Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher is an album for the ages.
“What if I told you I feel like I know you? / But we’ve never met,” Bridgers sings on titular track “Punisher.”
Image from Wikipedia
“The doctor put her hands over my liver,” Phoebe Bridgers sings on the second track of her most recent album, Punisher. “She told me my resentment’s getting smaller.” Because its former “DVD Menu” is an instrumental track, these lyrics on “Garden Song” are some of the first ones heard on the album.
Though this is only Bridgers’ second solo album, she is no stranger to the music scene. With collaborative projects such as Boygenius, an indie rock EP created with fellow musicians Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, and her work as Better Oblivion Community Center with Connor Oberst, as well as several smaller collaborations, she’s already amassed quite an impressive discography— one that has only been enhanced by the acutely honest, almost confessional lyricism, and haunting, somber instrumentals of Punisher.
Bridgers explores dysfunctional relationships, a relationship with an alcoholic father, and even the end of the world, and she does so with a gut-punching kind of grace that only an artist like her can muster. “I don’t forgive you, but please don’t hold me to it,” she admits on “Kyoto,” a song about exploring Japan on tour while also reflecting on her relationship with her absent father. It’s lyrics like this that showcase both Bridgers’ talent as a songwriter, as well as her willingness to be vulnerable through her songwriting.
“Bridgers explores dysfunctional relationships, a relationship with an alcoholic father, and even the end of the world, and she does so with a gut-punching kind of grace that only an artist like her can muster.”
In track nine, “ICU,” she sings “I used to light you up / now I can’t even get you to play the drums.” Then the drums cut out. Moments like this highlight the meticulous work that goes into both the instrumentals and the lyrics, and how they come together to create one cohesive sound.
“The end is here,” Bridgers sings in the outro of Punisher’s closing track, “I Know the End.”
What follows is a series of screams from Bridgers and her bandmates, volume fading as the aforementioned end of the world arrives— the perfect way to close out the dark, apocalyptic album. Though it’s been less than a year since its release, it’s clear that Punisher is an album that will influence the indie rock scene for years to come.
Image cutline: “What if I told you I feel like I know you? / But we’ve never met,” Bridgers sings on titular track “Punisher.”
Photo credit: image from Wikipedia