Music Folks and guest Music Gal share their favorite albums of the summer

Music Folks and guest Music Gal share their favorite albums of the summer  

   Former Music Fella Pete Stone was found unresponsive in the Dogwood sewer drain last Wednesday. A new lineage of Music Folks is here to share their albums of the summer. 

dorian:

  “I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted” by Snowing and “Discography” by Street Smart Cyclist were my emo albums of the summer. Street Smart Cyclist, a band which contained 3 of Snowing’s founding members including Galm, released a series of demos and 7” records from 2005-2008. 2014’s “Discography” collects these tracks along with some other loosies, making for an 8 track compilation of what is essentially Snowing before Snowing. The highlight on this record is “Kiss Kitty On The Lips,” the prototype of Snowing’s biggest hit, “So I Shotgunned A Beer And Went Back To Bed.”

   As the undisputed leader of the 2010s emo revival, Snowing is no stranger to praise. Their only full studio album, 2010’s “I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted,” is an absolute classic that shows just how incredible modern emo music can be, becoming the blueprint for untold numbers of twinkly emo bands to come. My favorite on the album is “Damp Feathers,” a vulnerable track where we hear Galm at his most soft-spoken and sweet. The contrast to his typical shouting is jarring, in a good way.  

   With absolutely no question, my number one album this summer was Ghais Guevara’s “BlackBolshevik,” released in 2021. The record is coated in the influence of JPEGMAFIA’s album “Veteran,” but I think Guevara beats Peggy at his own game. Production on “BlackBolshevik” is outrageous, for lack of a better adjective. Guevara makes masterful use of samples and draws from various styles of hip-hop to make a truly modern rap album. This record is bookended by its best tracks, “Honky’s Sleep Paralysis Demon” and “Prison Riot,” both showcasing the peak of Guevara’s production prowess and rapping ability. 

elizabeth:

bruh alert!!

folk albums perchance..

america

tia blake

pinegrove 

   2024 turned out to be a folk summer for my ears. The band America’s debut “America” was an introduction to the season. The trio’s harmonies paired with a strong guitar that told the stories they sang brought me back to a western life that I never led. This album was perfect for longer drives with the windows down, traveling lonely roads with only myself as company.

   Tia Blake is most known for “Plastic Jesus,” a simple and nostalgic piece that can do no wrong. This song comes from her sole album, a compilation titled “Folksongs and Ballads.” 

   Her entire album has a similar feel to the popular track, being just her voice and guitar, but songs like “Black is the Color” and “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” tune in to a more sullen aspect from folk in the 70s.

   Listening to folk has steered me back to a longtime favorite, the band Pinegrove. The angst in Evan Hall’s vocals found in their first album, “Everything So Far,” brought me comfort off and on through the summer. Titles like “Angelina” and “Problems” were painful melodies that reminded me of spending time with those closest to me when I was alone.

   Pinegrove played in Audiotree’s studio just a year after the release of their debut record, playing gut wrenching live renditions of “Need 2” and “Size of the Moon.”

guest music freak lucy pearl: 

   Midway through summer, Clairo released her junior album, Charm. The 11 track LP features a jazzier tone than Clairo has ever gone for, but it works insanely well for her voice and instrumentals. 

 The eighth track, “Add Up My Love,” is the Lucy-Pearl-Moore-proclaimed song of the summer. It’s been on constant repeat ever since it came out. The song repeatedly begs the question, “Add up my love, is it ever enough?” It forces listeners to come to the conclusion, sometimes love just isn’t enough. But coming to this realization while simultaneously listening to a jaunty beat is confusing in the best way. 

   Every single song on this album is perfect. Clairo’s music has always been incredible, but this album is my personal favorite. “Sexy to Someone,” her first single off of Charm, is still a ten, even though I’ve listened to it upwards of 100 times. 

   The album as a whole has been gaining immense popularity because of the song “Juna.” Mostly everyone has heard this song, and I highly recommend giving the rest of the album a listen. I promise you won’t regret it.