Aster Tracks

Every year I’m always surprised at what my top five records are but never number one. This year I knew Vaxis II as well as Emotional Creature would be the two records that stood above all else. These two not only encapsulated my year, they challenged two of my favorite records of all time; Honeymoon and of course NWFT. When I listened to this to relisten to all of them, this was the only record that gave me goosebumps. I know you aren’t here for Beach Bunny, you’re here for Coheed. I’ve covered half of the Coheed and Cambria records on this blog now, will probably get to the rest and consider all of them integral to my collection. Yes, even the bad one. They say records are a snapshot into the life of who writes them but the thing is they are also that for us, who listen to them. While I wasn’t aware of the band when the first three records dropped I can still remember discovering them through Rock Band and scrambling to download all of their material on LimeWire and listen to all thos...

I knew I was a girl when I was six years old. I can remember living in the first house I have real memories of and a nice woman mowing our grass and picking our weeds every month or so. My father told me she used to be a boy and when I asked him to confirm if “people could really do that” he said they “can but shouldn’t” a sentiment he would also use on changing your name a few years later. I asked my mother too, only this time it was worded as “can a boy grow up to be a girl and a girl grow up to be a boy.” She looked very confused at this and just shook her head with a no. Then I got a little older. I had recurring dreams of being a girl. The most normal things happened in these dreams, just living my day-to-day being comfortable in my own skin. When I had my own computer I tried to find out for myself if it was a possibility for me. This led me down a horrible road, one that had me stalked by a pedophile-chaser hybrid from ages fifteen to twenty-six, one that had me believe the only...

I don’t really do artist of the year as a category but if I did this year it would absolutely go to Pollyanna. My relationship with this band is well documented but as a refresher; I found out about Pollyanna through the livestreamed Good Noise Festival in 2020, where I watched them put on a set that has stuck with me two years later. From there I was hooked on their Sugar Coat EP and included its deluxe version on my top EPs list the year after it truly came out. (This was due to its December release, though I might be reworking my year end rules for next year.) After that I was hungry for more. I tried hard to get my local promoter to notice Pollyanna so that they would come over to PVD. I’m not sure I had a hand in it but they did. I got to see them alongside shallow pools, Fox Teeth and more in my hometown. At that show I was just a few feet away from a band that had become a fast favorite and I chickened out of saying hello. But let me explain! This was before I came out as trans ...

  Being a New England girl my entire life and suddenly living on the west coast has been quite a change. Everyone’s nicer out here, things are more accessible, not everything feels so small town so there’s less eyes on you and yet? There’s plenty I miss back east. The food can’t compare between the two, having new found solidarity with my family I miss them all of a sudden but also I miss the local bands! Now sure, I’m from Rhode Island, but I always considered myself Massachusetts as far as a scene goes. Boston especially, it’s where I went to see most shows! These days, my favorite east coast bands are ones I’ve never even gotten to see live, with Future Teens being at the top of them all. When I got to my new home base I had poured my heart into a review then decided I needed a break from music for a while. I never really stopped listening, I just needed to give my head a rest from anything new. So, for a while, I lived that way. I didn’t listen to any new music. When “BYOB” dro...

On July 1st, 2022, I woke from a stress dream at five in the morning in a cold sweat. Not knowing what to do with myself and knowing that no one I knew was awake I went to my desk and pulled up the list I had made before bed of the records coming out that week. One was called Nocturnal and I remembered it having some cool alt pop singles that I enjoyed so I decided to allow myself to slip into that one. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the dream-like state I was still in, whatever it was I fell in love with this release. Sure, I didn’t love every song but the scope that McKenzie Ellis presented with her concept of songs about insomnia was both everything I needed to hear and a perfect soundtrack to my own sleeping problems. The second the record was over my best friend had texted me about her own night of writing and not sleeping. I felt a real kinship with her at that moment, we were going to move in together in weeks at that point and I needed someone to talk to. I didn’t...

In the fall of last year I had checked out “Aliens” on the basis that it was produced by illuminati hottie’s Sarah Tudzin and while it was quirky and fun I didn’t think I’d get much more out of Guppy. When I saw the record had come out I figured I’d just add it to my list that week. I didn’t expect it to be number six at the end of the year and I really didn’t expect that the band themselves would touch my heart in a big way. I shared a long form review of Big Man this year and while doing research on it ran into a bit of a roadblock in that I couldn’t find any information on just who the “hidden track” was by. I DM’d the band and didn’t expect an answer but I did get one from J Lebow, who explained to me the song was by their father and also happily gave me a whole bunch of other information about the record that I had asked for and then included in the review. The love didn’t stop there as Ian, the drummer, had told me their parents had gotten hold of the write up and absolutely lov...

Every January I spend some time trying to find music I wouldn’t normally listen to. It just feels like correct timing, no label is really letting anyone put anything they think is a heavy hitter out and having come down from the year end lists and celebration of greatness it feels good to reset with something strange. This year, on a thread from Anthony Fantano asking for just that, I found “JK ROWLING DISS TRACK” and knew I had to hear it. I was expecting to laugh, I wasn’t expecting to listen to the album attached to it for the whole year to come. Now, as someone who's sick to death of that name, I wince at any mention of Rowling to the point that I have her name muted on Twitter. Fae Fadem gave me a chance to laugh at that. She did a lot more than that to be honest. Fae Fadem is a rock star. All her outfits are incredible, Her live show looks like a blast, she’ll even play Sonic with you. If fifteen year old Claudia had songs like “Peppermint” about reclaiming your personhood th...

  #10: latewaves - The End is Near (Many Hats) Initially, I had outlined a full formal review of this EP that was quite positive. I never wrote it for real though, in fact I’m mainly writing this intro to tell you that this is the one blurb in the EPs section that I’m completely winging. My relationship to latewaves is an interesting one. At the annual Good Noise Festivals I’ve discovered so many of my all time favorite artists. Pollyanna, Sydney Sprague and all sorts of others that I realized, all had something in common; Jersey. The thing is, all the bands in the New Jersey scene seem to agree that latewaves is special to them. I caught their set at said festival one year but it was around when I was ordering lunch and I didn’t really absorb it. So this year, I paid attention. They were one of the bands that played totally acoustic so I only sort of got an idea of what they truly were, but I knew I had to keep my eyes open. The result? Well, this EP is here. The End is Near is a ...