S3 Ep. 4- April Showers

 Welcome back to Thrak Attack! What's your adventure? This month brought tons of great adventures in all forms! There was tons of great music to listen to with some fantastic concepts for albums, some solid and unexpectedly great video games, and some great shows and previews of shows to come (I'm looking at you Ted Lasso and Mythic Quest!). So here we go again, the top 10 releases of April 2021!

10. "The Million Masks of God" by Manchester Orchestra is the Georgia band's sixth studio and it shows. I remember seeing them in 2012 and they were a heavy band to see live! This album shows their age and sounds tired to me. There was never an emotional payout or release to the tension the album builds up. The only song that really got my attention was "Angel of Death".

9. "The Pull of Niagara Falls" by Citizen Cope is a long droning album from the long running long droning artist. Don't get me wrong, I love Citizen Cope but his music does drag you down a lot of the times. Now that's okay but what I'm trying to say is usually in between the drone is some peppier songs but not on this album. Clarence has always done things a different way but this album does not really show it. 

8. Mythic Quest: Everlight is a episode to promote and tide us over to season two of the most underrated show of last year. The characters in this show is fantastic and Everlight does not forget that and gives every one a chance to shine and remind of where they all are in the series and what their characters are doing! I cannot wait for Season 2 next week and to see where the series goes from here. The only reason why this isn't higher up on the list is because it's only one episode!

7. "Turn Up That Dial" by Dropkick Murphy's is a rip-roaring good time! Friday morning driving to work was a kick in the teeth (in a good way) and woke us right up! I love how fun their music and how intense it is all at the same time but there's never a reprieve from the intensity. "Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding" and "L-EE-B-O-Y" are my two favorites!

6. Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is the Disney+ original series that knows how to do a reboot from the 90's! The characters are great and it's a joy to see the original ducks back in action now that we're a little further into the series! It's cheesy, it's campy, but it's a heck of a lot of fun!

5. FANTASIAN is a turn based RPG for Apple Arcade and was the unexpected hero that I needed for my long flight after losing my AirPods Pro... The first half of the game was released this month and it is fantastic! The visuals are stunning, the story is intriguing, the world is extraordinary, and the gameplay is challenging but not an impossible grind like other games (I'm looking at you Bravely Default II). I cannot wait for the second half of this game to release because it's been the best game I've played on Apple Arcade so far!

4. Falcon and the Winter Soldier had an extremely satisfying ending for such a straight forward show. Following WandaVision, the Disney+ original mini series continues the MCU with two of it's classic characters. None of the story was a shock but it was a joy to watch Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes figure out the world after the blip. The unexpectedness comes from the themes and undertones of the show and how it deals with racism in the USA and how we treat veterans and refugees alike. Diffidently a show to check out! 

3. New Pokemon Snap is the newest game in the Pokemon franchise and a reboot of the 1998 N64 game. With a whole new region to explore and Pokemon from every generation, this game is a joy to play! It's colorful, relaxing, and rewards people like who like to tinker with every little thing in a level just to see what happens. If you want an in depth story or a fast paced game this is not the one for you. Even with unlocking the turbo feature my Neo-one moves slower than a slugma! 

2. "Surface Sounds" by KALEO came out of nowhere and hit me in the face with some many emotions, jams, and musical styles that I don't know what to do with myself! The Icelandic group's 3rd studio album is fantastic and needs more praise than it has gotten! Since the group's breakout single "Way Down We Go" in 2015 the group has been on my radar and I was glad to hear they were releasing new music but this was way better than expected! "Alter Ego", "Skinny", "Hey Gringo", "I Want More", and "I Walk on Water" are all fantastic songs and all for different reasons. If you need an idea of what this music is life, lookup the video of JJ playing "Skinny" in front of an erupting volcano. 

1. "Heart and Soul" by Eric Church is 3 part album from the country music giant! Recorded in the hills of North Carolina in a restaurant over quarantine, this album hits hard! I love the concept of having three separate albums "Heart" "&" "Soul" with three distinct styles and I love that the lyrics and song titles actually reflect that! Even though I am not a country music fan, I cannot discount the fact this may be the the album of the year due to the thoughtfulness that went into this album and the artistry behind it! Some of the songs that stick out are "Heart on Fire", "Stick That In Your Country Song", "Love Shine Down", "Rock and Roll Found Me", and "Hell of a View".