to place them in the U.S. indie landscape rather than taking in the album as a standalone piece. There's a lot of indie on this extended list, have you noticed? I'm still processing the Modest Mouse one and that was months ago.
Not to mention all the Canadian indie I've mostly ignored through my life, that I'm getting to on my own time (Karkwa, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, you name it).
"If all indie is critically acclaimed, then none of it is." -The Incredibles (2004)

My New Year's Resolution for 2026 is to swear off indie rock like it's nicotine

Between 3 and 5 stars

HL: "Carry the Zero", "Else", "Broken Chairs"

November 26, 2025

November 7, 2025

HL: "Like Eating Glass", "Helicopter", "Positive Tension", "Little Thoughts", "Plans", "Two More Years" (bonus track)

Gang of Four is the gift that keeps on giving, as I have been made aware of another post-punk revival band today.
Actually that's not quite true, as I knew the song "Helicopter" from Guitar Hero III, so I figured this would be up my alley. And it was.
Okereke's voice switches nicely between the punk talk-singing and softer tones. The rhythm section is ON POINT (again, see "Helicopter").
Based on its release date (2005, when the first edition was released) and origin (London, UK), I can imagine the book's editors almost including this, sharing puckish grins among each other before replacing it with that fourth Morrissey album.

I guess I avoided Of Montreal for so long for the crime of falsely implying that they're Canadian. Same with Boards of Canada >:0
Still not as bad as "Big Dick" Manitoba (see: The Dictators) suing actual Canadian Dan Snaith for the right to the name, but still.

Shame on me, I guess- this takes some pretty good 2007 electropop and infuses it with Sparksisms and Bowieisms. The closest thing we have on the original list is probably the Scissor Sisters s/t, but this is a bit wackier and more exploratory.
First impression is that the album is a little worse after "Grotesque Animal", but still keeps up the oddball energy of the 1st half.

Still closer to a 4 than a 3 in my books

HL: "Cato as a Pun", "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" (wot are these titles), "The Past is a Grotesque Animal"

November 15, 2025

November 14, 2025

HL: "Colossus", "Scum", "Danny Nedelko", "Samaritans", "Great"

Wild connection to the original list, in that "Cry to Me" by Solomon Burke is track 11. Completely did not notice it, until I read that they covered it as an apparent reference to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. (I haven't seen the movie and Solomon Burke is NOT on the soundtrack CD I have at home.)
Anyway, listening to this right after Songs: Ohia was some fine whiplash. I surprise myself by preferring IDLES's 2018 release, considering I would typically choose melancholy folk after something that takes after the 80s/90s hardcore scene. (I would have believed that "Television" was from a Black Flag album)

November 14, 2025

HL: "Being in Love", "Back on Top"

First Songs: Ohia.
He'd have been a nightmare on open mic night

Checkpoint reached

November 4, 2025