MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 3/5/2025
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @PlaylistTC
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Corsair "Lithic Riddle"
“Lithic Riddle” is featured on Corsair’s The Golden Heart album, which dropped in January, 2024. It is an unrelentingly cool thrash metal track on a high concept storytelling album. Corsair bring fantasy, mean instrumentation and rugged, consistently impressive vocals to the table in equal measure here. It’s all too easy to be wrapped up in their heavy grime, with the weight of the hero’s journey unforgettable amidst spunky riffs, building crescendos, and tantalizing rests that tell us the fight isn’t over yet.
Dissociate “Hypnic”
Decadent, multi-layered tones pulse together and are woven into a dark, sexy soundscape in Dissociate’s “Hypnic,” from the EP Derealizer, released in July 2024. The ebb and flow of synth voices, overlapping and melting into sci-fi collage, delightfully oscillate over hefty electronic basslines set at heart-pumping frequencies. Industrial clangs, electronic boops, and dominant but playful melodies all come out to play leading roles on Dissociate’s almost unnerving sound stage – they take turns catching the listener’s ear over the masterful tangle of sounds, constantly revealing brilliant new elements as the track progresses. This is all electronic instrumental music at its best; in its final product, feeling effortlessly cool while holding so much danceable complexity.
Bakermiller Pink “Wrung”
Bakermiller Pink’s “Wrung” has a delicate chaos about it, its guitar riffs and switch-’um-up melodies bending towards psych-rock tendencies. The band is always so good at delivering their unique blend of sentimental sweetness and edgy, bold instrumentation, unafraid to lean into snarly tones and rapid sharp strumming with perfectly matched percussion. From their first full length album, Rinse. Dry. Repeat, released in June 2024, this song takes us on a journey, a journey through dissociation and repetitive action where we may find comfort in the mundane, ‘though we must break free of our cycles to live to its fullest.
Couch Potato Massacre “The Hook Brings You Back”
Multi-media buffs Couch Potato Massacre like to take on the movies! “The Hook Brings You Back.” from the Died of Dysentery album (May 2024,) takes its inspiration from the Candyman films, luxuriating in retellings of the plot in a pop-punk style. They don’t shy away from having fun with the story and its characters, calling Helen a dumbass and singing playfully about each character’s decline. Isn’t that what horror movies are for, making fun of the protagonist's poor choices? This song has a very catchy chorus (“He is the writing on the wall!”) that’s sure to get stuck in your head faster than you can say Candyman’s name five times.
baumgardner "Take No Shit"
This entry is sure to fire you up and make its way onto your protest playlist. “Take No Shit.” from baumgardner’s Heaven & Earth EP, released in October 2024, quenches my thirst for unapologetically aggro grunge metal with a purpose. Riffing off of the phrase “do no harm, take no shit,” the band enthusiastically offers us all a reminder to live our values while screaming out their own calls for action. Be sure to let me know if you too are walking around your apartment randomly yelling, “SHIT! FUCK!” after listening to this one. The anger’s an earworm. Turn it into something good, listener.
Rank Strangers "Demonstration Hall"
Rank Strangers’ coolness on “Demonstration Hall” is amplified by vocal effects and gorgeous drum work. There’s something gloriously classic about the composition of this song, which has plenty of unexpected musical elements to lock in on that work together flawlessly. The timelessness of this song is highlighted by its vintage, collagey accompanying music video. At a short 2 minute run time, I’m certainly left wanting more and leaving this track on repeat to dive back into its warmth.
