There are moments in life that make you question your very existence- like a night where pop music, indie rock and… country music all collide. September 28th was one of those nights for me. Musician Mitski took over the Hollywood Bowl to mark the final night of her album tour and the last performance with…
The first time I heard The Last Dinner Party was after a mild breakup, driving to Laguna Beach for a day trip with my girlfriends. We proceeded to listen to “Nothing Matters” 10 times, until we could all scream the words out the window together. On August 10th, the all-female British indie-rock group blessed the…
Photo by Matty Vogel Rising punk rock band Destroy Boys has announced a new album, Funeral Soundtrack #4, releasing August 9 via independent label Hopeless Records. The album will consist of 11 tracks and feature punk bands Mannequin Pussy and Scowl. Destroy Boys is high school friends Alexia Roditis (lead vocals, guitar) and Violet Mayugba…
Released on 21 June 2024, the singer-songwriter’s sophomore album leaves much to be desired. “The Secret of Us” comes at a moment of peak visibility for Gracie Abrams, who seems to be standing on top of the pop world. With nearly 20 million Spotify monthly listeners and a nomination for Best New Artist at the…
In honor of The Talking Heads’ reunion and the 40th anniversary of Jonathan Demme’s seminal concert documentary film, Stop Making Sense, A24 has assembled a powerhouse array of artists to take on the album’s 16 tracks. The album’s inspiration, Stop Making Sense, is a 1984 concert film featuring The Talking Heads’ live performance. The film,…
Written by Kayalani DeGrave With the U.S. tour of Bright Future beginning on June 9th, 2024, it seems only fitting to discuss Adrianne Lenker’s newest solo studio record, an album rooted in emotional intimacy, storytelling, and carefully crafted poetic lyrics. You may know the 32-year-old indie-folk artist as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the…
The Lodge Room is a tucked away hide-out for the bizarre and eclectic. A Masonic Lodge turned art stage, the energy of the space screams of the occult. From murals of Egyptian pyramids and the Parthenon to panels that flip to reveal an expansive green room, the Lodge Room was built for Pond to take…
Mannequin Pussy was unbridled sacrilege, defiant and rugged, teasing and contemplative. They took their audience to church, whipped them into a climactic frenzy, and left them on their knees.
“The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a…
Written by Candace Fernandez For Estonian-born artist Alina Astrova, music is a channel for abstraction. Releasing solo tracks under the alias’ Lolina and Inga Copeland since 2014, as well as collaborating with Dean Blunt on Hyper Williams since 2011, the nonlocality of Astrova’s musical identity is mirrored in the indistinction of her sound. While her…
Prelude to Ecstasy is massively successful as a debut, as much a period piece as a fourth-wave feminist dissertation. At times, overwhelmingly pop sonic qualities clash with lyrical norm transgressions, yet the album ultimately triumphs in its polished sonic qualities, catchy hooks, and punchy lyrics.
Improvised, created on-the-spot EDM from Reggie Watts, synchronized hitch kicks from the “anti-rock” Faux Real, dramatized undulations from Actually Huizenga of Patriarchy as she ran her tongue over an unsuspecting mic stand. With a diverse lineup embodying the DIY, the avant garde, and the sensational, the artists of the Annual Abortion Access Benefit Series appeared to have taken Watts’ meditations to heart, utilizing their talents to directly or indirectly protest the United States government’s usurpation of women’s bodies.
Written by Candace Fernandez I’ve never believed endings to be as finite as their temporal close. Rather, endings seem to work in emotional waves, where moments of memory and irrecollection evade our own realms of understanding and exist in a state of perpetual motion. For Åsa Söderqvist, the Swedish artist behind the musical project ShitKid,…
On her debut album, Shilpa evokes her environment as she explores what it means to grow into our humanity.
After over two years since the release of her staggeringly successful debut album, SOUR, pop megastar Olivia Rodrigo has finally given the people what they want: her highly anticipated sophomore album, GUTS, released on September 8, 2023. Make no mistake, I am a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan. As a fellow musician and melodramatic, overthinking, obsessive…
I have been a listener of Bruno Major since his 2017 album, A Song For Every Moon. His ambient musical style allows a person to sink into each song, landing at least one of his songs on almost all of my playlists. Columbo is Major’s third studio album and is arguably the most minimalist member…
Some days when the sun goes down and the night’s muggy air sits on my shoulders, heavy as a phantom embrace, I find myself lying down alone in my neighborhood park and listening to “Self Control.”
On November 10th, 2017, Taylor Swift released an album like nothing the world had heard from her before. A far cry from her clean-cut country days, reputation was enigmatic, glittering, and expansive. On the album’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do”, Swift leaves us an unapologetic voicemail: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t…
You’re 16 and you’re gazing out at the sky. Your retinas are met with the glimmering lights of a magnificent Southeast Asian metropolis, contrasted by the subdued darkness of the night. As the average high schooler within this big city, you exist within a bubble of linear algebra, sneaking into 18+ horror movies & going…
When I was getting ready to move into my college dorm and leave my lifelong home, all I could think about was the past. All I could think about were the friends I’d probably never see again, my younger sisters that I wouldn’t see grow up, the past that would always remain history. These were…
I’ll admit that K-pop is not my musical genre of choice. I didn’t grow up listening to it; instead, I was immersed in Joni Mitchell, the Police, and Depeche Mode, which are arguably as far as you can get from the peppy and catchy Korean pop that engages a young global audience with astonishing reach.…