Girl, Who Asked?

Wet Leg - Moisturizer  Tracks  12 Runtime  38mins Favorite Tracks  CPR, davina mccall, mangetout, pillow talk, 11:21   There’s been a bit of a renaissance this year in the world of art punk. The new albums by Lambrini Girls, Viagra Boys, DITZ, BAMBARA, and Model/Actriz have all taken wildly different spins on that classic punky noise and energy. Hot on their heels is Moisturizer, the new album by UK based band Wet Leg. Its indie rock twist on that punk rock style is endlessly danceable, endlessly catchy, and endlessly fun.  The pacing of this album is perfect, to say the least. At 12 tracks with a 38minute runtime it lands right at that album length sweet spot, and it doesn’t waste a single moment. The opening track, CPR, is lead by this insane bass groove from the very first second that you just can’t help but dance to. Sitting at a comfortable 120 beats per minute it’s perfect for a bouncy power walk (it’s also the perfect bpm to do actual CPR to!). The b...

  Little Simz - Lotus Tracks  13 Runtime  49mins Favorite Tracks  Flood, Young, Only, Lion, Blood   When choosing my album of the month I usually try to pick releases from smaller artists, and at around 6.5 million listeners per month London born rapper Little Simz is far larger than her name suggests. But that monthly number could be ten, a hundred, a thousand times larger, and I would still think she is being underrated. The sheer quality and consistency of her work from the lyricism, to the flow, to the instrumentation and composition is matched by very, very few other rappers. Her 2021 album  Sometimes I Might Be Introvert  and her 2022 album  NO THANK YOU  are both absolute masterpieces and have cemented themselves firmly as two of my all time favorite rap albums.  With this new release, Simz may have just secured a third spot on that list. Simz is no stranger to groove. On previous projects she uses it like saffron, seasoning and e...

Model/Actriz - Pirouette Tracks  11 Runtime  40mins Favorite Tracks Vespers, Cinderella, Acid Rain It’s tough to put a finger on what exactly Brooklyn band Model/Actriz’s music is. It is undoubtedly post-punk, and it is definitely noise rock, but that feels a bit like describing the Cold War as a “policy disagreement”. What pirouette is to me is an undeniable pulse, a relentless heartbeat that feels like the dancing plague, an uncontrollable twirl forward. The rhythms are distorted, digital, dark, and heavy. Almost every song on the album has a writhing nightclub beat combined with percussive guitar work, only rarely even sounding like a guitar. Noisy and weird but so so danceable. And it is, just in time for pride month, uncompromisingly gay. Lyrically I think this is the most affecting piece of music I have heard all year. It’s an album about coming out and I think as a queer woman I usually have a hard time finding that compelling. It's tough to tell that story in a way I h...

Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong Tracks  11 Runtime  52mins Favorite Tracks  The Big Spin, Two Horses, Nancy Tries to Take the Night I, like many other fans of Black Country, New Road’s earlier work, wasn’t sure what to expect with this album. In 2022, after the release of their album Ants From Up There, their lead vocalist Isaac Wood left the group. Ants From Up There is, and I will not sugarcoat it, a perfect album, and Isaac was a massive part of that. His wavering breaking vocals were raw and real in a truly terrifying and beautiful way. Without him, it’s hard to imagine what BCNR is. Forever Howlong answers that question, reminding us that without Isaac there are still 6 insanely talented musicians in BCNR, and giving us a formal introduction to May Kershaw, their pianist (and accordionist) and now lead vocalist.  Without Isaac they are not the same, but they don’t try to be. Their previous style can be categorized pretty firmly as post rock, but with M...

clipping. - Dead Channel Sky Tracks  20 Runtime  53mins Favorite Tracks Dominator, Malleus, Mirrorshades pt. 2, Welcome Home Warrior I recently learned that industrial hip-hop trio clipping, one of my favorite groups of all time, is not nearly as well known as I thought, so allow me to set the scene. Clipping is Jonathan Snipes, a film score composer, William Hutson, a noise music artist, and Daveed Diggs, one of the most talented rappers I have ever heard, who is well known for his time on the original cast of Hamilton as the Marquis de Lafayette. To say what you are likely thinking right now, this is an insane collection of people. Looking at the scope of clipping’s projects alone it seems even crazier. Laser-focused concept albums with vivid storytelling ranging in genre from slasher movie horror all the way to spacefaring sci-fi, all made with some of the most unique noise and electronic sound design I have ever heard, full stop. But so far they have stuck the landing ever...

Ellie MacPhee - All I Want Is A Trampoline Tracks 12 Runtime 30mins Favorite Tracks Let's Just Start, Angel, Try Again, Stumblin' If you've read my 2024 album spotlight, or spoken to me at all at any point in the last few months, you already know how much I adore Ellie MacPhee’s music. I love her crisp clear voice, beautifully written lyrics and acoustic guitar melodies, intimate recording, I could go on and on for hours.  I think what struck me most about her 2023 EP Cardinal Creek and her work with Hannah Blair under the name Where’s Connie was a certain loneliness. The recordings on both are minimal, just using one voice and one guitar, backed by the occasional whispers of a piano and a violin, present but atmospheric. It’s certainly a tough style to truly get right; fewer parts mean concentrated focus, and more natural blank space to balance, and her delicately masterful execution of all of this is endlessly moving, endlessly heartwrenching.  But where those projects ...

Despite being recommended it a million times, it took me until just last year to understand Black Country, New Road’s 2022 post-rock masterpiece Ants from Up There. Since that moment my hunger for albums like it has been insatiable, a hunger that recently brought me to this album. Bringing a soft indie rock spin on the post rock genre, Michigan band Racing Mount Pleasant(FKA Kingfisher)’s 2022 album Grip your Fist, I’m Heaven Bound keeps pulling me back, no matter how much I try to focus on new releases. Captivating and moving to its core, it has some of the most beautiful orchestral instrument usage I’ve heard on any album I’ve listened to, let alone an album this catchy. The horn and saxophone line from Reichenbach Falls never quite leaves my head.  The breadth of sound doesn’t stop with orchestral music either. Holy Hell for example begins as one of the softer songs on the album and then throws in a really crunchy guitar riff that I would have never expected to fi...

Asian Glow - 11100011 Tracks 9 Runtime 41mins Favorite Tracks Feel All the Time, Out of Time, Dorothee Thines             Musically 2025 has started off incredibly strong. There were a lot of really interesting releases this month but easily my favorite has been 11100011, the new record from Asian Glow. Blending noise, pop, indie rock, metal, and shoegaze, this album is a twisted maximalist sculpture that transcends the sum of its parts into something so familiar. The production is massive. It focuses on this huge vocal reverb and wide distant panned drums which somehow makes the sky above you feel so much bigger. The guitars and higher synths are always slipping back and forth between almost crystal clear clarity and this blown out intensity. It feels like it’s about to burst out of any speaker it’s put through.   My favorite example is on Dorothee Thines. This album is jam packed full of insane synth work but this track just goes all out. Asian G...