Our girl Sylvia June brings you recently released albums each week that she thinks you might enjoy. Or not. Whatever...

THICK, “5 Years Behind”

Release Date: March 6, 2020

Why I Like It: It’s been 20 years since Bikini Kill’s ” CD/Tape Version of the First Two Records” blasted from the speakers of my Dinkmobile. This debut album from THICK is giving me the same feelings — I feel the need to crank it up in my grownup Honda CR-V in support of The Milennial Resistance. This album, even though it’s more pop punk, is everything a riot grrl (or guy) could ask for, and it seems even more apropos in the wake of the Coronavirus scare gripping the world. They remind of Sleater-Kinney and The Donnas, if The Donnas took themselves and their talents more seriously. This Brooklyn-based DIY punk outfit made up of guitarist Nikki Sisti, bassist Kate Black and drummer Shari Page fucking rocks.

Top 3 Songs: This is difficult because I love them all.

• “Mansplain” — Mansplaining is the literal worst. The song contains a selection of dismissive, rude and stupid things that have actually been said by men to members of the band, like “Do you think they’d be this successful if they were men?” Very relatable as a woman.
• “Won’t Back Down” — The title says it all. I also “just want to shout, knowing no change has come about.”
• “5 Years Behind” — The title track perfectly explains how pretty much everyone under 40 feels.

Honorable Mention: “Bumming Me Out” — This fucking world right now.

Princess Nokia, “Everything is Beautiful”

Release Date: Feb. 26, 2020

Why I Like It: Princess Nokia (real name Destiny Frasqueri) has made a name for herself as a shameless intersectional feminist, gender non-conforming badass. She’s now my favorite rapper because she’s like early Missy Elliott but even weirder and cooler. Princess Nokia can rap about anything from Bart Simpson and brujas to having small breasts in ways that will make you laugh. But this time around she made me cry, too. She dropped a double set of albums a few weeks ago as a way to celebrate the paradox of her many personalities and conflicting identities. I can fully relate to the need to do that, as one of my favorite song lyrics of all time is it’s “hard to hide a hundred girls in your hair” (from Tori Amos’ “Cloud on My Tongue”).

Top 3 Songs:

• “Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)” — This was her first single from the album and I can see why. It’s a great jam about working hard for what you’ve achieved.
• “Wash and Sets” — We all miss being a kid. Stressing about paying the rent, school loans, paying taxes…“growing up fucking sucks, shit.”
• “Blessings” feat. Terrace Martin — We need this reminder to count them.

Honorable Mention: “I am Free” — “Now I open up my soul, give you heart, and teeth, and bones / And my heart is all exposed, from my mistakes and my woes / Woman, I am strong, woman, I do belong”

Princess Nokia, “Everything Sucks”

Top 3 Songs:

• “Harley Quinn” — A banger of a song that cusses as much as I do.
• “Gross” — She can claim she’s “grosser than you hoes,” but that is also why she is an OG.
• “Woes” — Belongs on chill playlists everywhere.

Honorable Mention: “Just a Kid” — Hearing her rap about her fucked up childhood made me cry. I’ve encountered so many kids in foster care who feel the same way. “Numb in my soul, I feel so out of place / Long way from home, I need out of this place / I’m the sad kid and the bad kid / I’m a disappointment and I’m average.” It makes me want to give her a big hug.