NEW ADDS: Bully, Beabadoobee

Bully - SUGAREGG

Bully’s third album, SUGAREGG, finally sees frontwoman Alicia Bognanno coming into herself -- in no small part because of her newfound solo status. Since recording her last album, Losing, in 2017, Bognanno parted ways with her bandmates, finally addressed deep rooted anxiety, and found treatment for her bipolar 2 disorder, telling Rolling Stone that “being able to finally navigate that opened the door for me to write about it.”

This new groundedness is evident all throughout SUGAREGG, which addresses these feelings in a more matured and fully realized form. On “Like Fire,” she reveals “I felt so high / Could’ve took my life, couldn’t tell you why.” She addresses imposter syndrome and misogyny on “Every Tradition,” admitting “Something’s off, you’re wrong about the dream/And I’ve been fucking up/Wasting my time second-guessing what I need.”

Sonically, the album follows the blueprint of grunge records before it: the quiet-loud whiplash of roaring guitars reminiscent of Pixies and Nirvana’s Nevermind; shouting vocals, catchy riffs, and soaring power chords a la Smashing Pumpkins. And yet despite its evident vintage influences, SUGAREGG is distinctly modern. The record injects novel relevance into a genre that has slowly been drifting from mainstream attention since the 90s.

While there is a variance of pace -- from the instant rush of album opener “Add It On” to the slower churn of “Prism” -- no one song feels out of place. In fact, the record’s overall cohesiveness makes picking a favorite near impossible. Bognanno’s blend of raw punk rock and authentic self actualization make for a record equal parts fun to listen to, sonically pleasing, and deeply complex and relatable.

- Barbara Rasin, Music Director

RIYL: Mannequin Pussy, The Beths, Diet Cig
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 4
FCC: Clean

Beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers

Beabadoobee is an artist I have only been listening to for about a month, but I cannot seem to stop myself from bobbing my head to the unmistakably nostalgic 90s rom-com soundtrack sound she carries throughout her music. You may be familiar with the well-known Tik Tok song, “death bed (coffee for your head),” which samples her original song “coffee,” but her other music is quite distinct from this catchy melody popularized by the social networking platform.

Released on October 16, 2020, Fake It Flowers is beabadoobee’s first full length record, and it is certainly nostalgic for a simpler time. The artist’s real name is Bea Kristi and she was born in the Philippines but raised in London, where she became musically inspired by 90s and early 2000s punk rock and rom com culture. At 20 years old, Beabadoobee, the persona she takes on as a songwriter, guitar player, and anarchistic Gen-Z teenager, was born out of influences gleaned from Instagram. As a member of the same generation as Bea, it is comforting to hear the familiar sounds of Avril Lavigne, No Doubt, The Cranberries, Alanis Morissette, and other early 2000s musical icons in her music.

Fake It Flowers is not meant to be an album with much symbolic meaning, more reminiscent of background music to a classic 90s rom-com in the best way possible. When I listen to the very first track, “Care,” I am automatically transported to the film 10 Things I Hate About You, or Freaky Friday. With the upbeat guitar and drum beat, and her punk rock sound mixed with early pop--the end result is nothing but musically pleasing harmony to my ears. It is interesting that Beabadoobee really took off thanks to social media platforms like Tik Tok and Youtube, considering the nostalgia within her music. This whole generation of teenagers must severely long for a time in which a pandemic and our current president were merely a blip in the space-time-continuum, and we had not a single care in the world. This is the feeling Bea is attempting to recreate in her music, and in my opinion she’s doing a fantastic job. Every time I hear track 7, “Sorry,” I feel like I am in another dimension, where I am contemplating breaking up with my boyfriend Trevor during lunch in front of all his friends. I love the imagery Beabadoobee creates in each song, as I can see and catch a different scene and vibe with each song.

What I also find intriguing about her songwriting style, is that it seems she writes in sounds, rather than in color and depth. Her lyrics are simple, lacking real meaning, but still sound beautiful when paired with a melody. One of my favorite tracks simply based on its title is “Horen Sarrison,” (loosely) based on her boyfriend Soren Harrison. Her songs not only on this record, but in general, feel like a hug in a graphic tee, combat boots, and a flannel. Although simplistic in her melodies and lyrics, Bea creates an atmosphere that you can almost smell, see, and touch. I would love to see her live in concert and feel immediately like I was at Club Skunk and Heath Ledger was watching me dance with my friends. Track 1 and Track 12 are the beginning and end tracks to the fictitious movie Bea is writing a soundtrack to, and they are lovely bookends to an album full of teenage angst and romance with a happy ending. If you are looking for an entire record to fall in love to, jam out in your room, dance in the car with your friends, read a book to, get it on with your lover, whatever it may be--Beabadoobee has an album with your name on it.

- Emma Goad, DJ

RIYL: Avril Lavigne, The Cranberries, girl in red, mxmtoon, Clairo, Fox Academy
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 7, 10
FCC: Explicit (tracks 1, 2, 3, 8, 10)