The Dare’s ‘The Sex EP’ Wants You to Have a Really Good Time
The Dare’s mission is urgent, as simple as breathing. Have a good time – a stupid good time – like your life depends on it. Because it literally does.
Nick Malone
Nick is a freelance writer based in Chicago. His work is published in Hello Mr. Magazine, Bluntly Magazine, and the Sigma Tau Delta Review.
Lizzo’s New Album Isn’t Quite As ‘Special’ As She Thinks
Special is such a disappointment because you can hear the better album Lizzo is capable of making, but she insists on cranking out one-size-fits-all empowerment jams.
Does Gay Fandom Help Pop Divas?
Looking at Rina Sawayama, Azealia Banks, Charli XCX, and Kim Petras’ rise and fall in the charts one wonders – does gay fandom help pop divas’ careers?
Slayyyter’s ‘Troubled Paradise’ Is a Funny, Catchy, Boundary-pushing Collection of Songs
On Troubled Paradise, Slayyyter strips the cynicism from hyperpop, invokes the best parts of the last generation of pop powerhouses, and fills the void in culture left by the last time Katy Perry went #1.
Slayyyter’s Inferno: In Conversation with the Logged-on and Laser-focused Pop Starlet
Following a chaotic and self-destructive year, laser-focused pop starlet Slayyyter prepares to ascend with her debut album of noisy pop bangers, Troubled Paradise. She tells us her story.
Lana Del Rey’s ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’ Shows It’s Rarely Easy to Just Be Her
Though ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’ isn’t quite Lana Del Rey’s strongest album or the most iconically Lana, it’s an intimate, emotional, and largely successful renewal of her artistic vows.
Ashnikko’s Debut ‘Demidevil’ Attempts to Birth a Pop Star From the Endless Feed
Demidevil is poised to keep Ashnikko relentlessly populating the feed in 2021 with some impressively strong new bangers. But it'll be crucial for her to remember the difference between Nicki Minaj and the iLOVEFRiDAYs of the world.
Katy Perry Struggles to Get Out of Her Head on ‘Smile’
Think of Smile as Katy Perry doing the work to (eventually) get her groove back: she's recharging. Smile plays like a necessary centering exercise, indulging her insecurities and less surefire instincts.
Katy Perry’s Coming-of-Age Album ‘Teenage Dream’ at 10 Years Old
Katy Perry's Teenage Dream is a pensive coming-of-age statement disguised as sophomoric pop fun. It proves how it takes a great deal of conviction to pursue instincts that are of less "substance".
Flo Milli Bottles Pure “Bad Bitch” Energy on ‘Ho, Why Is You Here?’
The idea that a female rap project is a failure for being one-note -- especially when that note is confident and sexy -- ruins what a project like Flo Milli's Ho, Why Is You Here? has to offer: fun in its purest form.
Jessy Lanza Relinquishes Control on ‘All the Time’
Jessy Lanza's All the Time is a lush and spacious collection that shows a hard-fought mental clarity, a deliberate effort to resist the instincts on display on "VV Violence" in pursuit of digging deeper into oneself.
Kill Audrey’s “Hometeam” Is a Brutal Working-Class Flex (premiere)
Chicago-based Kill Audrey make hazy, chaotic hip-hop/party music for people who buy tall boys with their rent money. Watch the video for their new single, "Hometeam".
