Sometimes, art is a way for one to express themselves and bottle up what could be the essence of a particular time period. All art gives itself off in this manner in some way- a lot of technical gear used for certain songs will inevitably tie certain styles to specific eras, and certain lyrics can only be expressed in certain time periods, reflecting various ways of life and modes of thinking. Stylistic choices can also amplify the way this is done, by breaking all sorts of standards and conventions to further amplify the intended sentiment.
Today’s album this article will focus on shall explore this method of art with more scrutiny. Music is a tool, but music is also a diary in many ways. The artist, The Alien Drell, is a semi-experimental solo project of Micahl Dickens, a Chicago-based rapper who is also a post-punk and hardcore experimentalist. He has released two earlier projects in 2024, but this release, titled ‘It Never Gets Any Better’ is a culmination of sounds and certain samples already present in these previous projects. The record is stated to be genre-breaking, intending to be genre-diverse. One of the tracks stated to present this multidisciplinary nature is ‘ghost_in_my_blood.gif‘, a post-hardcore dance rocker making its way through a dramatically shifting topography of sounds before it approaches tracks meant to be the centrepieces, such as ‘apple’, an intimate singer-songwriter tune, and ‘The Dream’, a mathcore punk mosher.
The core idea behind the project is the tension and the deeply-felt aimlessness of life in the perspective of a person trapped in the current confines of the USA. The lyrics are intertwined with a slightly nihilistic and also ironic look on the flow of events that lead up to the current state of the country itself. The artist points out specific lyrics, such as ‘drew the starting line in 1865 and really ask my why I lag behind‘ paying homage to the relationship between the Emancipation Proclamation and the resistance to social progress in relation to times of peace, as well as ‘my blood is full of f*** plastic, got born at the wrong damn time’ in reference to the the imbalance between social progress and technological progress.
The songs were also written before Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, providing context to the chaos and hopelessness felt within that time period. A lot of the lyrics also correspond to events in reality, such as references to individuals like Thomas Crooks through ‘I’ll be with destiny soon, then they’ll regret, then they’ll remember me as something more than a memory‘ on the track ‘light yagami type beat’ and Brian Thompson through ‘you’re not sorry what you do to me, so I’m not sorry whatever happens to you‘ on the track ‘apple’.
It Never Gets Any Better is in essence, the cognitive dissonance of the USA compressed into 23 minutes of raps, screams, shouts, cries and gentle singing to get through the times, with all creative credits going to the main artist.
I’ll be quite honest with you, I was initially put off by the mastering on the album but I too come from a background of grunge, post-rock and noise rock, even though I primarily make and listen to songs that have a specific level and style of mastering akin to electronic music. I could’ve omitted that statement from this review, but I’ve left it here as a means of connecting with people who may not have the foresight or understanding of this genre- you have to let go of your perceptions of other genres, and understand this body of work exactly as its stated through the initial artistic intent of the album. To also account for consistency, I will acknowledge that I evaluate mastering relative to what the genre of your body of work is intended to be- and for this body of art, I think it makes complete sense.
The songs throughout the album oscillate between chaos, understanding and a bit of relief from each node. It’s almost like the bridge being sandwiched in the middle of ‘Dance of the Knights’ by Prokofiev, amid more provocative and brash motifs at the beginning. This amount of authenticity in reference to social commentary is definitely a lost art, and makes me think of a 70s or even early 90s post-punk and grunge interpretation of making sense of the world around you from a sociological perspective.
You can hear the torment and the emotional stages between each stanza and even the melody, intentionally placed to fit the zeitgeist of each track. Some of these tracks bear intensely catchy motifs, which can definitely appeal to a lot more people who may not understand the genre. It really gives me the same feeling as some of Sonic Youth’s original work- strong, unabridged, harsh, and mellow all at once. It’s like a never-ending cycle, a piece of performance art.
My only critique is that the vocals could be mastered A LITTLE BIT clearer, but I think and completely understand the methods of mastering within this album. It’s almost perfect in terms of expressing the chaos within people in the United States- or those influenced by such a cultural ethos, especially in this day and age. It’s also symbolic to me, to use these genres to express novel scenarios that have origins in age-old human deficiencies.
I also have to praise the level of intersection within genres in this album. I have to give my props to artists who compose and shift genres based on what they’re expressing, instead of the reverse- the reverse can actually severely limit you in what you’re expressing. I think this is a very interesting album and befitting of what it’s trying to portray.
Score/Good: ‘It Never Gets Any Better’ is a fascinating album that I frankly think expresses its intent very well. It brings you back to the early days of Sonic Youth where social commentary meets brash chaos, in its unique mixture of harshness and delicateness within each track. It is more of a performance art piece than a mere album, with its vision and role in history and time.
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