Pollyanna releases “slime”
Pollyanna - Slime Album Review
Feedback driven, heavily distorted, and true to the soul – New Jersey based four-piece Pollyanna’s new LP, Slime, is a rebellious and explosive record that has a lot of variety. Ranging from powerful punk tracks to soulful acoustic performances, the album is unique and contains something for any audience. Each song on the record has its own personality and shows the band’s skills at playing different genres, which make the record an enjoyable listen that feels genuine. The music feels familiar and yet refreshing as there’s clear influence from ‘90s and ‘00s rock that Pollyanna makes their own and makes it known. Being their second album,
Pollyanna follows up their first well, continuing what they’ve been doing, and doing it well. With their new addition of second guitarist Jack Rose, the sophomore LP has gained a more metal influenced sound, which has melded wonderfully with their past material. The album is a solid twelve tracks, appropriate for an album and right in that perfect middle. Many of the tracks stand out among these twelve, such as tracks like “Pixie,” “SLUT,” “Relationship Anxiety” and more.
The opening track “Pixie” is an explosive opener to the record, storming its way through the 2 minutes and 18 seconds and showing the listener that Pollyanna is here to rock your world as the song ends with screams fading them into the first single on the album, “SLUT”. The follow-up song proclaims proudly, “I just wanna be a slut, don’t get too close to me, yeah” making it clear that lead singer and guitarist Jill Beckett is confident and proud of themselves, no matter what other people might say. The track is inspiring, encouraging the listener to care less about other people’s judgment and love themselves and do what they want.
The third song on the album, “Lush” is a personal favorite from the album, being almost two songs in one. The beginning of the track, having triumphant lead guitars and tumultuous choruses gives way to a groovy verse, countering the loud and raucous origin. The song follows this pattern again, into an equally groovy bridge to a quick solo, followed by a crescendo to the end of the song. The following song “Smile” has a similar structure, with head-bopping and hip-shaking grooves for the verses building up to intense and powerful choruses, further giving the listener that feeling of inspiration. The second of the singles from the LP, “Mars” takes the fifth spot on the album, giving both singers a chance to get out what they have to say, leading to an anthemic chorus that finds its way back to the verses smoothly. The track is over quicker than it seems, as the song pushes its way along to a slowed-down atmospheric bridge, which is soon followed by a final, powerful chorus.
“Pathetic,” the sixth track on the album gives the drummer a break, leaving room only for Jill’s vocals and guitar, inviting the listener into a personal look into their feelings, exposing them to their true self and their vulnerability. The song easily touches the listener’s heart with relatable lyrics and sympathy for them. The track feels like a peaceful break to take everything in, reflect, and move on to the rest of the record. The following track is the total opposite, getting back to the rough-and-tumble sound from the beginning of the LP, screaming about the damage done to them in the past, letting it out for the world to hear. Almost speaking directly to whoever hurt them, Jill repeatedly makes it a point to yell “fuck you!”, really making it clear to the listener how they feel.
The next three tracks, “Pasadena,” “Relationship Anxiety,” and “Acid Song” float by smoothly, as “Pasadena” lets the album cool off for a bit, coasting the listener along to a slower tempo, leading them into one of the singles, “Relationship Anxiety.” A powerfully honest track, Jill tells the audience all about their troubles with relationships, acting as a safe space for many others who suffer from anxiety as well. The song is catchy too, getting stuck in the listener’s head easily and before they know it, they’re singing the lyrics too. “Acid Song” keeps up the energy, providing punchy percussion, spacey rhythms, ripping solos, and dreamy vocals mixed with gruff screams, altogether making a great song.
The final two tracks are both five- and six-minute epics, respectively, where Pollyanna takes the listener on a trip through their experiences, taking their time with the details. “Jado” is a great track that guides the listener along a story, explaining their struggles and loves, echoing past relationships, almost reminiscing. The five minutes fly by, as the listener is always looking forward to the next part of the song, especially the build-up around the three-minute mark that rides out for quite a bit, reaching a satisfying climax that falls back down to feedback, leading the listener into the closing track “who do you want me to be?”. This song takes it slow and steady as well, as Jill puts their heart on their sleeve about love and relationships, building to that brutally honest chorus, asking “who do you want me to be?”. The track feels like an open letter, asking even the audience this question, and perhaps inspiring them to ask that question to themselves. As the song goes on and the end is near, the vocals and instruments fade out to silence, leaving the listener to reflect on the record.
Slime is a well-curated album, complete with every facet of Pollyanna, proving themselves to be a well-rounded and highly talented band. The LP spans a couple different genres, providing great diversity to their sound, and is very well-written, making it easily relatable and catchy for listeners to enjoy. Pollyanna has improved heavily since their last record, and their sophomore follow-up Slime is a wonderful addition to their discography, and hopefully to your song library.