The Daily Spin II

Mr Little Jeans | Pocketknife

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: Pocketknife (2014)

Artist: Mr Little Jeans

Link:

What I love so very much about this album is that it combines extremely lovely original material with one of the best covers I have ever heard into one really enjoyable little package.

Reminiscent of CHVRCHES in the best way, Pocketknife takes that formula that works and throws it wholeheartedly into every track. That whisper-sharp voice of Norwegian-born Monica Birkenes runs over rock-tinged electronic production, trap-ish drums, and spacey, aerial sounds that bleed infinite into the edges. It’s gorgeous, stark, and absolutely affecting when utilized correctly - which, thankfully, is most of the time.

Not to say it’s a perfect album, necessarily. There are moments where the ploy doesn’t really work - ‘Oh Sailor’ stands out as a track that just doesn’t work at all. The consistency - or lack thereof - is really the only and most glaring issue with the record, but when the rest of it sounds like ‘The Suburbs’ or ‘Mercy’, I can’t really fault too hard.

Rating: 8/10

Best Tracks: The Suburbs, Mercy, Good Mistake

Worst Tracks: Oh Sailor