Hello everyone! I’m Abby, and I love indie, rock, and pop music! Okay, okay, I may be a slight bit biased in this review considering I adore Phoebe Bridgers as a person. I even have her merch (her skeleton sweatpants are super cozy). But here it is: this week, I am going to be reviewing Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers. This is the third installment in my Music Monday series, where I review and talk about an album I like.
“DVD Menu”:
There isn’t much to say for this one. It’s just a slightly ominous instrumental with a few background noises spanning a minute and 10 seconds. I do like it, though. One time I left this on loop in the background while doing an in-class essay, and to be honest, I do think I did better because of it.
“Garden Song”
This song is super pretty. I’ve listened to it before going to sleep a lot, and the instrumental is incredibly soothing. The lyrics are about dreams and manifesting in a way that both your good and bad thoughts come true.
“Kyoto”
This was the first song I listened to by Phoebe Bridgers! This song is one of the more popular ones, and for good reason. It has a super catchy chorus with guitar riffs and horns surrounding it; what is there not to love? Even though this song is catchy to no avail, it’s lyrically about Phoebe’s estranged relationship with her father. The happy instrumental and sad, nostalgic lyrics reveal Phoebe’s conflicted feelings about her father.
“Punisher”
The song has a sad, psychedelic feel with its warped background vocals combined with Phoebe’s soft voice. It is definitely one of my favorites on the album.
“Halloween”
This song is calming with its plucky string background, and I like it. In the context of the whole album, it kind of blends in with the rest of the songs. Although it's not bad and the lyricism, as always, is great, it is just very similar to everything else on the record.
“Chinese Satellite”
This song, about blind belief and relief from religion, is about Phoebe’s struggles as an agnostic who wants to believe, but just can’t. Phoebe outdoes herself with lyricism on this song, and the instrumentals are as good as ever.
“Moon Song”
I love this song so much. It’s slow and sad and intimate without being boring. It’s about doing anything in a relationship and the complexities that come with it. This is the saddest song on the album.
“Savior Complex”
Fun fact: Phoebe herself said that she wrote this song in a dream! The sweet sound of violins and touching lyricism really hits me where it hurts here.
“ICU”
Finally, a break from all of the sad songs! Actually, nevermind, this one is sad too, just upbeat. This song is good -- but there is honestly nothing memorable about it.
“Graceland Too”
This song takes a new wishful, folky direction. This song is about overcoming trauma and living a good life. I love this song so, so much; if I had to choose a song to play over a montage of my life, it would be this one. My yearbook quote is even from this song.
“I Know the End”
This song is by far the best song on the album. It is the most vibrant song on the album; the switch throughout the middle of the song from Phoebe singing softly with synths in the background to her screaming with guitars and horns and drums is extremely gratifying. She describes seeing many uncanny scenes while driving up the coast as some sort of apocalypse is occurring. If you listen to any song on this album, listen to this one!
This album, for me, is a 9 out of 10. If you like indie rock/pop, listen to this. Phoebe’s lyricism is unmatched and I’d highly recommend looking into her comments on her Genius pages for each song to learn more about the meaning. The instrumentals and mixing are both incredible, and this album is almost perfect.
See you next time,
Abby
P.S. If you have any ideas for the next Music Monday, please email me at nibauera22@kentplace.org! For reference, my top artists of the past four weeks are Neutral Milk Hotel, Phoebe Bridgers, The Strokes, and Frank Ocean.
Stream Punisher:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/punisher/1504699857
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