by Oliver on February 24, 2024 in Album
Hole in My Head: Eight years after the last one to date Against Me!-Album Shape Shift With Me The songs still bubble out with a casual lightness in Laura Jane Grace’s solo discography.
Separating the two nominal platforms only makes sense to a certain extent – which is why it seems more sensible in many respects Hole in My Head easy to declare as Grace’s 12th studio album – but subjectively it’s also true that the 43-year-old’s records released under solo names were never quite able to generate the weight of her band albums.
Which, by the way, is also the case with the 11 songs in 26 minutes Hole in My Head behind you Portugal. The Man or The Blood Brothers reminiscent artwork, little changes.
Keyword artwork. According to the package insert, this represents the album’s defining motif: up until now, only the head region of Grace’s skin was without tattoos – all of which, by the way, come from the masters Gakkin and Kenji Alucky and, in conjunction with her body, are intended to be understood by the wearer as a kind of trinity become.
The songs from can also be used to match this Hole in My Head felt to be divided into three categories, which have a certain non-binding triviality in common.
Firstly, there are the outliers, which feature the spartan sound with an unpolished band line-up: the title song Hole in My Head („Head! Head!“) is a fast, straight and mood-setting punk rocker, as catchy as it is simple and effortlessly shaken by Grace from the wrist while Birds Talk Too leans back a little more angular and jagged. Both pieces are not far from Against Me! and both lack pressure and force in a direct comparison, but as an ascetic finger exercise with potential and skill they are absolutely clear.
Secondly, there are the similarly oriented but even more reduced staged numbers: I’m Not a Cop As Rockabilly’n Roll, a little rattling and an archetypal bass line is enough to put the great, raw and dedicated vocals on a 50s pedestal Punk Rock in Basements poppier, claps and Keep Your Wheels Straight represents the almost decelerated reverberation and Mercenary decelerated rumbles.
And thirdly, there are pieces that are practically solo acoustic sketches. That was exhilarating Dysphoria Hoodie is the same as Cuffing Season or Hard Feelings a pleasantly catchy, but quickly forgotten singer-songwriter gem with a nice melody, where Tacos & Toast and Give Up the Ghost sway more melancholically and calmly.
It’s all never really bad in its homogeneous progression, which only really comes together from the second third of its playing time onwards – but never really strong, even though practically every song is an instant catchy tune. A lot of it feels too much like rudimentary demo status, the drums (played by Grace herself) and the lead guitars are too interchangeable, the songs lack sophistication and act more like tasty, but hardly filling morsels in the work Artist. Which is more entertaining fun than you might expect from other, less charismatic hands. Rounded up with fan glasses between the points, this means:
Hole In My Head von Laura Jane Grace
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