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Real

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Download 2025 was absolutely brilliant. I really had the most amazing time. To see so many of my favourite bands and artists, including Weezer, Green Day, Loathe, Poppy, and Korn, in one weekend is just incredible.

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Took this pic of my boots at Download and thought the people of tumblr would appreciate it.

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forever is a feeling is the most achingly romantic and openly tender albums i've ever heard and for it to be about someone who has written so many songs about feeling doomed... i need a smoke

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Fighting for my life trying to find the time or energy to write up a review right now but there's constantly so much juicy new music being released at the moment!! So here's a playlist of some recent releases I'm going crazy for!!

I'll be adding to this as I go.

P.S. Spotify isn't my main platform for music.

I primarily use YouTube as I prefer the formatting and the music suggestions, however, I prefer the like function on Spotify over YouTube, so I use Spotify to keep a track of all the music I've ever liked ever.

Feel free to be nosy!

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Actually so painful that I couldn't go to the UK stretch of the tour!!!

Playing the final show of Mirror Ball tour tonight at Music Hall of Williamsburg ˚ʚ ♡ ɞ˚ the last time I played music hall was from my first ever tour opening for Nada Surf. This time I’m the headliner and it’s sold out ๐·°(⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄ ᴗ o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝)°·๐

Photos from the Washington, DC show by @jessicajirapinya on ig

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This weekend, I got to see Laugh Tracks perform their debut single! The track (pun intended) has a classic emo sound that the band were able to bring to the live performance. They kept a high energy the whole night, really bringing the crowd together for this new banger. If you're looking for new alternative music keep an eye on Laugh Tracks this year!

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Anticipating Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP's latest two singles, "Paranoid" and "Hallways" tease their upcoming album Who Will Look After the Dogs, and I couldn't be more excited!

Paranoid

The earliest of the two singles was "Paranoid" an abrasive track filled with fury following the aftermath of a toxic relationship. Whatever had happened to inspire this song, "the juice wasn't worth the squeeze," and PUP's front-man had come away furious. This song feels like a classic PUP track; it's noisy, fast-paced, and energetic, filled with playful but dark lyrics.

I also love the cover art. A shadowy dog sits alone on a mountain of clouds in a beautiful blue sky. The artwork feels calm in contrast to the aggression of the song itself.

Hallways

The following single continues to discus dark themes about the collapse of (presumably) the same relationship that "Paranoid" tackles. By comparison though, "Hallways" is a more somber song, with a relatively slower pace and calmer attitude. This track feels very mature for PUP, as the lyrics are also quite reflective. Stefan Babcock sings "'Cause when one door closes/ It might never open/ there might be no other doors," which reflects on the way that opportunities seem to be slimmer as you get further in life. Over a decade since their debut, Who Will Look After the Dogs? will be PUP's 5th full album, so now feels like the right time to reflect on their experiences as a band.

Again, I love the album art. The visible texture of the painting makes the art feel more traditional compared to the modern cartoon styles that they've used for previous albums. This texture also makes the art gritter. The continuous dog motif feels fitting for a band called pup; it's as if the band themselves are the dogs that need looking after.

Overall, I'm really excited to listen to Who Will Look After the Dogs? in full! It could even become my new favorite by the band.

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The Acoustic "We Used to Wait" Performance I Think About Daily

I believe that Arcade Fire's 2010 album The Suburbs is by far the best indie-pop album of the century. I will not be challenged on this.

As The Suburbs approaches it's 15th anniversary, I want to write about it and everything it means to me, everything I know about it, everything I've taken from it after hundreds of listens.

I will begin with my thoughts on "We Used to Wait" but more specifically, the 2011 acoustic performance on Sound Opinions. While there are many Arcade Fire performances that stand out to me, this one feels special in a way that no other performances do: it feels medieval. Something about the gentle use of such unconventional guitars accompanied by deep, humming strings feels nostalgic, but for a time that has long since passed.

The track is of course about nostalgia; yearning for a youth that was absent of technology and endless "flashing lights." The repetition of "now our lives are changing fast," feels even more significant when reflecting on the advancement of technology between 2010 and now. Will Butler refers to writing letters throughout the song, and how the writing physical letters is replaced by digital emails or texts. It's implied that these formats don't hold the value that "something so small," like a letter does. I think the imagery of letters, particularly this romanticized image of a letter written by candlelight adds to the medieval atmosphere of this rendition of the song.

The performance also reminds me of the musical storytelling tradition. The narrative of the song reads as a tale of the past: "we used to waste hours just walking around," but "by the time we met, the times had already changed." Butler tells the listener what the world used to be like, as if the current world is centuries away from the world he grew up in.

I believe that "We Used to Wait" works especially well in an acoustic performance because the song itself becomes stripped of the technology that Butler criticizes. This version of the song doesn't depend on technical production. Instead, the band use their hands and their voices to play the instruments and that then makes the music. The song therefore feels more real.

Medieval or not, it's a beautiful performance of a beautiful song.

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For International Women's Day I just want to highlight some of the women in music that have taken over my listening.

The 2020s have seen an incredible rise in women and female-fronted bands topping the charts, not just in mainstream genres such as pop or indie, but also in metal, grunge, shoegaze and other alternative genres.

I can only hope that these women continue to grow, and bring more artists along with them.

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My Album of the Year 2024

2024 was an incredible year for music across all genres, but there was one album that stood out to me the most. I recognise that I'm roughly three months late to posting my Album of the Year review, but that is for one simple reason: words aren't enough to describe my love for I Got Heaven.

That being said, I will now proceed to use words to describe my love for I Got Heaven...

On March 1st 2024, Philadelphia punk band Mannequin Pussy released their fourth studio album I Got Heaven through iconic record label Epitaph.

The album was released at a pivotal time in my life: I had recently lost my granny to cancer, I was escaping a toxic relationship, and I was just a month away from turning 21. Throughout the album, Missy's lyrics explore grief, abuse, and empowerment in a way that I deeply connected with. It was almost as if the album was written for me.

My favourite track on the album has to be "Loud Bark." To me, this song is about the contradictions and restrictions of womanhood. Both the vocals and the instrumentals of the track begin as quite calm, dreamy almost, with Missy almost whispering the first few lines. As the first chorus builds, so does the intensity of the singing, until Missy is just shouting "I got a loud bark, deep bite." In claiming to have a "loud bark, deep bite," Missy is saying that she is bold, capable of taking up space and using her voice in an increasingly right-wing, patriarchal world.

The contradictions of womanhood become more apparent in the second chorus as Missy sings "I want to be a danger/I want to be adored." Two brief lines perfectly capture the conflicting desire to be perceived as strong, threatening even, vs the desire to be soft and gentle. As a woman, it feels like you must present as one or the other to be desired or respected, but rarely can you be both at the same time.

Throughout both this track and the rest of the album, the instrumentals emphasis the battle between soft and hard. The dreamy indie-rock guitar and drumming and be heard consistently throughout I Got Heaven. These instrumentals clash with Missy's abrasive vocals, creating a unique sound that's heavenly yet violently punk.

Tracks like "OK? OK! OK? OK!" or "Of Her" feel more like Mannequin Pussy's earlier sound as they're more intense with noisy, fuzzy guitars overlaid with aggressive yelling rather than singing. These songs are also significantly shorter than the other tracks on the album, again reminiscent of their 17 minute album "Romantic" or 13 minute EP "Perfect."

I could never get sick of Mannequin Pussy's sound, especially this beautiful album. I Got Heaven, despite only being a year old, is easily my favourite album of all time. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen Mannequin Pussy live at the intimate venue Rescue Rooms in Nottingham.

I give I Got Heaven a 10/10

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My Top 5 Albums of 2024!!!

Fully review of my Album of the Year coming soon...

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As saphic pop artists continue to dominate the charts, I'm just waiting for Pom Pom Squad to have her moment in the limelight. I belive her most recent release will be the album that sends her soaring to the top.

Mirror Starts Moving Without Me is where girly-pop meets pop-punk. Abrasive yet delicate and charming, the album explores the contrast of soft femininity and female rage. Overall, the album has a strong alternative pop sound, which is then broken up by more explosive rock tracks such as "Villian."

Similarly to her previous album, Death of a Cheerleader, the album also features a spoken interlude and delicate music box sounds. Despite the contrasts, the whole album feels consistent with a clean overall sound.

This album also feels like an evolution for Pom Pom Squad: as the aesthetic of her previous album was high-school horror, it only feels natural for her to follow with another horror motif, the mirror. The mirror symbolises reflections of the self, both inside and out. This is fitting for the album as Mia discusses her fears of failing to change or move forward. The aesthetic of the album also feels very current, with details such as bows, pearls, and lace complimenting the mirror imagery.

Overall, I rate Mirror Starts Moving Without Me an 8/10.