S2 Ep. 5- This month was a”May”zing!

Welcome back to Thrak Attack! What’s your adventure? This week’s adventure features a ranking of all of the adventures in the month of May. This month held 3 video games, 6 albums, and 3 travel destinations. This season, each month gets a top 10 list (if applicable, and because of the mountain of new music released this month it’ll diffidently be a full list) so if something isn’t fully reviewed it’s because its either not good or not worth mentioning. So with all of that out of the way, let’s get right into things on this aMAYzing month!

10. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

This game is on the list because it’s such an awesome game I had to put it on even after it’s third port. First released on the Wii in 2011, ported to the 3DS (the first time I played the game), and making it’s final home on the switch (hopefully) this game has seen massive success. And with good reason! It’s a massive game with great gameplay, characters, visuals, world building, music, and story all wrapped up in a great presentation. The switch version has many quality of life updates and an extra epilogue but I am nowhere close to that point so we shall see. The only reason why it’s this low on the list is because it’s a port of a game from 2011.

9.  Super Mash

Super Mash is a great concept for a game with poor execution. It may be because I was too busy playing another game BUT I did not get enough time for this game. The story started off strong and it hooked me right away, then you jumped into one of the mashups and it was just not fun. Taking two game styles and mashing them together is an awesome idea for a game but when those mashups don’t work, the story stops or is weird to get through, and the menus and UI aren’t intuitive at all. It’s honestly only on the list because I didn’t want to put The 1975’s new album on it. They’re a horrible band.

8. “How I’m Feeling Now” by Charli Xcx

I’ve never listened to anything from Charli Xcx before this year and I’m a little upset I waited this long to check it out. It’s not my style of music but I honestly enjoyed this album. It has some great production and sounds and she does an excellent job with harmonies and effects on her vocals. Unfortunately I don’t think this genre of music breeds well written music so a lot of the songs are more like anthems or mantras? A little bit is fine but for a whole album, not so much. Some of the standout tracks from this album include “Pink Diamond”, “Forever”, “c2.0”, and “Party 4 u”.

7. “Chromatica” by Lady Gaga

This is Lady Gaga’s return to form and it’s welcome but not fantastic. I am a huge Gaga fan and have listened to all facets of her music from the Stefani Germanoti Band, to Band, to Lady Gaga proper, to her stint with Tony Bennet, to Joanne, A Star is Born, and back again I love Gaga! The sound of this album isn’t especially.... special! Every one of her albums has an identity and her whole career is based on identity and finding your own personal identity and this one either doesn’t have one or I haven’t found it yet. Maybe we’ll get there, maybe we won’t but some of the standout songs are “Stupid Love”, “Enigma”, and “Babylon”.

6. “Hollywood Park” by Airborne Toxic Event

I haven’t heard of anything from this band since “Sometime Around Midnight” and I’m glad they’re back. This album is very enjoyable and has a ton of variety in their song structures, sounds, instrumentations, and styles. I’m not saying it’ll be on the top 10 of the decade list but it will diffidently be a contender. It’s not an amazing album by any means but it is for sure an enjoyable album worth checking out! Some of the standout songs are “Hollywood Park”, “Brother, how was the war?”, “All the Children”, and “All These Engagements”.

5. Santa Fe

This capital city is so interesting to me. It’s one of the oldest cities in the countries but feels nothing like a city at all. The architecture is fantastic and was all we could really appreciate this time around due to COVID-19. But we did get to get out of the car for a bit, walk around to see some of the sites, and got a classic New Mexico lunch! I got chicken enchiladas with red chili! The only reason why this is not further up on the list is because we were only there for about an hour.

4. Lonely Mountains: Downhill

This game is just fun and relaxing! Before this game, I was playing “Horizon Zero Dawn” which is a fantastic game, but I needed something light and fun. This game scratched every itch I had and then some. The easiness of trying to make it down the mountains, the time trials, the challenges, the lookout spots, it all was just so relaxing and calm and at the end of the school year during a quarantine, this game was perfect! 

3. Kansas

Well, we had to do it. We had to drive through Kansas... notorious for being the worst and most boring state to drive through. And somehow we planned it to make it a memorable experience. We made one stop during the drive and it was at Monument Rocks in Oakley, Kansas. On the map it looks like it’s just off the highway but in reality it was 30 minutes off... Which was not fun. But! Monument Rocks were fascinating! Jutting out 70 feet out of the plains of Kansas stand a mountain of chalk... literally! These massive rock formations are chalk! It’s fascinating and worth a stop if you’re driving through. Also, on the opposite side of the state, we stopped in Kansas City for some BBQ at Jack Stacks and it was delicious! I got pork burnt ends and it did not disappoint.

2. Denver

I will go back to Denver... I need to go back to Denver. We did not get to do enough in Denver but what we did do I enjoyed. We played some disc golf at a massive city park, got some bagels (with some social distancing issues) at Leroy’s Bagels, went on an awesome hike at the Lair O’ the Bear park (great name), attempted to sneak into Red Rocks Amphitheater but stopped due to the $1,000 fine we could have gotten, so we ended up getting some crowlers from Flyteco Brewing and some things to chew on at Hit the Joint and watched “Lovebirds” and “Monty Python” on Netflix. We will for sure be returning for more Denver shenanigans and get to explore more in the mile high city.  

1. “Petals for Armor” by Haley Williams

I thought Haley Williams was just Paramore and Paramore was Haley Williams but I could not have been more wrong with this album. It’s such a departure from her previous music that I was surprised and a little disappointed after my first listen. But I couldn’t get these songs out of my head! I couldn’t stop listening and I kept finding more and more secrets in the music. From lyrics making sense, to song structures clicking in my brain, and even to the instrumentation of the album this album comes together as a beautiful piece of art. So many of these songs have made it onto the 2020 playlist but the three standout tracks are “Simmer”, “Cinnamon”, and “Over Yet”.