Kid Sistr, from the cover of their EP American Teenage Prophecy
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. Or in this case, the following Wednesday. Hey, it’s been a busy month.
He almost got me. I have somehow made it to the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand And Twenty-Six without ever hearing a Drake song from beginning to end. We all have those artists that we just have an immediate distaste towards, and Drake is mine: even when I’ve tried to force myself to listen to at least one song to understand how he’s one of the most popular musicians of this century, I just physically could not force myself to do it…the best I could do was about a minute and a half of “Hotline Bling” before my finger started involuntarily reaching for a different station on the radio. But I thought for you, dear readers, that I’d force myself to listen to Drake’s new album when it dropped on Friday. It’d only be, what, 40 minutes of my life? I can suffer through anything for 40 minutes. Then the actual album drop happened…and it’s a triple album. Two and a half goddam hours. Ain’t nobody got time for that. And I just can’t do that to myself.
So apologies in the unlikely event that you were hoping to hear my thoughts on Drizzy’s new album. My thoughts, I guess, are that I’d much rather listen to something else. And there’s a lot of good somethings here! This week’s batch includes a few more stragglers from weeks past before we get into a few of this week’s non-Drake releases, which includes an EP by a band you probably haven’t heard of but is definitely worth your time. Here’s what I listened to, in the order in which I listened to ‘em:
The Lemon Twigs, Look for Your Mind! (Captured Tracks): The Lemon Twigs always seemed like a band that should absolutely have been in my wheelhouse, but every time I listened to one of their albums before now, it always felt like there was something missing. Whatever that something was, they have found it, because Look for Your Mind! is pure candy to these ears.
The most likely culprit: this time out, the Twigs—brothers Michael and Brian D’Addario—are joined in the studio for the first time by their live backing band, drummer Reza Matin and bassist Danny Ayala, with Eva Chambers of the band Tchotchke guesting as well. The connection forged by a group of like-minded people playing together is palpable. The sound of Look for Your Mind! is the sound of Rubber Soul-era Beatles mixed with pre-Pet Sounds Beach Boys with a healthy sprinkling of the Kinks for good measure. That throwback rock n’ roll sound could be tedious if it felt fake, but the D’Addarios are true believers, and their love for that style comes through in a set of songs that sound like long-lost classics rather than faded photocopies. If you love power pop, you’ll love this record. Will I Listen Again?: Definitely.
Social Distortion, Born to Kill (Epitaph): We all have our blind spots, but it’s weird that one of mine is Social Distortion, whom I had somehow never heard a full album by despite being a punk kid at the height of their popularity and being a big fan of pretty much all of their big singles (“I Was Wrong,” “Story of My Life,” their cover of “Ring of Fire,” and especially “Ball and Chain”). Born to Kill is the first Social D album in 15 years, delayed by singer Mike Ness’s tonsil cancer diagnosis. Ness is back in fighting shape and I’m happy to say his everyman punk rock bray is the same as it ever was. There’s no radical reinvention here: this is jaunty, mid-tempo, good time punk designed for locking arm in arm with your pals, screaming along as you spill cheap beer on each others’ feet. Bonus points for an unexpected cover: a fun twist on Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” Will I Listen Again?: Maybe. But I will definitely dig into those classic early Social D albums that I somehow skipped over.
Sevendust, ONE (Napalm Records): I had a pretty heavy nu-metal phase in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, but I hit a hard stop around 2004 and just kind of…stopped checking in on any of it. Erica Vining’s live review and photo gallery of the band’s recent stop in Carterville, IL, reminded me that, oh yeah, I loved Sevendust once upon a time (a show of theirs at Pop’s is the one and only time yours truly ever crowdsurfed), maybe I should check in on this band for the first time in about a quarter century, seeing as they have a new album coming out…
Well, consider me impressed. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that not a ton has changed in the nearly 30 years and 14 albums since Sevendust’s debut dropped: it’s the same lineup (and has been the whole time, save for a couple years in the mid-’00s) playing that same brand of Korn meets Fear Factory meets Living Colour metal. Guitarists John Connolly and Clint Lowery still lock into those brutal, dark, percussive guitar riffs, and the decades have done nothing to soften Lajon Witherspoon’s mighty baritone growl. The one change to the sound is that they use those same ingredients to craft songs that are a little less angry and a little more anthemic, grander, bigger. The front half of the album is a little more consistent than the back half, but it’s all solid stuff. Favorite tracks: “Unbreakable,” “Is This the Real You,” “Bright Side,” and the best of the bunch, the epic, downright Bowie-esque album closer “Misdirection.” Will I Listen Again?: Yes.
John Corabi, New Day (Frontiers Records): Once upon a time, John Corabi had the unenviable task of filling in for Vince Neil as singer for Mötley Crüe on their 1994 self-titled record, doomed to die on the charts thanks to Nirvana’s then-recent demolition of all things glam metal. That Corabi-led album was better than its reputation, though—seriously, give “Poison Apples” a spin!—and this, Corabi’s first-ever solo album after spending most of the last decade fronting the supergroup the Dead Daisies, scratches a similar itch. The sound of New Day is the sound of Pump-era Aerosmith swagger mixed with a bit of Black Crowes-ish bluesy groove and a dash of Sammy Hagar. Best tracks: the title track, “That Memory,” the gospel rave-up “Faith, Hope and Love,” “When I Was Young” (which is pure Faces-era Rod Stewart, right down to the mandolin!), and the album-closing cover of “Everyday People” that can’t hold a candle to the Sly Stone original (how could it?) but is still pretty fun. Will I Listen Again?: Maybe.
Kid Sistr, American Teenage Prophecy (Giant Music): Far and away my favorite discovery of the week, Kid Sistr’s new EP gathers together five songs that celebrate life as a queer woman in today’s world in all its joys and peaks and valleys and disasters and wraps it all up in sugar rush melodies. First, the disasters: the EP opens with “Maniac,” a vicious take-down of a soon-to-be ex (“Sharpie marker on your white Mercedes/ You told everyone I’m crazy/ But what else was I supposed to do?”) set to Momma-esque thick guitar fuzz, while “Shitshow” (as in “I’m a shitshow, I’m a mess/ I hate that I’m so self-obsessed”) blasts self-loathing lyrics through Paramore-inspired pop punk with a side of Olivia Rodrigo-style shoutalong chorus. The attitude turns with the title track, a tender, joyful acoustic ballad about the joys of showing your love to the world, damn the consequences and judging eyes. That’s followed by “Boys in Skirts,” an uptempo gem that’s all chugging power pop guitars and giddy finding-love-on-the-dancefloor energy. But as is so often the case in life, the joy is short-lived and the pain arrives on “Guts,” the beautifully, brutally honest ballad with truly devastating lyrics: “I won’t stop loving you/ Until you hate my guts as much as your friends do.”
The trio behind Kid Sistr—singer/guitarist Sabel, singer/drummer Becca Webster, and singer/bassist Sara Keden—have been sporadically releasing singles and EPs since 2020. This was my first exposure to the band, but the joys of American Teenage Prophecy sent me scrambling back to check out their earlier stuff. And while those earlier songs have a ton of promise, Kid Sistr leveled up in a huge way with this EP: the lyrics are sharper, the melodies are stickier, and the production (from Suzy Shinn, who has worked with both big names like Weezer and Fall Out Boy and more indie artists like Illuminati Hotties and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino) hits that sweet spot where the pop hooks shine but the emotion hasn’t been buffed out of it. American Teenage Prophecy may only be five songs, but they’re five perfect songs. This is absolutely one of my favorite short form releases of the year so far. Will I Listen Again?: Absolutely. I’ve already lost track of how many times I’ve listened to this since it dropped last Friday.
Rostam, American Stories (Matsor Projects): Former Vampire Weekend polymath Rostam Batmanglij returns with his first solo album in five years, and it sounds like he put every second of that time to good use. As the title implies, there’s a bit of a heartland Americana feel to a lot of these songs, albeit filtered through Batmanglij’s worldly, kitchen-sink approach to arrangements, always packed with ornate instrumentation and little details that somehow never feel overstuffed. Take “Like a Spark,” with its sunny rock and cascading piano paired with the saz, a Turkish lute that lends the song a Middle Eastern flare. Or “Hardy,” which rides on strafing violins and a quick but welcome guest spot from Clairo. My The Arts STL compatriot Mike Rengel is working on a fuller review so I’ll leave the deep dive to him, but suffice it to say that I loved this record. When so many albums settle for being a quick snack, Rostam has given our ears, and our souls, a hearty meal. Will I Listen Again? Definitely.
Dua Saleh, Of Earth & Wires (Ghostly International): Sudanese-born, Minneapolis-raised singer Dua Saleh’s sophomore LP is, in a word, restless, exploring a wide-ranging mélange of sounds and (especially) vocal styles through 11 tracks in a sporty 26 minutes. The beats range from excitable and jittery (“Cállate,” “Speed Up”) to sunny, bouncy midtempo grooves while Saleh shifts from a 2000s neo-soul vibe (“Firestorm” is a highlight) to chill raps to (the most often) an almost alien falsetto. Three songs include guest vocals from the king of unusual falsettos himself, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, including album highlight “Glow,” a slow jam that finds Vernon in full falsetto loverman mode. The songs may skate by quickly but none of them feel underthought or undercooked, and it leaves you wanting more in a good way. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
The All-American Rejects, Sandbox (self-released): Singer/bassist Tyson Ritter and guitarist Nick Wheeler were 18 and 20 respectively when they unleashed the first All-American Rejects album, which goes a long way in explaining how they managed to make the most earnest emo album of all time. Their sound got slicker and more radio-friendly as time went on, but Sandbox, the band’s fifth album and first in 14 years, finds them stretching out in surprising new directions.
Perhaps sensing the reticence of longtime fans, they slowly work their way into this new territory, opening with a yowling rocker of a breakup song that could have fit on earlier AAR releases (“Easy Come, Easy Go”) followed by a few forays into bouncy, chill, Stroke 9-style frat rock (“Get This,” Search Party!”). “Eggshell Tap Dancer” is the first sign that something more unusual is in the offing, both with its title and its big, Killers-ish sound. But it’s the back half of the album where the band really stretches out: “Clothesline,” the best song here, has a peppy, bass-driven indie pop sound with a fair bit of Foster the People in its DNA, while “For Mama” offers up a quiet, tender acoustic jangle with subtle accordion and horns in the background, and “Staring Back at Me” closes out the album with a bit of wailing Frank Black energy. I’ll admit I didn’t have high expectations going into this album and “Easy Come, Easy Go” didn’t raise them, but by the end of side B, Sandbox had definitely won me over. Will I Listen Again?: As a whole, maybe. The back half, definitely. | Jason Green
