Illuminati Hotties

• FREE I.H: This Is Not the One You've Been Waiting For [Snack Shack Tracks EP, 2020] A-
• Let Me Do One More [Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless, 2021] A

Consumer Guide Reviews:

FREE I.H: This Is Not the One You've Been Waiting For [Snack Shack Tracks EP, 2020]
Led in every respect by L.A. sound engineer Sarah Tudzin, this band debuted with 2018's engaging little Kiss Yr Frenemies but then felt compelled, due to indie-biz malfeasances too pathetic to delve into, to keep skin in the game with this bratty, off-the-cuff 2020 mixtape, which in 12 tracks lasting 23 minutes does definitely polish up its own pissed-off punk 'tude. Although the noise it purveys throughout turns doomy on one called "Content/Bedtime," there's also a finale called "reason 2 live" where she sends warm regards to friends who are nice in succinctly described, sweetly differentiated ways. Inspirational Prose: "Hang on to your masters, folks." A-

Let Me Do One More [Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless, 2021]
For the first half the Sarah Tudzin we were waiting for proves kind of amazing--one song after another lays out a desperately giddy life of pool hopping in pursuit of a clean rebound, consulting a shaman in Ojai, and abjuring the bottled spit at the corner store. Though she calms down second half, because you're rooting for her that proves more a relief than a letup. Throughout she's a brave, manic, supersmart indie-girl auteur who not only wants love but has a fair idea of what it is: "You're leaning in/I'm leaning out/You think that you could love me through the sway?" Or wait a second while she makes that: "I'm leaning in/You're leaning away/You think that you could love me through the sway?" A