You can tell these are songs that could come straight from the minds of Davey Havok and Jade Puget. I would admit sometimes they kill momentum of the album and one or two tracks do blend in and feel repetitive but the lyrics, messages and overall political edge compensate for these shortcomings.

You Deserve Love from its title onward is a sweetly sincere effort made for the masses, which nowadays means it’s not for everyone. But hopefully You Deserve Love continues White Reaper’s constant rise toward the arenas. It sounds like it should.

I love the tempo changes across the record and while this joint might not be for all JEW fans, I think most will appreciate a band that still feels like art and less like product, and more so, once that reminds us don't just survive -- get out there, seize the day and live.

Not their best, not their worst... but something that'll move you as usual and help you appreciate life for the gift it is.

The album is pretty much a joyride from start to finish, moving through a number of different styles, driven by some of the best damn drumming you’ve ever heard. And everyone involved in writing these songs (yes, including Feldmann) is a talented lyricist who knows how to craft excellent pop songs. So ultimately, it’s a brilliantly fun album if you have the fortitude to look past a lot of very annoying studio effects to listen to what Blink-183 are really saying.

Yes, the Vivian Girls were and are good, but we already knew that. However, more importantly, Memeroy cements that NO ONE can do what this trio does and, more than that, they’re doing it even better now then they were before.

I did enjoy hearing Jetty Bones' cooing voice on "Icicles (Morning Glow)" but other than that there aren't that many songs to phone home about. There aren't even rock ballads a la "Minnesota" and while the closer "Hallmark" tries to mix aggression with toned-down indie licks to somewhat appeal to folks like me, it's just not the impact I expected from the band this time around.

The album's pretty good -- especially as Relapse loves letting bands do this shoegazey wandering and overall 'finding yourself' schtick -- but with something so deep and filled with portraits of different eras and mentors, it's going to take some time to really say just how good, especially compared to an already profound discography.

The Center Won’t Hold is a revolution for Sleater-Kinney, an amazing act of artistic bravery, Sleater-Kinney’s best album to date, and my new favorite album of 2019. This is a cultural moment that should not be missed, and I highly recommend you listen to it immediately.

Thrashing Through the Passion is easily the band’s softest album to date. Where most Hold Steady albums fill the room with sound, there’s a lot of quiet and negative space on this album. While the band’s other albums wrap you up in an awkward hug of emotions and drag you through to a catharsis, this album is passive.

It's simple yet non-formulaic and finds the band providing another batch of delectable mid-tempo jams.

The shifts between melodic post-rock and Korean folk and the full-on metal sections is what really caught my attention. Typically, bands can do loud well or they can do quiet and subtle well. It’s rare you find a band that excels at both, Jambinai does that here.

The back half of Admission goes the more traditional route. While sure to please long-time fans, after such an exploratory top half, it feels slightly more weighted down. But don’t worry, “Infiero” rips out of that murkiness, dirtier and angrier than anything else on Admission.

Whether it's power-pop jams like the self-titled opener or the trauma of the slow burning, haunting "High Horse," there's a clear picture painted--in fact, it's a whole novel--on the bruises (emotionally and physically) scarring us for life. Marisa Dabice's vocals are once more a delight--powerful, earnest, honest and carrying--which is perfectly complemented by producer Will Yip.

The spine and overall potential for a great record is definitely here but it was all about adding meat to these bones, and sadly, SSPU just comes off way too lean.

This album has a more mature twang to it, musically and lyrically. And interestingly enough, it's pretty minimalist and their simplest-sounding stuff to date.

The vibe of III is purposefully loose but these two thrive with structure. Bad Books remains a way to show Hull and Devine are just as effective with minimal backing but III could have released a series of singles for the same general effect.

While these tunes might not have quite the caught-in-yer-brain stickiness of “I’m not a loser,” they’re longer lasting. Because the band is speeding so quickly, and rushing out combustible sounds, it takes more deep dives into the album to catch everything.

Young Enough is better than its predecessor in every way, and its predecessor is very good. Every song should be a gigantic sing-along single, each with its own level of catharsis. If more pop songs had Charly Bliss’s sense of craft, pop music would be in a much better place.

They’re never going to knock you down with their raw power. But, like the Midwestern cities of southwestern Ohio that birthed them ... you’ll find a lot of beauty if you stick around long enough.

Every song on this album is strong, starting from the compelling opener, “Satellite,” which firmly establishes the return to the classic Get Up Kids style which is as strong of an opener as “Holiday” or “Man of Conviction.”

While Bad Religion’s forays into new territory may be subtle, they’re certainly there, and it’s commendable to see a nearly 40 year old band still trying to find ways to innovate and make their sound fresh and new. I know that I’ll catch some grief for this, but I honestly would call this the best Bad Religion album since The Empire Strikes First, and a sign of a revitalized band that’s ready to start making some more great music again.

It’s fun and enjoyable. It's exciting, even if nothing new is being done.

There’s something to be said about the immediacy and the vitality of something as messy and as real as an album like White Stuff. Nothing about what this band is has diminished over time, and White Stuff is a roaring return to right where Royal Trux left off 19 years ago.

We have the most lush Mountain Goats record to date: Pallett was the perfect producer for the album.

Ultimately, by the time the final song rolls around, you can't help but wish this ran a few songs longer, which is indicative of how good the album is.

Morbid Stuff is punk rock at its best. PUP has delivered something that achieves the rare feat of satisfying older fans while also leveling them up career-wise.

A profound confidence is demonstrated throughout the record and the group makes the timeless argument that strong simplicity beats fancy fretwork- and it always does.