The ranch dressing of music blogs by Brady Gerber.
When the artist is more interesting than the output...
All my former favorite bands are so desperate to get on 'The Bear' it's embarrassing...
Sturgill Simpson will not stand for Zach Bryan taking his spotlight...
OPE!, the ranch dressing of music blogs by Brady Gerber (me, hi), a music journalist and critic from Indiana. Song reviews most weekdays. The OPE! newsletter includes my weekly column, more song reviews, and my favorite links of the week. Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. All typos are intentional.
I know I know I'm way behind I know
I'll miss Jack when he's gone
Why would you want to be in a band with Stephen Malkmus
When the artist is more interesting than the output
All my former favorite bands are so desperate to get on 'The Bear' it's embarrassing.
ya like jazzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Sturgill Simpson will not stand for Zach Bryan taking his spotlight
Shoegaze that doesn't suck???
I hated MJ Lenderman and now I've change my mind!
The fuck
Clairo is boring but not grating
I'll gift this guy my firstborn
Phish sucks and I love Phish
Youth Lagoon takes a yawn
Technically impressive and immediately forgettable, which means Vince is back!
Billie hired an actual bass player
Emo music sucks
Hagop Tchaparian on Bandcamp. I have a snake in my boot and it’s telling me that liking Hagop
The Bug Club on Bandcamp. Someone make sure Edgar Wright hasn’t had a spasm and a half from
beabadoobee online. beabadoobee, why are you listening to
Gryphon Rue on Bandcamp. Gryphon Rue makes me want to steal Tom Ripley’s sweater vest and
Kendrick Lamar on YouTube. The dust has settled for now and it seems like “Not Like Us”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross on YouTube. Are we so desperate for sex and human connection that
Dua Lipa on YouTube. Dua Lipa, by nature of being a pop musician who isn’t Taylor Swift,
Jessica Pratt on Bandcamp. Is Jessica Pratt the indie Adele? Pops up every few years, dominates the
The Joy on YouTube. The bass singer deserves a raise. Beautiful harmonies. Forgive the bad wordplay
Charly Bliss on Bandcamp. I mean, I guess Lady Gaga and 2018-era The 1975 are cool again. Did Charly
Sabrina Carpenter online. I like Sabrina Carpenter and “Espresso” how I like seltzer
Yannis & The Yaw online. Bad music video, good jam, great Tony Allen, really great first
Hockey Dad on Bandcamp. I have to be a little guarded talking about Hockey Dad because I’m
Finom on Bandcamp. LCD Soundsystem if the bandleader wasn’t shit. Good music video, too. I
dust on Bandcamp. Longtime OPE! readers will know that a band like dust is right up my alley: spooky
Ben Seretan on Bandcamp. Ben Seretan felt like a great open secret in 2020 until I realized this
Noé Socha online. My buddy Adam just turned me on to Noé Socha, who’s making the rounds on the
Taylor Swift online. Yesterday I was walking past The Grove in Los Angeles and saw a dog urinating
Nia Archives online. Another entry in OPE! ever-growing “I’m very very very late to the
Fontaines D.C. online. Oh no, Fontaines D.C. discovered bright colors and drum machines and novels
Jamie xx online. I like “Baddy On The Floor” and I am now officially worried about the
Cindy Lee online. OPE! is all about song reviews, yet Cindy Lee decided to smear our good name and
Jhariah on YouTube. Dog bless the theater kid with a truckload of confidence. Jhariah is a
Katie Pruitt on Bandcamp. Phoebe Bridgers if she was more of a Jaco “Portrait of Tracy”
DOLLHOUSE on Bandcamp. I have nothing smart to say about this DOLLHOUSE song (and EP) that makes me
Antenna on Bandcamp. Another winner from the recent see/saw round-up of amazing Bandcamp punk
Alien Nosejob on Bandcamp. Evan Minsker starts a new punk blog (see/saw) and immediately shares a
Wisp on YouTube. Happy EP release day to an artist who blew me away when I saw her live—her
bad tuner on Bandcamp. I meant to write about bad tuner back when “24 hours” came out
DeepFaith on YouTube. I caught DeepFaith live for the first time a few months ago in someone’s
Susan Bear on Bandcamp. I literally reviewed Truman Black yesterday so Susan Bear must have bought a
Truman Black on SoundCloud. As a member of the unpopular “I like electronic music when
Tommy Boys on Bandcamp. Tommy Boys are new to me and apparently to most of us. Their lone 2015
Yoko Kanno online. Yoko Kanno’s original “Blue” plays out over the surreal finale
Justin Timberlake online. I’m delayed in talking about Justin Timberlake because 1) I was out
Adrianne Lenker on Bandcamp. What beautiful nonsense. I’m a recovering Big Thief fan—I enjoyed
Tanlines on Bandcamp. One second in and I’m hooked with a glistening trio of keys, Nashville
Ariana Grande online. I wonder how Robyn feels about Ariana Grande. Maybe it’s a complement to
Ryan Gosling on IMDb (lol). Two stars for Slash. One star for Ryan Gosling for doing the bare
Margaux on Massif Records. What a dreamy dream of a tune. Or maybe it’s a dreamy tune of a
Sheer Mag on Bandcamp. I reviewed the new Sheer Mag album for Pitchfork. It was a hard assignment to
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds online. Like most artists I like, Nick Cave walks the thin line
Liquid Mike on Bandcamp. How folks talked about Wednesday and MJ Lenderman last year is how I feel
Faye Webster on Bandcamp. Natalie Prass walked so Faye Webster could jog into the hearts of boring
Groovy Movies on Bandcamp. So this is what Revolver-era Beatles sounds like without all the drugs
St. Vincent online. The music video CGI fire is really bad in an otherwise interesting and,
DIIV on Bandcamp. The joke about ChatGPT writing a shoegaze song is overused but in the case of
MGMT on Bandcamp. MGMT might have my song of the 21st century with “Time to Pretend.” I
Kings Of Leon online. I clipped my toenails this morning and those four minutes were more fulfilling
Vampire Weekend online. I’m cheating here because I wrote the track review of “Gen-X
Asha Jefferies on Bandcamp. I’m a few weeks late on this Asha Jefferies song but better late
Beyoncé online (imagine if she was on Bandcamp). Beyoncé’s worst song in years and, as my
Ducks Ltd. on Bandcamp. On paper, I should love the new Ducks Ltd. album. I love the last album
The Last Dinner Party on Bandcamp. The Last Dinner Party should have released this album a year ago
Oisin Leech on Bandcamp. Fleet Foxes but not annoying? I’ll listen to anything with Steve
Paramore on YouTube (but save your views for something else). What a boring cover. Gross. I hate
Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer on Bandcamp. Is International Anthem the best
Porij on Bandcamp. Glad the 22, A Million choir escaped Justin Vernon. “I love how this
Coco on Bandcamp. I’m imagining the same sad yet beautiful horizon that David Berman and Jason
David Nance on Bandcamp. I’ve come around to Third Man Records core. I would kill to hear
Nick Schofield on Bandcamp. Looks like someone stole the synths from Uncut Gems and made better
Yard Act’s website. I reviewed the last Yard Act album for Pitchfork and enjoyed it quite a
Logic1000 on Bandcamp. This is what I wish Fred again.. did more of instead of just fist-pumping to
Waxahatchee on Bandcamp. Look I don’t like Lenderman but don’t tell the rest of Washed