ALBUM

‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ (2022)

Wallows

Best Song: “Marvelous”

Worst Song: “Hurts Me”

Underrated Hit: “Guitar Romantic Search Adventure”

Overall: A standout album from Wallows, “Tell Me That It’s Over” ranks the lowest on streaming for the indie-rock band. The album follows a similar sound to the others by this band, utilizing similar guitars and drums, while also having an interesting effect on vocals to make them sound almost fuzzy. Although the songs are easy to listen to and fun to have playing in the background, some fail to stand out against other songs of the same genre – for example, rising band Benches and their song “It Doesn’t Have to Change.” Something interesting that Wallows does in this album (and their other two “Nothing Happens” (2019) and “Model” (2024)) is have two singers. Although Dylan Minnette (“Thirteen Reasons Why”, “Scream V”) is considered the lead singer, bassist Braedon Lemasters sings roughly one third to one half of the songs in their discography, including “At the End of the Day” off “Tell Me That It’s Over”.

BOOK

‘Super Fake Love Song’

David Yoon

Genre: YA

Summary: After Cirrus – the coolest girl that Sunny Dae, self-proclaimed nerd, has ever met – mistakes Sunny’s older brother’s rock-and-roll bedroom for his, Sunny lies and says it is. He ropes his friends into his scheme and forms a fake band. As the scheme starts to become real, can Sunny keep this house of cards from falling down?

Something I liked: The way Yoon portrays the complications of sibling relationships, especially when one sibling no longer lives at home.

Something I disliked: Sunny Dae

Overall: The book is an entertaining read, but as a YA novel, it’s youthful in tone. The main protagonist, Sunny, gets increasingly aggravating the more he’s caught in his lie. Characters like Sunny’s older brother Gray, who plays a large role, and Cirrus, who triggered the whole lie in question, don’t feel as fleshed out as one would like. Overall, it’s fun but not groundbreaking.

MOVIE

‘We Live in Time’

Director: John Crowley

Genre: Drama/Tearjerker

Notable Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh

Summary: The story follows Almut (Pugh), Tobias (Garfield), and their daughter through the couple’s love story. The movie shows them through three different periods and switches fluently through them.

Something I liked: The cinematography; the movies had excellent camera shots and a cool lighting effect where you could clearly tell the difference between the past and the present. There were also a lot of nice parallels in both sad scenes and joyful scenes.

Something I disliked: The movie was a little bit too real. There was a scene where Pugh’s character gave birth, and the movie contains an excessive amount of throwing up. I also felt that the nudity in the movie was unnecessary but that’s a personal issue.

Overall: I gave this movie three stars on Letterboxd. If I could go back and do it again, I would probably give it three and a half. I could see how some people would have issues with pacing, as it isn’t necessarily clarified when the time periods switch. I had given it three at the time because the movie takes a truly depressing turn that I had not expected and took me by surprise. However, “We Live in Time”is overall a good movie that I would recommend (with a side of some tissues).