hi everyone nuthini post tano here the internet's busiest music nerd and it's time for a review of the new illuminati hotties album let me do one more this is the second full-length lp of sarah tudson's illuminati hotties i first became acquainted with sarah's music through last year's free ih mixtape this is not the one you've been waiting for which through its title still set my expectations high i mean after all what if it was the one i was waiting for i couldn't tell if the project was bringing together elements of indie rock noise pop pop
punk and riot girl as a result of like dutiful study or chaotic genre blending either way it resulted in a pretty perfect balance of all of these sounds but ultimately it was sarah's incredible wit and irreverent attitude that left an impression on me there were some points where i wanted more from the songwriting or felt like the production fell a little flat even for something with a diy flair but the record still did what it needed to do in terms of bringing more attention to sarah's music than it ever had before and making her an
indie artist to watch for the next year or so which makes this new album here kind of a make-or-break moment with so many people listening and watching it better be your best project yet and it in fact is and not that i was worried going into it i mean we pretty much got half the record in teasers and they were all great to some degree and moo the first single from the lp i was told i should call it that the wildly eccentric lead vocals and sour post punk guitars signaled toward a record that was
going to be more colorful and maybe more uncompromising especially with these lyrics that read like an aggressively blended smoothie of absurdities occasionally throwing out criticisms of commercialism in the dnc it's a great track and somehow there's nothing else on the record that sounds like it and i find that kind of refreshing cause i think versatility is the name of the game on let me do one more but most of the tracks here still come back to some basic musical truths of indie rock and pop punk the song pool hopping is as fun and sweet as
the melty scoop of ice cream mentioned in the lyrics the track is peppered with groovy rhythms tight vocal harmonies a super infectious hook as well pool hop in window shopping but those driving rhythm guitars and kind of snotty lead vocals are really what keeps the fire burning there's an unspeakably dark and kind of grungy tension that goes over very well on the song need and threatening each other re-capitalism is an incredible slow burner that reads like a crossroads between abject depression and satirical consumerism the slow and dramatic guitars and drums set the stage for some
very shy vocal melodies and god when that rush of of heavy guitars hit i don't really know what's more devastating the sound of the song or the capitalist schemes that are hidden away in sarah's lyrics the farmer's market got this stand they say they'll cut your fruit in half it saves you sweat but your hall rots fast now twice a week you're hauling back then the song uvvp i'm almost mad at this one because if there's anything i hated about indie rock and pop of the 2010s it was its embrace of beach and beach rock
aesthetics yeah and that's pretty much what this one does albeit it's very ironic about the whole thing and i do appreciate that plus i like the way that sarah with her writing plays with these concepts of romance some of the musical transitions throughout the song are really creative and that spoken word outro from buck meek is a hilariously campy so even if it's kind of rooted in a trend i don't care for there is a lot of creativity to it that i can't deny then we have the even more amazing uh joni la's number one
health goth which is about this joanie character that i i guess for sarah in this song is like this object of envy over this completely wild instrumental she's described as a punk babe she's sexy smart she's in bands she's cutting edge she's a true rebel that doesn't take from anybody but yeah overall the track's got a lot of energy a lot of character it's very catchy it's got a lot of interesting and funny descriptions in the lyrics plus the brutally nasty vocal tone is just classic punk all the way the rockin cheap shoes goes over
without hitch too once i finished with the record it was really some of the more low-key moments that for me were hit or miss i liked the idea of these tracks being included in concept because they do bring the record some necessary variety but protector for example i found to be a little bland especially in the first leg again interesting that sarah threw in a song that was essentially a slow paced somewhat droney piece of ambient pop with a decent build toward the end but it just came off a little too one-dimensional sadly the song
kickflip as well brought a nice change of pace aesthetically the track's kind of fun in that it's difficult to define it feels like i'm listening to a punked out piece of psych country but i still found the songwriting on this one to be partially a dud as the vocal melodies were super repetitive and tedious there's not too much to speak of in terms of progression either but with all that being said i still think the closing track growth goes over well even with it being the most choked up quiet and indirect sonically track on the
entire lp but it's absolutely soul crushing on the lyrical front on this one single song sarah kind of outsides all of the professionally depressed indie stars out there with this dejected guitar strumming and lyrics about feeling used losing her dog and essentially succumbing to the emotional numbness and lack of expectations that often come with adulthood overall let me do one more i'll say is kind of scatter shot and not every song is fantastic but it's still loaded with bangers it's got a lot of personality snappy songwriting colorful and versatile rock production too yes i'll say
this was the one that i was waiting for i'm feeling a light too decent eight on this lp tran position have you given this album a listen did you love it did you hate it what would you rate it you're the best you're the best what should i review next hit the like if you like please subscribe and please don't cry hit the bell as well over here next to my head it's a video you can check out on the channel another review and uh yeah hit that up or the link to subscribe anthony fantano
illuminati hotties forever
