Board 8 > Recommend two albums. I'll rate, rank and review them.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I want to get back into the habit of writing and this seems like a good way to do it, and hear some new music while I'm at it. I'm asking for two albums because at least one of them has to be from 2017. If you just want to post one album from 2017, that's fine as well.

The reviews will be fairly substantial, I'm thinking a few hundred words each... and I'll go through AT LEAST one user a day (Monday to Friday), starting today. So that's two albums and rankings every day. Hold me to it. I'll try to post rankings after every entry and the ratings will be on a scale of my choosing.

I don't mind reviewing something I've heard before, and chances are that I've heard at least a few of the 2017 albums that will be recommended, but I'm trying to get better at describing my feelings about music so it's kind of irrelevant whether or not I'm hearing it for the first time. I also won't bother telling you my tastes, because it's way more fun that way. The only thing I ask is that you suggest stuff that you feel strongly about, and I'll try to give my honest opinion.

Lastly, I will be listening mainly through Google Play Music, so in the event that I cannot acquire the album you suggest, please provide a link that willow allow me to stream/download it legally.
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dillinger escape plan - option paralysis
*actually reads topic*
soen - lykaia
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Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Gorillaz - Humanz
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Neat! Good luck, and I look forward to following this.

Mitski - Puberty 2
Junior Boys - Last Exit
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oh shit there's a new NIN album? How did I miss that?
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Every Time I Die- Low Teens
Vince Staples- Big Fish Theory
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Johnbobb posted...

oh shit there's a new NIN album? How did I miss that?

2nd of a series of 3 EPs, starting with Not The Actual Events last December, Add Violence was released in July and there's a 3rd still to come
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Luna - Free Somebody
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The National - Sleep Well Beast
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
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Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
The Dear Hunter - Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
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Already loving these recs. Seeing like 6-8 bands I've heard of but never actually got a chance to check out. This is like the best idea I've ever stolen from someone else, debated doing for a few months and finally decided to go through with due to boredom and depression.

Edit: Added a caveat about the 1 user a day thing. That goes for Monday-Friday, though I may feel like doing more on the weekends for fun.
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Joey Badass - All Amerikkkan Badass
Frank Turner - Poetry Of The Deed

Fit for An Autopsy - The Great Collapse
Handguns - Life Lessons
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Paris Match - Flight 7 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB3AA5D992DEDAB68)
Everything Everything - A Fever Dream

Lindsey Stirling -- Brave Enough
Panic! at the Disco -- Death of a Bachelor
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Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Neil Cicierega – Mouth Moods

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

Full disclosure, I was way too pleased with myself when I was able to correctly identify the genre as being mathcore within the first few seconds. I don’t know much about time signatures, but I can sure tell when they’re changing. My only exposure to the genre has been through Protest the Hero (Fortress and Kezia, iirc) and I will admit that I don’t quite “get it”. I know that they’re extremely talented musicians and what they’re doing is much more complex than what you’d hear from a run-of-the-mill punk or screamo band, but I can’t quite grasp why it’s impressive, at least not yet. What I do love about this music are the dynamics between screamed and clean vocals, as well overall dynamics of the production itself. As such I was instantly drawn to the longer tracks on the LP like “Gold Teeth on a Bum” and “Widower” that had more time to play with these dynamics, while the shorter tracks seemed to fade into the background for me.

While the two aforementioned songs are probably my favourite on the album, I found the decision to fade out on “Gold Teeth” incredibly puzzling. Maybe I’m just feeling sensitive since I really dig the lead singer’s clean vocals, but it truly caught me off guard in the worst possible way. I was sitting here nodding along thinking about how great it all sounded and then the volume just began to drop. I actually tabbed over to Google Music and literally said “What the fuck” when I noticed it was ending. It’s small, but just seemed like a really peculiar choice and it reminded me of how rarely fade outs are used in music these days.

Anyway, it’s hard to give concrete opinions on the album as a whole because while there are moments I like in each song, there is no entire song I can say I love in full. I often find myself feeling indifferent about a track until it nears the bridge, when every instrument comes together with vocals soaring above them for a brief moment of true beauty… and then it ends. Still, I enjoyed the album as a whole and I’m kind of curious to see what their other albums sound like, and how their sound has evolved over the years. I think I might prefer a more straightforward metalcore, or even melodic metalcore album if they’ve ever veered into those areas.

Final Rating: 7/8
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Michelle Branch - Hopeless Romantic
The Veronicas - Hook Me Up
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Good calls, Gold Teeth and Widower are my favorites from that album for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Ire Works is worth checking out too if you're looking for more in that vein

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains (2017 release)
Dessa - A Badly Broken Code
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Illpostlater
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Edit: Switching out my Fair to Midland nom because Murph threw in Fables, just for the sake of more variety.

Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places
The Contortionist - Clairvoyant

Clairvoyant doesn't actually release until Friday but I can't imagine you'd get to it before then anyway.

Not_an_Owl posted...

Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
The Dear Hunter - Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading

Awesome choices.
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fair to midland the best

the dear hunter the best

good taste, you two
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Fair to Midland - Fables From A Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True
Band-Maid - Just Bring It

Not sure what your stance on non-English lyrics is so I can replace Band-Maid if needed. Also not totally sure if they're on Google Play.
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Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear
ABBA - Super Trouper
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John Mayer - The Search For Everything
Melody Gardot - My One and Only Thrill
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Cloud Cult - Light Chasers
Oh Wonder - Ultralife

I actually haven't listened to my 2017 nomination yet. I just remember enjoying their first album and really enjoyed the lead single off of the new one.
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Already regretting the decision to do two of these a day. For some reason whenever I do these ranking topics I can’t seem to remember that I have to listen to everything multiple times in order to put thoughts together. I always think an album is what, an hour max? That’s like two hours to listen and another hour or write some things down… 3 hours of my day, no big deal. But the entire point was to push myself so here goes…


Soen - Lykaia

I love how dramatic metal is compared to other genres. The first words in this album are literally “Eradicate all life”. Yet the overall sound of this album is quite far from doom and gloom. I haven’t really scoured the lyrics, but it actually sounds quite optimistic, likely due to how melodic the entire thing this. The album itself is very consistent, and the way I generally gauge that is by how often I check to see what track is currently playing. Throughout the hour length of this LP I did that once, during "Lucidity" to make a note on how much I was enjoying the vocal harmonies. I still can’t tell if they the lead singer’s vocals layered on top of each other, or if the band contributed backing vocals. Anyway, the problem with an album being so consistent and cohesive is that when nothing sticks out, I have nothing interesting to comment on. It’s all just… good. I mean I really enjoy the vocals on this album throughout, but even it’s just the quality of his voice that I like. It’s not as if he’s switching between a variety of singing styles throughout the album, or showing incredible range in terms of voices or characters that he embodies. He just sounds good, and continues to sound good from start to finish.

I feel sorry for this “review”, really. I could have just typed “It’s p. good” and saved us all a bunch of time, but I honestly don’t have any more thoughts on this album. All I can say is that it’s really funny that the album you switched out for this was from Agalloch since their stuff gave me the exact same vibe as this album did. I remember listening to their first three albums when a few people on this board were raving about them around 2007-2008 and yeah, the music was all good. I never revisited it, and I’m kind of curious to know how I’d feel about it now. But uh… yeah. Good album, probably won’t listen to again.

Final Rating: Good/10


Rankings

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Soen - Lykaia


...which feels weird. 2 albums in and I'm already conflicted on the rankings. I mean Lykaia was great throughout and never faltered, while OP had moments I really didn't care for and some others that I really enjoyed. I guess I'm feeling that with more time OP could grow on me and I could learn to love the parts I'm not crazy about right now... while I feel like my opinion on Lykaia is already set in stone. Weird.
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Gas - Narkopop
Bark Psychosis - Hex
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thundersheep posted...

All I can say is that it’s really funny that the album you switched out for this was from Agalloch since their stuff gave me the exact same vibe as this album did.

thundersheep posted...

Yet the overall sound of this album is quite far from doom and gloom.

i think you listened to a different agalloch album
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Steiner posted...

thundersheep posted...

All I can say is that it’s really funny that the album you switched out for this was from Agalloch since their stuff gave me the exact same vibe as this album did.

thundersheep posted...

Yet the overall sound of this album is quite far from doom and gloom.

i think you listened to a different agalloch album

Haha, I worded that poorly. I meant the feeling of "This is all really good, but I don't have anything interesting to say about it". I'm pretty sure I listened to all three albums back-to-back so I definite enjoyed it, just didn't care to revisit it for whatever reason.
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also - widower and gold teeth are two of my favourite dillinger songs, but my favourite is farewell mona lisa and i think the best example of all the contrasting things that i love about them.

i'd say one of us is the killer is the other album most like what you liked about OP, but i love ire works so i can't say that's a bad shout by seg either
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Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

Depeche Mode has always been one of those groups I claimed to like, without ever actually bothering to listen to any of their albums in full. I think I just held such a strong opinion of the hits on Violator (especially Enjoy The Silence) that I assumed I would love anything else they had to offer. While I can safely say that I don’t feel as strongly about anything on this album as I do those tracks on Violator, I’m somewhat impressed and somewhat bewildered by how similar their tone of music remained over the years. The overall darkness is something I expected, but the even the sonic palette used in their production seems dated... The sounds themselves feel reminiscent of early electronic music, yet the fidelity is so high that it simultaneously feels modern.

The issue with aiming for such a retro vibe is that the album feels very restricted in it’s use of different sounds, and while this definitely creates a good sense of cohesion, the album seems to lack range. This is especially true in the latter half where even higher energy songs like “Soothe My Soul” do little to differentiate themselves from what surrounds them. When examining the compositions themselves… there is nothing on this album I’m crazy about and only one I actively dislike. “Heaven” and “Secret to the End” were the only songs to stick out to me in a positive way, likely due to the interplay between real instruments (not trying to sound pretentious) and electronic production. On the other end, “Soft Touch/Raw Nerve” feels like the audio equivalent of Chinese water torture.

All in all, I guess I’m happy for this album. I mean, I’m happy Depeche Mode is still around, and still doing it. This might spur me to check out their most recent album as I was until now unaware they’d released something in 2017. Thanks for reminding me that they exist.

Final Rating: >Silence (which I often enjoy)
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Built to Spill- Perfect From Now On
Alvvays- Antisocialites
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thundersheep posted...

The issue with aiming for such a retro vibe is that the album feels very restricted in it’s use of different sounds, and while this definitely creates a good sense of cohesion, the album seems to lack range. This is especially true in the latter half where even higher energy songs like “Soothe My Soul” do little to differentiate themselves from what surrounds them.

While I get this perspective (and it seems to be the overall popular opinion on the album) I think it really works for me.

You mentioned Violator, which is a good comparison; Violator has the better hits and songs that standout from each other. However, I feel like Delta Machine feels more together as an album. It's best experienced as one full experience, and when doing so, I feel like I get more out of it than I do from Violator
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Johnbobb posted...

While I get this perspective (and it seems to be the overall popular opinion on the album) I think it really works for me.

I will agree that it's definitely better than the alternative. Nothing I hate more than an album that sounds like a collection of songs was just thrown together with no actual vision as to how they were supposed to fit together. I'll also admit it's a really hard balance to strike and I'm simply nitpicking when I point it out as a flaw.

I have a feeling I won't be having either issue with the next album...
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Gorillaz - Humanz

Man… I was not expecting to like this album nearly as much as I do right now. I’ve always been a casual fan Gorillaz. Loved their big singles like everyone else in the world, but could never get into Demon Days or Plastic Beach when they were released. It was actually just a few days ago I was listening to “Girls & Boys” by Blur and thinking about what a genius Damon Albarn is and, it inspired me to give Plastic Beach another shot. I liked pieces of it much more than I remembered, but still… I found it underwhelming. My experience with Humanz seems to be the complete opposite. I’m not sure if it technically qualifies as a concept album, but I love idea behind the album and how loosely the tracks relate to the theme. Even when I’m in full agreement with the viewpoint, it’s hard for me to enjoy albums that are overtly political, so I’m happy that the music here doesn’t get into specifics about what’s going on in the world right now, but rather talks about the feeling of existing in current times.

For me, this album really starts to pick up when it slows down, musically speaking. The first two tracks are quite energetic and they do nothing for me. But beginning with “Saturnz Barz” I am locked in for the rest of the journey. It features such a great mix of genres and grooves to keep things interesting and the features are consistently great throughout. A couple early favourites of mine are Kelala on “Submission” and Pusha T on “Let Me Out”. It’s a tough task to not let the features overshadow the project itself when putting together an album with so many collaborators, but everything fits so nicely here. The production matches each of their vocal styles and everyone brings their own unique angle to the concept. I realize I’m gushing here, but I really do love this album. I’m actually pretty sad that I won’t get to listen more since I’ve gotta work on the next two tomorrow…

Final Rating: Definitely confused Mavis Beacon for Mavis Staples and then realized I wasn’t too far off/10




Rankings

Gorillaz - Humanz
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Soen - Lykaia



I'll likely add tiers sometime in the future when I have enough albums ranked for at least 5 tiers. So far I still like everything.
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yessss

saw Gorillaz live this summer; it was incredible

Did you listen to the regular album or the deluxe edition? If just the regular, I would really recommend listening to a couple tracks from the deluxe. The Apprentice and Ticker Tape are both excellent, and Out of Body is easily one of the best songs from the album as a whole.
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Ascension and Strobelite are two of my favs on it, and then of course Saturnz Barz. But then again I think I have quite a different opinion of the album than most others in which I actually prefer the guests over Damon himself. For a lot of his main tracks I don't think he does that much vocally, and is much better suited when he's orchestrating and producing the guests.
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Here's my two favorites from 2017 so far:
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
The xx - I See You
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How does a Gorillaz live performance work?
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trdl23 posted...

How does a Gorillaz live performance work?

They brought Vince Staples, Kilo Kish and a couple others with them. In addition to their songs, they fill in other parts (Staples did rapping in Clint Eastwood, Kish did 19-2000).

Other songs they'll have almost all of it live, with just a prerecorded audio track for guest parts
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Mitski - Puberty 2

Eh… this probably wasn’t a good time for me to hear this. Or maybe it was the best time. I don’t know, but this won’t be an actual review of the music. I’ll start by explaining my listening habits. I generally give the album a first listen through my speakers, then make myself some tea and give it another go on the headphones. After that I’ll choose whichever I preferred and listen again while combing through the lyrics. Finally I'll play it a fourth time (and possibly 5th, 6th, etc.) as I write these reviews. Going through the lyrics for this one was… not fun.

I probably have undiagnosed depression. Probably. Maybe I’ll find out soon. To be honest, I don’t really mind because part of me enjoys it… probably because feeling sad is way better than feeling nothing. While I have little hope for the future and kind of hate my job, I’ve been relatively good until the last few weeks. I only took this job on a 6 month contract so me and my girlfriend could save up for a move we’re planning in the new year, so at least the end is in sight. My girlfriend works in the film industry and she was recently called up for a 5-week rotation on a show that will be premiering on Netflix in a couple months. Pretty big stuff and should be good and happy news for everyone, but the locations are a few hours from the city we live and she’s now gone for the week, visiting each weekend. I mean it’s not even real long distance, and it shouldn’t be a big deal but the ups and downs I’m currently experiencing are insane. Her days are long (12-16 hours on set, plus travel) and we often don’t get a chance to talk since I have to be up early for work… which I hate. And then I come home just hoping we’ll get a chance to talk, basically feeling like a housewife even though I’m working full-time. But then… the weekends are amazing. I’m reminded of how in love we are and everything is great for two days, and then complete shit again. It’s weird because we don’t live together and when she’s here going a few days without seeing her is fine, hell, I often crave it. But as soon as I don’t have the option... she’s all I can think about.

So in short, the past couple weeks I’ve been bouncing between two extremes and I’ve had the idea that I need to find a new obsession, something I can think about from the moment I get home until I go to bed, and just consider it a bonus if we actually get to have a conversation on any given night. Hence this topic. Now going through the lyrics of this album was a real trip. It’s all depression, mental illness and relationship issues. Basically all the themes that have been circling around in my head since this whole thing started. I didn’t want to get too into my own thoughts since I want to keep this in one post, but there is something in nearly every song I can currently relate to on this album and it’s hitting pretty close to home.

I think I’ll end there, and maybe post some thoughts about the actual music a bit later, since I need to start working on the next one for tonight. The music is really good though, I’m incredibly impressed by her as a lyricist and despite everything said, I do appreciate that you brought her to my attention.

Final Rating: Too many feels/10
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2017: Ted Leo - The Hanged Man
Not 2017: DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot
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@mcflubbin

Uhh... Just noticed that your other album is not from 2017. I see the first rec was 2016 so it could have been an honest mistake, or maybe you didn't read it at all. Still, because I liked the first I'll give you a chance to submit another. For now I must move on to Bane's rec.

As a warning for everyone else, if neither of the albums is from 2017 I'll just ignore the post and move you to the end of the queue.

Johnbobb posted...

Did you listen to the regular album or the deluxe edition? If just the regular, I would really recommend listening to a couple tracks from the deluxe. The Apprentice and Ticker Tape are both excellent, and Out of Body is easily one of the best songs from the album as a whole.

As a rule, I'm only reviewing regular editions. This is partly because of length, and partly because including the bonus songs often generally my opinion of the album due to fatigue and issues with cohesion. Still, I generally add the deluxe edition to my library and I'll give the bonus tracks a chance if I liked the album enough. When I revisit Humanz on a leisure listen I will be sure to check those songs out and let you know what I thought.
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Whatever album mcflubbin picks is probably not going to be as good as Puberty 2 anyway
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https://lnk.to/SATATimekeeper
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Every Time I Die - Low Teens

I… I just can’t fucking do it. This album is exhausting. Had to start writing this on the third listen because I don’t think I can do another one today.

My experience with Every Time I Die starts and ends with Guitar Hero 2. “The New Black” was one of my favourite songs in that game and all I bothered to listen to from the band until… 2016. This is actually the second time I’ve listened to Low Teens as I couldn’t quite make it through on the first listen last year. I was expecting something in the same vein as the song from GH2 and what I got was something far more… unrelenting. Like god damn. I thought I was into punk and metal and all those in-between genres because eventually the anger and intensity gives way to something more melodic, or at least a clean vocal. You know, contrast. This album just doesn’t quit, and apparently I am not man enough to take the onslaught. That said, there were two tracks on this album I enjoyed and they should be easy enough for you to guess based on what I just said.

I feel like one of those old people yelling “You call this noise, music?!?!” but really, I think I’ve found my limits, and I did not expect that from this band. The only thing I can really praise are the lyrics, and I will admit that reading them as I listened made the whole experience slightly easier to process... but only slightly. What can you tell me about their other albums? I checked out Low Teens the first time because I was surprised to see how critically acclaimed the majority of their discography was, so I’m particularly curious about From Parts Unknown, anything you think might be more up my alley, or is it all this intense?

It’s hard to speak on the music because I really just feel like I was being attacked for a few hours, but “It Remembers” and “Map Change” were pretty solid.


Final Rating: I really wish I could remember the mathematical formula for limits/10
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Oh um yeaaaaaaa, sorry about that. I feel very strongly about Low Teens and about the band in general, they're among my top bands period. From Parts Unknown is actually even harsher imo, which makes sense because the producer of it is the guitarist from the band Converge. Phenomenal album though. I don't think I can recommend a full album that isn't intense, but I can recommend specific songs! Although It Remembers and Two Summers are the only songs in their entire discography without unclean vocals. Revival Mode and Indian Giver from Ex Lives, Wanderlust and Host Disorder from New Junk Aesthetic, INRIhab, Leatherneck and We'rewolf from The Big Dirty. Oh, and try out Moor from From Parts Unknown. That's a fuckin journey of a song.

And fun fact since you were looking up the lyrics, Petal has to do with the lead singer's wife who very nearly died giving birth to their daughter, who also very nearly died alongside the wife.
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Whoops, I'm dumb and didn't read the rules. Sorry about that! Change Junior Boys - Last Exit to SZA - Ctrl. You can just move it to the end of the queue.

Puberty 2 is probably my favorite album from last year, even though I didn't care much for it when I originally heard it. It took a few listens for it to really sink in. But man, it's so good. I'm sorry to have conjured up some negative emotions, but I'm glad you liked it overall.
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