Month: September 2025

Kendrick Lamar “Good Kid, M.A.A.d city” (2012) Review

Kendrick Lamar “Good Kid, M.A.A.d city” (2012) Review

I was sitting in a cubicle in Los Angeles and overheard an argument about “Good Kid, M.A.A.d city”. One person said it was the best record of 2012, the other stated that there was something else, and I was just looking at escort ads. Cubicle land sucks unless you have headphones and an endless stream of music or comedy. I have always been lucky to be able to wear headphones, and that’s where I think Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore record is best heard. It’s a subdued record with many calming beats, interesting rhyme schemes, and something for every type of hip hop fan.

“Good Kid, M.A.A.d city” is a record you can’t just listen to and skip tracks. It’s a recording that requires you to sit still, put on headphones, and drift off into what the MC is saying. He’s telling stories from the hood, but it is not glorified at times, and it is not as gritty as some of the earlier 1990s hip hop that ran the gamut of offensive material. That’s not to say that there’s no street cred here, as it was produced in large part by Dr. Dre. You get a mix of styles, beats, and an eclectic blend of hip-hop tunes. It’s a solid release that I happen to go back to a great deal, even with a decade between us. I hope I don’t die in a cubicle job.

Pennywise “Unknown Road” (1993) Review

Pennywise Unknown Road CD COver

It’s hard to imagine, but the band Pennywise has been around a long time, and they have been putting out quality punk records since their inception. The band would put out the melody-driven “Unknown Road” in 1993, and while I don’t always include them in the term pop punk, once again, Rolling Stone said they were, and well, I’m not going to argue for the sake of writing a review.

The record is heavy-handed, hard-hitting, and straightforward in its approach to punk rock; the four-piece really delivers when it comes to the craft. There’s just something biting to the music, and while it has a sense of pop at times, it leans heavily into the skate punk, hardcore world with metallic riffs. That’s not to say that there’s no pop here; there’s plenty, including sing-along vocals at times, and slower tempos here and there. Overall, however, “Unknown Road” is one of the better records to come out of Southern California, and in 1993, there’s no finer example of the sound than that of Pennywise. Stand out tracks are all over the place, but my favorite, if I had to pick one, is “Time To Burn”, one of my all-time favorite songs from the band.

With 13 tracks and 33 minutes, the band puts their best foot forward and still puts out quality music. “Unknown Road” might be older, wiser, and hard to pigeonhole into pop punk, but it certainly has a lot of elements that make it sound great and, dare I say, poppy. It’s a solid record to have as part of your punk collection, that’s for sure.