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Wallsocket is the second studio album by the American musician Underscores. It was released by Mom + Pop Music on September 22, 2023. After rising to prominence with her debut album Fishmonger in March 2021, Underscores began recording Wallsocket in January 2022, with a higher budget than its predecessor. The album is based upon the fictional setting of Wallsocket, Michigan, inspired by the Idaho home of her grandparents, social commentary on the upper middle class in slasher films, and rural American horror films. The songs were written acoustically first and inspired by country and blues sonics, as well as 2010s pop aesthetics. The album features collaborations with Gabby Start, Henhouse!, and Jane Remover. Wallsocket is primarily pop, rock, and folk, with a large sonic palette and stark turns. A concept album about three girls from navigating adulthood, it explores themes of corporatization, religion, gun violence, and class resentment. Across the album's characters, Underscores also discussed transgender identity and the horseshoe theory. Wallsocket was promoted with four singles, a tour across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and an alternate reality game involving websites of its fictional town setting. Critics praised the album's frenzied production and character-driven narrative, and many considered it an improvement over Fishmonger. Several publications featured it on their year-end lists.
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Reviews
Wallsocket by underscores was a pleasant to me. As the Wikipedia pages states: "Wallsocket is primarily pop, rock, and folk, with a large sonic palette and stark turns". That is a description that says nothing and everything, but in the end this is a good album. The music is original, refreshing and goes in all directions.
so damn fun holy shit I love this - 10/10
Immediate strong "get off my lawn" energy for this. Not able to buy into the darkside elements of the narrative at all - like, no, you were never involved in a bank robbery.
Really dig this. Cool stuff.
Hel yea
I'd never heard of underscores before, and I suspect I'm fairly comfortably outside the demographic that this is aimed at, but I actually really liked it. Enough variation to keep me consistently interested. I like the glitchiness to it, which I feel did not step into the bounds of overdoing it.
Unexpectedly good. It's so frantically afraid to stay one thing for more than a minute, it's impossible to get bored here.
Super cool!
Unique sound that was enjoyable. Particularly loved turning Woops! Johnny woops!.. into a song.
I might not be the target audience for this, but it sounded original, and enough variation to keep listening
Listened to this project a few times, mainly their debut album which proceeded this one. The mix of pervasive irreverence and hyperpop instrumentals is a heady brew, distinctive and much more likely to age well compared to 100 gecs, say. That said, several tracks on this one left me pretty high and dry with their repetitive nature or annoying samples (and the whole experience does run a bit long at 54 minutes). Still, this is a unique LP and a decent listen. Think this is an alright add to the list – time will tell if underscores marks a notch in music history, but in the meantime I appreciated a unique, different LP to listen to.
There is a lot about this to like. I quite like the genre mashups and the noise, and the occasional dips into. glitch are quite fun, but the overuse of. Sudden dropouts and resumptions are. Pissboiling. I get that this is one of those 2020s trends and when used well it can be great - hell - Eels were doing it in the 90s, but in their case they used it sparingly, and while it did have an impact on the listener, I get the feeling they did it to prove how tight they are as a band. With this heavily produced affair, it's just, well, pissboiling.
Creative, independent and weird. I would’ve liked this album more when I was these things.
Den här plattan tilltalar mig inte för fem öre. Det var intetsägande och tråkigt. Inget jag kommer lyssna på igen.
A lot of crispy alt pop songs that sound like they could be themes for Terrace House seasons. You ever watch Terrace House? That show was great. This album is too long
Like a soundtrack for a Disney Channel musical. 2 stars.
Not bad
Another album that the artwork gave a different impression to the music, this time in a good way. I wouldn’t know how to categorise this though.
I can appreciate the ambition and the complex themes running through the album, but sonically it really doesn’t do much for me. I found the constant genre-hopping more irritating than exciting, and ultimately it’s not an album I enjoyed listening to