Last week in music, 8/22/21 - 8/28/21

3OH!3 - Need (Photo Finish Records)

3OH!3 have released a sort of sequel to Want, their 2008 record. (You know, the “Don’t Trust Me'' record.) They certainly play into the sequel aspects making jokes and call backs on that album from all those years ago. There are plenty of fun pop moments and good hooks here, see “I’M SO SAD,” “MAYNE ON A LEASH,” etc. However there are times where the comedy is kind of forced and not too great. I mean just check “SKID MARKS” for what I mean.

Grayscale - Umbra (Fearless Records)

I’ve always had a feeling that Grayscale could be more than what they were and on this record they confirmed my suspicions. From a decent sounding pop punk band, whose singles reflected just that, to a band that sounds like they could have had massive pop hits decades ago this is a really cool album to dive into. They also very much dive into saxophone on this, not just tack it on to one track.

Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (Capitol)

If you had told me a week ago that Halsey would be an artist I was excited about soon, I’d think you were insane. There were no singles from this, I hear there’s a film however and to be honest I usually listen to these just to check it off the list. I have never liked this artist before. This record is for sure one I will be coming back to. Opens with some pretty simple piano ballads whose lyrics are compelling enough to keep going. There’s a section of this that’s almost grunge and sounds huge. Then there’s the standard Halsey tracks to send you off but with all of the drab bits taken out. High recommend.

Indigo de Souza - Any Shape You Take (Saddle Creek)
This quietly became one of my more anticipated releases of the year based on the strength of the singles from it but it wasn’t quite what I expected. That is in no way a jab at this either but just from those preview tracks and the way the first half of the album was going I expected the chaos to continue to build upon itself but it didn’t quite make it there. All that being said I think after a few listens more I’ll be removed from my preconceived notion here and enjoy it more.

Jinjer - Wallflowers (Napalm Records)

This is another artist I never really enjoy. They seem to have a pretty large following and I can’t really deny the talent is there. All that being said, I was loving the singles here. The record itself disappointed me though. It just sounds like every other band at a large metal festival. The singles are there but the record itself refuses to stand out and just sinks into the background.

Turnstile - GLOW ON (Roadrunner Records)

Last week, I talked about the new Between the Buried and Me and how I felt that it was not a singles record. I feel GLOW ON is the same but a little bit different. The record feels like a vibe that needs to be experienced in full for sure but to me it sort of dragged and repeated it’s themes quite a bit.

With Confidence - With Confidence (Hopeless Records)

This won the week for me by far. It’s not every day we get an album from the “scene” that has the alt-pop-rock strength to be mainstream. I think this is the record that will really sell this band to a lot of people and I would be very surprised if they weren’t everywhere in a few months time.

Other Tracks

Aim High - DDS (feat. Hit the Lights)

Amarionette - P.Y.T. (Michael Jackson cover)

Between You & Me - Deadbeat (Hopeless Records)

Can’t Swim - Deliver Us More Evil (Pure Noise Records)

CHAI - miniskirt (Sub Pop Records)

Fire from the Gods - Victory (feat. Matt B., Better Noise Records)

Glass Tides - Dissolve

Heart of Gold - Headache (SHARPTONE)

Kim Petras - Future Starts Now (Republic Records)

Poppy - So Mean (Sumerian Records)

Real Friends - Teeth (Pure Noise Records)

State Champs - Just Sound (Pure Noise Records)

Wage War - Circle the Drain (Fearless Records)

Windrunner - Mahogany (feat. Sota, Famined Records)