Underscores has that special sauce. She is one of a number of artists recently making waves in hyperpop and adjacent fields, all who have that same sauce. Specifically, I think of artists like Femtanyl, though the association is primarily borne from my seeing the both of them open last year for Danny Brown. Femtanyl’s music is also generally much more abrasive than April’s (and Femtanyl is newly a band of two as opposed to Underscores being just April), but the two are linked in my mind due to their dual flair for hypnotically engaging production, and remarkably “fresh” sounding tracks (and the Danny Brown connection, of course). This flair for out-of-the-box production imbues Underscores’ music with an amazing air of creativity that is, paradoxically, as approachable as it is experimental. Compared to Wallsocket, her prior album, U is far poppier, far more radio friendly, but every bit as gripping, if not even more so. When I put on this album, I cannot help but dance, I cannot help but groove, I cannot help but bop my head and smile.

In many ways, U reminds me of how I felt when I first listened to Charli XCX’s brat: there are slower, more intimate beats intermingled with the fast-paced bangers; there is a dominating emphasis on exciting production; and there is an overall spirit that is undeniably slay. Charli is brat, and April is a knockout – as she declares on “Innuendo (I Get U)”. Both of them make music that leaves me feeling the same way.  

One of my favorite moments off of U is during the track “Do It,” when April sings about the level of dedication of her fans:

Don’t you get it? (Don’t you get it?)
People get my lyrics tattooed on their bodies (Yeah)

It perfectly encapsulates the incredible degree of charismatic bravado she displays on the track, and it is that tongue-in-cheek braggadocio that helps make the record so fun, much like brat.

I really enjoyed Wallsocket, my initial introduction to April’s work. “Locals (girls like us)” was one of my favorite songs of that year. However, U has had me obsessed in a different, but even more potent way. The way it has me mentally strutting, even as I am just sitting here writing this review by pen, is simply addictive. It is really amazing to see her work continue to evolve, and I hope the initial explosion of success the album ahs garnered thus far only continues to grow, and catapult Underscores into greater and greater realms of success.

Favorite Song: Music

This album gives me such a sense of peace, but one of an inherently surreal fashion. As if I am floating in a void of dazzling colors. It is all empty, yet all filled: an endless, weightless mass of colorful gas. It is the very instantiation of nostalgia itself; as incomprehensible as it is overwhelming.

The closest comparison I can make is when Edward Elric sees “the truth” in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood after trying to reincarnate his mom. For those who haven’t seen the show – also, to clarify, I have only seen the first few episodes myself so far – the scene in question involves Edward going through what is looks like a tunnel of visions as his mind is filled to the point of nearly bursting with knowledge. It is unclear how long this lasts; it ostensibly is over in an instant, but it just as well could have felt like an eternity the way it is portrayed. The result is an intemporal quality that appears alien to any conventional understanding of the passage of time. The moment both lasts forever, and no time at all. It exists in a pocket that can be visited rather than being an event that happened in a linear sense of beginning and ending.

The reason I dedicate this amount of an album review to a scene from an anime that I have only just recently begun is because the nature of my fascination with said scene is the same as my fascination with the bizarre, sometimes eerie, sometimes comforting sense of nostalgia that Virtua.zip instills within me. This sense of nostalgia is specifically one for memories that are not mine, maybe no one’s. For a time and space parallel to our own: familiar, but inherently foreign.

This phenomena I am describing of nostalgia in a purely general capacity is simultaneously nonspecific, and paradoxically precise. It is clearly hearkening to something, but of unknown origin. It feels like the platonic ideal of nostalgia, such that the feeling conjured is much more significant than any specific memories evoked. It is nostalgia for a world that never was, for a time past that never happened. It is also one present not only in Virtua.zip, but much of the genre of vaporwave as a whole, which George Clanton has long been an influential participant of. The same is true for Clanton’s other music, such as his incredible 2023 release Ooh Rap I Ya.

Ultimately, this is a project that is every bit as transfixing now as I am sure it was 12 years ago when it dropped. I was already a great fan of Clanton’s work, and I am overjoyed to have just now discovered yet another stunning demonstration of his talents.

Favorite Song: gameover.wav

When I listen to Guck’s debut album, I feel as if I am but an unfortunate speck in the maw of an unfathomably large beast. I am haplessly at the whims of the swirling currents, not even significant enough to be of any concern of the beast itself. As I am rocked, I hear the faint cries of Guck echo out over the monstrous abyss I find myself soon to be consumed by. The cacophonic cries “DO YOU, DO YOU REALIZE.. THE SHAAAAAAAME” haunt my fading consciousness as I descent the gullet.

Favorite Song: GUBAR

This was a later discovery for me. BRUIT ≤ released The Age Of Ephemerality back in April, but I only listened for the first time in November. I start with this context because I think it explains how voraciously I have devoured this album, over and over, since that initial listen. This is because many of the conditions that contribute to the cyber punkesque, tech dystopian vision of this album have only accelerated throughout this year. In these times of great forces, disturbing visions of the future, and just general uncertainty, everything feels in a constant spiral of inexorable acceleration: whether in the context of AI, where acceleration is the explicit aim, regardless of consequence, or int he context of consistently crumbling political norms, largely in the pursuit of increasingly extreme wealth consolidation. In the face of these myriad horrors, The Age Of Ephemerality is a richly cathartic project for the moment.

One aspect that I find especially compelling is the bizarre combination of beauty and revulsion that embodies The Age Of Ephemerality. These twin pillars manifest in separate, but equally prominent capacities. Namely, the music within this album is sonically gorgeous, but thematically nauseating. It is one that frequently captivates me in an intoxicating weave of dazzingly elaborate, layered instrumentation; it is also one that will abruptly, cruelly, wrench me out of the comfort of being mesmerized. It accomplishes these jarring about-faces lyrically, and though they are sparingly used, the infrequency of these interruptions only heightens their debilitating nature. There is no greater example of this pattern than the song “Data.”

“Data” is an 8 minute long track that I see as a perfect microcosm of the record. It is sonically rapturous, full of soaring builds and wondrous flourishes of colorful sound. It is also deeply disturbing, rife with snippets from what sounds like the platonic ideal of a tech startup presentation to potential investors. This mostly consists of jargon, talk of number of page views, users, databases, etc.

The barrage is a pretty upsettingly clear distillation of humanity to profitable datapoints, which is a difficult thing to square with the song as a whole simultaneously sounding incredible. The very juxtaposition of the two feels like the most poignant part of the entire track: our world is increasingly one of greater and greater efforts to dazzle us as out attention becomes stretched ever thin. This is true even as it also becomes more and more our greatest asset to be commodified and won through increasingly invasive advertising.

As I listen to “Data,” I feel as if the song (successfully) vies for my attention by evoking a magnificent sense of wonder, but that very sense is repeatedly, and abruptly, shattered as the nefarious intentions underneath are laid bare. At one point, the song cuts to a clip of Marc Zuckerberg saying “I think is really going to give you a feeling for what this future could be like” before explodes into this stunning explosion of sound.

I am but another user, offering more page views to be recorded in a database. My utility is solely confined to that which I offer the shareholders. This is a deeply cynical view of commerce, but it is accurate to the vision carefully sculpted by BRUIT ≤: one they perfectly, disturbingly, depict, and with very few words. When they do use words, the message is very, very clear, as clearly stated during the eerie end of the incredible closing track “The Intoxication Of Power,” utilizing lines appropriately borrowed from 1984:

There will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. This is the direction that the world is going in at the present time. There will be the intoxication of power. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever. The moral, is a simple one: don’t let it happen. It depends on you.

Favorite Song: Data

The Armed has been around for a while, but was a new discover for me. I first heard of the Detroit band, it was discovering that Dearborn band Prostitute was opening for them at The Roxy. I am a HUGE fan of Prostitute (their debut from last December was my #4 album of 2024), so I instantly bought a ticket. As I listened to the singles The Armed was dropping, I grew ridiculously excited to see them as well. Every song was a complete banger.

Now, the full project is out , and it will not exit my head. I am consistently stunned by the insane adrenaline of this thing. The ferocity, the speed, the depth of texture. Plenty of music hits the noise – even though The Armed do it some of the best of anyone out there – but they also combine that noise with such a fascinating, endearing mix of explosively colorful interjecting noises: whether a catchy chorus, or a pop of instrumental bliss that floats out of a cacophonous storm of fury.

Let me give an example of what I mean: I was very clearly smiling, shaking my head to the music, while listening to this album on headphones in my garage. My friend grabs my headphones, puts them on, and actually starts to bob her head. She tells me “this is actually a lot better than what you normally put on.” So I put another track on for her (“Broken Mirror”), and her face soured immediately, before asking me why it was just static and noise. These are the depths of variety that The Armed bring in this project: there are moments on this album that are downright joyous, but there are just as many (likely more) moments of grating, pummeling, powerfully cathartic noise.

I want to go into some depth on a few of these tracks. Firstly, the fabulous opener: “Well Made Play.” Right from the start, The Armed make sure their fury is abundantly clear, and they accomplish this to stunning effect with immediate yelling that is set to a careening tsunami of noise. Around 0:45 – 1:12, they venture on this noisy, spectacular instrumental breakdown that perfectly sets the scene with some wrenching, mechanical whining.

This then segues beautifully back into the return of the shredding vocals.

Machine-like mania meets organic, cornered ferocity.

The tempo does not let up going into track two: “Purity Drag.” This song follows a really satisfying arc, and it is, consequently, one of my favorites. Specifically, the song starts out just as noisy as the last ended: high-fucking-energy. But then, at 0:25, we get the first hit of a tranquilizingly melodic yelling chorus that one can’t help but burst out singing along with.

Then, at 1:15, the screeching instrumentals give away to a lower tone, but still powerfully pulsating beat that underlays the least yelled section on the track.

At 1:35, it explodes back into wondrous chaos.

My favorite part of the song is then from 2:33 to 2:50, when we get this frantically earnest repetition of “Nothing is my fault,” over and over, before then combusting back into the chorus in a downright compulsory head-banging fashion.

It is tempting to go through the whole project like this, song by song, but I have many more projects to write on, so let me just jump ahead to another favorite of mine: the aforementioned “Broken Mirror,” featuring Prostitute. I want to specifically highlight the electrifying opening of this track.

This song opens with a visceral, staticky intro that feels akin to hacking through a veritable jungle of dense, sonic foliage.

On the other side? Prostitute hearkening the end of the world, punctuated by backing screams of rage from The Armed.

Finally, I will turn to the one “reprieve” – for lack of a better word – on the track list: “Heathen.” The penultimate song, “Heathen” is the longest track by far, coming in at 5:38 when most of the other tracks are in the 2-3ish minute range. Far more delicate of a track, it represents a really well executed beat of tenderness on this album. For being a project so full of (righteous) pain and fury, it is really refreshing to have this moment that is easily recognizable as the same band, but is so starkly different in execution, and yet, while still being dead-on tonally. This is just a more subdued manifestation of the same visceral response The Armed consistently shows themselves to be feeling in the wake of this fucked up world.

The Armed end on the more familiar, noisier side of the spectrum their sound encompasses, with the incredible closer, “A More Perfect Design.” My favorite part of this track is 0:55 to 1:13, the part of the track right before it spectacularly combusts into an intoxicatingly compelling soup of noise.

As this soup comes into focus, it is at 1:54 that the noise both ratchets up, and is joined by this delightful guitar whine that brings me right to heaven’s door.

The whole track is a fantastic close to a stellar, stellar album. And it also loops beautifully back into the immediate fury of “Well Made Play.” Repeat listens of this record go hard, especially in the current context of country and world within which this album solidly resides. I will be returning to this one for many years.

Favorite Song: A More Perfect Design

Ben is such a fantastic artist. It is truly so stunning to go back and compare his youtube diss track days to now. I make this point not to disparage his youtube diss tracks, mind you, but rather to highlight the massive evolution artistically that his music has undergone throughout his career. With each release, Quadeca solidifies himself ever more firmly as a generational talent. There is a certain quality to his music that perfectly captures the listlessness wrapped up in the experience of being in this world today (especially in your 20s). It is a sense of being tied to no singular or clear emotional pole: it is exciting, exasperating, soul-searching, all at once.

I am writing this review on the plane, flying home to LA from visiting family in Boston. One of the most fleeting, but meaningful memories I experienced on this trip was on Christmas Eve, when I stepped out of my Grandma’s house into her backyard to get some air. It was bitterly cold. I stood outside and stared out at the horizon: the faint sound of cars in the distance, the momentary beauty of the light snowfall enveloping me. I was listening to “Godsend,” and I was utterly, completely lost in the brief blip of momentary peace in which I found myself that moment.

Inside, I left behind the familiar chaos of familial gathering. Out int he distance, I watched the familiar chaos of the highway. However, in my direct surroundings, it was just me, the biting wind, and Ben. It felt as if I was listening to an old friend recount how he’s been doing, how he’s been navigating the world, and not being able to help singing in doing so. And in that instant, I felt such a genuine, emotional connection to his music. It felt as if he was baring his soul in an effort to touch mine, and I was just struck by the beauty of the track, and simultaneously the power of music itself (something I marvel at quite often).

There is something intangibly magical about this medium that can allow for the artist to imbue so much of themself in their art, but leave enough ambiguity that not only is there an ever present question of their exact intent, but also of what intent I, the listener, receive. It is an inherently vulnerable quality to music, as the artist starts the dialogue and puts it out there for someone like me to listen, and respond – potentially in a way completely contradictorily to the original intent. But that is the beauty of the thing: the point is not a clear, informational message (a la a documentary, say), but to instill reaction itself, to evoke some kind of emotional response. And Ben accomplishes this again and again over the entire hour+ of this record. It is absolutely stunning.

Favorite Song: THUNDRRR

There are few feelings I appreciate as much as that which stirs within when I listen to an album that immediately captivates me. Often I enter a phase of obsession; I listen to the album on repeat. I hear it in my sleep. My mind’s contours temporarily reshape along these new lines. This was all the more exacerbated when I saw the band perform it live at the their third and final album release show at the Zebulon. My mind was still utterly consumed by the fire of the aforementioned obsession, and yet I was still utterly unprepared for not only how mesmerizing the band would be live, but how much it would concrete said obsession within me. I still feel the same fire I felt then, on the cusp of the new year, and I anticipate this album only continuing to grow on me for much, much longer.

From that point, my brain has been all SML. It has been dictated by the wonderfully unctuous grooves the group so lovingly crafted. And, truly, the best thing I can say to recommend this record is that I firmly believe the incredibly nuanced, flavorful, and spectacular sounds present on it have the ready ability to stir within anyone the same sense of wonder it does within me.

Favorite Song: Taking out the Trash