MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 6/25/2025
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @PlaylistTC
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FATHER PARANOIA "MIND AT LARGE"
Noisy elements rub up against dark electronica in FATHER PARANOIA’s “MIND AT LARGE.” Released on the album MOON LOGIC in March 2025, this song utilizes a proggy structure to transcend its own form and shapeshift throughout, taking turns to dive deeper into different pillars of its composition. In the beginning, we hear FATHER PARANOIA’s hip-hop influences clearly while the heady production has a dubset vignette; it all quickly erupts into a decidedly darkwave instrumental with metalcore vocals that will delight fans of contemporary noise-rock/EBM crossovers, of which there is quite the scene! (FATHER PARANOIA and Omaha’s Benjamin Gear X would surely make brilliant back-to-backs on such a bill.)
Beemer "Afterparty"
“Afterparty” is the latest single from Beemer, having dropped in March 2025. It features a fresh walking bassline and gentle, smooth vocals throughout. There’s a tension in the story being told despite the subtlety of the instrumentals and whisper-soft singing, demonstrated by the repeated chorus: “Do you know, what you mean? / When you say I’m sorry? / Did you see, only red? / At the afterparty?” We don’t have to stretch our imagination too far to envision an afters gone wrong, a lover’s tiff or unresolved conflict between intimate friends. With so much affection and a sensuality implied by the twinkling, psychedelic bridge that features jazzy breaks and the refrain, “You’re the only one,” “Afterparty” is luscious in its complexity. Anything that can be read as accusatory feels, in the song’s totality, more like loving confrontation.
Fathom Lane "Fire Under Water"
A beautiful vocal duet tangos atop plucky, warm acoustic guitar playing in “Fire Under Water.” Fathom Lane center themselves and you in this charming folk piece, which released on In the Driftless in July 2023. The lyrics are brutally vulnerable, describing the sting of betrayal in the context of love and romance, of the kind of hurt that can only be felt through loving totally - “Don’t it burn like fire under water?” There’s a poetic conundrum here, in these universal human experiences and the very real phenomena of “Fire Under Water” - does it burn more, or is its impact contained by the sea?
Stone Arch Rivals "The One You'll Want Tomorrow"
A funky opening introduces “The One You’ll Want Tomorrow” as a fun-filled track, which quickly pulls out many vintage-inspired rock’n’roll stops. Notably featuring a silky lead vocalist, horn section, and tambourine beats adding tons of flair, Stone Arch Rivals are unafraid to be playful, while still serving serious business in their compositional cleanliness and musical expertise. The lyrics implore a prospective lover to take the chance on them, but not to rush their story, touching on the idea of growing towards the one you’re meant to be with (“I can’t be the one you want tonight / But I’ll be the one you wish you had tomorrow.”) This track was released as a single in March 2025.
Desert Object "A Watcher"
Desert Object self-describe as “Jangle-Sludge pop” and — sure! Yes! I couldn’t have put it better myself, although that particular combination on “A Watcher,” released in February 2025 on EP World’s End, makes for an altogether punky sound. It’s warm and rattling, a cohesive blanket of sound which never feels abrasive, even though distortions and “jangles” are indeed cranked up here. The pop component, a catchy structure with an awesome chorus (“Are you my watcher? / I wanna know,”) makes this song a total earworm that I caught myself singing later.
PRiME & PM "It Is What It Is”
With an underground rap flow and plenty of clever bars, PRiME & PM tell part of their origin story, of what radical self-acceptance looks like in the face of an abusive, heteronormative society. “It Is What It Is” is their coming out story, where they bear “all of it,” as they cheekily acknowledge at the end of the track. From exposing the homophobia leveraged at them; recalling how difficult their mom’s reaction to them coming out was; how their “idols hated [them,]” and how they learned karate in self-defense, PRiME & PM still chooses to “forgive the world” despite and live in the ever-moving present, even while he “still got these scars, forever attached to [him.]” As an incredibly powerful and moving autobiography through the lens of his sexuality, PRiME & PM musically illustrate that inexplicable but unfortunate connection between queer identity and suffering, without ever surrendering to feeling less than. Instead, they give the queer listener a road map in the song’s chorus: “We are who we are, it is what it is.” As we continue to fight for our equitable future, we must remember that mantra. We cannot always change what’s in others hearts, but we can live freely, openly, enthusiastically as ourselves, and continue to tell these stories for others just like us to relate and find hope within. All laid upon a bed of funky production, “It Is What It Is” evokes a strong response in the empathetic listener, who still finds themselves grooving along and enjoying PRiME & PM’s wit and energy.
