Welcome back to Thrak Attack! What's your adventure! This week's adventure takes us through one of the most uncertain and insane months the blog (and maybe the world?) has ever seen! Through the COVID-19 scare we had many changed, updates, and cancellations of various adventures. I hope everyone is being safe and healthy but still going on adventures throughout their self quarantine! With all of that out of the way, let's countdown this month's best adventures! Side note, Milan was supposed to be on this list but they have not released it yet so that kinda stinks (I was hoping for a Disney+ release!). Anyhoot, let's get started!
10. "Baby, It's Okay" by Flora Cash sounds like the group's first full length album but it is not. Now I understand why they sound so lazy and jaded throughout the whole thing. The single of the album is from 2 years ago and it's one of the only songs worth mentioning on the album (including "In a Bubble"). The album is lazy, boring, and I HATE that man's style! It's gross!
9. "Music for Silence" by Nick Murphy was a surprise album with a bunch of tracks featuring almost exclusively keyboards. A few tracks have some vocals but no lyrics to be had. This is not at all a bad album but it just seemed like a lot of random keyboard tracks he had that he decided to release during this crazy month! Thank you Nick Murphy for your art during this crazy time, it just doesn't stack up in the grand scheme of adventures this month.
8. Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a remake of a 2005 Gameboy Advance game that should have stayed just that. The only thing the game really updated were the graphics. The watercolor design is beautiful and super charming but they really should have update the movements of the characters. It just feels so clunky and unnatural to walk around endless identical dungeons. This feels a lot like last year's "Link's Awakening" remake which did the same exact thing. If you're going to remake the game, change the gameplay and add something new!
7. Persona 5 Royal is a remaster of the critically acclaimed game that I have been meaning to get around to for years now. It is only #6 on this list only because it came out today and I have not been able to get into much of it yet. The music alone makes this game worth it and I can't wait to dive deep into the game throughout this age of social distancing.
6. "3.15.20" by Childish Gambino has no cover art so that's why it's not on the blog post because this was another surprise drop to get us through these weird times! But surprisingly, unlike Nick Murphy's album it's has a lot of good stuff in it! It's weird he did not title most of the tracks and I haven't cracked the code yet but here are some of the notable tracks on the album "Time", "19.10", "24.19" and "35.31". Diffidently worth a listen!
5. "Saint Cloud" by Waxahatchee is her 5th studio album and I had no idea! I first heard of her when she opened up for Courtney Barnett at the Van Buren and her music first caught my eye! Her music is poppy but also very folksy. I really enjoy her music but not many songs on the album stuck out to me and that's why it's right in the center of the list. "Lilacs", "Ruby Falls", "Fire", and "Can't Do Much" are the notable songs on the album.
4. "Gigaton" by Pearl Jam gives the band another solid album that is nothing special unless you dig very deep into the album's messages and themes. I have always enjoyed Pearl Jam but they've never been my favorite and this album does the same. Because I like Pearl Jam's sound more than Waxahatchee's that's the reason this album is higher up on the list. Also, "Comes Then Goes" is one of the best songs of the year so far! Other notable tunes are "Who Ever Said" and "Take the Long Way"
3. "Onward" is the first original Pixar film since 2017's "Coco" and it shows. The quality of this film is surprising considering most people believed it to be the "B-Side" of Pixar (Cars 2, Good Dinosaur) and Soul would be this year's BIG Pixar film but this movie did not disappoint. It had the laughs, the action, the characters, and of course the tears. It is tied with "Call of the Wild" as the film of the year. Maybe one day "Mulan" will compete with that title too?
2. "A Beautiful Place to Drown" by Silverstein is a fantastic example of a band "sticking to their guns". The band has consistently been releasing their music since 2005 and has done nothing but improve upon their sound. They have not adapted to the world like other groups have but instead steered into the skip of post-punk madness and it really pays off! "Bad Habits" (feat. Intervals), "Shapeshift", "All on Me", "Madness" (feat. Princess Nokia), "Stop", and "Take What You Give (feat. Simple Plan)" are all fantastic but the full album stands on it's own! If you have angst during 2020 (which I know a lot of people do) this is the album to check out! Final reason to love this album, LOOK AT THAT VINYL!
1. "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" is the 5th main series Animal Crossing game and the first to be released on the Nintendo Switch. It is also my "Game of the Year" so far. I love this game and it's the best time to be released! The gameplay loop is perfect and the timed events keep you playing this not only for hours but for days (which in self quarantine time is super important). It's fun, charming, has fantastic visuals, and is a relaxing change of pace from other video games. I love this game and can't wait to keep finding new bugs and fish, crafting new items for my house, meeting new villagers and players, and paying off my house loan to Tom Nook.
April should be an interesting month as more things get delayed but more releases come out! I was also planning a trip to Albuquerque towards the end of the month but that adventure has been cancelled. We shall see what the future holds and what new adventures we will explore! Stay happy, stay healthy, wash your hands, don't scare at screens too long and keep going on adventures!
All the Best, Ross
10. "Baby, It's Okay" by Flora Cash sounds like the group's first full length album but it is not. Now I understand why they sound so lazy and jaded throughout the whole thing. The single of the album is from 2 years ago and it's one of the only songs worth mentioning on the album (including "In a Bubble"). The album is lazy, boring, and I HATE that man's style! It's gross!
9. "Music for Silence" by Nick Murphy was a surprise album with a bunch of tracks featuring almost exclusively keyboards. A few tracks have some vocals but no lyrics to be had. This is not at all a bad album but it just seemed like a lot of random keyboard tracks he had that he decided to release during this crazy month! Thank you Nick Murphy for your art during this crazy time, it just doesn't stack up in the grand scheme of adventures this month.
8. Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX is a remake of a 2005 Gameboy Advance game that should have stayed just that. The only thing the game really updated were the graphics. The watercolor design is beautiful and super charming but they really should have update the movements of the characters. It just feels so clunky and unnatural to walk around endless identical dungeons. This feels a lot like last year's "Link's Awakening" remake which did the same exact thing. If you're going to remake the game, change the gameplay and add something new!
7. Persona 5 Royal is a remaster of the critically acclaimed game that I have been meaning to get around to for years now. It is only #6 on this list only because it came out today and I have not been able to get into much of it yet. The music alone makes this game worth it and I can't wait to dive deep into the game throughout this age of social distancing.
6. "3.15.20" by Childish Gambino has no cover art so that's why it's not on the blog post because this was another surprise drop to get us through these weird times! But surprisingly, unlike Nick Murphy's album it's has a lot of good stuff in it! It's weird he did not title most of the tracks and I haven't cracked the code yet but here are some of the notable tracks on the album "Time", "19.10", "24.19" and "35.31". Diffidently worth a listen!
5. "Saint Cloud" by Waxahatchee is her 5th studio album and I had no idea! I first heard of her when she opened up for Courtney Barnett at the Van Buren and her music first caught my eye! Her music is poppy but also very folksy. I really enjoy her music but not many songs on the album stuck out to me and that's why it's right in the center of the list. "Lilacs", "Ruby Falls", "Fire", and "Can't Do Much" are the notable songs on the album.4. "Gigaton" by Pearl Jam gives the band another solid album that is nothing special unless you dig very deep into the album's messages and themes. I have always enjoyed Pearl Jam but they've never been my favorite and this album does the same. Because I like Pearl Jam's sound more than Waxahatchee's that's the reason this album is higher up on the list. Also, "Comes Then Goes" is one of the best songs of the year so far! Other notable tunes are "Who Ever Said" and "Take the Long Way"
3. "Onward" is the first original Pixar film since 2017's "Coco" and it shows. The quality of this film is surprising considering most people believed it to be the "B-Side" of Pixar (Cars 2, Good Dinosaur) and Soul would be this year's BIG Pixar film but this movie did not disappoint. It had the laughs, the action, the characters, and of course the tears. It is tied with "Call of the Wild" as the film of the year. Maybe one day "Mulan" will compete with that title too?2. "A Beautiful Place to Drown" by Silverstein is a fantastic example of a band "sticking to their guns". The band has consistently been releasing their music since 2005 and has done nothing but improve upon their sound. They have not adapted to the world like other groups have but instead steered into the skip of post-punk madness and it really pays off! "Bad Habits" (feat. Intervals), "Shapeshift", "All on Me", "Madness" (feat. Princess Nokia), "Stop", and "Take What You Give (feat. Simple Plan)" are all fantastic but the full album stands on it's own! If you have angst during 2020 (which I know a lot of people do) this is the album to check out! Final reason to love this album, LOOK AT THAT VINYL!
1. "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" is the 5th main series Animal Crossing game and the first to be released on the Nintendo Switch. It is also my "Game of the Year" so far. I love this game and it's the best time to be released! The gameplay loop is perfect and the timed events keep you playing this not only for hours but for days (which in self quarantine time is super important). It's fun, charming, has fantastic visuals, and is a relaxing change of pace from other video games. I love this game and can't wait to keep finding new bugs and fish, crafting new items for my house, meeting new villagers and players, and paying off my house loan to Tom Nook.
April should be an interesting month as more things get delayed but more releases come out! I was also planning a trip to Albuquerque towards the end of the month but that adventure has been cancelled. We shall see what the future holds and what new adventures we will explore! Stay happy, stay healthy, wash your hands, don't scare at screens too long and keep going on adventures!
All the Best, Ross
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