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Love Is Dead And We Killed Her - Doll Skin

I’m here to provide all recent alternative/heavier bands because I feel like there’s been a lack of good alt bands lately. So I present: Doll Skin! (and their most recent record)

Where should I even start??? (A summary maybe)

Love Is Dead And We Killed Her is Doll Skins 3rd LP, containing 11 songs and having a run time of about 38 minutes. What I can only describe as alt-rock or maybe even generally just rock, this record is a breath of fresh air from all the emo bands I listen to. I wouldn’t even call this an emo record, that wouldn’t be doing it justice. From beginning to end, this record is jam-packed with actual rock songs, and rock songs done right. And I’m glad to say this record isn’t much stretched from their first two. I’d just say that their previous records were more alternative, more emo than rock, but they still had the aspect. But this record? Rock (or at least rock elements) from beginning to end. 

While personally I feel that Don’t Cross My Path is a little lacking and doesn’t properly set the bar for the record, it’s still a great song. Listening through this record specifically, and even Doll Skin’s discography does this constantly, there’s a good use of group singing and it adds well to the general hype of the song. With the addition of Sydney Dolezal screaming (her scream is excellent, by the way) and her general vocals, this isn’t a horrible song on its own. I feel this exact way about the title track Love Is Dead And We Killed Her. It’s lacking, but it still isn’t a horrible song. 

I think very differently of the lead single Mark My Words. This, while not being the opening track to the record was an amazing first single, and since this was truly the first song released from the record, I believe it represents the record amazingly. It has amazing build-up starting with Dolezals amazing vocals and drums building up behind her. (I also might add that drums on this record are amazing, I applaud Meghan Herring.) Although this song does build up very well to the chorus, my only comment is that the instrumentals in the chorus could maybe be a bit louder. It seems that Dolezals vocals really dominate this track, and while most times that isn’t a bad thing, having vocals be constantly loud throughout the track could make build-up almost feel boring because the vocals aren’t working with the instrumentals. This isn’t too much of a problem in the track and probably isn’t noticeable to the casual listener, so perhaps I’m just being nit-picky. Although once again bringing up the dominance of Dolezals vocals in the track, I feel it was a little unnecessary to make her vocals so prominent during guitarist Alex Snowdens solo because it almost creates this audible shadow (if that makes any sense). My point is Dolezals vocals are just very prominent in unnecessary points of the track. This factor aside, I still think this is an amazing track. Once again, there’s great instrumental build up, and Snowdens solo was breath taking. 

The next single was Empty House. Being a single it once again represents the record fairly well, and it doesn’t have the same leveling issue that Mark My Words has. Some could argue that there’s build-up, I personally don’t consider it build-up but just contrasting sounds within the verse and chorus. Dolezals vocals amaze me on this track, her belting deserves an applause and much more. The same goes to Snowden on guitar. I don’t have much to say other than this is a very well done song about learning to love yourself, and I find that quite beautiful.

The last single was Outta My Mind which is a personal favorite of mine on the record. I feel this track is a lot more alt than the previous singles, but that isn’t a negative thing. It’s an amazing showcase of Dolezals vocals and once again includes the group singing/screaming during the chorus, I personally feel it’s a nice addition. And again, Snowdens skills really shine through. Paired with a fun music video, this song is pretty average in a good way and fits well in the record, although I don’t feel it was single worthy because of it’s average-ness. 

Your Idols Are Dying is the 8th track and is my personal favorite on the record. This song I feel should’ve taken Outta My Mind’s place single wise. It’s still an alt song but it’s just so much more punchier, starting with riffing and going into an almost punk song setting with the punchy-present drums. And while alt, it's more of a alt-rock. Going from a really fast verse, cutting to a quick a cappella line, and then a much slower yet still punchy chorus. This whole song is just so punchy, it amazes me. The pacing between the verses and chorus’ are done so so well, and the bridge fits amazingly in that. Much more slower, and finally showing off Nicole Richs skill on bass, the bridge does a pitch change and has amazing build-up but seems to matter so much to the meaning of the song. Another reason I feel that this should’ve been a single is the songs meaning. When you read into the lyrics you can obviously see that this song is about drug abuse, more specifically drug abuse in the music industry. It’s a serious topic and it stands true to the name as artists in the music are dying because of heavy drug abuse. While the whole track does talk about this the bridge speaks to me as something much more important, like it’s supposed to be a message to me personally. “You’re flying; Oh, it feels good while it goes down; And you’re dying; But it feels good before you crash” This song is putting out a message, an important message. It’s also generally just an amazing song. 

Finally, the closing track; Homesick. Starting off softly, it cuts to guitar and into a rock song. It starts with good build-up, and I enjoy that build-up has been a constant on this record. Once again Dolezals vocals are very present and loud during the quiet verses, but it seems fitting here. Her vocals while loud are much more calm than they are on tracks like Mark My Words or When They Show Their Teeth, so rather than contrasting poorly they fit quite nicely. The drums are really punchy despite the slowness of the song which once again I find oddly fitting. The lyrics fit the track title, it seems to be about being homesick (although there might be a light reference to drug abuse, I’m not sure I’m reading the lyrics right). While seeming to be much less punchy than other tracks, it seems to be like a nice closing track that had much more potential. While I did say that Dolezals vocals are present, I also said that they’re much more calm compared to other tracks. They don’t stand out as much as the vocals do in other tracks, and while that isn’t always a bad thing I definitely don’t think it entirely works in a closing track for a record like this one. 

All in all this generally was a punchy alt-rock record, and I hope to hear more from Doll Skin soon! I’d like to see them try other genres because while I do love rock and alt-rock, there’s also the fact that constant genres can get stale. Their current discography could all be categorized as alt or some sub-genre of alt, I’d like to see them broaden the horizon a bit and maybe try something like metal or indie. It’s a great follow up from their sophomore record Manic Pixie Dream Girl and I can’t wait to see what they’ll do next. I’d rate this record a solid 7/10 and would describe it as songs to break someones elbows to, or a good recommendation for when someone asks where to start when listening to alt. 

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lack of reviews???

i am working i promise!!!!!!! quarantine has just made me really sad and unproductive. i am currently still working on my next review which is doll skins most recent record! some others i plan on writing reviews for once thats finihsed:

natural everyday degredation - remo drive (i didn’t want three remo records in a row also im still dreading listening to this record

spirit phone - lemon demon

and other possibilities are nirvanas in utero and glass beachs the first glass beach album

more to come soon bc school has been cancelled all through april lol

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Pop Music - Remo Drive

Following Greatest Hits, Pop Music is Remo Drives 2018 EP. With a runtime of 8 minutes and only 3 songs, this’ll be a short one. 

The opening track Blue Ribbon is already quite a change from Greatest Hits. With a more indie-pop approach, it resembles more of a Prom Queen era of Beach Bunny or certain tracks on Fandom by Waterparks. The vocals are what jumps out to me most with this track, that sort of whine-like grungy-screamy sound is gone. The gain heavy guitar is no longer the main focus instrumental wise, it generally sounds a lot cleaner because the element of grunge or dare I say emo just isn’t present in this track. All of the negatives I’m bringing up really paints a picture that I don’t like this song, and that’s false. I enjoy indie subgenres and that’s exactly what this is, I just didn’t expect this to be what follows up Greatest Hits. 

The other two songs of the EP are quite different, having just some of that aesthetic of Greatest Hits. Both having the gain-heavy guitars, and Song of the Summer having the long instrumental outro, but still not the same. Which is to be expected, I wasn’t expecting a carbon copy of Greatest Hits going into this because that’d get stale really fast, and every artist has to have some sort of variety in their music. But this is like if Fall Out Boy made Take This to Your Grave and followed it with American Beauty/American Psycho. 

Once again, this isn’t me dissing the EP. I’m a fan of indie music and subgenres of indie music, and that’s what Pop Music is, there were even hints of indie rock in Greatest Hits. And I’ll never stop praising bands or artists for trying new sounds, even if I don’t generally like the direction they're going in. It’s good to have variety because staying one genre can and will eventually get stale, I just wasn’t expecting this sudden change in genres so soon after Greatest hits, and doing this really could hurt them. Fans who came for more stuff like Yer Killin’ Me or Art School won’t really be satisfied with what they’re given, especially if this is what’s to be expected of their sophomore record Natural, Everyday Degradation. It seems that they’re transitioning genres way too fast. The only good example I’m thinking of here is Waterparks so sorry about that, but here’s the example:

Double Dare debuted Waterparks as a 2010′s pop-punk band, and rightfully so. That record is a pop-punk record, the only exception being maybe the track Take Her To The Moon. Following with there sophomore record Entertainment, they still had aspects of pop-punk in songs like Rare or Sleep Alone, and more indie/pop-like vibes in songs like We Need To Talk and Peach (Lobotomy). This record was a great transition from Double Dare and their most recent record Fandom, which definitely has more indie/pop-like songs than Entertainment. I’m not saying this is the only way to transition genres, but it’s a good example of genre transitioning done well. Some could argue that this is exactly what Remo Drive did, with the transition being Pop Music, and I wouldn’t disagree. But I also wouldn’t agree. 

I’ll stop there because I feel like after that last point I’m just going to start repeating myself. Pop Music wasn’t horrible but I definitely wouldn’t hold it to Greatest Hits simply because they really aren’t that comparable, they’re two different pieces of music with aspects of each other here and there. I’d rate it an iffy 6/10 and would describe it as maybe something I’d hear in an early 2000′s indie movie soundtrack. 

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Greatest Hits - Remo Drive

Almost a year later I’m posting my first review!! Hooray!!!

Remo Drive is a band from Bloomington, Minnesota. They’ve had quite the upbringing with music, releasing this debut record on their own and signing to Epitaph Records in 2018. But that’s not what you’ve come to read, you can read that kind of stuff on their wiki page.

Before I get into the review, I want to mention that I’m probably going to make some points that Anthony Fantano has made, and if you wanna hear someone review this record much better than I can, go watch his review!

As a debut record and the only full piece of music that I’ve listened to from the band so far, Greatest Hits truly shocked me. Most debut records are somewhat well put together and a little rough at points depending on the artist, but it seems that Remo Drive just had a good grip on what they were doing. And for being a self-released and I believe self-produced record, once again, not horrible. It’s a really put together emo record, which is hard to really come by anymore and I’m sad to hear that this genre didn’t stay constant with their sophomore record. All in all, the record as a whole was really nice, really constant, and I’d describe it as my personal soundtrack for when the world ends. Onto some individual track reviews!

Art School is really an amazing opening track to this record and sets the bar really well for what you’d be getting into when listening. Opening with some really crashy drums and a clean yet gain heavy guitar riff. It tells the story of playing a show and your loved one not being there, never supporting you. The lyrics are simple yet descriptive, and I really do have to give credits to the band for keeping that simple yet descriptive aspect on most tracks. Great song, great starter, and once again, it truly sets the bar for this record.

Hunting for Sport is my personal favorite on the record, having a sort of constant whine in the vocals and a sort of balance between loud and quiet in the song, as pre-choruses cut out guitar in exchange for a scratchy sample I’m guessing is still from guitar. I’d like to applaud Erik Paulson for this track as he keeps the vocals very whine-like and keeps them very raw, and his vocals are generally like this throughout the record but it shows more in this song imo. With vocals like this mixed with metaphorical and emotional lyrics, everything just ties together really nicely to make this a great track.

Some small things about other tracks before I get to the big one:

Eat Shit sounds so oddly similar to Beach Bunny’s Adulting that it’s actually starting to freak me out. While both songs have different tones, there’s still something that sounds similar within the instrumentals, just different approaches. Lyrical content-wise, the songs are much more similar, both being about maturing from your teenage years and growing to be an actual adult, or at least getting to your twenties. While they both stay on that topic, Eat Shit is more about being hurt a lot as a teenager and adult and trying to grow out of it, while Adulting is more on the general topic of the title, adulting.

A point that Fantano brought up in his review is that this record has sort of an In Utero sound to it, to which I’d disagree. I definitely feel like the track Trying 2 Fool U is heavily influenced by Nirvana but has more of a Nevermind sort of feel. I think I personally agree more with the inspiration specifically from Weezer’s Pinkerton. This sounds very Why Bother like, and I’m not complaining about it.

Back to the normal track reviews:

This one is unavoidable, as I can't talk about this record without bringing up it’s very successful single, Yer Killin’ Me. With the music video sitting at over three million views, I think it’s safe to say that this track is what sort of finally got Remo Drive off their feet. Edgy lyrics, edgy vocals, edgy guitar, everything in this song could be classified as edgy until you hit the 2:45 mark where it turns into a cute acoustic session with just acoustic guitar and dreamlike vocals. This song is just a mess in the best way possible, and I feel like that’s what makes it so great. I personally found this song in 2018, the peak of my emo phase - which means I thought it was absolutely perfect with no flaws- and even two years later I think this song is golden, although I don’t hold it to such a high place anymore. The lyrics seem to be speaking of being so bored and annoyed with someone that it angers you, and I think this once again shows amazingly in Paulson's vocals. The almost screaming vocals are just so fitting for the matter and the general tone of the song, once again, I applaud. And while I did say that Art School sets the bar really well for this record, for listeners who came from this track, Yer Killin’ Me sets the bar much better.

Lastly, I’ll talk about the closing track Name Brand. Although somewhat confusing lyric-wise, as a whole I think this track wraps the record up quite nicely, still staying constant to the record and its tone and general sound. Very gain heavy and almost grunge sounding guitars, along with some really nice bass - I haven’t really delved into it but the bass on this record was amazing - and Paulson’s vocals once again amaze me. As a song, amazing, and as a closing track, even better.

My only problem with this record is as a whole it seems really long and ongoing but only runs a length of 37 minutes. The songs while long are mostly instrumental and lack lyrical content for such long instrumentals. I love instrumentals, but there’s just so much on this record that it gets a bit stale. And once again, I am sad to hear that Remo Drive’s sophomore record doesn’t compare to this. I’ll still give it a listen and review it, but I’m not exactly the most excited about it.

All in all, I’d rate this record a solid 8/10. The instrumentals and vocals stayed constant but not so constant that all the songs sound the same, and the lyrics really do compare to that of an early 2000′s emo record, which is what I’d categorize this record as. More specifically a 2010′s emo record done very well. I would definitely recommend it to people who like MCR but want something with sort of a different feel and approach. Specific songs I’d listen to start with would be Yer Killin’ Me and Art School.

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Welcome!!

This is my little nook, my little corner where I’ll mostly end up reviewing albums and eps. But from time to time I will review singles and artists as a whole!

My asks will be open but strictly for album, ep, or artists requests. I will not be opening them quite yet because I’m going to be challenging myself starting in June to listen to a different band or artist everyday so I can pump out content!

Reviews will come out weekly on Saturdays and what I’m planning to be 7pm CT. Fingers crossed it stays like that!

Last thing I’d like to mention is in reality, I’m just a teenager who doesn’t really know what they’re doing. I have a passion for music but I don’t really see it going anywhere because of my lack of musical talent. But I’m not going to be bitter because of that! Most times my reviews will be very positive, because I hate bashing on artists because they most likely worked hard to get where they are. That, and my lack of a profession, are the reason why I say to take my reviews with a grain of salt. I tend to just end up loving a lot of music!

Well, with all that said, I will see you Friday (hopefully) with my review of either The Now Now by Gorillaz, or Neotheater by AJR! Bye!!