After last week off due to being at The Long Road, we return this week with a massive two week edition of New Music Mondays! With so many awesome albums out in that span, let’s check them all out!
Deftones: Private Music
So, I’ve made little secret to it over the years that, outside of a couple of tracks, I don’t ‘get’ Deftones. I’m going to preface this by saying that this is better than Ohms. I remember reviewing that at my old place and hating it. However, that isn’t saying much. It’s weird too, as I like a lot of the elements on their own. The guitar tone is incredible and some of the riffs are great. The drumming is solid. There are even times I don’t mind Chino’s breathy, whining vocals. But put it all together, and it just feels so incredibly dull to me. Very little stands out from not only each other, but the rest of Deftones’ discography. It makes it feel monotonous, and for me it’s only really good for ambient music in the background. So, I thought it would be easier for me to list the parts I liked than keep being negative: the Soft Play-esque ‘locked club’ was alright. The riff from ‘infinite source’ was good. ‘Milk of the Madonna’ is the most Deftonesy track I’ve ever heard and was probably the best song on the album… and that’s it.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine. There are a lot of people who will surely love this. I just don’t quite get how they’re this massive, arena-filling band when they put out the same boring thing over and over. If you like this, awesome, but it sadly isn’t for me, no matter how hard I try to get into it. I can’t give it any more than 5/10; completely average and unremarkable.
Russel Dickerson: Famous Back Home
We’ve already checked out this album! Check out our full review of it here.
Bryan Adams: Roll with the Punches
The Canadian arena rock legend continues to be one of the most underrated studio performers in the world this late in his career. This is a 35-minute masterclass of 80s sleaze-drenched, arena-filling rock that honestly holds up against any of his younger peers. Heck, I’d argue album opener ‘Rolling with the Punches’ stands up there among his extensive greatest hits catalogue. Then you have songs like the blusey ‘A Little More Understanding’ and ‘How’s That Workin’ for Ya” that are also big highlights. However, the album is pretty damn short and packed full of highlights. We enjoyed his last release, but this somehow feels like it’s on another level again. He has no right still putting out music this good when he’s going on 70, but I’m so glad he is because I loved this and am such a big fan of his entire catalogue. If you are at all a fan of the guy, I cannot recommend this enough! A very solid 8.5/10 from us!
Dinosaur Pile-up: I’ve Felt Better
The return album of the British alt-rockers has been a long time coming. Matt Bigland struggled extensively over the last few years with a chronic illness (which he explained in length on their socials), so not only is this him returning to the music landscape after that, but a lot of it details his feelings surrounding it over the last few years. A lot has changed for him and the band, but one thing is for certain: DINOSAUR PILE-UP ARE BACK. Heck, we checked out and reacted to their debut single, so knew it back then, but the whole album is a true testament to not only their talent, but resilience. The title track is a great punk track. ‘My Way’ is back to the bands classic sound in the best way. ‘Big Dogs’ is silly heaviness in the best ways. ‘Quasimodo Melonheart’ is a ridiculous love song, and definitely the name of my next dog.
There are so many highlights, but there really isn’t a bad song on the album! The 40 minutes went by in a flash every time I’ve spun it, and it somehow keeps growing on me. It somehow feels both nostalgic, but completely fresh, like only Dinosaur Pile-Up can do. It’s the perfect area of a heavier, punkier Foo Fighters, but with some hip-hop influence thrown in for good measure. If you’re a fan of the band, or any of that sounds good to you, I cannot recommend this album enough! I’m so glad they’re back, and it’s an easy 9/10 from us!
Helloween: Giants & Monsters
Album 17 from the German power metal legends is just as awesome as one would expect. It’s that early power metal sound that is rather removed from its modern counterpart, sounding somewhere between Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and H.E.A.T.. Still, they have plenty of similar contemporaries now, and have stayed on the same great trajectory as bands like Accept and Hammerfall. This is a fantastic album, and goes to show why they are regarded as one of the best in their scene. From the opener to ‘We Can be Gods’ to ‘This is Tokyo’, there is so much awesomeness on this release! However, there really isn’t a bad track on it. It’s 10 tracks and almost an hour in length, but a must listen to for any metalhead out there. The band are insanely talented and the sheer fact that they’ve got such a killer discography that keeps growing in size and quality speaks for itself. In a time where power metal is arguably stronger than ever, Helloween have still set themselves apart here and put out something different and great! 8/10
Three Days Grace: Alienation
The first studio release from the TDGX2 era is somehow still exactly what you’d expect from the band, thirty years into their album-releasing careers. Somehow Adam and Matt’s vocals, while just about distinguishable, are so similar that it doesn’t really feel like the two singers thing was needed at all. So, while it’s a novel idea for an alt/dad rock band to have two leads like they’re a European power metal band, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to their sound. They could have put this out with either Adam or Matt and it would have been the exact same. Tracks like ‘Mayday’ and ‘Deathwish’ are still good songs, and up there alongside some of the bands more recent hits, but as someone who’s not a huge fan of them as is, it’s nothing that’s made me want to listen to them any more than I already do. I remember checking out their last album with just Matt and, honestly, they’re about on the same level. It’s another solid but slightly forgettable 7/10
Old Dominion: Barbara
When I first checked this album out on the way to Long Road, I have to say I wasn’t hugely into it. I think it may be because I loved their last release a lot. And, while this one isn’t a huge step away, there are certainly differences. It feels a little more mature in terms of writing; it feels less trying to get a radio hit and more chilled-out and old-school/Americana based. Having said that, there are still some amazingly catchy choruses, even if they don’t feel as big. But there are also slower, more introspective tracks like ‘Man or the Song’ (my favourite lyrics on the album) that I feel we didn’t get as much of on their last record. So, while I don’t think it’s quite as good as Memory Lane, it has grown on me a lot on a second and third listen. From the opener to ‘Talk Country’ to ‘Sip in the Right Direction’, there are plenty of massive highlights on here. None of the tracks are bad though, the album is just different and needed a little adjusting. Matthew Ramsey’s vocals sound better than ever, and the instrumentation throughout is great! I’d recommend it to any fan of the band or country in general, as it’s still a solid release. It may grow on me more still, but for now it gets a solid 8/10
We Came as Romans: ALL IS BEAUTIFUL… BECAUSE WE’RE DOOMED
The seventh album from the US metalcore titans is a pretty damn solid modern release. It’s very Bad Omens or BMTH and honestly… meh. I completely get that I am in the minority here, the band has so many massive fans, but from the basic dropped riffing, heavy synth-focus and weird screams, it’s just not my thing. Tracks like ‘lake of fire’, ‘Red Smoke’ and ‘no rest for the dreamer’ are pretty good and definite highlights. However, it just feels a tad… bland? Why would I listen to this when I could be listening to something a bit more interesting like Architects or Electric Callboy or (pre-controversy) I Prevail? Everything on this album has been done before and arguably better by other bands. And that isn’t inherently an issue, as I said at the start it’s still a solid modern metalcore album. It’s just not for me, and not one that I’d hurry to listen back to. I’m just trying to justify the score so I don’t get too many angry WCAR fans in the comments… 7/10
Nova Twins: Parasites & Butterflies
The third album from the alt rock duo dropped this last Friday. It’s no secret I’m not really a fan of the girls’ work. So who knows, maybe I’m in a good mood this weekend… but I actually quite liked this! The opener was meh but ‘Piranha’ is a fantastic alt rock track, packed with catchy hooks and heavy riffing. It sets up a run of mostly pretty enjoyable songs for the next half an hour. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all great, but stuff like ‘Soprano’, ‘Sandman’ and ‘Hide & Seek’ are all pretty damn good tracks! I’m not sure if I need to go back and revisit their previous releases or if this is actually a marked jump in quality, but either way I wouldn’t be opposed to listening to a good half of this again, and a fair bit of it made it onto our playlist. It’s still not fully my sort of thing, but I certainly get the hype around the band a little more now. If the album was a little more consisted for me, it would get higher, but for now a solid 7/10. It may grow on me with more listens, too!
Pendulum: Inertia
The electro-rock masters are back with somehow their first studio album in 15 years. We’ve had a couple of EPs to fill the gaps, but it’s nice to finally have a nearly hour-long release to sink our teeth into! If you know the band you know exactly what to expect, and they don’t at all deviate from that. It’s both a good thing and a bad thing, I’d say. The tracks without guests are your standard drum-and-bass Pendulum affair; not bad but would be far better live than on track. Having said that, the heavier ‘Save the Cat’ is pretty sick. The real greatness comes from them working with guests, as it arguably always has. From Wargasm to Scarlxrd to Bullet for my Valentine, their collabs are all pretty awesome. However, the latter reminded me that I’d heard it before, and when I did some research it did put a slight sour taste in my mouth. Half of this album is their previous two EPs. It’s a long album so isn’t a huge issue, but does feel slightly unnecessary. Especially when said tracks are some of the best on the release. On top of that, we’ve had four new singles pre-release, so actually out of 16 tracks, we’ve only gotten four new ones. I know that in this tiny attention span day and age, singles are sadly king, but I find it hard to get hyped about listening to a new album when I’ve heard a lot of it before.
As I said, it isn’t a bad release, and fans of the band will most likely love it. But at this point I’d have happily taken another EP with some of the decent new songs, over an album that just mushes everything from their reunion together. It’s not bad and well worth a listen, but as someone who much prefers this style live to on track, it doesn’t do a great deal for me. 6/10
Feurzchwanz: Knightclub
Another album we’ve already reviewed in full, aren’t you lucky?! Read it here.
Margo Price: Hard Headed Woman
An album I’ve been pretty hyped for since I heard of its release due to how much I loved her 2023 output, the outlaw country/Americana once again knocks it out of the park here! It’s 40-minutes of amazing neo-traditional country music, written and delivered perfectly by Margo. From the opening couple of tracks to things like ‘Losing Streak’, ‘Wild at Heart’ and ‘Kissing You Goodbye’ there is so much awesome, high energy and tempo country-Americana. Also, her duet with Tyler Childers is amazing, their voices and styles meshing perfectly together! From all of that, it does make it sound like there is a bit of a lull in the middle, which isn’t untrue. There’s a couple of slower ones together which, while are both excellent songs, do grind the album’s pace to a halt when paired together. Still, it barely affected my enjoyment of the album at all; it’s an enjoyable listen throughout! If you are at all into Margo’s music or just country in general, I cannot recommend this release enough! She’s one of the most criminally overlooked artists in the genre, and I’m so glad she’s back with more awesome new music! 8.5/10
Walker Hayes: 17 Problems
Four years on from his massive breakout hit ‘Fancy Like’, I’m still not sure if Walker is an industry plant or not. Firstly, did bro country not die out with Florida Georgia Line? And plus, what makes the pretty cringy lyrics even worse is that the guy is going on 50 now, but still writing/singing like a teenager. What’s worse is that there is actually probably all the elements of a great country-pop album in here, just hidden under all the rubbish. There are flashes of Old Dominion at times, which y’all know I love already, but the pop and vague hip-hop elements ruined all of that. There is clearly a big market for this kind of country still, but it’s not even particularly well-done bro country. Like if it was new FGL I may have fucked with it, but this really was a struggle to listen through, especially for 17 tracks. The opener was probably the best track on it, and that was kinda just passable for me. If you like it more power to you, but I can’t give it any more than 4/10. In hindsight, me giving his last album 7/10 was rather generous, but it’s at least less cringy than this!
Hot Mulligan: The Sound a Body Makes When it’s Still
This is a real mixed bag for me. I remember checking them out in the lead-up to Slam Dunk this year and enjoying them, so was at least a little hyped for this album. However, yeah, it’s kinda just there at times. It combines some of my least favourite elements of the genres it draws from; Midwest emo, punk and indie. Heck, there are some awesome math rock guitar licks… in 4/4. However, having said that, as an album as a whole I found myself having a good time listening, even if at times I was surprised by that fact. It starts a little rocky, but tracks like ‘Island in the Sun’ (not that one (woop woop)), ‘Monica Lawinskibidi’, ‘Cream of Wheat of Feet Naw Cream of (feat.)’, ‘Carbon Monoxide Hotel’ and the beautiful, bittersweet ‘Slumdog Scungillionare’ all big personal highlights. I also love that at least bands like this are carrying on the trend of absolutely wild, nonsense and hilarious song titles.
Despite my complaints, the more I listen the more I enjoy this album. It’s not completely my bag, and it is a touch long at 16 tracks. However, I had a good time listening to most of this once I settled into it. It’s certainly not bad, and the band are clearly talented. I probably wouldn’t spin this often aside a random track every so often, but if I was in the mood I’d probably still chuck this on and just get lost in it. It may grow on me even more, but for now it gets a pretty decent 7.5/10
Wolf Alice: The Clearing
The alt/indie rock Brits have become a force to be reckoned with in the scene in the decade that they’ve been releasing music, and this album really demonstrates their size and the reason they are at that point. It’s a massive, sweeping, ambitious release that honestly tops their previous ones with relative ease. This is coming from a guy that didn’t really consider himself a fan of the band either, so the fact that they’ve impressed me this much shows the quality of this release. It just feels BIG, from the production to the quirky writing to the impeccable use of the instrumentation. And Ellie Rowsell’s vocals here… DAMN. Talk about an underrated vocalist! She may be what has drawn me into this album the most, honestly. As I said, everything about it is technically great, but Ellie’s vocal range, power and delivery, coupled with a star power that shines bright through the music, had me hooked. From the absolutely incredible opener to the folky ‘Passenger Seat’ to the heavier ‘White Horses’, there’s plenty to love here!
Is it perfect? Not for me personally. However, they’re another band that I very much ‘get’ now, and had a good time sitting back and appreciating everything this had to offer. It’s another album that does have a significant lull in the middle, but I think it’s less egregious with a band like this that are a little more both chilled-out and experimental. I’d definitely recommend this album, and will definitely be spinning the tracks I’ve named previous, if not the whole album, a good few times over the coming weeks and months. A very solid 7.5/10 from us, and clearly I need to give the bands back catalogue another try!