The Tuesday Review #1: Introduction
Hello, and welcome to the first of many Tuesday Reviews. Every week, I review a new album and give some updates on what new singles I’m listening to and my life. If there’s an album you think I should review or singles you think I should check out, drop them in the comments, and I’ll give it a listen!
Review: “Sweetness” - Girlpuppy
In January 2024, I camped on the barricade at Heartwood Soundstage in Gainesville, Florida. My friends and I eagerly awaited Flipturn’s set at the second iteration of Playground Music Festival, which the band hosts annually. I had done my homework beforehand, exploring each artist on the lineup to plan out my day. One such standout was Girlpuppy, the stage name of Georgia-based singer-songwriter Becca Harvey. In my listening, I loved the indie rock sound and confessional lyrics of her debut album “When I’m Alone” and was eager to see her perform. And to my excitement, she announced that she would be playing some new tracks. Standing in freezing cold weather (a wet Florida cold I wouldn’t wish on anyone), I found these new songs to be a continuation of the sounds that drew me into Harvey’s music in the first place.
So of course I was excited to hear she would be releasing “Sweetness” this March with Captured Tracks. Her second album, “Sweetness” is both a return to form and an evolution of the light indie rock sound she crafted on “When I’m Alone.” And the title matches how the album feels, with Harvey’s airy, soft vocals creating a sense of endearment and sweetness in each track. Throughout the album she sings of growth following the end of a relationship, moving through each emotion and experience from track to track. Opening with a lush, ambient instrumental track, the journey begins with “I Just Do!,” a break-up song disguised as a love song in moments. Harvey sings of the relationship through a veil of happy memories, calling herself a masochist for sticking around over driving indie rock guitars and drums. “Champ” is a continuation of this theme, complete with more rock instrumentation and self-deprecating lyrics. This time Harvey says she can “take it like a champ,” but moves to a perspective where she realizes that it’s not worth it to stay. The first half of the album follows this theme of reminiscing and processing the end of a relationship. The ballad “In My Eyes” tells of lingering feelings with wistful piano and acoustic guitars, and on “Windows,” a more lush and reverb-heavy take on the indie rock style introduced in earlier tracks, Harvey sings of seeing the past in a new relationship.
It is here where we see a shift in Harvey’s lyrical perspective with “Since April.” Gone is the nostalgia and desire for the past, and in its place is anger. Distorted guitars return to the instrumentation with Harvey noting the hardship of a break-up. “Beaches” is an almost obligatory country-influenced track, adding a shuffle and pedal steel to the equation as Harvey begins to move on in her lyrics. She cites sadness at not knowing someone anymore but says she could never hate them either. In “I Was Her Too,” she sings of being cheated on and seeing herself in the other woman in another acoustic ballad with piano and strings added into the mix. “For You Two” is a return to indie rock as Harvey continues to move on, forcing herself to forget that the relationship ever happened over a heavier breakdown in the guitar, bass and beat. (It is this track that I took a shaky phone video of Harvey and her band performing it for the first time.) Harvey’s journey ends with “I Think I Did,” a minimalist track that adds atmospheric synth chords and acoustic guitar that swells into a moment of true realization. As the track fades out, so do the painful memories.
“Sweetness” is an album filled with emotion, and the combination of Harvey’s confessional lyrics with playful and varied instrumentation builds up from the first half’s focus on reminiscing and missing a past relationship to the moments of acceptance and moving forward we see in the second. It’s a journey that Harvey takes us down in her storytelling, and it’s one of growth.
The Singles Club
The Singles Club is my hub for the new singles I’ve been tracking. I update it every week as I find new releases, ranging from indie rock to emo to pop and hip-hop. Here are some standouts I’ve been listening to this week. You can see my full list on Spotify here.
“Julia’s War” - Hotline TNT (Third Man Records)
“migration patterns” - Home Is Where (Wax Bodega)
“Zarigani” - Mei Semones (Bayonet Records)
“Tonight” - PinkPantheress (Warner Records)
“Echo” - Deadharrie
“CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)” - Car Seat Headrest (Matador Records)
“Philadelphia, Get Me Through” - Bedridden (Julia’s War Recordings)
“catch these fists” - Wet Leg (Domino Recording Co.)