Rocket
About this Album
Rocket is the seventh studio album credited to Alex Giannascoli (billed as (Sandy) Alex G) and his second for Domino, released on May 19, 2017.[1] Giannascoli produced it himself, with mixing by Jacob Portrait and mastering by Heba Kadry, and bandmates and violinist Molly Germer contribute throughout.[1]
Critics described a restless, stylistically scattered record that moves between folk, Americana, indie rock, and R&B-tinged pop. It earned a Metacritic score of 82 and landed on a number of year-end lists.[1]
Much of Rocket was recorded by Giannascoli himself, with a laptop and microphone carried in a backpack and friends tracked wherever it was convenient.[2] Reviewers heard a cast of young or unfinished characters and a mix of country pop, dreamy folk and beat-driven tracks, balancing hope with unease.[3] It opens with the banjo-led "Poison Root."[3]
The record is deliberately uneven. Reviewers singled out outliers such as "Brick," a near-hardcore burst that arrived as a single on May 4, 2017 alongside the Auto-Tuned love song "Sportstar."[2]
Songs
References
- Rocket (Alex G album), Wikipedia — Track listing, credits, release dates of the singles, and critical reception
- Q&A: (Sandy) Alex G on Rocket (Stereogum) — Interview covering how Rocket was recorded, who played on it, and his life at the time
- (Sandy) Alex G, Rocket review (The Line of Best Fit) — Review noting the banjo-led folk atmosphere and the album's themes of youth and unease