If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Kendrick Lamar Album : GNX Quick Thoughts : We knew a new Kendrick was coming after having arguably the song of the summer during the Drake beef, but a surprise drop was unexpected to everyone. GNX suffers slightly from Jack Antonoff's production in many areas and is unlikely to end up as anyone's favorite K.Dot record, but "squabble up" and "hey now" are two of the better rap songs of the year that aren't "Not Like Us." I definitely think he probably gained some new fans this year (myself included) and this album is likely to be stratospheric in impact, but it's worth the time. Songs of Note : "wacced out murals," "squabble up," "hey now," "tv off," "heart pt. 6," "gnx" Artist : Poppy Album : Negative Spaces Quick Thoughts : Poppy's biggest flaw is the semi-identity crisis. She started as a robotic pop deconstruction, went full metal, and now comes at us wit...

Artist : Destroy Boys Album : Open Mouth, Open Heart Quick Thoughts : We're big fans of Destroy Boys here even if we are far too old to really be this into them. This album is more of the punk goodness they're so great at, and is accessible enough where I could see a lot of this taking off. There's a lot of solid stuff in here, and if you're into the punk stuff you owe it to yourself to check this one out. Songs of Note : "Drink," "Cherry Garcia" Artist : Nightwatchers Album : Common Crusades Quick Thoughts : It takes a lot for me to get down with the heavier stuff, and Nightwatchers is certainly heavy, but there's a sensibility to this that makes this one stand out. The musicality, the offbeat song titles, the overall presentation of this record, it's all pretty great. This won't be for everyone, but boy am I glad I heard it. Songs of Note : "For the Sake of the People and the Nation," "A Not-so-Secular State Cul...