New Backstreet Boys album butchers Christmas classics
The Backstreet Boys (“DNA”) released their first Christmas album “A Very Backstreet Christmas” on Oct. 14, 72 days before Christmas. The album was intended to be released last year, but was pushed back due to the pandemic. But Backstreet is…
Pardoning of marijuana crimes good start but not enough for justice, equality
President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession on Oct. 6. This decision will impact thousands of innocent Americans convicted for a crime grounded in baseless fear-mongering and institutional racism. The White House estimates about 6,500 people…
Middling King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album lacks creativity
Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (“Omnium Gatherum”) released their 21st studio album, “Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava,” on Oct. 7. The album is the first of a trio of albums the band announced for…
Annual Pumpkin Fest returns to city of Oswego
The Oswego chapter of the YMCA held its annual Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 1 and 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at Washington Square Park. The Pumpkin Festival, which is co-sponsored by the City of Oswego, included…
Aimless ‘Fossora’ exhausts listeners with drawn out songs, concepts
Icelandic singer and producer Björk (“Country Creatures”) released her tenth studio album “Fossora” on Sept. 30. The album comes five years after the release of her last project, the folktronica-inspired “Utopia.” “Fossora” takes a new sound holding up to the…
Laker Review highlights four ‘spooktacular’ Halloween songs
For the month of December, radio stations switch their playlists to entirely carols, novelty songs and other wintertime songs from the austere tradition of “Silent Night” to the white guilt of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Halloween gets no similar…
Too early for Halloween, not like Christmas
A certain Oswegonian editor published an opinion in the Sept. 23 issue arguing that the season to celebrate Halloween has already begun. “Halloween is deserving of just as much appreciation of occasions like Christmas, and therefore is entitled to be…
Rina Sawayma dives into contemporary pop rock with ‘Hold the Girl’
Japanese-British pop rocker Rina Sawayama (“Follow Me”) released her second studio album “Hold the Girl” on Sept. 16. The album is the follow-up to her star-making debut album and ode to Y2K, “SAWAYAMA.” The album made her an instant alt-pop…
Maya Hawke’s ‘MOSS’ hones in on folk ballads, Swift-esque sounds
Singer-songwriter Maya Hawke (“Blue Hippo”) released her second studio album “MOSS” on Sept. 23. The album follows her critically acclaimed debut “Blush” from 2020. To call Hawke a singer-songwriter is like calling Ted Kascynski a mathematician: there are some important…
City of Oswego annual Porchfest returns
The streets of Oswego were lined with local musicians and hundreds of listeners during the seventh annual Porchfest celebration on Sept. 18. A total of 44 different acts played in front of the porches of Oswego homes from 12 p.m….
