Laurel Hell is the sixth album by the singer-songwriter, Mitski. The album expresses Mitski’s feelings when she was going through a hard time questioning making music. She expresses how she felt trapped and wanted to leave the music and celebrity industry.
Produced by Patrick Hyland, the album has an indie pop electro-rock sound that features Mitski’s use of instruments including synths, drums, and the piano.
Stand out tracks include “Working for the Knife,” a song which expresses being a kid and having dreams then growing up realizing that your younger self thought you would have done more. And “There’s Nothing Left Here for You“, which addressed spending your time on a goal then not being able to pursue it causing you to give up and feel like you have nothing.
On a scale of 5 to 1, 5 being best, I give this album 5 stars. Its strengths include the creativity Mitski put into the album and getting the message across.
Fans of Mitski should definitely check out Laurel Hell. If you haven’t heard Mitski, this is a good time to start.
FNAF: Game Review
By Percy Monckton
The Five Nights at Freddy (FNAF)’s series has been one of my favorites since the demo for FNAF 1 came out. As such, it’s also my favorite to criticize. In this article, I will be covering FNAF 1, 2, 3, 4, Sister Location, Pizzeria Simulator, Help Wanted, and Security Breach. This will cover spoilers for the games. The series was made by Scott Cawthon, later games involving Steel Wool Studios.
I couldn’t play this one at first as every time FNAF was mentioned I’d get scared, but it’s a good game. If I can still remember my numerous tries at the 20202020 mode, even though it was six or seven years ago, then it’s a good game. 10/10
FNAF 2 My brother and I played this as soon as it came out. I prefer the original but it’s still very good! The designs are iconic, my favorite being Mangle(Funtime Foxy the 1st). It stressed me out and I have yet to replay it, the best part of the game was fan creations. 9/10, point taken off for me not recalling it without having to google about it. This one is my brother’s favorite though, so it’s a good game!
FNAF 3 This one? Chefs kiss. The game with the best model for Springtrap, the game that introduces Springtrap, the arson charge, it’s great. Very stressful but in the most fun way it could be, time spent tricking a serial killer turned robot-zombie with balloon boy’s voice is time well spent. I thought having to check the module a lot, the cams, and the vents was a good combo. The game only having one animatronic enemy was a good choice, and I have replayed this one. 20/10, added ten points for how iconic Springtrap is.
FNAF 4 Not getting into the lore on this one, it’s my favorite. Getting into the lore? Oh good heavens I have no idea what’s going on. The gameplay is the most fun out of the four games mentioned. It’s also the scariest out of the four mentioned, even if the designs are a little extra in this one. The game you’d think is a sequence of dreams had by a child, but apparently, it’s not a dream at all and you aren’t playing as the child. Or you are, really who cares it’s an FNAF game we don’t come here for a game that makes sense. 10/10, it’s my favorite but it does not deserve extra points that lore is atrocious.
Sister Location Oh yeah baby, now you can run around somewhat! The designs for this game are impeccable, tasty, astonishing, groundbreaking- you get the idea. I very much enjoy the look and feel of the game. The gameplay is fun, at least for me. The lore got me though because it frustrates the fire out of me that I don’t know exactly where it goes in the timeline, but who cares. The protagonist, who just saw an animatronic get scooped in that room by the scooper, walked into the room and stood in front of the scooper. I do not know what he expected, but did I laugh? Yes. 15/10, added points for Circus Baby who I think has some peak humor in this game.
Pizzeria Simulator The best game easily. It’s a funny pizza tycoon then suddenly you’re reuniting with your dead, robot-possessing family as you all burn. Henry Emily’s speech is a work of art, I have cried over it. You get bullied from the vents by the worst Springtrap design which looks like a peanut. The sign with “I am already inside the building :D” was so scary but so funny, I liked it. 100/10 for the amazing writing for Henry’s monologue and for the ball pit game.
Help Wanted Got so scared I could not get past the first night and had to watch Markiplier play it. It’s great, I love Vanessa, who is the protagonist of the game. The whole “let’s pay someone to turn tragedies at our company into games, then make a game refuting this by also making games out of tragedies'' best marketing tactic of the year. Glitchtrap, also known as Malhare, is so ominous but funny looking. I wish they stuck with him looking like that for Security Breach, but alas every game Springtrap is in he must have a different design. 8/10, two points are taken because Security Breach ruined this whole “Vanny is the new villain” thing.
Security Breach Steel Wool is about to feel my wrath. The writing here is poor, like most FNAF games, but it’s more annoying this time. How many times will you bring back Springtrap? Put the old fart to rest, it’s boring. The design for him changed yet again, no surprise there. It was built over where Pizzeria Simulator took place, how nice. Gregory was great though, funny little dude. Absolutely throttled the animatronics at like seven when most adults couldn’t. If there is another game, I want to see more of him. 7/10 because of how many issues I have with it, but since they’re open to changing parts of the game I raise it to 9/10 because I really do like the game. There’s just so many issues writing and gameplay-wise, I wish the team could’ve had more time. I really like the concept of a free-roam FNAF game.