Photo of Eleni Drake by Alice Rose Lee
First Thought Fridays is a (mostly) weekly column offering quick-hit takes on some of the albums released this week, serving up first impressions, favorite or least favorite songs, and whether or not they’re worth a second listen. Check back for more each Friday night or Saturday morning.
Oops, I did it again: I started writing a quick hit review and it blossomed to a full length one. This time I actually managed to complete the whole thing, so please give my review of Guided by Voices’ new one Thick Rich and Delicious a read—it’s a good ‘un. (The previously promised review of Eliza McLamb’s new one is still forthcoming too, I swear.)
But don’t let the fact that I had a lot to say about GBV make you think the albums below are also-rans. On the contrary, three of them are strong contenders for spots on my favorite albums/EPs of the year list, and the fourth one is pretty good too. Here’s the other albums I checked out this week, in the order in which I listened to ‘em!
Eleni Drake, Chuck (MNRK): The first time I listened to Eleni Drake’s new album Chuck, I was at work. Some people started having a loud conversation behind me, and honestly, it felt a little invasive: this album is such a hushed, intimate experience that it felt like being at a concert listening to Drake pour her heart out when somebody starts ordering a drink at the bar a little too loudly. I was tempted to shush them.
Most of the songs on Chuck feature just the British/Greek singer-songwriter’s gently plucked acoustic guitar and soft yet warm voice, bringing to mind a more subdued Adrianne Lenker or, on “Half Alive,” a bit of Gracie Abrams. Some of the songs add bits of piano, banjo, or fiddle, but there’s not even a hint of country or Americana to the sound. Additional instruments are used sparingly but to great effect, like the drums that give “Paper Moons” a bluesy swagger, the lap steel on “Ripples,” or the fluttering acoustic guitars and Edie Brickell-ish vocals of “Brockwell,” my favorite cut. “I Don’t Not Love You” is also a real heartbreaker, with a stark, simple, devastating guitar solo. I was unfamiliar with Drake prior to giving this a spin, but this album (her fourth) impressed me a lot. Will I Listen Again?: Absolutely.
moondaddy, Dove Tapes (Dusty Mars/Wax Mage/Silver Girl Records): For moondaddy’s sophomore album, the band has blossomed from singer-songwriter Cara Potiker’s solo project into a four-piece band that has crafted a hazy, ethereal sound of languorous tempos, ringing dreampop guitars, and lush, reverb-laden vocals. I’ve torn what little is left of my hair out trying to figure out who Potiker’s voice reminds me of and I just can’t place it—she’s got one of those quivering, dewy voices that conjures up memories of ‘80s alternative/new wave female vocalists, which she occasionally dips into a lower register that reminds me ever so slightly of Everything But The Girl’s Tracey Thorn. My favorite songs are the singles: “Great Expansion” has a haunted, Seventeen Seconds-era Cure vibe to it that I really dig, and “Bystander” has that kind of witchy, ethereal sound that Sarah McLachlan did back when she was trying to sound like Kate Bush. Other tracks that grabbed me include the floating “Painted” and “New Years Eve.” I love a good dreampop record, and while this one didn’t blow me away apart from those two singles, if you’re a fan of the genre it’s worth a spin. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
Saba, C0FFEE! (self-released): It’s too bad I wasn’t doing this weekly column back in March, because if I had been, I would have been effusive in my praise of From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID, the collaborative album between Chicago emcee Saba and “Godfather of Chicago Hip-Hop” producer No ID that was a marvelous meld of modern hip-hop style and throwback soul sounds.
The concept behind C0FFEE! sounds like a trifling bit of between-album filler: nine songs, 16 minutes long, written and recorded by Saba in his car (a black Bronco WildTrak, also named C0FFEE!), telling the story of a week in his life. Some artists might use the strictures of recording in a car to go simple and make something back-to-basics. Not Saba. This is a fascinatingly complex record, with inventive beats, unusual arrangements, and wildly varying vocal approaches. Take “how long”: at its heart, it’s an affecting capture of the dangers Black men face when they leave the house. But Saba captures this by relating all the different ways the people of his life—from his grandmother when he was a kid to his friends and girlfriend now—expressed their worry about him. Saba just speaks his lines like it’s a conversation, but the actual “dialogue” he quotes from these people (often variations of “Boy don’t/ Go outside”) are delivered in a flat, repeating sing-song pattern. Stylistically, these songs are as all over the place as Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, but crammed into just 16 minutes. Put simply, it’s revelatory, easily the best EP I’ve heard this year. Will I Listen Again?: Absolutely.
Pacifica, In Your Face! (TAG Music): One of my favorite music stumble-upons of recent years, thanks to the algorithm gods seeing fit to make Pacifica’s video posts a constant feature in my Threads feed. A duo from Argentina, singer/guitarist Ines Adam and singer/bassist Martina Nintzel met on the internet through their mutual love for the Strokes. Their social media feeds are mostly made up of rehearsal videos where it looks like the two of them and their rotating crew of drummers look like they’re having an absolute blast, and their enthusiasm is infectious.
You can hear the Strokes influence pretty prominently on songs like the excellent “Fixer Upper” or the cool groove of “Let Me Have This,” but the overall vibe mixes in heavy doses of the boys-suck-but-we-kinda-still-want-‘em-anyway garage pop-punk girl power of the Donnas or Sahara Hotnights, though with a little more pop and a little less punk. Album opener “What You Doing” is a lovelorn garage rock banger and a shoo-in for a spot on my Favorite Songs of 2025 list, “Indie Boyz” mixes in dancefloor-worthy electro instrumentation, and “Just No Fun” has chiming guitars out of a Def Leppard power ballad. On first listen, my favorite songs are loaded toward the front of the album, but other than the goofily horny lyrics of “Mine,” there’s not a weak track to be found. Adam’s lyrics—sung in English other than the last song, which is a Spanish version of “Just No Fun”—are catchy, memorable, and relatable, and as an amateur bassist myself, I just love Nintzel’s fat, meaty bass tone. Love this album, can’t wait to have an opportunity to blast it in my car. Will I Listen Again?: Absolutely. | Jason Green
