Best of Month: AotY #23: Pool Kids' self-titled record via Skeletal Lightning

 


On July 22nd I woke up to Megawave’s Discord server blowing up about the release of the new record by Pool Kids, a band that I personally only knew one single in “I Hope You’re Right” from the same album cycle. This was during my hiatus from blogging and music crit as a whole, so I was absorbing a lot less music at the time. That being said, when so many of my friends are into a band I have to turn my head. I threw this record on and while it didn’t totally stick at first it was in the back of my mind come my return. What keeps me coming back is a band that is so good at their playing that they absolutely explode on all cylinders on every song. Every little note is so well mapped out and that’s just on the surface. Not only that single, but songs like “Conscious Uncoupling” are standouts in quality and pure delivery. The line;


“Get out of my house, we’ve got nothing left to talk about”


Chokes me up every single time I listen to it. It takes me back to my last straw, the moment I realized that I had tried to save someone for over a decade that not only did not want to be saved, they wanted to drag me to my death on the ocean floor right beside them. This is a special record and now every time I hear it I’m reminded why I love music, who my friends are and that I’m alive and it’s worth being thankful for.


Support Pool Kids

Best of Month directory

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best of Month: The top 25 songs of the year

Hi, it’s me, it’s Claudia, and today I’m going to do something I haven’t done yet. So every year I do the top ten singles of the year, but I don’t actually even listen to singles anymore. Unless I know they’re going to be singles, like on their own, otherwise I feel like they’re spoiling the record for me. This year I thought it’d be fun to broadcast my top twenty-five songs of the year because I do this every year for friends, mainly myself, but now it can be content. So, this won’t be a highly produced blog post and instead be very casual but hopefully you’ll get something out of it. If you’re coming from Reddit read the link below before leaving any comments for me on here or Reddit itself and let’s get started. Also, quick note. Some of these did not come out this year but are on records released this year. In those cases, assume I haven't heard the track till this year. Coming from Reddit? Start here! #25 “Glow in the Dark” by Mothica is from Rocksmith+ but it's also just
Read more

Best of Month; the Top 10 Albums of 2023

Image
2023 has come to a close and it was a lot to unpack. After relocating last year I had to figure out what to do next, admittedly a scarier process than moving itself. I’ve settled in now, changes have gone on, there were a lot of hard times and a lot of great memories made throughout the year. You may have noticed, if you’re a long-time reader, I was far less open about my own personal life in my reviews. If you’re new and this is your first year here, then hey you never knew this part of the blog. In these blurbs there are personal anecdotes, but they are far less revealing. Regardless, thank you for even clicking here. This year for my own writing was possibly the best yet. I reviewed more albums in one year than ever before and worked with ten artists to promote their stuff before the release date. If all the stars align there’s one more thing coming out this year. I hope you had a great year yourself, are having a relaxing holiday season and enjoy this recap of albums. Please suppor
Read more

Best of Month: The final reviews of the year

Image
Best of Month! We wrote so many reviews this year there were a ton leftover. So, to open the year end stuff this year, we're emptying the vault. There are a few pre-requisites for reading this year (but only if you came from Reddit) So look for that below. From Reddit? Start here! Rat Jesu - Prepared to Die (Drixxo Lords) I have been a pretty public cybergrind defender on the timeline, but in all honesty I haven’t dug into the genre on my own time. I’m not sure if you would consider Rat Jesu cybergrind but they’re definitely part of the movement, in fact I came to this record by following this artist from a feature on the newest Blind Equation. As I said above, Prepared to Die isn’t so much cybergrind but it is a neat, quick nu metal record with hyperpop influence. James from Blind Equation does show up as a feature and the song he’s on is a hit regardless of genre. My favorite track on the record, however, has got to be “Priestess of the Godless Valley,” There are two other featur
Read more