Brat Summer ___ Fall

By LIO KAMUELLER

This past summer, Charli xcx’s album “Brat” took over the world. Neon green has practically been renamed, and almost every fictional character or celebrity has been the subject of a 365 party girl edit on TikTok. “Brat summer” became a modern cultural moment, an aesthetic, a vibe, if you will. But we are in the Midwest, a lovely corner of the world where the seasons change dramatically, and the vibes must change with them, so here are my suggestions of albums that can equally dictate our vibes for a post-brat-summer fall:

“Stick Season” by Noah Kahan

Yes, I know Noah Kahan is from New England, and “Homesick” is not about feeling stuck in rural Wisconsin. But objectively speaking, the melancholy and restlessness of this album pair perfectly with the angst of existing in a bubble like Beloit. I’ve spent the last year reinterpreting the description of life in a cold, variable climate in “Northern Attitude” through the lens of different seasons, and it holds up every time. Add that to songs like “New Perspective” and “The View Between Villages” that perfectly capture college growing pains and small-town Midwest insanity, and I think you’ve got the fall album of the year.

“Preacher’s Daughter” by Ethel Cain

If any album on this list deserves the astronomical success that “Brat” achieved, it’s “Preacher’s Daughter.” The musical style and lyricism are absolutely hauntingly beautiful, but I think the selling point of this album is the storyline behind it. It takes listeners through the life of the fictional character Ethel Cain, who grows up in an abusive, religiously fundamentalist family in the South before running away to California. I don’t have room enough to do the story justice, but there is no experience like sitting through this album and feeling big emotions about it (just be aware it covers some sensitive topics! Listen safely). We are all doomed by the narrative, at least a little bit. Everyone say thank you Mother Cain for the perfect vent album. That said, the individual tracks do hold up on their own – “American Teenager” goes hard on a night drive or in the Woodman’s parking lot. 

“Rick” by Ricky Montgomery

I initially thought of “Rick” for a fall album because it was released almost exactly a year ago, but truly it is just such a wonderful vibe. A lot of the songs are very chill, sort of quiet, and at least a little sad. It sounds like fall rain, and it tends to make me introspective. Once the leaves start falling, you will probably find me buried in a pile of them somewhere, listening to “Sometimes I Need to Be Alone” and “Truth or Dare” and slowly sinking into the ground, thinking hard about my own place in the world and how to exist in it. Most of the songs on this album are also really good music to study to, for all you academic weapons out there.

“Kid Krow” by Conan Gray

Remember fall of 2020 when “Heather” was blowing up on TikTok? Me too. This album pick is for those of us who stopped mentally progressing in high school. Viral songs like “Heather” and “Maniac” have that nostalgia factor for falls past, while “Little League” and “The Story” sneak a coming-of-age narrative into the mix, because what is a change of seasons if not a metaphor for the unstoppable march of time? So go crazy, be a messy teenager on a college campus, and spend your weekend nights crying to “Wish You Were Sober” outside parties – it’s cathartic, I promise.

“Brat” by Charli xcx

Listen, some of us are stubborn. Some of us refuse to change even as the world changes around us, and sometimes that’s okay. It’s a fantastic album. If I hear any of these songs at a function this semester, I will scream with joy because I spent all summer thinking about this moment. Also, I’m still not even over my “Glitterbug” by The Wombats phase from last spring, so who am I to judge? Dye your skin green! Get too silly! It’s what Charli would want.

Featured Image Credit: Sophia Nitsche’25