Blondshell Drops an Explosive Introduction That Is the Best Debut of the Year (so Far)
Plus, the latest episode of 'Album of the Month!'
Hello, my pod people!
We recently dropped our latest episode of 5-9’s Album of the Month, covering five records from March. For those first-time listeners, the panel includes Andrew Belt from 5-9 and Karl Blakesley of New Music Weekly UK. Ahead of each month, we pick four of our most anticipated releases and leave the fifth vote up to you, the listener.
For March, we covered four excellent (and I mean that) records and an overhyped dud. Listen here as we discuss LIES, M83, Yves Tumor, The Nude Party, and boygenius:
Also, a warm welcome to all new subscribers over the last week! Overall, the previous two and a half years of writing Check This Out! has been a phenomenal experience that has changed my life in so many great ways, yet I still don’t love the social media part of it.
You may have heard about Substack starting a “Notes” feature, which prompted the fragile fella who owns Twitter to block links from this site. Yes, Notes is very much like Twitter, but it is a much more positive experience in its infancy than what happens at The Bird Site™. Hopefully, I’ll use Notes more often than Twitter and Instagram in the future, but this glass-half-empty guy is usually in a “wait and see” pattern.
One final programming note, for the summer, I am moving the Songs You Need To Hear Now weekly playlist to its own post every Wednesday. Be on the lookout for the latest tomorrow!
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CK One must be in the air because this year, we’ve had at least one excellent 90s-influenced record to discuss monthly. Currently, it’s Blondshell’s phenomenal self-titled debut record that finds the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter confronting inner turmoil with a sometimes humorous sneer over walls of deliciously chorus-drenched distorted guitars.
Blondshell is the nom de plume for Sabrina Teitelbaum, who initially gave music a go as Baum with a poppy single back in 2019. After tackling self-conscious tendencies and writing songs for herself instead of hoping to hitch a ride in the algorithm, Blondshell was born. Her debut record is unvarnished in its confrontation of all the enormous feelings that go into growth and finding yourself.
“Veronica Mars” is an instant classic opening song that punches you in the mouth while you ask for more. Starting with muted power chords, Teitelbaum recalls days long gone in a New York apartment while discovering that some people’s traits that turn you on might not always be the healthiest. Building into a cathartic release of mega fuzz and a squealing solo, the whole thing is over in under two minutes. No way are we stopping here. Teitelbaum plays with dynamic range throughout Blondshell, often electing for subdued verses that give way to booming choruses. There is no finer example of this than “Kiss City,” in which she uses a facade of guitars to contrast lyrical tenderness.
Substance and relationship abuse is a theme throughout the record, and “Olympus” intoxicates with its 120 Minutes-ready chorus while recollecting a relationship aided by sedatives. Later on in the album, “Sober Together” explores a different narcotic path when one partner falls back into old habits and questions when the love runs out as Teitelbaum sings, “Call me, I wanna be there for you, but not in a way that lets you take me down with you.” “Salad” is a deliciously twisted tale of a woman pushed too far, and when Teitelbaum declares, “gonna get big,” ya believe it. “Joiner” paints a picture of someone at their lowest, yet the narrator can’t help themselves from trying to save their partner.
Produced by Yves Rothman, who has worked with the Yves Tumor, Girlpool, Porches, and many others, Blondshell is a raw look at inner turmoil - kudos to Sabrina Teitelbaum for her honesty that makes this set of nine songs so alluring. By combining candid lyrics with a cohesive vision borrowed from grunge’s heydey, Teitelbaum’s Blondshell is easily the best debut of 2023 to this point and one of the better records you’ll hear this year.
Blondshell is available now on Partisan Records.
This Blondshell record is DOPE! Thx for rec.
I'm in wait & see mode too, but man, Notes is a lot of fun!