Back in 2019, Cheekface released their debut album, a record that’s difficult to categorize without simply listening to it. It’s kind of post-punk, kind of pop, and mostly spoken-word; it’s quirky, clever, and nearly danceable.

Now it’s 2025 and Cheekface has released their fifth album—but I just don’t have the stomach for it. Greg Katz is trying to move beyond simple monotone spoken-word vocals by singing a lot more, and there’s maybe even a hint of auto-tune on his vocals. It’s… horrible.

Cheekface has a rabid fanbase, so I say this with trepidation. I mean no offense to Greg Katz—it’s not that his vocals are inherently bad, it’s just that I started listening to Cheekface for songs like “Dry Heat/Nice Town”, and a song like “Living Lo-fi” is… not like that song.

They might as well be two entirely different genres, even if they share the same core components. It’s like ordering a steak burrito and getting a carne asada plate—similar, sure, but fundamentally different.

It’s unfortunate, but sometimes a band can only extract so much magic from a single schtick. Maybe the original Cheekface formula had a lifespan of two solid albums, one decent album, and now we’re two records into the (hopefully short-lived) awkward years.

Luckily, we can always revisit those two solid albums, then jump to the last track of their third, “Vegan Water“—which I’d argue is not only the last truly great Cheekface song, but possibly their best. It’s akin to how Arcade Fire closed out their last good album with their finest work, “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)“.

Holy shit, this song is so fucking good. I don’t know what else to say about it. When I heard it for the first time, my ears pricked up, and my eyes widened. Will this already be my favorite song of 2025?

This is the kind of Vulfpeck song that I live for! When they get too soft and slow, they kind of lose me, but this song, and the rest of this live album, are a revelation. I don’t want to heap too much hyperbole onto Vulfpeck because there’s the rest of the world to do that already (and they do that already, check out this recent review of one of their concerts).

Not that it is unjustified in any way. Vulfpeck is most excellent. Enjoy!

I turned 40 this month, which, I’m told, is quite the milestone. As one of my friends said, “lots of people didnt make it that far so yeah yay it up”.

Yes, indeed, let us ‘yay it up’.

I want to feel some type of way about turning 40, but I really don’t, which, I suppose, is feeling some type of way about it. I could say that I never thought I would make it this far, but I said that when I turned 30 so it’s kind of a cop out to say it again. When I turned 30, it was pretty obvious I was going to make it to 40 and beyond. We’ve been smooth sailing for a while now.

Scott Lucas is turning 55 this year, and it’s crazy to think that I am older now than he was when I first saw Local H play back in June of 2004 (and have been for a few years). Though I suppose that is how the slow and insidious march of time works, so I shouldn’t be surprised. This day was always going to come. (And how cool is it that there is a great bootleg of that show on the internet? I love you, internet.)

I guess at the end of the day, I don’t have a lot to say about getting older. I feel the same that I did before, like I’m still in my early 20’s but for some reason there’s a lot more hair trying to grow out of my ears than ever before, and I hate that aspect of it more than anything, that I have to shave my ears now. What an indignity.