Illuminati Hotties // Kiss Yr Frenemies

Illuminati Hotties

Kiss Yr Frenemies

Tiny Engines

4.5/5 Stars

Gloriously varied and bursting with it's own personality, humor, and pathos, this debut record is astounding. The grinningly-titled Kiss Yr Frenemies is worthy of becoming a cult favorite with its own dedicated following. Not content with any single, repetitive tone, the album wavers between the absurdist humor of Colleen Green and the intimate vulnerability of Vagabon in regards to both instrumentation and vocal delivery. The opening punches of the record — especially "(You're Better) Than Ever"— are funny, fast, and memorable. "Paying Off the Happiness," an uptempo cut at the album's midpoint, encapsulates millennials' acceptance of debt, in an tongue-in-cheek celebration. The soft, emotionally resonant moments like "For Cheez (My Friend, Not the Food)" and the album's heartbreaking closer "Declutter" hit with equal measure. Behind it all is Sarah Tudzin. An accomplished studio engineer and producer living in Los Angeles, some of her credits include the latest from Macklemore and Slowdive, and even the soundtrack for Hamilton. It's safe to say that the album sounds great, but it's far from aurally showy, using the vernacular of lo-fi bedroom albums, translated into a refreshingly high fidelity. — Nick Warren