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  • The First Year by Here For You

    The First Year by Here For You

    Note From the Author: This review was originally posted on the Start-track blog.

    Artist: Here For You

    Album: The First Year 

    Released: October 25, 2025; Atlanta Zone Records 

    Here For You is a band from Brooklyn, New York and on their first album: “The First Year” they offer up an eclectic mix of folk and pop. I actually covered “Theme Song 2” their last single for this album a few weeks ago here on the blog[This is in reference to this Start-track blog post].  I bring this up because it is my favorite song from the album and I feel like if you haven’t checked it out yet, you definitely should. 

    “French Toast” is hands down my second favorite song from the album, mainly because it is a very tongue and cheek reflection on the food industry, food culture and marketing. It does this under the guise of a song about enjoying breakfast and all conveniences provided by modern times that make it great.. It’s an up beat song that is highly infectious. It is hard not to start singing along. About a minute into the song there is a jazzy bit that is really fun. It is a pure bop. 

    There is an extraordinary vibe presented by “Night at Maud’s”. I would frankly, be remiss for failing to mention it. The song starts out with an extremely twangy guitar riff that is quite enjoyable.The group vocals are exceptional and the distorted guitar that ends the song is a great finish. The lyrics are about hot summer nights in the city and that is just about as relatable as anything. All this adds up to equal the ultimate sit and chill song.

    “Brunson Floater” is a song about the people in your life that you can always count on for support and wanting to reciprocate that support. I must confess that I had to google the name of the song because it presented a metaphor I wasn’t New York and/or sporty enough to initially understand. That being said, I think its rather delightful now that I am in the know. This song features some more group vocals that I think work really well.

    The last song that I want to talk about is “Go Forth”. This is probably the song on the album that is the most folk punk in terms of vocal presentation, which is something that I quite like. And again the group vocals in the song are superb. What I really like about this song in particular is the ending lyrics are borrowed from a Utah Phillips song. Aside from me personally being a Utah Phillips appreciator in general, I think that there is a direct line between his music and themes of solidarity, friendship, and finding joy presented in the song and in the album in general. To me, it feels very much like modern folk paying homage to someone who helped shape the genre. 

    “The First Year” by Here For You can be defined largely by its poppy folk performance, its use of stellar group vocals, and its themes of overcoming adversity through solidarity and friendship. On top of all that, they still manage to fit in a dash or two of punk rock attitude. This is a very strong first album and I am definitely looking forward to more from Here For You in the future. 

    If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase The First Year by Here For you via Amazon Music 

  • Ike World By Eichlers

    Ike World By Eichlers

    Album: Ike World

    Artist: Eichlers

    Release: June 14, 2024, Self Release

    I am going to be honest with y’all. When this album was announced and pitch as THE “summer punk” album I was a little bummed. The love of Hyper Ska burns deep inside me and I was hoping for some more of what we got from “My Checkered Future”. While I can’t say I was not excited when I hit play for the first time, I was still a little apprehensive.

    Breaking from my usual routine of starting at track 1 and playing the album start to finish, I instead skipped right to the song “A Goofy Movie” mainly to see if Ike drops the sample, he is known for in this song but also because it is a pretty classic 90s movie with a great pop soundtrack. Ike also seems to have at least some amount of respect for. I wanted to see what kind of song Ike deemed worthy of the name. While he does not use the sample in the song. I am happy to report that the phrase is used in the lyrics, and it hits hard. This was the first clue that Ike was going to be subverting my expectations for this album. The song itself is super catchy and upbeat. A highlight of the album. The next standout song for me was “Hindsight 420”. This is a definitive call back song that managed to distill the vibes of his last full-length album “My Checked Future” into a 2 minute and 20 seconds of pure joy. I especially enjoyed the lyric “I think I just flipped other flop” another subversion, this time referencing a lyric from the song ”Hi”. I can’t help but smile every time I hear it. Another thing that brings me absolute joy is the piano in “Tongue V. Cheek” it starts the song out in this rather grand fashion then slowly melds perfectly into the song.

    While this release might not be pure Hyper Ska it is still crammed full all the with and humor that Eichlers fan have come to expect and love.

    This Review was Originally post on 10-04-2029 one the Lonely Ghost Records Community Blog

    If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase Ike World by Eichlers digitally via Amazon Music