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YOU'VE BEEN INVITED TO THE TOWN PLAY!
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why tom waits why
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i know i said this would be late so i could get through the 3 hour tom waits album and said album isn't even on here. i plan out the albums i'm going to listen to at the start of the week and i did not realize it was 3 hours when i did that and i really just did not want to listen to a 3 hour album. so i'll finish tom waits next week
as a refresher - italicized tracks are interludes, bolded tracks are my standouts (a.k.a. a 4.5 or higher), a ★ indicates my favorite song, and an × indicates my least favorite song
(p.s. clicking on an album cover it'll take you to some more info about the album on rateyourmusic)
i present my rating system, THE SANDWICH SCALE
★★★★★ - toasted meatball sub / all-timer
★★★★½ - taylor ham egg and cheese / love
★★★★ - loaded with toppings / great
★★★½ - a nice flatbread / might order again if i'm in the mood
★★★ - a little soggy / average + good moments
★★½ - a little dry / average + boring
★★ - untoasted subway flatbread / pretty bad, mediocre at best
★½ - where are my toppings / quite bad
★ - finding an onion when i ordered no onion / all-time stinker
½ - peppers / i really fucking hate peppers
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People Watching - Sam Fender | 2025
heartland rock
★★★½
i truly did not think i was going to like this, heartland rock is a gray area for me. while his voice was mildly annoying at first, the more i listened the more i warmed up to it. People Watching is definitely springsteen worship but it's not outright imitation, plus this guy can write a damn tune and who am i to point fingers. the second half loses me a bit as it moves to be more jangle pop, it sounds fine but it's a noticeable dip in quality from the first five songs. it does pick back up with TV Dinner, the most grandiose song on this album, and i wish there was more like it cause it really is great. this album is certainly vanilla and while i do think some songs could have been a bit shorter, if these came on the radio, i would not switch stations. this is a large compliment
for your friend to play in the car when they put their playlist on shuffle
tracklist
- People Watching
- Nostalgia's Lie
- Chin Up
- Wild Long Lie
- Arm's Length
- Crumbling Empire
- Little Bit Closer
- Rein Me In ×
- TV Dinner ★
- Something Heavy
- Remember My Name
indie rock
★★★
if i tell you to imagine in your head what an indie rock album would sound like, you probably aren't too far off from recreating this album
for the guy everybody hates to recommend when the teacher asks if you want to have music on
tracklist
- Metro
- A Clue
- Feel It Inside
- Stay Please ×
- Effigy
- Crossroads
- Clementine ★
- Jin Sabbath
- Radio
- For Sure
indietronica | downtronica | twee pop
★★★★
i'm upset that i've been putting this one off for so long because this is extremely catered to me. i even listened to the bonus tracks, that's how serious this is. this album is a warm day in late july, you've just got home after an afternoon out with your friends and it's a little bit too humid. in that moment, this is what life sounds like. the slight yellowing of the album artwork helps to further capture this feeling, at least for me. summer is yellow idk.
for life on a tall isolated mountain
tracklist
- Par 5 ★
- Inward Jam
- When Fortune Smiles ×
- Alright
- Half Court Press
- Mama's Lamp (American Mix)
- Locked Groove
- Down For
- Shine On
- All to You
- Caught High
bonus tracks - Leaves Your Breath
- Faultered
industrial rock | dance punk
★★★★½
one of my most anticipated albums of the year, i thought their debut Dogsbody was promising. there were some great individual tracks but the second half kind of lost the momentum. Pirouette, in my opinion, is that potential fully realized. the overall quality of the songs is much higher and so despite the fact that this album shares many of Dogsbody's negative traits, it's less noticable and a much better experience regardless. what Pirouette does do better is in its flow and atmosphere - one of my biggest complaints with Dogsbody was that it felt like the softer tracks felt unearned and they disrupted the flow of the album, but the softer songs here don't break the momentum of the album and feel like they belong. there's also a much darker, gloomier atmosphere here, which works much better with their sound. this is definitely a frontloaded album and it is a bit repetitive but both halves are full of heavy hitters that strike a good balance between dance punk and more emotional slow burners.
for power bottoms
tracklist
- Vespers
- Cinderella ★
- Poppy
- Diva ×
- Headlights
- Acid Rain
- Departures
- Audience
- Ring Road
- Doves
- Baton
noise rock | brutal prog
★★★★
nothing bores me more than a monotonous instrumental album. so then how did i enjoy this so much? well A.) it's only 38 minutes, B.) my love of brutal prog outweighs my "meh" attitude towards instrumentals, C.) it's monotonous but it does what many other instrumental albums have failed to do, which is be monotonous and interesting at the same time. One-Way Ticket to Candyland is masterful in the way it shifts from ambience to a dense assault on your ears. there's some semblance of structure, but it's covered up by the layers of noise that seem to come at you out of nowhere and from every angle, and what i appreciate about the ambience is that it just feels like they've set their instruments down and left a window open to let a breeze come in. this album is proof that it is possible to make an album be sonically monotonous and interesting and engaging at the same time, and it makes me wish more artists would do that.
this is what i imagine getting mugged sounds like. will not elaborate
tracklist
- It Burns Twice
- Karibcore
- Sopp på kugen
- Prog-O-Rama
- Aids of Space
- Too Smart Enough to Think ★
- The Shitman
- Oh My God It's Rave
- # Outro ×
post-rock | experimental rock
★★★★
accidentally put two instrumental albums on this week. oh well. Djed was a bit of a slog to get through because i didn't look at the tracklist first and i didn't realize it was 20 minutes, but the album itself is only 42 minutes so not a big deal. this is kind of what i was talking about with One-Way Ticket to Candyland with instrumental albums not knowing how to be both monotonous and engaging simultaneously, and this is a pretty good example of that. Djed and Glass Museum did a good job of keeping me actively listening but after that i started to subconsciously tune everything out.
for late night walks
tracklist
- Djed
- Glass Museum ★
- A Survey ×
- The Taut and Tame
- Dear Grandma and Grandpa
- Along the Banks of Rivers
epic collage | latin electronic
★★★
Amor de encava does a good job at building atmosphere, sort of like some shady underground club you know you aren't supposed to be in. it's a solid electronic collage album, well done but i found it to be kind of obnoxious. i enjoyed some of the more chaotic and less structured songs, but by the end it becomes more consistent and.. not predictable? but i can't think of any other words. you get the point
for if prohibition happened again
tracklist
- 10°11'32.75", -67°58'00.55"
- Lara Branger (O 'como duermes')
- Camisa ovejita blanca ★
- Seguros la vitalicia vs mundo samira ×
- Maluca
- Mala intencion 'PEGADITAS MIX 2008'
- Nada va a pasar
- La guerra de los sexos
- El chiste más largo de toda la historia
- Terminal
- Propaganda
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experimental rock
★★★★
something that tom waits has consistently been amazing at is innovating on his own previous sounds - every album feels like the natural evolution of the one before. it's an interesting way to keep your identity as an artist while also keeping fans excited to see what comes next. Real Gone, in a way, feels simultaneously like everything tom waits has done before but also nothing like anything tom waits has done before. i also find it more forgivable when tom waits has some songs that aren't as memorable because a.) tom waits' unmemorable would be a lot of other artist's best and b.) tom waits is a guy who clearly isn't content with simply riding out his legacy pumping out reissues and remasters and i have to respect it.
i'm out of tom waits jokes
tracklist
- Top of the Hill
- Hoist That Rag
- Sins of the Father
- Shake It ×
- Don't Go Into That Barn
- How's It Gonna End
- Metropolitan Glide
- Dead and Lovely ★
- Circus
- Trampled Rose
- Green Grass
- Baby Gonna Leave Me
- Clang Boom Steam
- Make It Rain
- Day After Tomorrow
- Chick a Boom [unlisted]
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remember that if you have any suggestions for albums i should check out, you can leave them here!
thanks for reading (´ ω `♡)
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