MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 12/17/2025
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @melodicnoisemedia
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Sophie Hiroko “sucker punch”
Released on Hiroko’s to the core EP in July 2025, “sucker punch” is the record’s gorgeously vulnerable closing track. Hiroko references the EP’s title in the song’s chorus (“Back to the core / Sucker punch me again / I can’t feel it any more, so / Sucker punch me again”) which serves to tie a nice bow on things. Otherwise smothered in deprecatory commentary, “sucker punch” is a release of all kinds of tension, an exercise in confrontation (“I think you’re scared to live your life / Scared to dream, scared of change, scared of reality,”) and brushes shoulders with politics (“You think my self expression threatens your livelihood / Been living under delusion thinkin’ a girl could influence society, but / God bless the USA.”)
The Symptones “Wind Up Toy”
“Wind Up Toy” from five piece project The Symptones released in July 2025 on EP Ricardo Papaya. Its name suggests a certain playfulness, invoking images of an insentient critter with a large key sprouting from its back. In this song, the “Wind Up Toy” is their muse, who can be imagined as someone going through the motions of life with little self-motivation… they need a push, to be wound up, to move and dance. The Symptones motivate them earnestly, seeing them and describing their lot, urging “one foot [to shuffle] forward, one foot kicking teeth.” There’s joy in the tempo and the springiness of the song’s melodies.
Giant’s Knife “Godfall”
Prog metal band Giant’s Knife bring a luscious and theatrical scope to their sound in “Godfall.” Released on their latest album At the End of All Things in June 2025, “Godfall” marks its middle point with the longest run time of the lot, coming in at a decadent 7 minutes and 50 seconds. I’m delighted by the band’s use of atmospheric synth tones guiding the listener's curious ear into the composition. The bulk of the track is a soaring, epic journey with clean production and heaping servings of brutal vocals over intense, gothic, modern instrumentals.
Buckls “If I Had a Dime”
Sampling Juno’s confession of love to Paulie, Buckls’ “If I Had a Dime” takes desire for a spin while refusing to affix sleaze to their brand of indie. With every chorus starring its own catchy confession — “If I had a dime for every girl on my mind / I’d have to say, babe, I’d be quite poor” — this song drips with punky sentimentality, the sort absolutely, suitably featured in coming-of-age rom-coms. Ear-worm vocalizations invite you to sing along and Buckls’ distinctive singing voice throughout will stick with you. This is track 7 of 15 on their high style, self-titled debut album.
Anita Velveeta “Anything to Sell a Ticket”
Highly driven, chopped up production remixes industrial metal inspirations and electronic dance music hallmarks into one writhing, dynamic flow. Taking many turns, “Anything to Sell a Ticket” from Anita Velveeta’s Liquid Gold LP (released in November 2025) is animated and well tricked out, bleeding outside the lines of genre as it fuses itself together with speed and fervor. The musical intensity is befitting of the lyrical content — Velveeta criticizes those that pose in the scene, the kinds of musicians that hollow out revolutionary aesthetics to gain commercial success on the backs of good messages (“Claim that your shows are just form of praxis / Anything to sell a ticket.”) The artist continues their call-out of grifters, damning them with counter-discourse: “2020s protest song just another corporate jingle … / The only reason that you preach community / Networking your personal army / Rally up the troops, you’ve got something to sell / And every time you get called out / You shriek and play it down / Notes app apology to keep your crown.”
Samuel Wilbur, Dani Michaele “Social Security Number”
When sparkly synth leads kick up over a funky bassline, it adds a fun and technical layer to “Social Security Number,” Samuel Wilbur’s 2nd track of 13 on LP Ivory Tower, released in October 2025. Dani Michaele’s vocals come in with a beautiful tone —you can hear more of them, plus bass playing, in the band full catholic— and are later backed up by Wilbur. Requesting all of your intimate financial data, the two discuss the modern surveillance state (“I feel a little cynical now / With these clinical doubts / About a camera recognizing my face.”) Through a haze of adopting its ills they embody the totalitarian eye of a capitalist Big Brother. When Michaele sings for “more information,” “the last three digits on the back … your social security number … I need all the names of your pets and the streets you grew up on / To answer your security questions too,” she becomes the state and its financial institutions. The intimacy of her soft but powerful voice intruding so shamelessly serves well to highlight the dystopia of the album’s larger message.
