galactic pile driver!!!

greetings everynyan! uhhhhh last friday was day 17 of summer piledriver and for that day we are talking about brat by Charli XCX! i didn't hear it in 2024 when it was a whole big thing so i figured i'd listen to it now and have my own fucking brat summer with nobody else in the world because i'm late to the party.

so uhh i went into it like around 37% ironically expecting it to be slop internet phenomenon with the music mostly absent but dude ts is actually like really good. it really makes no attempt to appeal to mass pop fans even thou they all ate it up. i really enjoyed the electronic sound i mean what a way to do it.

also i know absolutely nothing about charli xcx i understand she's had like an entire career up to this point but i seriously am completely unfamiliar. all i know is that this record rules. it's a dance pop record with exceedingly sharp production to the point i'm really shocked it appealed to so many people that one summer.

where the album really clicked for me is the songwriting. underneath all the partying and confidence and obnoxiously catchy hooks there's actually a surprising amount of insecurity on this thing. charli spends a lot of the record talking about jealousy, self-image, fame, getting older, constantly comparing yourself to everybody else....,,.… it's way more vulnerable than i expected and i really liked that.

good lord the production though i really feel like every beat was engineered for maximum peam. there's so many glitches and textures that do nothing but add to the songs. i only heard this record but charli has been pretty cemented in my mind as a titan of pop music.

it has been brought to my attention that the track So I is a tribute to the late producer Sophie which i really admire. it's a really courageous and emotionally raw thing to do, it wasn't just a tribute for the sake of a tribute i really liked how Charli discussed the complexities of their relationship and expressed regrets. bro the line where she wonders if she would like this one really got me.

btw this album is best experienced loud as shit. i first heard this last week in my car but hearing this again in my headphones (i like to listen to the records i'm reviewing while reviewing them) is kinda the shit. they're genuinely cooking down there.

overall i totally get why ts became a huge cultural event. also i know brat summer became like a total meme but i really think the message i got from the record is way cooler than that. it's basically 'maybe you're a little insecure and messy but so what, you can still dance hard as shit' i feel like i can really identify with that and so does probably like everyone else.

thank you Charli XCX

FAV TRACKS: 360, Club classics, Sympathy is a knife, Talk talk, Von dutch, Everything is romantic, Rewind, So I, Girl so confusing, Apple, B2b, Mean girls, I think about it all the time, 365

LEAST FAV TRACKS: I might say something stupid

welcome back everynyan! day 16 of summer pile driver, here goes!

today's discussion is about heat death of the universe by Dead Butterflies. it's a 24 minute album from 2025. i saw this one was the #2 ranked electronicore album on rym and i clicked on it over the #1 ranked album because it had a really awesome album cover i mean look at ts.

also the name is pretty good. it's an emo album and naming your shi heat death of the universe is just cheating i mean instant theming. dude listening to ts i had no clue what to expect it has listed just about every fucking genre under the sun i mean here's what's listed: Screamo, Electronicore, Midwest Emo, Shoegaze, Bedroom Pop, Metalcore, Emo Pop

yea it was pretty emo and hearing some of the songs on the final act of ts was genuinely making me ascend bro. checkered arms and exploding heart syndrome had me locked bro. emotionally, i mean this shit completely rules. emo is not dead guys this was released last year

vocally i really liked the contrast too really liked how a lot of the time there'd be regular emo vocals with a layer of hardcore metal vocals over it i thought it was a good effect it didn't really feel overproduced. i was pretty captivated by that.

shoutout to whoever mixed this because they had to get a genuine jack of all trades for ts. mixing shoegaze in the same song as a metal breakdown. takes skill and it really fits the album ridiculously well. also despite scarlett’s protests this is pretty electronicore.

i think the songwriting also does a lot of heavy lifting for the music especially when the songs kinda lean a little heavy into the genre and you can hear the building blocks. honestly i didn’t ever mind because most of the production and like 100% of the lyrics made it feel like they weren’t just checking boxes

overall this was a really heartfelt record that swung between loud complex mixing and vulnerable midwest emo. this record was an absolute ton of fun.

thank you dead butterflies p.s. is that a reference to sal vulcano’s infamous punishment

FAV TRACKS: ramona’s theme, midnight, star fall on our lonely planet, exploding heart syndrome, checkered arms

LEAST FAV TRACKS: beneath the surface

here goes day 15 of summer pile driver! i sorta thought there haven’t been any summer theme music so i decided to pick the only indie surf/pop on my radar which is Crazy For You by Best Coast. it’s a 31 minute album from 2010 and it’s very full of the warm summer feeling.

hearing some of ts just feels like sunshine hitting your face there’s really not much else like some of the vibes on this shi. also shoutout to the absolute best YouTube comment of all time on the yt music comments section of The End, and i quote:

“I’ve been listening to this album since college, and I realized this was added on here same day as my birthday? what are the odds. I miss listening to you guys, I miss my youth, too. Thanks for being a part of it. 🤍🤍🤍 Hoping you’re all having a blast, which means, sleeping in till late, hanging out with our beloved cats/pets!”

-@user-jb4jr2hq6e

i just uhhhhh idk i just love this feeling. feel very hopeful reading that cus i definitely am having a blast sleeping in till late and hanging out with my beloved cats/pets. i feel really lucky to live my life with people i love.

i love summertime cus every other day i’m out with my friends doing some bullshit. most of the time we don’t even do anything just hang out in one place until like 2am. just feels like damn we’re really doing it we’re all alive it’s a pretty wild feeling i love being mortal

the music on this is pretty standard indie rock/pop with pretty loose summer theming and with some surf style sounds it’s really not terribly special it’s just hitting rn. the lofi sound they’ve got going on makes for a lovely experience that you absolutely can’t miss especially not if you’re in the summertime of your life during the best years of your life like me. also some of the lovestruck yearning ass lyrics really resonated with me too.

i guess the only thing i could possibly complain about is that uhhhh all the songs sound nigh identical. but that’s okay most of the time cus the lyrics are mostly enough to differentiate. mostly. the last few tracks really blended together for me.

overall this record is kinda the shit. i really enjoyed listening to ts and it’s probably gonna be on in my car dam near all the time from now on. lovely lovely stuff highly recommend to all my cool friends (that means you)

FAV TRACKS: The End, Summer Mood, Our Deal, Honey, When I’m With You

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Each And Everyday

Welcome back everynyan! this is day 14 of summer pile driver! i hope summer pile driving with me is bringing joy to your life. today’s album of choice is Mezzanine by Massive Attack. it’s a 63 minute trip hop album from 1998, and fascinatingly enough the #78 record of all time according to chuds on RYM.

this shit kicks ass

trip hop is pretty much unfamiliar territory to me, the only other one i heard was the Panchiko record and that was pretty shoegazey so i sorta expected this one to have a similar sound. it wasn’t completely dissimilar, the main difference was that this one absolutely nailed the dark aesthetic.

i’ve seriously never heard an album that nails the aesthetic they’re going for. i don’t know if it’s because this is such a deeply dark vibe but it really sticks out to me, and as i was listening to it, it became clear to me that it’s hard to not get sucked into this cold dark industrial almost psychedelic theme.

the only other time i’ve heard anything like this was a long time ago i read on Tom Bloom’s CAIN pdf that he was listening to Opal Vessel’s barber beats stuff that they upload like pretty much the whole time and he intended for that type of stuff to be almost like a soundtrack so i couldn’t help but think of CAIN the entire time i was listening to this 1.

you just have to hear it for yourself, i highly recommend the track Angel, it’s the first one and holy moly guacamole guys off rip i knew i was in for some good music. the whole thing reminded me of the aesthetics of the movies The Crow and The Matrix, also maybe a little bit reminded me of Nowhere.

the electronic production of this felt very heavily like extremely heavily industrial, which did nothing but add points in its favor. the vocals as well i have to say even though you can hardly understand (on purpose of course) it added a lot.

it added a layer of mystery that this album in particular thrived on cus u can almost kinda tell what’s being said, and i mention this because it was awesome to look at the lyrics and be able to fully understand. also the lyrics themselves are written poetically in a satisfying way.

uhhhhh i also wanted to write about the track Dissolved Girl because that shit seriously rules. that song is actually what put this album on my radar like uhhhh about a year ago. Sarah Jay Hawley’s vocals on this shi and the instrumental is just chock fucking full of the peak vibe of darker late 90’s early 00’s media like i was describing

overall i really loved it i think the entire thing was really good especially electronic stuff at this point in the 90’s that was prolly revolutionary. really impressed overall definitely a great project to listen to if you want to aura farm.

FAV TRACKS: Angel, Inertia Creeps, Dissolved Girl, Black Milk, Group Four

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Man Next Door

Hello everypony!!! welcome to day 13 of SUMMER PILE DRIVER! today’s album is Pacific Skyline’s self-titled album. it’s 32 minutes from 2009. this is another one of scarlett’s favorites so i’m glad i was able to listen to it. anyways you guys this record rules.

i have never heard electronicore besides when scarlett plays stuff in my car but i gotta say this shi had me locked in, except for interlube……. this record is chock full of fun emo & metal vocals which mixed really well together if you ask me. i think it made for a really fun vocal listening experience compared to just one or the other.

the best part about this record is undoubtedly the extremely fun ass production which is half metal half electronic music. being from 2009 that was a really special time in internet history and i think they were able to capture that feeling really well in the music. it’s really easy to imagine a character edit to the tune of Goodbye Was Yesterday’s Fashion.

I have never heard of pacific skyline and apparently neither has anyone else, it was a pain just trying to find the album cover to put on this post. i guess it makes sense though, because this is like the worst recording i’ve ever heard. i mean it is from 2009 but they definitely did not export these audio files at the quality they should have.

usually i’d be all for that lo-fi sound, i surely was back in the day but i suppose it works better for sadboy bedroom pop because i really wanted to focus in on the layers of the sounds. that’s one of my favorite parts of listening to music, is listening for every instrument and paying attention to what one thing is doing at a time.

really it’s fascinating and i highly recommend paying very close attention to the sounds that are being made, especially when there’s a shit ton going on at once. that’s what i like doing with dariacore especially because you can listen to those songs a bunch and you’ll hear a sample you hadn’t heard before like the eighth time through.

anyways i think the low quality recording definitely subtracted a few points for me even though the songs themselves are really good. overall i had a blast listening to it except for interlube but that’s neither here nor there. the integrity remix made up for it that shit made me feel like i was fucking ascending.

thank you pacific skyline

FAV TRACKS: Goodbye Was Yesterday’s Fashion, Integrity, Sharks With Lasers (Go Pew Pew), I’m Your Living Nightmare, Integrity (Remix)

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Interlube

welcome home everynyan! this is day TWELVE of summer pile driver. today we're talking about The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance which is a 52 minute concept album from 2006. really excited for this because Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is one of my favorite musical projects of all time.

first off i just want to say i knew a couple of these songs most obviously welcome to the black parade and teenagers, but some eric lore i used to be really into 2000's emo alt-rock/pop punk when i was in middle school and i used to own several Panic! At The Disco clothing items. so i inevitably absorbed a few MCR tracks through cultural osmosis.

so about the music, i mean this shit just absolutely rips. gerard way vocals are nigh unparalleled. really glad he did NOT restrain the emotions from getting to his voice because it really makes most of the music on this record.

the biggest thing that surprised me though is how theatrical everything is. i knew it was a concept album but i wasn't expecting it to commit this hard. giant choruses, massive guitars, orchestral bits, piano everywhere, little transitions tying everything together..,,,.... this thing has no interest in subtlety and i respect it immensely for that, the theatricality fits the theme perfectly and makes the music that much better

and BRO welcome to the black parade AAUAUUGHGH THE G NOTE PLEASESEAESA E NOT THE G SPOTTTTTTT

the infamous G note.......... i've heard it for years but dude what a fucking track, just completely legendary. if i was an emo kid in 2007 i would be levitating when i heard it too. i mean that track speaks for itself that shit is wild. also cancer is an absolutely emotionally devastating track bro,

i will say though there are a couple songs in the second half that didn't grab me quite as much as the absolutely absurd run near the beginning. not because they're bad at all, just because this album sets such an impossibly high bar for itself that "really good" starts feeling like a dip

also i know teenagers is one of the biggest songs here but it kinda sticks out to me. still a fun song but it feels like it sorta doesn't belong. idk maybe i don't know what i'm talking about. i do love that song tho i can't even lie.

overall i totally get it now. it's not a nostalgia record underneath all the theatrics is a genuinely fantastic rock album with some of the biggest hooks i've ever heard and enough heart to sell the whole thing. sometimes being unbelievably dramatic is actually the correct artistic decision, also special shoutout ray toro cus some of those guitar leads are fucking wild.

thank you My Chemical Romance p.s. Famous Last Words is one of the best closers i heard since Basketball Shoes

FAV TRACKS: The End, This Is How I Disappear, Welcome to the Black Parade, Cancer, Teenagers, Famous Last Words

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Mama (i’m sory)

welcome home everynyan! this is day 11 of summer pile driver! today is a lil bit historical because it’s the very FIRST ost record of ever reviewed on the pile driver!

uhhhh i was listening to one track, Rising Fighting Spirit and then i kinda half jokingly put on the entire thing and i spent the next 40 minutes laughing my ass off 😭

that then spiraled into a full blown rewatch and reread of naruto

some eric lore everybody my dad watched naruto when i was young and that eventually translated to me watching it TOO when i was a little baby idiot so the 2000s naruto anime not only kickstarted my love for anime but is also very nostalgic for me

my dad also gave me my love for video games because he would play games together with me and buy a shitton of consoles and games so i guess i have him to thank for that too

so pretty much this one goes out to my dad for making me a fucking nerd thanks bro i love you

this soundtrack is so iconic though like especially the track Sadness and Sorrow. fully synonymous with suffering across the universe. also it’s just a really good track.

also i think Go Go Naruto! is another highlight that’s just pure shenanigans ass music, genuinely ur reading this i want you to put on that track RN and imagine the tomfoolery you could get up to to the tune of ts.

listening to this record was really fun not just for the nostalgia but because it would play a really fun shenanigans fun time in konohagakure music followed up by the intense ass battle music it was a really fun pendulum type of thing to listen ti

overall i love naruto 🍥 i think its really peam even chapter 1 is insanely good and then they hit you with the land of the mist arc which is just so insanely out of the ballpark man just absolute 10/10 arc

thank you Toshio Masuda and Musashi Project

FAV TRACKS: Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Morning, Naruto’s Daily Life, Nervous, The Rising Fighting Spirit, Sadness And Sorrow, Loneliness, Sakura’s Theme, Kakashi’s Theme, Sexiness, Go Go Naruto!, Evening, Glued State, Need to Be Strong, Bad Situation, Strong and Strike, Turn Over, Victory, Naruto Main Theme

LEAST FAV TRACKS: I Said I’m Naruto!

scarlett- i only like three songs from this album. i listen to thos songs when i was in a empowering moment in my life. PLEASE MAKE MORE 2000s MUSIC AGAIN!!

here goes day TEN of summer pile driver! today (technically yesterday) is all about Hefty Fine by Bloodhound Gang. it's a 35 minute record from 2005 and i heard that one badass song uhn tiss uhn tiss uhn tiss and i thought the rest of it would be like that where its like electronic n some fun lyrics n u can dance to it. also idk what scarlett means by empowering moment in her life...... idk

but it started out with a frankly adorable 9 second track talking about eminem and fuck will smith which kinda dates it iyam. then u got a track that's like really confusing rap metal? it seriously was like the last thing i expected.

then it just plateaus and u get some of the most standard pop punk/alt rock you could possibly get like if you /spawn a pop punk song it'd be like that. reminded me of Blink 182 except they did it like a few years earlier.... and way better.... for what it's worth and as standard as it may be, Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo (F.U.C.K..... pretty good icl) is pretty fun.

Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss is defnitely a highlight also i think No Hard Feelings is pretty cool too. as far as comedy rock goes uhhhhh idk guys i prefer my comedy rock to be uhhhh with substance i guess, like Joe's Garage.

i'm pretty juvenile i'm not gonna try and pretend like i'm too mature for the toilet humor and other vulgar themes present throughout but jeez it's really hardd to laugh at such immature content. there's a few lines that are a lot of fun but past that it's just regular alt rock and pop punk.

still not bad i mean it was pretty short so i wasn't like suffering or anything. it wasn't hideously terrible and i did say some nice things but overall not super mind blowing or even above average. nothing was ventured

recommended for nostalgic hippys and fans of pop punk fart jokes.

thank you bloodhound gang

FAV TRACKS: Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo, Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss, No Hard Feelings

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Balls Out, Something Diabolical, Pennsylvania

greetings everynyan!

this marks day NINE of summerpiledriver! for this one we're discussing Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay, it's a 53 minute 2024 record which my attention was drawn to because i had seen it on the front of rym every time i go on there and it looked cool.

idk u guys i think i have a problem with only listening to albums that i think are interesting........ a long time ago i asked people for recommendations and i haven't got around to most of them cus uhhhh idk i'd just rather listen to other stuff. BUT ANYWAYS! (please don't be discouraged to send me recs i actually beg you.)

so about the music i mean you guys they were actually cookign down there making this. the production alone is actually stupid like i was completely hooked. pop music has been being made for a really long time especially nowadays and most popular music is some deformation of pop but this was a really creative spin on it that i really dig.

the early 90s computer type theming was absolutely lovely and it didn't hurt that it had a ton of electronic type production which i am pretty much addicted to. early 2000s internet culture is some of the most fascinating stuff to me that's a big reason that i love Lemon Demon so fckng much.

because for how experimental it sounds, these songs get STUCK dude. there were multiple melodies n shi that i caught myself humming like an hour after i finished listening. that's honestly one of the hardest balances eva

death & romance absolutely destroyed me by the way. what a ridiculous song. i genuinely had one of those moments where halfway through i just kinda laughed because i couldn't believe how good it was. image? incredible. cry for me? incredible. by the end of the record i was just sitting there like alright man uhhhhhhhh u win.

the synth pop was a lot of fun but i had a really great time listening to a lot of the progrock mixing in some spots. i also love when pop music isn't embarrassed to be pop music. this album is flashy and dramatic and emotional and catchy as hell without trying to pretend it's too cool an i respect that a lot

overall ts was a blast and i had a ton of fun with it. definitely a favorite so far from the stuff i 've listened to for galacticpiledriver. also mica's vocals are absolutely incredible.

thank you magdalena bay

FAV TRACKS: She Looked Like Me!, Killing Time, Image, Death & Romance, Vampire in the Corner, Watching T.V., Tunnel Vision, Love Is Everywhere, That's My Floor, Cry For Me, Angel on a Satellite, The Ballad of Matt & Mica

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Fear, Sex

welcome back everynyan! this is day 8 for summer piledriver! trust me guys i’m gonna lock in okay

today we’re talking about No Hands by Joey Valence and Brae, a 31 minute 2024 album. really lovely project here guys, just an absolute blast to listen to from front to back. hilarious lyrics backed by some fun hardcore hip hop, almost immediately i was able to understand all the beastie boys comparisons.

some of the best music comes from bands/musical groups where you can tell they're having just a fucking blast making the music. some of the lyrics on this one were just so much fun it was hard to not have a smile on my face. plus some really fun ass samples in the mix it's just so hard to dislike any aspect of this project.

if you hand me a bagel ima eat that shit / if you hand me a beyblade ima let it rip

i have such an admiration for these guys, to be so talented and be so unapologetically yourself is one thing but to bring that to a music record with capable mixing and 10/10 aesthetics it's easy to want to be friends with them by the end of hearing this 1.

kinda wish they did more jazzy stuff like on no hands because that was kinda the shit but otherwise absolutely no notes just so much fun song after song and music wise i mean you can't ask for much more than this really. they're really good at capturing early 2000s hiphop and turning that into a song with some silly ass lyrics that are catchy and funny.

overall i loved it i think JV&B has a strong future as a musical project i'd like to see them live one day. highly recommended if you like old school hiphop or if you just like to have fun.

FAV TRACKS: BUSSIT, PACKAPUNCH, NO HANDS, LIKE A PUNK, THE BADDEST, DOUGHBOY, OMNITRIX

LEAST FAV TRACKS: JOHN CENA

OK maybe 1 review per day for month of june was a little ambitious.... plus early june was a weird month for me i was in mexico n stuff so it just didn't work out. now i know how ceeday felt during ceweek.......

ANYWAYS i'm more prepared now!! ONE WHOLE REVIEW PER DAY FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JULY!!! July is technically still summertime!!!!! so look forward to it!

sorry everyone for the delay even though there's only like 4 people who care in the slightest and probably 0 of you that are upset over this

welcome home everynyan!! this is day 7 of summer pildriver which was due uhhhhhh may 31. anywaysssss we're talking about For the first time by Black Country, New Road, which i was super excited for because Ants From Up There is actually one of my favorite musical projects ever created in the whole world. it's a 40 minute debut album released in 2021 and wowwwww u guys.

u guys i had a really ermmm hard time with my emotions while i was listening to Ants From Up There and this one was less emotional it focused a lot more on the actual music. that first track instrumental is awesome. also Isaac Wood is back from the dead that's pretty cool, i don't love him enough to go see him all the way in europe though</3

off the bat you can tell it's got a really experimental sound, which i'd say is typical of art/post rock, i was just expecting a much friendlier sound like is present in Ants From Up There, this one is a lot less palatable and as my brother puts it, the sound is "not here to make friends" but i really gotta stop comparing this to Ants From Up There. it's not just the instrumentals that are more experimental, even the first words on the album in Athens, France you can tell are meant to sound experimental.

i've gotten a chance to get really used to Isaac Wood's insanely good voice which is apparently an issue for lotsa folks. by the way what a debut man i can't believe this is a group's first project, it's got a really really cohesive sound.

one thing i really like about his style of songwriting is how much he references things in real life, i think it's easy to forget that the music you're listening to was made by a person living on the same planet as you experiencing many of the same things you do, so when he starts gooning over black midi for a minute, i actually really like that. leave kanye out of this.

ultimately i think the slower, more mellow and emotional sound of Ants From Up There worked a lot better for me. although even if i wanted to i wouldn't be able to say anything bad about this album musically i just think they really got their bearings the second time around. not saying music has to be emotionally devastating for me to like it, it's just a matter of preference.

as always thank you Black Country, New Road

FAV TRACKS: Instrumental, Athens, France, Science Fair, Sunglasses, Opus

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Track X (still crazy good)

welcome back everypony!! this is technically meant to be summerpiledriver day six. apparently there is a vicious rumor going around that i have a mental aversion to posting one new review per day. stay safe guys don’t believe everything you hear on the internet, my detractors are relentless

this is a historic moment for the pile driver because this is actually the first review of an album that was recommended to me by someone that i don’t actually know in person, this was a recommendation from someone that actually read my bullshit n liked it and commented an album rec which i think is the most wild thing i’ve ever said in my entire life. thank you curewishdoesalot I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU even when i make it to the top!!!!!!

okay anyways onto the music!! i saw this one is rated as indie pop/rock which as we have already established is totally my shit. also geek rock which apparently spirit phone falls under and is actually the #7 ranked geek rock record in the world that’s kinda wild.

so yeah man i heard the first couple tracks and just immediately fell in love, i was reminded of lemon demon (my favorite shit on the planet) on the first track. it’s like if neil cicierega got a band and made actual indie rock instead of uhhhhhhmmmmmm whatever he’s doing now.

so much personality just absolutely all over the place, i really love and value that. mostly ive realized that my favorite records are ones where the artist is doing whatever they want, like just making music cus it sounds good and they’re having fun doing it. i do think this one falls under that category and it definitely makes for bonus points in my book.

there’s something so charming about how playful the whole thing is. not like goofy or anything just that it feels alive and like i said it’s like you can tell the band was just having a blast recording ts.

this record also hit me at a good time, summer pile driver has had me listening to a buncha shit i normally wouldn’t and that’s not a bad thing or anything in fact i really like it, it’s just nice to feel at home.

songwriting wise one of the coolest records i’ve heard so far after starting this blog. it gets really dark at times like on What Are You Thinking and then it gets back to lighter silliness. really really cool i think this is mostly what you want out of a indie pop album.

really glad i enjoyed this one, a bunch of it went into my personal playlist. which i am willing to share i guess just ask for it guys. anyways i thought it had an incredible start but sorta lost steam around halfway through. that being said i can already tell you that Better Than Aliens is going to be one of my favorite songs ever.

thank you sElf!! thank you to my first and only moot!!!!!!

FAV TRACKS: The End Of It All, Kill The Barflies, Uno Song, Breakfast With Girls, Better Than Aliens, Placing The Blame

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Suzie Q Sailaway

welcome back everynyan!! this is technically a very late day 5 summer piledriver post i'm sorry i'm terrible at this daily shit :sob:!!!!!!! we're justr listening to shit now as you can tell because we're reviewing this That Handsome Devil record which i just felt like listening to cus Charlie's Inferno has been floating around tiktok again lately.

went in basically completely blind i genuinely only ever heard charlie's inferno bfore. i don't think that's a bad thing though i usually like to go into stuff blind, but charlie's inferno set a standard that wasn't really met on any other track. maybe that's unfair idk.

onto the music! i really like weird ass sounding records and this 1 definitely sounds weird as shit. the first two tracks were fun but it might be just the novelty because on relistening idk how much i like em. twist the knife is so peak thoug. Dude the run from twist the knife - karmakaze is genuinely a goated 4 song combo.

lotta fun sounds on this one, like a surf rock guitar type thing for whatever reason which i actually liked, but the most fun thing on the entire record is the vocals. dude you can tell the vocalist Godforbid was just having a blast recording ts and it's hard to not let that sense of fun spread. gives it so much personality.

reminded a lot of will wood's stuff, they both specialize in this fun cabaret style that's just oozing with sleaze. to tell you the truth i may have made a mistake by getting into will wood first because by comparison, i mostly ended up feeling unengaged, especially by the end.

not every song lands equally. still though that's not to say it's a bad album, it's a really really fun album especially for people that like theatrics but i wasn't really blown away. that song charlie's inferno absolutely rules though.

liked it a lot thank you That Handsome Devil maybe i will listen to some of your other, more highly rated albums.

FAV TRACKS: Twist The Knife, The U & I In Suicide, Charlie's Inferno, Karmakaze, Bored, Party's Dead

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Adapt, One More Try, Buyer's Remorse, Inside You

welcome back everynyan this is summer pile driver day 4!!!!

today we're talking about Stand Strong from A Death Among Heroes and if you really like music and you listen to a lot of it and you're confused because you've never even heard of this record that's okay because it's 26 minutes long and from 2009 and it has like 800 plays on youtube music which IS INDEED my streaming service of choice FUCK you if you dislike it.

anyway it's a lovely metalcore project with some absolutely delightful electronic elements and peak emo vocals. this review goes out to scarlett by the way

i have to talk about the vocals on it though like it's crazy. it's the type of screaming vocals where you can hear the emotion and like desperation. lotta heavier stuff likes to go crazy with the vocals, not saying that's a bad thing but like on nuclear slam division the vocals may as well be a fucking pig oinking loud as shit.

and that's mostly what i ended up liking from this record besides the actual peak of how they mixed electronic stuff and their heavier stuff, i really liked how you can hear the emotions in the music, i've always liked that. like in all the old twenty one pilots songs.

ANOTHER thing i liked is one of the song tracks being It Can't Rain All The Time, which is a shout to one of the best movies of all time, The Crow. to top it all of the whole thing isn't super long, which i really appreciate in an album.

here’s an excerpt from scarlett herself:

First of all HOLY PEAK ALBUM! I listened to this a couple months ago, truly a life-changing album for me. it changed my view on what good electronicore band should be. this album inspired me to be a better screamo vocalist! 😸👍 also the members give me gender identity confusion.

FAV TRACKS: Michael Nicewonder is The Next Big Thing, It Can’t Rain All The Time, Downhill Wheelchair Racing

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Five Feet And Digging

8/10

welcome home to a late DAY 3 of SUMMER PILE DRIVER!!!

today we're discussing Gustavo Cerati's 1999 record Bocanada. this review goes out to my homie Vinnie who recommended this to me and also recently completely broke his fucking jaw :sob:. get well soon pookie!! <3

i think this is the first alternate language record ever covered on the pile driver, i mean i guess brasilian skies counts but that one isn't really about the vocals as much as this one. anyway even though it's another language it's still one that i speak so i think i got a lot more enjoyment out of the whole thing than someone who doesn't speak spanish would. kind of like the movie Y Tu Mama Tambien.

IMMEDIATELY off rip this one is a banger, the song Tabu is legendary. it felt a lot like a song that could have been on Jeff Buckley's Grace. this album is the #7 highest rated Art Pop album of ALL TIME on rym and ya i could totally hear that.

the song Bocanada is another highlight for me. i really liked that persona keyboard (yes i'm calling it that i'm a fucking NERD!!!) mixed with his melancholic vocals. the drums and samples on that one pull it all together into an immensely satisfying experience.

i really liked the vocals on the first half of the record and then the second half kinda turned to focus on downtempo atmospheric stuff. like the songs Aqui & Ahora pts 1 and 2. i didn't mind any of that at all though, I can definitely always appreciate skilled instrumentation, i just simply preferred his sweet ass voice.

the song Puente turned a lot more pop-ish with more rock stuff which if he ended up putting out a record that focused a lot more on rock before he died he would actually fuckign cook.

it's a longer record, about 1 hr 9 min, which works well for a lot of downtempo stuff but i had this same problem for Grace where it's just like allrighhtttt....... u know what i mean? like the songs would just KEEP GOING. it's kind of hard for me to keep focused on something like that for that amount of time but that's not really the albums fault so i won't hold that against it.

anyways thank you Gustavo Cerati. overall it was a lovely experience with a surprising amount of fun electronic stuff i really enjoyed.

FAV TRACKS: Tabu, Bocanada, Puente, Rio Babel, Beautiful, Perdonar Es Divino, Paseo Inmoral, Alma

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Verbo Carne

welcome back everynyan for an extremely late DAY 2 post for SUMMER PILE DRIVER!!!!!

today we’re talking about remain in light by talking heads which as far as rhythms go is one of the best 40 minutes of music i’ve ever heard.

this is a 1980 record that i’ve heard lots of stuff about n u heard once in a lifetime of course, john mayer loves playing that song on his radio station. i’ve only heard that this record is extremely critically acclaimed and one of the most important pieces of music to ever be created but none of that explained to me just how ALIVE the entire record feels.

IMMEDIATELY the grooves on this thing are out of this world. every song had me jamming. there’s so many wonderful layers of percussion on ts i have to say the percussion is definitely my favorite part of this entire project.

david byrne has to relax bro. every line he sounds terrified and fascinated at the same time. his vocal style is very nostalgic for me, i think because it’s a big thing in avery’s family to sing the song psycho killer also by talking heads. that song roolz.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!!!!!

i don’t know how basic it is to freak out over the big big famous song but dude that track is unbelievable. same as it ever was part made me genuinely understand why people talk about this album like it was written onto stone tablets on top of a mountain. absolute peak music.

i’m like completely astonished at how ahead of its time the whole thing feels, like there are plenty of parts on it that would be experimental by today’s standards. in only found out about this afterwards but apparently talking heads they studied all sorts of african polyrhythms and fused it with post punk n new wave stuff to make a unique style that works extremely well.

also i gotta mention brian eno by name because the production is completely ridiculous. every instrumentalist on this shit is in a league of their own. good headphones recommended !

overall it felt weird n funky but above all human. thank u talking heads

FAV TRACKS: Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), Crosseyed and Painless, Once in a Lifetime, Houses in Motion

LEAST FAV TRACKS: The Overload