Rosie Tucker

• Never Not Never Not Never Not [New Professor, 2019] A-
• Sucker Supreme [Epitaph, 2021] A
• Utopia Now! [Sentimental, 2024] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Never Not Never Not Never Not [New Professor, 2019]
Neither irresistibly melodic nor mind-bogglingly eloquent, this 2019 debut album by a then-21-year-old USC music major is dominated by likable love songs more affectionate than impassioned and more provisional than connubial. There's a decency and wonderment here that's both commonplace and touching. If you regard enduring romantic affection as a worthy goal for humans on the brink of adulthood, you'll root for both principals to get past the disconnects while accepting that sometimes love just doesn't last and that's the way it is. A-

Sucker Supreme [Epitaph, 2021]
It's hard to understand why Tucker's first real label followed its both infatuated and perceptive bio by dropping her. Not punk enough, maybe? Did that frog Tucker brought to work shit on the floor? Because just in terms of what normal people call songcraft, which I should specify needn't always guarantee coherent/incisive/eloquent lyrics, the 14 tracks here simply never fade to gray. Topics discussed include trash compactors, wheelbarrows on the roof, Doritos, habanera peppers, Diet Coke, ambrosia with Cool Whip, tadpoles denied the next level, bats vs. fireflies, the tooth fairy, shortness of breath, sexual tension, the late Alice Coltrane, at least one grandma, and no more Louisville Slugger beside the bed. A

Utopia Now! [Sentimental, 2024]
At 26, Tucker has the lineaments of a mature young adult with a conscience that remains close at hand. Even the love songs, which pop up often if you keep your ears clean, come with the proviso "I'm writing in America, a country whose idea of freedom depends on the subjugation of the many." Following one called "All My Exes Live in Vortexes" with one called "Gil Scott Albatross" (cf. Gil Scott-Heron of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised fame), always ready for "a staring contest with the evil eye," Tucker tells us that "when there's pain you still got nerve," that "eternal life is the intersection of the line of time and the plane of now," that even "doing your best you regress to the mean," and that "For my enemies I want nothing but unending bliss." Some kind of universalist for sure, they have the right to plural pronouns if anymany does. A-