May 12, 2025 — Weekly Bullet Reviews
Here’s a fun one: we’re joined this week with some additional opinions for our weekly bullet review column. Read on to see what Justin’s family has to say about some of these songs, haha!
As always, some ground rules:
- These songs are listed in no particular order.
- Basically these blurbs are our rough first impressions of these tracks, so our reviews will be a lot more relaxed!
- Anything released from the past 3 weeks/month is eligible for a bullet review.
- Songs with new, recent music video releases will also be considered for a weekly bullet review.
Jeremiah Chiu, Marta Sofia Honer – “Mean Solar Time”
Mya: “Mean Solar Time” is the music soundtracking all my early 2010’s iPhone puzzle games. Chill…menacing. I kid, but I can’t shake the feeling I’m being timed. “Mean Solar Time“ edges into phone alarm territory, but like, space phone alarm. I dig it.
Justin: Space age drama that builds. I can’t help feeling like being in the interdimensional scene in Interstellar when listening to this and looking at the album art. My sister said space adventure.
Li-Wei: Mesmerizing and tranquil, Chiu and Honer turn pulsating synths and strings into an ambient landscape that bubbles away. As I’m writing this at midnight on a hot, yet quiet spring LA evening, I can hear the vision. This is music to unwind and relax to… but don’t get too caught off guard!
Say Sue Me – “Vacation (ft. Kim Hanjoo)”
Mya: God, I miss songs with a good, long lead-in. The guitar is a rolling boil, cooling down to a simmer some, but always bordering on too much. It suits a song that’s all about everything being. Just. Too. Damn. Much.
Justin: A concrete pounding, headphones-on rock anthem. Feels like a main character’s theme or a perfect ending track for a coming of age story. Dripping in summer. My sister said frolicking in the fields with freedom.
Li-Wei: Say Sue Me’s sunny indie/surf rock tendencies come back on “Vacation”, and I’m immediately taken back to how much I loved their work back in 2018. “Vacation” is a lot more chilled out than their other songs, and vocalist Sumi Choi makes some wonderful harmonies with featured artist Kim Hanjoo. Like Sumi points out in the lyrics, I also need to feel more and think less. Is it summer yet?
Mya: I’m here for the warbling, theremin-esque synth that kicks in for the post-chorus. A song for when you’re at the precipice of dizzy drunkenness.
Justin: A glitzy Indonesian pop song rolling in sugar. Mom loves the intro, loves the dancy bobbing head vibes, and there’s potential to be TikTok mainstream famous. Sister says it’s for fans of K-pop.
Li-Wei: “I’m coming straight for the heart!” no na makes good on their promise on their debut single “shoot”, and they’ve nailed it so far. I don’t really see a lot of SEA girl groups make it big outside of their region, but this song is just catchy and inoffensively boppy enough to do it. Right now my immediate thought is that their first single is a mix of K-pop aesthetics with a sprinkling of bit of TLC’s “Waterfalls” – you can blame that on their lush environment and somewhat low-key vibe for that. I’ll be keeping an eye on where they go from here… with 88Rising backing them, they’re sure to take off.
Mya: Ugh, I adore “sustain”. I feel like I’m trapped in a car under chilly, deadened waters. A water glider dimples the lake’s surface far…far above me. It’s peaceful.
Justin: Ethereal, soul shifting movements in the fog. Love Mari park’s soft vocals falling to the ground like dandelion seeds.
Li-Wei: On “sustain”, the first single for the alternative indie label Zoom Lens, mari park harnesses the power of liminal spaces and menacing chimes to create a dream pop song that floats. The vibe here is dark shadows, murmurs, and skulking instrumentation, but there’s a soft beating heart underneath that pulsates pink. Though the second verse gets increasingly concerning (“I’m gonna lock you up / In my heart of glass / Baby you’ll get cut bleed, breaking if you leave me”) and shatters the daydream, I’m getting strong early Yeule and Maria BC vibes – not bad considering they are two of the most exciting artists around at the moment.
donny daydream – “Pastella Baby”
Mya: Honestly I wanted rawer vocals from donny daydream. “Pastella Baby” is too polished! The emotions are so, so tender; give me some grain! This love needs to stick.
Justin: Heart-splitting lovelorn crooning that feels perfect for teen dramas, televised or IRL. Mom said very teleserye. Sister says “an ending to a show”. That’s three for three donny daydream, license this one out!
Li-Wei: I had to Google what pastella was and honestly I still don’t really understand what it is… but does that matter when donny daydream sounds this good? He could probably be singing about pasta or something and I would still keep listening. “Pastella Baby” is a love song that feels like he’s telling you a fairytale, and I don’t want it to end.
The Happy Fits – “Everything You Do”
Mya: The guitar! The drums! That one, uninhibited scream! “Moody! Moody! Moody!” AAAAAA! Let’s all sing this at karaoke.
Justin: An eclectic mix of 80s rock and 2000s indie. Infectiously fun, spirited performances from all corners. Honestly could do numbers on radio. Neon Trees and Grouplove as ancestors come to mind. Sister said it could be a summer recap bop.
Li-Wei: Wow, this one takes me back! The Happy Fits lineup may look a little bit different from when we first covered them back in 2020, but the infectious joy of “Everything You Do” is a welcome return for a band that presents the best case for why the cello is the coolest instrument on the scene. The spark is still there, and watching the music video made me so glad that The Happy Fits are still alive and kicking. Also, that scream. AH!
Mya: Is that a banjo I hear, plucking away in the background? The instruments are cheeky! I love the bit where SAILORR goes, “Who are you to dim on my shine?” and the brass KICKS in like friends backing you up during a shitty breakup. He doesn’t deserve you!!! I can’t believe you didn’t break up with him sooner!!!!
Justin: “Tuh. Catfish? Who? My bitch is too bad / Wristband passes worth the Van Cleef I don’t opened up no canned beef.” Hilarious, earworm lyrics from SAILOR on a baddie empowerment track. The chorus is intense and alluring. Word of the week: SINCERITY (in my diamonds).
Li-Wei: “Who might try to dim on my shine?” SAILORR is having a major moment right now with the release of her mixtape FROM FLORIDA’S FINEST last week (spoiler: it’s really good), and “SINCERITY” really pushes the narrative that SZA fans will find something to love in her work. The sultry horns and R&B beats just work so well!
Mya: “Mixing Patterns” is slow, sleepy decay. It’s dirty dishes and piles of laundry on the floor. It’s “watching paint peel from the ceiling.” The song’s ending has its own strange dissolution as the vocals peter off and a fuzzy, low-definition piano riff starts up. Makes me want to rest my eyes on a muggy afternoon.
Justin: Totally pulls at my love for singer-songwriter, soaring, diaristic lyrics. I can see Leah performing this facing the cliff’s edge a la Pride and Prejudice. Amazing musical moments and textures. I love how the “Mixing Patterns” slows down and eventually shifts into an Avril Lavigne-esque pop-punk, piano tango epilogue. Deliciously thought through. My track of the week.
Li-Wei: Earnest and liberating, “Mixing Patterns” finds Leah Nawy taking a stand for herself and paints broad strokes within the indie rock canvas. The chorus (which immediately reminded me of a take of Glen Hansard’s “Falling Slowly”) feels like the emotional climax of a triumphant indie film. Shoutout to the jazz instrumentation play-off at the end, too. I’m convinced – I’ll be keeping an eye on what Leah Nawy is releasing next.
Mya: Initially I didn’t realize this was from Thunderbolts*. My first thought as it opened was, “oh, how…generically cinematic.” And “Thunderbolts*” very quickly sets out to prove me wrong, devolving into a flurry of themes, each like a glimpse of a room one rushes past. It’s off-kilter. I don’t know what to make of it. But it certainly isn’t generic Marvel.
Justin: The boys are back in town. I appreciate the references to The Avengers theme while I don’t love that track itself. While I don’t know if the track starts with anything of note, I love how the strings tear and corrupt midway into the theme. Just like I’m hearing about the movie itself (which I haven’t yet seen), the track is better than most of its MCU siblings.
Li-Wei: I’ve started listening to big-budget Hollywood film scores less and less because they’re all starting to sound like the same brooding, dramatic stock music to me, but when I heard that Son Lux would be scoring the latest Marvel venture Thunderbolts*, I had to make an exception. Yes, this track feels a bit similar to other big screen dramatists, but I’m not afraid to admit that I truly got swept up in the theatrics. About a minute and 20 seconds in is when the sci-fi switch-up gets sonically interesting. Calling it right now – If I do end up watching Thunderbolts*, it’ll be because of this.
Mya: “7” is all yearning late at night. Looking at trash in the creek, trying to find beauty in cigarette stubs. There’s some lovely bits of lyricism here. “I guess I’ll have to wait / Cause my clothes are still wet.” I can feel the damp cold of it at the back of my collar.
Justin: There’s something totally scene about this. Something about the timbre of Harry Teardrop’s vocals and the mixed-media sentimentality takes me to 2009. Really loving the direction Harry is headed in. I see enormous potential for this type of sound in the next couple years. Also, my grandfather just turned 77. 🙂
Li-Wei: Whenever I get nostalgic for the early 2010s or Myspace, I play some Harry Teardrop and it takes me all the way back. “7”, much like its predecessor “Fcuk”, captures the feeling of those halcyon digicam days where Asian aesthetics mingled with urban American dreaming. There’s an exhilarating rush when you listen to this one that will make former alt-kids proud. “Cherry,” whoever you are, you’re a lucky one.
Header photo taken from Harry Teardrop – “7”.
Check out our other Weekly Bullet Reviews here.