Today we’re taking a quick look at the latest from Playland, Via, and SG Goodman.
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at the latest from Playland, SG Goodman, and Via.
The boilerplate intro: Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I first did that in December 2020 and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but it also transcends genre or any other artificial guardrail we try to put up.
In other words, a ton of good stuff is still coming out, and there’s something for everyone. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. These are another batch that caught my attention recently.
Hard to believe that it’s almost AOTY season, but here we are. I’ll be posting through it, discussing what’s on my list, what isn’t, how I try to winnow things down, etc., over the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the records keep coming. There are always a few that get in under the wire, and ones from earlier in the year that might’ve been missed. Below are a few quick field reports from right between the sound machine.
Let’s get into it!
Playland- Playland 2
A late contender to the AOTY discourse has entered the chat.
I don’t think Playland 2 is trying to make a grand statement, but it ends up feeling like one anyway. Songs like “Everyone in the Park Is in Love,” “Power Outage,” and “Interactions” have a jangly brightness — fans of labelmates Ex-Pilots will find a lot to love here — blended with a lo-fi glow that lets the melodies bloom. It’s music that feels familiar, even when you’re hearing it for the first time.
Tracks like “Luv Like That,” “I Don’t Want to Live Here Anymore,” and “Vanity” pick up the pace, and the guitars get a little fuzzier. There’s some serious humanity in these tracks — they sound like someone trying to sort out their thoughts in real time. It’s messy but sincere. It’s not “perfect” in the traditional sense, but that’s exactly why it works. It sounds like, you know, a person. It plays like an album made because someone had something to say and didn’t want to wait. And in an era of performative nonsense, that feels kinda rad.
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Kevin Sent 