Bite-size Album Reviews
September reviews from Liquid Mike, Nyxy Nxy and Rosali!
Liquid Mike - “Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot”
While not as immediate as the Michigan band’s 2023 viral sensation, s/t, Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot grew on me. Full of clever allusions and wordplay, it paints a vivid picture of suburban oddities and taps into teenage emotions I’m glad I still have.
Behind vocal distortion and sludgy production hide incredible, borderline anthemic melodies. “disappoint u” has been in especially heavy rotation for me, and album closer “midnight effigy in a soup can” captures the sound of a nightmare. The prolific Philly musician keeps churning out releases, and I keep eating them up.
I’m always on about how I’m sick of hearing female singers just whispering about being sad, and how I wish more women sang with full-voiced bite about emotions other than sadness. “Bite Down” delivers. It’s often sad, but it’s a full-bodied sadness, filled with a rare sense of nuance and set apart by the singer-songwriter’s grounded, well-supported vocals.