The Daily Spin II

Strange Names | Use Your Time Wisely

Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.

As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.

Album: Use Your Time Wisely (2015)

Artist: Strange Names

Link:

Minnesotan bands always catch my eye just because it’s fun to see a local scene hit the big time. Minneapolis’ own Strange Names are the pick today, with their 2015 record on the docket.

Despite being released in 2015, it could have come out thirty years earlier and I’m not sure I would have hardly been any wiser for it. There’s a really intense 80s flavor to most of this music, with the modern touches that bring it forward and elevate it beyond typical slop.

Where I struggle here is that while other bands playing off an older formula have reinvented and come forward with invigorated sounds, it feels like Strange Names have read an old playbook and stuck to the concepts therein. It’s like basketball without a shot clock.

Rating: 8/10

Best Tracks: I Can’t Control Myself

Worst Tracks: Overused Phrase