Ranting About Random Shit

The Punisher

In the past, I wrote about my favourite song, which has changed, but I want to talk about my favourite album: Punisher, by Phoebe Bridgers. Objectively, this is like an 8 - 8+ but it's my favourite because it's just a mood. I want to discuss how each song builds a story of this experience and give my thoughts about this album's strengths and weaknesses. 

DVD Menu: A good album opener should set the tone, and show you what the story and the sound should be, throughout the experience. DVD Menu is as the name suggests, sounds like a menu for a 2000s movie you put on at 11 pm, fall asleep halfway through, and wake up in the middle of the night. The instrumental hits very hard. Great opener.

Garden Song: Wow. I am in love with this song. It keeps getting better and better the more I listen to it. The song has this melancholy melody and also manages to be a bright tone, so the two mix together to be this perfect blend of sound, and GAHH I love love LOVE it. The dual vocals are chilling, and Phoebe's singing has improved immensely since the previous album, so full of energy and passion. Not to mention the lyrics, which I believe to be Phoebe's best quality. There so thought-provoking, and ideas from one song can change. Phoebe's mentality is good, and she admits she gets everything she wants, which is a lie because she fantasizes about being with a guy, but waking up before they do anything. Amazing song: 9+

Kyoto: This is probably the most upbeat song of the album. I especially like the story being told here. Starting off by being indecisive while on her trip to Kyoto, then transitions to being called by her dad, and her annoyance with him to the point where she wants to kill him, if he doesn't beat her to it. More of the same through the second verse, till the outro where she repeats she's a bad liar. The horns are great and really shine in this song. This song has so much energy and has been on my playlist ever since I first listened to it. For that:  9

Punisher: The title track, and it delivers. The effects on her voice are perfect, you can just drift off to this song. A question I asked is: What's a punisher? Well, Phoebe describes it as someone who could talk for hours about someone. Not knowing where to start, or when to stop. I do like this song, but for the title track I don't have anything else to say about it, that being said, it's still amazing. 8-

Halloween: A potential top 3 off the album for me. The vibe is incredible. Phoebe has a very melancholy tone for this song, it fits so well and the acoustic guitar helps bring a more down-to-earth feeling through the whole song. I could put this song on many playlists, and enjoy it just as much on each one. I fucking vibe to this song and could put it on any day. 9++

Chinese Satellite: Controversial take: I think this song is fine. I mean this from the perspective of the album. I would listen to this over plenty of other songs, it is not a bad song. I do think, however, that it's forgettable. I also think it might be the weakest song on this entire album. I mean it brings no new sounds to the album, and that's ok, but I want more with this song. Phoebe's singing is fine, there is nothing wrong with it, but I get taken out of the album's mood just a bit when this song plays. Overall, it was a 7, but if someone played this at a hangout (idk why they would) I wouldn't skip it.

Moon Song: When I first heard this song, the sound left me awed. I didn't listen to the lyrics, I just drifted off into space. The lyrics are also a little fucked up. What I take away from the song is Phoebe is in a relationship with someone who's toxic, but she'll wait for him, like a dog with a bird at the door, waiting for him to return. She'll give him the moon. The delivery of that line gives me chills. In my opinion, this song will either hit you, and impact you deeply, or it'll do nothing.  An amazing listen, front to back: 9-

Savior Complex: I have a lot of emotions with this song. It brings messy emotions. The song is like a daydream, with scattershot ideas, and the feeling of fantasy. It also has the line "But I'm too tired to have a pissing contest", which I chuckled at the first time I heard it. Phoebe's fantasy is for a vampire to come and save her and they'll show each other the skeletons and secrets they hide.  I think I shouldn't like this song as much as I do because I tend to listen to faster-paced, explosive music, but this song captivates me more than anything else on the album. (with one exception) My rating: 9+

ICU: This is the only song that has the explicit tag on Spotify. Anyway for the review of the song. It's a breath of fresh air for the album. After like 5 minor songs, we finally have something in a more major key. This song isn't as "deep" as the other song, but I'm okay with that. This song gives a little hope, until the lyrics. It's about Phoebe obsessing over her partner, saying she feels something when she sees him. It gets to the point where he doesn't light up anymore and gets more distance. She finishes the song by reflecting on how she fucks everything up. I enjoy the switch-up this song brings, and while it might not be one of my favourites, I give it respect for changing it up. It's easily an 8, and could easily be a higher number.

Graceland Too: This is easily the most generic song of the entire album. It's a song someone would sing around a campfire. Phoebe's vocals are actually a strong point here and are very soothing. The lyrics start to pander a bit towards the middle, and this is the only song that does this so I have to dock points. If I needed a chill song to slowly move my head to, this would be a good option. I giving this a 7+. 

Before we move into the final song, I want to put into perspective how long this took. Some people may say that I'm just lazy, and procrastinate, and that's partially true, but I started this at the end of July. It's October now. I understand that for something this small, it shouldn't be taking this long and I'm working on that. Sorry I'm starting to ramble, so let's get back and talk about the closer. 

I Know The End: I cannot put into words how fucking good this song is. It's easily the Magnum Opus of the album. If you want the best experience, listen to the whole album, but I think it's okay to just listen to this song. I, in fact, encourage you to go listen to it as this dissection is different from all the other ones. One last thing before I dive in, give it time, it's a 5-minute song, and it does start slow, so give it a chance. With that, I'm going to talk about my favourite things about this song. A super cool thing is that this song leads back to DVD Menu, it goes full circle with the backing track. The song just builds as it goes, triumphantly signaling the horns in the middle, and leading to the most bone-chilling moment I've ever felt as Phoebe screams her lungs out. All the emotion, everything that she went through in this album released in this climatic finisher to the album. I'm not even giving this a rating: GO FUCKING LISTEN TO IT.

To calm this down for my concluding thoughts, this album front-to-back is just an amazing experience of sounds. Is this album perfect? Of course not. Some of the songs are boring and don't serve too much of a purpose but if it means I get the rest of it, 1000% worth it. This has been a bit of a passion project that took way too long due to outside circumstances, but I'm happy with the end product. Thank you everyone for sticking through this. Aight, that's it.