Charli XCX - "Music, Fashion, Film" Album Review

 

In 2013, well before Brat, Barbie, or even a breakout Iggy Azalea feature, Charli XCX told Stereogum's Chris Deville that her follow up to debut album True Romance would be "quite raw," "really aggressive and angry," "more live than anything [she's] done before," and having a "punkish attitude." That project was ultimately shelved - along with, thankfully, a session with Dr. Luke that "wasn't for me" - and instead she released Sucker. Thirteen years later, Charli has finally revisited that vision with her latest LP, Music, Fashion, Film, only this time through the lens of someone with over a decade in the public eye and on the heels of her apictic Brat. 

Depending on whom you ask, Music, Fashion, Film isn't actually Charli's answer to Brat; technically, her full-length soundtrack album for Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights film was released earlier this year. But the Wuthering Heights record feels more like a side project, shaped by the film's story and Fennell's vision. It seemed like Charli enjoyed working within those constraints, and the end result was still decidedly in line with her general sound, but MFF is her first venture post-Brat that comes fully from her own artistic perspective.

Charli has always been unafraid to veer left - this is an artist who followed up "Boom Clap" with "Vroom Vroom" - so when lead single "Rock Music" kicked off this album cycle. it wasn't a surprise that it ventured pretty far from the material that granted Charli ownership of an entire summer. A sub-two-minute jam with crunchy guitars and a stuttering chorus, "Rock Music" was a warning shot to the new fans brought in by Brat that Charli rarely caters to anyone's expectations. It was a divisive single, with some even thinking it was a joke or a fake-out, pointing to lyrics like "real incestuous vibes" and "I'm really hurting my neck / The nerve damage is real" as proof.

While "Rock Music" did end up being a legitimate lead single, it also was a bit of a misleading one. Music, Fashion, Film is indeed Charli's "rock" album, with every song built around guitars and recognizable influences ranging from Metric to PJ Harvey present, but rarely does it approach the brash abrasiveness of its lead single. In fact, I would argue that Brat and even several other Charli projects (namely Vroom Vroom and How I'm Feeling Now) have more swagger and punk-rock attitude than Music, Fashion, Film. Instead, my main emotional takeaway from this record sonically is a warmth, a sense of comfort and relief.

That pivot starts right away, as album opener "Rock Music" cuts abruptly to fellow single "SS26," defined by its melodic bass line and a delicate vocal delivery from Charli. Then there's "Wink Wink," which sounds more like an early Strokes song than anything off of the Stroke's new album Reality Awaits, which also released today. "Magic Metal Madonna" taps into a similar vibe, sprinting towards a sparkly instrumental break and classic slow-down conclusion. These songs are certainly within the "rock" universe, but they aren't loud or confrontational by any means.

That said, Music, Fashion, Film does have moments more adjacent to "Rock Music." "Card Declined" rides a low-sweeping, grungy guitar riff for most of its run time, giving off a detached vibe aided by Charli's deadpan vocals. The chorus of "Yeah" is basically a burst of distortion coupled with a synth line that, hilariously enough, reminds me first and foremost of the soundtrack to the Sonic Heroes level Casino Park, and "Persona" is a mucky stomp that leans heavily on its guitar riff as well. Admittedly, these are some of the weakest moments on the album - I'm still 50/50 on whether I like "Rock Music," and "Persona" just does not work for me as it plods along aimlessly - but they at least swing for the fences a bit more.

The two finest songs on Music, Fashion, Film in my book come from opposite sides of the genre spectrum. The first, "Camera," is the album's closest neighbor to Charli's more familiar electro-pop sound. There is a guitar riff, yes, but the star of the show are those twinkling synths that light up the chorus. The other, "I'm Afraid," sees Charli pay credence to the likes of modern indie royalty like Alex G and Mitski; an ominous acoustic riff and bone-chilling bass plucks promise an impending doom as Charli reminds us "As we know, I'm insecure." That doom arrives in the chorus; Charli chants through her post-Brat fears of failure and abandonment as searing noise envelops her. By the end, the song is dissolving, with no easy resolution available.

As these two songs demonstrate, there is a degree of tonal whiplash on Music, Fashion, Film. Adding to that feeling are Charli's lyrics and vocals throughout the album. Lyrically, much of MFF highlight's Charli's anxiety on having to follow up her biggest record yet, from her growing interests in other mediums like, well, fashion ("Card Declined") and film ("Camera") to having to live up to the public persona she built on Brat ("Wink Wink"). There are places where her signature cheekiness pipes up, sure, like in "Rock Music" or on "SS26" when she sings " But I didn't do it / Even if I did / Wrote a really good notes app apology." But there's also despair, like on "Camera" when Charli says she's "looking down the barrel of a gun" before telling the holder "fucking shoot me." In those moments, it doesn't feel like a joke at all. In terms of vocal performance, it's perhaps Charli's least expressive album. Despite the raucous sound of a number of tracks, most of the time Charli opts for a chilled-out and at times monotone delivery. Both of these elements remind me of Brat's two most muted tracks, "I might say something stupid" and "I think about it all the time." Thematically, Music, Fashion, Film seems to be riffing off those two more so than anything else across Charli's discography.

Then there's "Nothing Lasts Forever," the album closer that flips everything on its head and features a spoken-word outro from film director David Cronenberg. Backed by a driven pace and upbeat instrumental, Charli finds comfort as she realizes that nothing and no one lasts forever, so worrying about the past is just a way of ruining the present. It's a "carpe diem" anthem that recognizes the liberation that death - literal and metaphorical - provides. "Oblivion is freedom," Cronenberg opines as the instrumental trickles out. Because nothing lasts forever, and that "nothing" includes the pressures of being a pop star like Charli; instead it's better to simply go forth and live. (Of course, with Charli a lover of irony, vinyl versions of this record contain a never-ending loop of this track, so it can in theory last forever.)

Music, Fashion, Film is not Brat, nor did Charli want it to be. We won't be seeing political campaigns adopt its slogan, we won't see a major uptick in black-and-white fashion (a color scheming for this era that seems to be a deliberate contrast to Brat's famous green), and we won't be claiming a second season for Ms. XCX. It's also, frankly, not as well-crafted or polished as Brat was. Too many of its songs run in a straight line structurally, and the vocals are at times disinterested and unmemorable. Even if both of those elements are thematically appropriate, they do limit the album to a degree at the surface level. Despite the ambition and scale a Charli XCX rock album with Martin Scorsese on the cover was capable of, Music, Fashion, Film ended up being a fairly mild product, one that doesn't quite reach the heights that we've come to expect from Charli. At the same time, however, it's still thoroughly enjoyable record with some great songs. Most importantly, perhaps, Charli found herself at a crossroads and made the record she absolutely wanted and needed to make.

Olivia Rodrigo - "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love" Album Review

If you, like me, are a millennial or older who is trying to be Hip With The Kids On TikTok, you may have noticed over the past few years a deep reverence for older musical artists taking flight. At least on my FYP, I'm just as likely to see Gen Z-ers gushing about the likes of Jeff Buckley or Alice in Chains as I am Doja Cat or Taylor Swift. There's a nostalgia for by-gone aesthetic trends they barely lived to see, too, from Y2K to Tuscan interior design and more. I chalk this up, like pretty much everything happening culturally in 2026, to the digital age: young people yearn for a time where style was more personalized, rather than curated by an algorithm trying to maximize views, likes, and revenue. There was a sense of authenticity and genuine creativity that can often get lost as today's acceleratingly-corporatist America seems more interested in following a formula than developing something new. There's also, of course, the oft-discussed fact that smartphones and social media have in many ways isolated us from those nearby, weakening our sense for real human connection and forging an increasingly-lonely society.

Ever since her mainstream breakout at the age of 17 with "drivers license," Olivia Rodrigo has been Gen Z's biggest figure in the pop music landscape. Fittingly, her music captures her generation's penchant for looking backwards culturally and pulling those influences to the modern day. 2021's SOUR and 2023's GUTS both found their musical footing in 2000's pop rock, influenced by and compared to the likes of Paramore, Avril Lavigne, and Lily Allen. However, Rodrigo has always managed to combine those older sounds with a current perspective - she writes of romance in ways best understood by those who grew up in a world of dating apps and Instagram DM's.

For her third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Rodrigo has retained that current lyrical point-of-view, but musically she's turned the clock back even further - trading her iPod for a Walkman, the sk8r bois for the goth kids. Most obvious is the album's three nods to legendary alternative outfit The Cure: lead single and album opener "drop dead" references their 1987 hit "Just Like Heaven"; second single "the cure" is, of course, the name of the band (and was released on World Goth Day); and singer Robert Smith hops on "what's wrong with me" to become the first featured artist across Rodrigo's three albums to date. Rodrigo and main collaborator Dan Nigro branch further into 80s post-punk and college rock flavors on "maggots for brains" - which sports a New Order-esque guitar riff - and "purple," which is built around a repeated lyric of "melt with you," calling back to Modern English's signature 1982 track.  Even structurally, you seem pretty sad bucks streaming-era trends; the album is fifty minutes long, no song is under three minutes, "the cure" is five minutes long with no single edit made available, and closer "cigarette smoke" nearly reaches six minutes.

All that said, the narrative Rodrigo spins across you seem pretty sad is undeniably youthful. Split into two halves - appropriately, "girl so in love" and "you seem pretty sad" - it details the full arch of a relationship from internet crush to wishing she could forget. "drop dead" opens with Rodrigo "stalking" her love interest on social media and testing their astrological compatibility. "u + me = <3" bears a text-lingo title, and "my way" sees Rodrigo calling out another woman for "posting another pic in clothes that I know are his." Across the first seven tracks that make up the "girl so in love" half, she's completely smitten. 

Things change drastically on "the cure," the first track of the "you seem pretty sad" section and the album's emotional center. Surrounded by strummy acoustic guitars building to a string-laden cathartic finale, Rodrigo details how this relationship has uncovered her wounds (which, on "honeybee" earlier, she had claimed were healed). "I thought I found the antidote with you / But my head is full of poison, and my heart is full of doubts," she cries out. Her conclusion? "It don't matter how your love feels anymore / it'll never be the cure." The repeated refrain of "I'm unraveled" really tells the whole story. Compared by many to "Tonight, Tonight" by Smashing Pumpkins, "the cure" crystalizes everything Rodrigo's music has represented across her three albums, and in this humble blogger's opinion, has quickly becoming the crowning jewel of her discography.

From there, the relationship is in tatters. A brutal three-song stretch of "begged," "what's wrong with me," and "less" sees Rodrigo broken and despondent. The quiet restraint of "begged" still cuts deep with its chorus' closing statement: "nothing's quite enough when I know that to get it I begged." Robert Smith is a welcome guest on "what's wrong with me," though it is funny to hear him sing a verse that, while emotional, was clearly originally written with the 23-year-old Rodrigo in mind rather than a 67-year-old who's been married since 1988. Throughout this second suite, only "expectations" feels more like a spunky "fuck off" than a bitter "fuck you." It's the most self-reflective and downtrodden we've ever seen Rodrigo; rather than "onto the next one," this time it feels like she's tired of trying. The final moments of the album have her wishing the memories could "go dark."

With how emotional you seem pretty sad is, it's remarkable how catchy Rodrigo & co have made the album. The bright-eyed "drop dead" and the confessional "the cure" have both been stuck in my head since the singles dropped. "maggots for brains" has a delightfully bright chorus, and "expectations" is still fun despite coming in the album's latter, darker half. Rodrigo's voice is as compelling as ever, from the tongue-in-cheek spoken-word verse of "drop dead" to the delicate balladry of "honeybee."

There's more cooks in the kitchen helping this time, too; while GUTS was almost exclusively written by Rodrigo and Nigro, you seem pretty sad credits a number of songwriters. Steph Jones joins the fold for the first time on "my way," having worked previously on two of the decade's greatest pop hits in JADE's "Angel of My Dreams" and Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso," Amy Allen, who did contribute to GUTS-era numbers "pretty isn't pretty" and "scared of my guitar" (as well as also working on "Espresso"), appears on five different tracks. Sasha Alex Sloan, known for working with Charli XCX on sister tracks "Track 10" and "Blame It On Your Love," shows up on "what's wrong with me." And rising producer Jim-E Stack, fresh off producing Lorde's Virgin, co-produced "purple," and his flourishes are noticeable.

Speaking of Lorde - there's a through line connecting her sophomore effort Melodrama to you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. Much like Rodrigo, Lorde broke out in her teens with a pop record that eschewed what was stylistically popular at the time. She then returned with Melodrama, a matured tale of progressive heartbreak assembled with a key collaborator in Jack Antonoff. It became a flagship breakup record for younger Millennials; time will tell if you seem pretty sad can be the same for Gen Z a decade later. One thing is for certain, though: three albums in, Olivia Rodrigo keeps getting better, and continues to build her legacy as the voice of a generation.

New Album Quick Hits - March 2026

Some quick blurbs recapping the albums I listened to for the first time this month! I might make this a monthly series, not sure yet. It's a good way for me get some short thoughts on paper (pixels?) about records I don't have a full review ready to go for, be it for lack of content or lack of time. 

Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

Phenomenal dance music. Builds on the Sheffield-dubbed "avant-disco" sound of Britney Spears' Blackout by adding a harder edge and a knowledge of what TikTok is. One for the gays! 

Fave tracks: "DANCE...," "GAS STATION," "CRANK," "YES GODD"

Robyn - Sexistential

Consistently good record, other than the title track which didn't click for me - others will love it though! Lacks the insane highs of Body Talk and Honey but very good for being thirty years into Robyn's career.

Fave tracks: "Dopamine," "Talk to Me," "It Don't Mean a Thing"

underscores - U

They really wanted us dancing this month didn't they?? We knew from singles like "Music" and "Do It" that we were gonna have bangers, but the more subdued songs here also excel; "Lovefield" and "Body Feeling" are standouts. Hyperpop that dials the "hyper" back just a touch.

Fave tracks: "Music," "Body Feeling," "Lovefield"

War Child Records - Help(2)

Hard to evaluate as an album given it's a compilation from various artists, but there's some great stuff in here and its all going to a fantastic cause. Having Olivia Rodrigo, Depeche Mode, Cameron Winter, and Arooj Aftab on the same record is a bit surreal, but it does work. Rodrigo opting to cover The Magnetic Fields' all-time love-classic "The Book of Love" is particularly wonderful.

Fave tracks: "The Book of Love," "Black Boys on Mopeds," "Don't Fight the Young"

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope.

Jessie Ware meets Amy Winehouse with all of the grandiosity of a Bond theme. Also reminds me a bit of Little Simz' instant classic Sometimes I Might Be Introvert and Lily Allen's recent earth-scorcher West End Girl. Stunning vocals of course, but I do find the constant drama to be slightly overwrought, and some of these song titles (along with the album title) are definitely a little too corny to forgive fully.

Fave tracks: "I Know You're Hurting" "Beware... the South London Lover Boy," "Where Is My Husband!"

Green-House - Hinterlands 

A pleasant if unexceptional ambient-ish album. Great for a dewey morning, but don't expect anything mind-blowing.

Fave tracks: Nothing in particular, meant to be heard as an album.

Harry Styles - Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.

Flat, plain and simple. Individual tracks are fine, but it never coalesces as an exciting record. "Aperture" promises a tension that builds to a whimper, with tracks like "Season 2 Weight Loss" failing to deliver any kind of meaningful impact. "American Girls" is charming in how Harry manages to sound like Panda Bear singing over a Cut Copy beat, and I can see why it's the one getting radio play. But by and large this album just kind of trudges on by.

Fave tracks: "American Girls," "Taste Back"

Album of the Week: Kendrick Lamar - "To Pimp a Butterfly"

Rating: 9.6/10

Thanks to a convenient Interscope snafu, Kendrick Lamar's hugely anticipated To Pimp a Butterfly has been released a week early. The hype surrounding this album has been massive, as Kendrick's 2012 debut good kid, m.A.A.d city was adored by everyone from casual hip-hop fans to hardcore indie purists, and all of those who fall somewhere in the middle. To Pimp a Butterfly is a colossal album, both literally and figuratively; it tackles issues of racial inequity bluntly and unapologetically over the course of the sixteen-track, seventy-nine-minute run time. If good kid showed that being a black youth in modern times is incredibly challenging, To Pimp a Butterfly proves that being a black adult, especially an ultra-famous one, isn't easy either.

Kendrick isn't holding back any of his thoughts, no matter how potentially revealing and/or controversial, on TPAB. He tackles everything from divisions within the black community ("Complexion") to classism ("Institutionalized") to his own insecurities about being a public figure ("Mortal Man") with energy and dexterity. The best moments on the record lyrically come on "u" and "The Blacker the Berry." On "u," which serves as a contrast to self-loving lead single "i," Kendrick runs through all of his self-doubts without a shred of guardedness or embarrassment, delivered through tears and the clinking of liquor bottles. "The Blacker the Berry" sees the L.A.-based rapper proudly proclaim himself as "the biggest hypocrite of 2015" for, among other things, "weep[ing] when Trayvon Martin was in the street" but not for the gang-related slayings that occur far too frequently.

In order to provide a background for him to elucidate the immense difficulties facing the black individual in today's society, Lamar fittingly looks to a period of music that provided black Americans one of tragically few opportunities to thrive in pre-civil rights America: jazz. Tracks like "For Free?" and "Institutionalized" use instrumentation that sounds ripped from a Miles Davis record, as opposed to your run-of-the-mill hip-hop digital sampling software. In order to pull off this unique approach, Kendrick employed a bevy of live musicals to perform on the album, achieving an organic and live feel not often found in hip-hop. Thundercat is the album's unsung hero, whose basslines dominate a number of tracks, opener "Wesley's Theory" not the least among them. A handful of guests step up to the microphone as well, most notably Snoop Dogg's verse on "Institutionalized" and Rapsody's spot on "Complexion (A Zulu Love)," and the influences of famed produced Flying Lotus is clear throughout the record.

After the September release of "i" as a single, I was frankly underwhelmed, and my expectations for Lamar's new project were tempered. But To Pimp a Butterfly delivers outstanding quality in just about every regard, from its lyrics to its music. Save one or two weak points ("Alright" is just barely that), Kendrick lived up to the unbelievable hype for this sophomore effort. In a year heavy with high-profile rap releases, including Drake's already-released If You're Reading This... and the (apparently) soon-to-come new Kanye West album, To Pimp a Butterfly will certainly be in the conversation for 2015's best albums.

Key tracks: "King Kunta," "u," "Complexion (A Zulu Love)," "The Blacker the Berry"

Album of the Week: Kanye West - "The College Dropout" (10th Anniversary)

Rating: 7.8/10

Kanye West. Just reading his name probably conjures up a strong image in your head. You may know him for his numerous critically-acclaimed albums, hit singles, and awards. Or, maybe you know him as an egotistical paparazzi favorite who stole Taylor Swift's thunder at the VMAs and claimed that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Most likely, you know both sides of Kanye; his extreme self-confidence and inflated self-image are part of what drives his music, music that is highly regarded by hip-hop fans and critics alike. Ten years ago this past Monday, the world was first introduced to the crazy mind of Kanye when his debut album, The College Dropout, was released. Few could expect the various twists and turns that his career would take, whether it was the vocoder-laden 808s & Heartbreak or the harsh, audacious Yeezus, on which West could dub himself a deity in the not-so-subtly-titled "I Am a God." The College Dropout was our first taste of what West brought to the table, and it was clear from the start that he was destined for stardom.

The crowning moment of the album, the track that got everybody's attention and started to define West's place in the rap game, was the ominous, marching "Jesus Walks." Excellent use of sampling and superb production only enhance Kanye's poignant lyrics, which were uniquely religious for the time. By boldly embracing Christianity on the song, West took hip-hop to a place where it hadn't been in quite some time, as explained by the second verse; "So here go my single dog radio needs this/They said you can rap about anything except for Jesus/That means guns, sex, lies, videotape/But if I talk about God my record won't get played." It's also a monster of a song, with a booming choir and tricky snare roll backing Kanye.

The album, while tackling major themes, also displayed West's tongue-in-cheek sense of humor for the first time. Pretty much the entirety of "The New Workout Plan" is satirical, mocking society's pressure on women to always look their best. The record is littered with small skits in the form of dialogues, all of which are intended to provide comic relief. Some unintentional humor can be found in the now-dated pop culture references, such as West name-dropping Kathie Lee Gifford and Regis Philbin on the aforementioned "Jesus Walks."

Besides fair amounts deep philosophical ideas and funny lyrics, The College Dropout is also chock-full of some great tunes. "Through the Wire" has a great sample, and Kanye impresses with his rapping skills despite having recorded the track with his jaw wired shut after a near-fatal car accident, which is detailed in the song. On "All Falls Down," Syleena Johnson provides a classic early '00's R&B vocal, and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z shows up on "Never Let Me Down" to help West close shop on the track. Other big names contributing solid verses to the record include Common,  Jamie Foxx, and Ludacris.

The College Dropout is undoubtedly one of the top hip-hop albums of the 2000's, and holds its own when held up to the great releases of past decades, too. It remains Kanye's best-selling effort, debuting at #2 in the US  and going double platinum. To some, it may pale in comparison to West's newer works, specifically My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus, but that doesn't make it any less of a great album. Not much could have been known about what the future held for Kanye West after hearing The College Dropout, but one thing was obvious from the get-go: this man was wildly talented, and far from finished.

Albums of the Year - #9: The National - "Trouble Will Find Me"

Rating: 8.3/10

I'll be honest with you; I'm not crazy about the second half of Trouble Will Find Me. After four amazing tracks packed into the top half of the line-up, the album unfortunately drops off in quality a bit. With the major exceptions being the electrifying "Graceless" and pitter-patter of "Pink Rabbits," the tracklist starting with "Heavenfaced" is somewhat lacking. There's nothing inherently bad about any of the songs, but there also isn't anything to pull you in either. Devoid of any kind of earth-shattering moments and leaning too heavily on Berninger's melancholy vocals, songs like "Slipped" and "Hard to Find" merely stretch out the record longer than it needed to be.

That being said, I still gave the album an 8.3. Why's this? Well, though the second division of Trouble Will Find Me is disappointing, four of the first five songs are awe-inspiring. "I Should Live in Salt," "Demons," "Don't Swallow the Cap," and "Sea of Love" more than make up for the rest of the album's shortcomings. All possess that trademark sound all of The National's best tracks do, except maximized to new heights.

Albums of the Year - #11: HAIM - "Days Are Gone"

Rating: 8.0/10

HAIM have had quite the year. After generating buzz last year with their three-song EP Forever, this band of sisters took 2013 with the hook-laced Days Are Gone. Melodious harmonies, plucky guitar riffs, and skittish drum beats characterized the indie-pop record that landed on numerous year-end lists. Several fesitval shows and an SNL appearance later, HAIM have been labeled by many as the best new artist of 2013. (Though they missed out on a Best New Artist nod at the upcoming GRAMMY Awards thanks to a confusing nomination process.)

Over the two months between my original review of the record and this one, my love for Days Are Gone has only strengthened, thus the jump up from a 7.1 rating to a flat eight. Songs like "Forever" and "The Wire" are undeniable pieces of pop-rock gold. On "Forver," the start-stop coordination between the bass and drums give the song a nervous feel as main vocalist Danielle is joined by sisters Este and Alana for the chorus.  "The Wire" rides on the backbone of a riff that could've been plucked straight from Rumours, incorporating keys and thundering drums for the hook. "Always keep your heart locked tight/don't let your mind retire," urges Danielle. A miniture guitar solo takes prominence right at the track's conclusion.

Albums of the Year - #13: Local Natives - "Hummingbird"

Rating: 7.6/10

The second album from L.A.-based indie rockers Local Natives, the airy, lighthearted Hummingbird suffers from a classic case of having excellent singles but also possessing way too much filler. The record is strongest when the band are at their most ambitious, and is weakest when the songs become simpler and less involved. Still, there aren't really any bad songs on Hummingbird; only boring ones. The album at times is dark, something the group's 2009 debut Gorilla Manor did not forge towards, or at least not as successfully. The lyrics were apparently influenced by the death of singer/multi-instrumentalist Kelcey Ayer's mother and the departure of original bassist Andy Hamm.

The more morose tunes are some of the album's best moments, as it doesn't get much better than the opening one-two punch of "You & I" and "Heavy Feet." The former utilizes an edgy drum beat and mysterious guitar twists that sit under a confused, wandering vocal. "When did your love go cold? The closer I get, the farther I have to go" cries Ayer. The song reaches a climax during the bridge, as an early break of "oh"'s, horns, and tribal drums gives way to one of the best-sung notes of the year. Accompanied by an even sadder video, "You & I" nabbed the #27 spot on my countdown of the year's best individual songs. When I had the pleasure of seeing these guys live at this past September's Boston Calling, this song was the definite show-stopper during their set. It's one of this young band's best songs to date, and definitely their most mature one.

"You & I"'s partner-in-crime in starting off Hummingbird is even more impressive. "Heavy Feet" focuses in on a complex drum beat, complimented with handclaps and stellar bass play, and features excellent overall sound thanks to album producer and The National member Aaron Dessner. The change in intensity between the verse and chorus is more than noticable, as the guitar tones make the song bigger than expected.

The group clearly draws influence from fellow up-and-comers Grizzly Bear, most evident on songs like "Bowery" and "Black Balloons." Each feature vocal harmonies and dreamy guitar work. Other notable songs include "Wooly Mammoth," a relentless and frantic track, and "Ceilings," a more relaxing but still enjoyable song.

Still, there are some duds that you wish had been modified or scrapped altogether, and this really holds the album as a whole back. "Three Months" feels like it lasts for three months, though the official track length reads about four and a half minutes. "Columbia" is a piano ballad that never quite seems to come together. The record is also top-heavy, which disrupts the flow greatly; arguably the two best tracks are the first two, and the only other truly stellar song comes fifth on the setlist.

That fifth song is "Breakers," another drum-heavy song with jangly guitars, though this time the chorus soars above the clouds and seems to be enjoying itself. In the chorus, the band's other vocalist, Taylor Rice, sings, "breathing out only to breathe in, I know nothing's wrong but I'm not convinced." A wave of hi-hats and "ooh"'s overtake the breathtaking chorus.

Hummingbird is a strong effort that arguably produced Local Natives' two best songs to date. However, it is less consistent throughout than Gorilla Manor, and has its dull moments. Nevertheless, some tracks are so superb and others are still far enough above average that Hummingbird certainly warranted a place on my top 15.

Key Tracks: "You & I," "Heavy Feet," "Breakers"

Album of the Week: The White Stripes - "Elephant"

Rating: 8.6/10

From the arena-rocking riff that kicks off "Seven Nation Army" to the studio chatter that rounds up "Well It's True That We Love One Another," Elephant explores spheres of indie, folk, and blues rock in a way only The White Stripes can. The 2003 record combines influences from the aforementioned genres into 14 monsotrously powerful yet for the most part brief songs.

The rockier tunes, such as "Black Math" and the album-opening "Seven Nation Army," are riff-heavy romps with brilliant guitar work from singer/guitarist Jack White. The latter is famous for its so-called bass riff (which is actually played on guitar and utilizes a whammy pedal) that's been played time and time again at sporting events. Not to be overlooked is the march-style drum beat and eccentric guitar solo. The former is a shaky sludge of crash cymbals and another catchy guitar riff. "Black Math" then proceeds to suddenly switch tempo into a more deliberate snarl.

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