The Toad's Burrow

      I'm going to be honest. I used to make fun of this album too. As a young teenager with a  burgeoning music taste and a strong desire to have hipster credibility, I saw everyone making fun of this album, and specifically the song Feels Like Summer , and felt compelled to do the same. Of course, that doesn't mean I refused to listen to it. Back then, and even now I do listen to quite a bit of Weezer, and even I had my moments of listening to it, almost like a guilty pleasure, like the two weeks where I worked a summer job and just listened to 5SOS on repeat. But now, all grown up, craving the fleeting moments of summer more and more, I must admit that I unabashedly enjoy this album. I don't think I'll go as far to try and fight people over it, but I won't be afraid to say I really enjoy this album. Perhaps everything just rolled right in it's favour, it has the nostalgia factor going for it, and the summer one too, and frankly I am a pretty big Weezer fan, s...

      I have no idea who these guys are and I'm doing this review against my will. GHETTO GODS - EARTHGANG THE GLOW - NA/100 I'm not commenting on some intro. GHETTO GODS - 15/100 It's like if someone told them they put horns in this track it'd make it sound super epic and go hard. BILLI (feat. Future) - 10/100 I was glad when Future came on because they stopped yelling about Billi's.  WATERBOYZ (with JID & J. Cole) - 10/100 The less they repeat this chorus the better. HEY BOO - Skit - NA/100 A welcome reprieve. AMEN (with Musiq Soulchild) - 20/100 Hearing Musiq Soulchild reminded me that I'm supposed to be listening to music. ALL EYES ON ME - 15/100 Less offensive than the other tracks. LIE TO ME - 40/100 The beat is goofy as fuck and horny (not in a good way) but it's not that loud and frankly I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. JEANS INTERLUDE - Skit - NA/100 Am I glad there's a skit? I won't comment on that. BLACK PEARLS (feat. ...

      I'm going to be honest, I've already reviewed one Nine Inch Nails album, and I still have nothing to say about the band. I mean what do you want from me? Generally I just don't get much from industrial rock, and frankly these days the only time I hear about Trent Reznor is when he's making movie soundtracks. I even went back to my last review of The Fragile  to see if anything has changed (I'm writing this intro while I'm about 70% done with this album I listened to most of it on the way to a My Chemical Romance concert).Honestly, the part about more action probably still stands. Frankly, I don't even know how I gave that album a 70 I don't remember anything from it perhaps I was being too kind. Either way, for some reason people love this band, especially my friend CJ, so without further ado, my track-by-track review. With Teeth - Nine Inch Nails All The Love In The World - 50/100 I'm not even going to pretend that I really like the beginning ...

      What do I even write for this intro? I mean I do love me some J-Pop. My love of Ginger Root is proof enough of that. I also do have a soft spot for that retro Japan vibe that some anime music gives off. Like I know the really popular ones that got popular on Youtube like, Stay With Me . I really just don't know what to say because while I do love me some J-Pop I'm just so unfamiliar with the genre as a whole to really say anything other than I do love this genre. And you know what, shoutout to my friend sweaty for recommending this because I would love to get to know more songs from this genre. So without further ado, I excitedly present my track-by-track review. Timely!! - Anri CAT'S EYE - (NEW TAKE) - 75/100 You see I searched up the lyrics to this track expecting some perfect English translation, which does not exist. But honestly? this is danceable music, I don't particularly care about what the lyrics are, I'm just here to vibe. Not the catchiest or brigh...

      Where do I even start with this band or this album? For starters, I only ever found out about Radiohead after being a Panic! At the Disco fan as a child. For those who were way into that band in their early teenage years they will remember a live album by them called Live in Denver, in which P!ATD so faithfully covered one song, Karma Police . Of course, now I know better and am well aware of this band and their reputation online. Which honestly only makes it harder for me to actually want to get into them knowing full well they are the poster band of RYM-core or like /mu/-core. Not to say I'm not pretentious, or find myself above the need to enjoy highly rated items, but at the same time it's hard to understate just how hyped this album feels to me. I'd say most surprising is the fact I've only attempted to listen to this album once, though it was in a gym and I sort of basically just tuned it out. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. OK Computer - R...

      Something something, I enjoy post-hardcore music but have never heard of this band in my life. I'd say my post-hardcore days are behind me but that's just because I listened to unhealthy amounts of Dance Gavin Dance as a teenager. I mean I did just finish listening to Bring Me The Horizon's discography earlier this year, and I do like Alexisonfire. Even still, the reason I stayed away from albums like this as a teenager, beside the screaming, was the edgy album covers. A part of me still held shame about what album covers I listened to in public. Too bad that shame no longer exists. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. Bone Palace Ballet: Grand Coda - Chiodos Two Birds Stoned At Once - 75/100 After a relisten I may have to recognize that I was too harsh on this song. It's a pretty decent intro track. Nothing to write home about though to be honest, I mostly blame the fact that the song isn't catchy enough to mask both the generic lyrics or the fin...

      Where do I even start with this album? It is rare for me to say an album needs no introduction, even from me who loves making these personal little notes on how I was introduced to artists/albums. The issue with this album is that there's simply nothing personal here. That is how much of a cultural phenomenon Michael Jackson has been in my life. I don't remember a time when he wasn't famous, and he's remained so iconic that there's never been a time I didn't know this album cover, or heard the singles off of this album. I don't even know when I first heard the singles to this song, it's like I've just always known them, and that's rare. It actually took me quite a while to get around to listening to this album in full though, since I listened to it about last year. In my defense, I already knew half of the songs on this album and well it's 9 songs long so it's not like it was a particularly long nor arduous listen. Either way, my fr...

      Like most people who probably remember this band, I found out about them listening to Semi-Charmed Life . Except it was a cover by my favourite high school band Dance Gavin Dance , and I quickly realized the original sounded significantly better. Afterwards, my knowledge of the band stayed mostly dormant for a decent chunk of my teenage years, I never really felt the desire to listen to the rest of the album, but then one day I put it on for a spin. Honestly, it was fine, but to young me, it became much too slow and much too long after Graduate , so I simply stopped remembering the album past track five.      Eventually though, once I reached university, and I began to broaden my music horizons slowly but surely, I'd find myself coming back to this album every summer, remembering the amazing start, the fantastic songs, and then one day it just clicked. It's like I was taking a nice walk on a sunny afternoon and the rest of this album unlocked for me. ...

      Once again I'm not going to lie and say these days I remember Lil Wayne for being bad. Maybe he was good at a time but to be honest I remember him for two awful Weezer collaborations, and one bad blink-182 collaboration. So when my friend Slayer suggested this album I came in with a feeling I wouldn't like it. Even still, I'll try to keep an open mind since I technically know 2 and a half songs from this album so without further ado, my track-by-track review. Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne 3 Peat - 33.3/100 Look, I don't actually think the beat to this song is bad, just dated. I just don't enjoy Lil Wayne's delivery at all in any capacity, it's just so ridiculous and hearing him rap about everything from viagra to Hitler is certainly an experience.  Mr. Carter - 75/100 You know what I actually enjoy the chorus to this song which means there's a 70% chance I'll actually enjoy this song and tolerate Lil Wayne's rapping, which says a lot about how...

      Citizen's been a band that's been on my radar for quite some time. I mean honestly it's more surprising that I've never listened to this band before than the fact that I have listened to them before. After all they're right up my alley of punk/emo music, so much so that I can distinctly remember people talking about Youth  as this classic album of the genre, though never quite getting around to it. Regardless of how I feel about this band or how iconic some of their earlier work supposedly was, my friend CJ recommended this album to me, claiming it's their best work. Of course, a part of me doubts that because I don't particularly recall that much hype around this album, but this could still be an interesting jumping point for me to start my discography listen of this band, especially now that I'm done with that wretched Green Day one. So without further ado, my track-by-track reviews. Life In Your Glass World - Citizen  Death Dance Approximately -...

      I have no idea what to expect going into this. Though, I will try to keep an open mind, though frankly I've seen bands/groups in this vein before, and I'm not sure if the music will be interest me enough. Regardless, my friend Bleed did recommend this, and I'm generally a fan of indie rock, so at the very least this album will probably be an easy listen. I really have nothing else to say, so without further ado, my track-by-track review. &Scene - PRYVT mona lisa - 80/100 Surprisingly, a pretty nice little track. My only real complaint is that it's kind of short and I think the group could definitely have done slightly more with this track. Like it's not underdeveloped it just kind of ends on an instrumental solo instead of having a nice bridge or something. tell me, will we survive? - 75/100 This is a pretty vibey song and considering I'm listening to it at night I'd say I even kind of enjoy it. Kind of reminds me of SUMMER  by Brockhampton but not...

    I remember when my friend Sweaty, first recommended  Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? to me. I was floored. Frankly, I'm as basic as it gets when it comes to rap or hip hop music. I can count on one hand the artists from that region of genres that I enjoy, and one of them is Kanye West who I listen to in shame these days. Regardless, I fell in love with the blend of jazz and rap that Dixon brought to that record, so much so that when it came time to listen to this record I decided not to listen to any of the singles beforehand. After all, for artists I like too much I usually can't resist seeing what singles they're putting out, and for records I care less about I usually don't worry about spoiling myself. Of course, that's not to say that the track-by-track reviews I'm about to do are my first listen, I did want to give this album an initial listen when it first came out, just in case some of the songs took a while to grow on me, so without further ado, my track-b...

      What can I say about The Strokes that hasn't already been said? I suppose I can give my Strokes story, because anyone who was ever remotely interested in 2000's rock has almost certainly been influenced by the band in some shape, way or form. I remember when I first saw the music video for Reptillia pop off in my Youtube recommended feed. Of course, at the time I was a young bourgeoning teen exploring my similarly bourgeoning music taste. I distinctly remember listening to Panic! At the Disco and being enamored with this idea of "emo" music as defined by Tumblr. Of course, this led me to what was in retrospect a hilarious video that claimed Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me by the Killers was also emo. Obviously, after that it was only a matter of time before I found out by the Strokes, because like many other bands of that era they were inspired by The Strokes. Now, I'm older and still a fan of the band, though this album was always my third favourite o...

      Imagine my surprise to put on a song from this band and hear Jonny Craig of all people on this record. Now, I will not pretend to be the worlds biggest Jonny Craig fan, I started listening to Dance Gavin Dance long after he left, and honestly my fondest DGD memories rarely involved him. Yeah I enjoyed Downtown Battle Mountain II, but I was always a Tillian guy. Though frankly considering how many vocalists the band cycles through it'd be a safer bet to just not root for any of them. I mean sure the Macbook thing was funny but Craig also had the worst history by far so I was never too inclined to try and appreciate him. Nevertheless, I did really enjoy A Toast to the future kids! , so I have high hopes for this album that my friend CJ's fake girlfriend recommended, so without further ado a track-by-track review. Emarosa - Emarosa A Toast to the future kids! - 90/100 The chorus to this song is so ridiculously catchy it's almost unfair. I'm not sure how to feel about...

    I mean this in the kindest way possible. I've been informed by people whose opinion I trust that this album is hilariously bad. As such, I won't pretend as if I'm excited for this, and will say that if it gets bad enough I will start posting funny photos instead. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. BLACK BOY FLY - LaRussell & Mike & Keys Infinty i30 - 50/100 I'm just glad that the songs are all short. What does "Clockin' 9-5, I'm tryna get male diapers 'Member I can only buy whites by the box" even mean. This chorus is pretty funny though I can't lie. Can't Do Both - 40/100 "Huh, you either hang or cut the rope, but you can't do both" He really thought he was eating with this line. He kind of reminds me of pickme's or like those annoying wellness people.  Cheat Day -  30/100 Feeling of Pac - 20/100 They 10s But I Keep Em Clean Though - 10/100  Been There Too - 09/100 Black Boy Fly - 08/100 Album w...

    Where do I even start with this album. I first discovered this band while rock climbing with a friend, he had kept on mispronouncing this bands name, calling them "Attack on Black's." Of course this sounded hilariously incorrect and racist, at the time I didn't find the band particularly riveting, I mean sure they were Canadian, but you don't see me rushing out to listen to Nickelback. It was only until months later, when I heard it again bouldering that I finally decided to give the band a bit more of a listen, at first Young Leaves, was the only song that stood out to me, I thought the folkier elements were interesting, but sadly the singing left a lot to desire. Even still, I couldn't shake this band, and fast forward a couple weeks, it just hooked. One of the bands songs was stuck in my head, and I decided to give the entire album a listen. Now, I love this album, I love the mix of folk, indie and punk, the lyrics, and the warm weather this album radia...