Reviews by mikey_nc

Great vocals. Love some of the interaction with the audience. Surprised by how crisp the audio quality is. The extended jams don’t totally land for me, but the band is really tight. My favorite part might be the album cover lol

Best song: Please Please Please Medley

Loud, aggressive. Very loud, very aggressive, in fact. I don’t like Jello Biafra’s voice but I do like the tempo and sound of this album. It’s kinda same-y and it stumbles in places (like the ending of Chemical Warfare and the splitting headache it gave me), but the closing stretch won back most of the goodwill it lost.

Best song: Holiday in Cambodia

They have a very definite shtick which you're probably going to like or dislike without much in-between. I like it, though I do think a whole album of sunny close-harmony folk-pop (even a relatively short one) is a little much for me. So it's kinda corny and quite dated, but I do enjoy a lot of it. Great melodies and, of course, harmonies.

Best song: Spanish Harlem

Solid songwriting, good hooks, good energy. I'm not big on Alanis's voice (though it's distinctive, at least) and the whole thing is drenched in a mid-tempo minor-key 90s malaise that I'm iffy towards. A good example of how I like grunge itself but don't like its effects on the pop music of the decade. Either way, this is a pretty good album. It does get a minus for Head Over Feet, which is a deadpan snore with terrible lyrics, but it also has an all-timer breakup song, so it must be respected.

Best song: You Oughta Know

When people around my age talk about how much they love 80s music, I’m convinced they are only thinking of like the nine 80s hits everybody’s heard, including the stuff by Janet’s brother. They have not listened to this in full. Was it bad? No, not by my definition. Were the drums cool sometimes? Sure. But it all just keeps going and going and going for an hour, and every song has even cornier synths and even bigger echoier drums than the last song, and over it all Janet squeaks like a ten year old doing her best Whitney Houston impression. Goodbye 1980s. Please don’t come back.

Best song: State of the World

A pretty great feel-bad album. Confrontational, angry, but at the core it feels sad more than anything. Lots of muscle to the sound: if Alice in Chains represented the metal side of grunge, this might be the punk side. Second half is weirder and weaker, but still a strong project.

Best song: Doll Parts

Yeah it's 70s glam. Big, cheesy, sometimes fun, occasionally a slog. A perfectly decent listen even if it's nothing exceptional.

Best song: I'm a Cadillac / El Camino Dolo Roso

Got kind of excited after Debaser but the album that followed didn’t really live up to it, save one or two songs. Not bad by any means, just weird, prickly, and sort of aimless. There is an interesting mix of pop hooks and hardcore aggression going on; I can see how Nirvana was influenced a lot by this.

Best song: Debaser

Simple, vibrant rock. Lots of energy, great guitars, driving rhythm throughout, strong songs. Really nothing to criticize for me.

Best song: The Dark of the Matinee

I would never have found this album on my own, and I doubt I’ll revisit it much if at all, but I am really glad to have heard it. Grim and unnerving, yet light and spacious, with some great beats. Sometimes repetitive, but a worthy listen.

Best song: Science Friction

I really like this one, which doesn’t surprise me based on my love of Gorillaz + limited past exposure to Blur. It’s kind of a hard album to get a grip on; sincere but sarcastic, super pop but indescribably weird in a way that pop albums rarely are, nostalgic for the past and dismissive of it in the same breath. Definitely one I’ll return to.

Best song: End of a Century

Pretty rough. Lyrics are about as dumb as can be, nothing sticks out instrumentally or vocally, and the melodies rarely hit, if at all. In spite of all that, I can’t deny that it’s tapping into a cool fusion of genres. The opening stretch is pretty decent too.

Best song: Preaching the Blues

Chaotic, messy, rapturous soundscapes. Definitely get how innovative this was when it dropped; compared to In a Silent Way this feels several clicks beyond what it was going for. Not a listen I fully love or would return to much (I think), but very interesting and important.

Best song: Sanctuary

Fun, chill, vibed out, funky, future-thinking. Awesome.

Best song: Chameleon

Album starts out pretty bright and friendly before getting weird fast. Not a huge fan of the lead singer, but he fits the sound/vibe: ghostly and ephemeral, youthful and yearning. I can't say I liked it all too much, but I am seriously intrigued by it and willing to return.

Best song: Thank You Friends or Femme Fatale

I like this a lot. Definitely felt like a concept album even though I can’t identify a story or even a central theme in the lyrics; the sound itself is sepia-toned like the album cover. Great melodies. Did wish I was listening to the Joan Baez version of Old Dixie, but I’ll respect the original.

Best song: Up on Cripple Creek

Pretty solid grungy rock. I’m impressed that it’s a one man show as I would not have guessed that from the sound. Starts out strong before settling into a rut of just OK. I would throw it on again.

Best song: This is a Call

Dark, sludgy, heavy, dreary. Definitely on the more metal side of grunge. Solid riffs and rhythms throughout, though a few songs overstay their welcome (Sickman). There’s a definite style and mood that the album commits to and executes well, though it’s not one I especially enjoy.

Best song: Rain When I Die

I wouldn’t listen to this all the time, but that doesn’t stop it from being awesome. Not for everyone what with her yowling voice and a few long rambling songs, but to me this album is core essential rock n roll, poetic yet passionate. I’m gonna make her mine make her mine GEELOHARAYAYE

Best song: Gloria

Solid if mostly unexceptional acid rock. I like the title track a lot and don't mind the length on principle, but it does drag some in the middle.

Best song: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida