Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers | Album Review

The sophomore record from the indie cult star expands on the lyric-driven bedroom pop she’s so loved for.

Credit: Dead Oceans

If 2020 could be summed up in a word, “trauma” would be a pretty good choice. Between the social isolation and loss of loved ones due to COVID-19 to the turmoil of American politics, times rarely have seemed more frightening and uncertain.

California indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has made her name with music unafraid to stare this tumult in the face. Her debut record Stranger In The Alps made that perfectly clear from the get-go, facing personal strife head-on with lyric-driven indie folk and rock that won over fans and critics on impact.

In his perfect score review for The A.V. Club, Josh Modell said:

“Stranger In The Alps alchemizes sorrow into redemptive beauty. It’s never about wallowing, but about slowly moving through it. That difference, played out over some incredible, wise-beyond-her-years songwriting, makes it one of the best albums of the year.”

With those credentials behind her, none other than Bridgers could tackle and soothe the existential crisis collectively presented to us by the new decade. As incredibly high as that bar is to meet, she achieved it with Punisher, a sophomore effort that continues and amplifies the qualities that made her debut so compelling.

“Garden Song” opens the record with a whisper rather than a scream. Hushed guitar crackles in lo-fi as Bridgers’ thin but mellifluous voice melds with the deep bass of her tour manager Jeroen Vrijhoef, who sings backup on the chorus. Lyrically, I have trouble nailing down exactly what this song is about, but I can’t help but love turns of phrase like:

And when your skinhead neighbor goes missing

I’ll plant a garden in the yard, then

And

The doctor put her hands over my liver

She told me my resentment’s getting smaller.

Bridgers surprises me by following up this bedroom pop ballad with the glossy “Kyoto.” An upbeat indie rock number complete with bright horn fanfare, it’s happy tone belies the resentment in Bridgers’ lyrics, revealed to be directed at her father, with whom her relationship is strained:

You called me from a payphone

They still got payphones

It cost a dollar a minute

To tell me you’re getting sober

And you wrote me a letter

But I don’t have to read it

I’m gonna kill you

If you don’t beat me to it

Dreaming through Tokyo skies

I wanted to see the world

Then I flew over the ocean

And I changed my mind.

Equally scintillating is the epic “Chinese Satellite.” In addition to another wonderful indie pop sound palette of guitar and drums with heavenly string accents, Bridgers’ lyrics explore her personal atheism in a way that highly resonates with my own, particularly the desire to know something bigger is beyond our finite existence:

Took a tour to see the stars

But they weren’t out tonight

So I wished hard on a Chinese satellite

I want to believe

Instead, I look at the sky and I feel nothing

You know I hate to be alone

I want to be wrong.

And then we get “Moon Song,” another stunning feat of songwriting, telling a tragically beautiful tale of two people kept apart by fate and the human condition:

You are sick and you’re married and you might be dying

But you’re holding me like water in your hands

When you saw the dead little bird, you started crying

But you know the killer doesn’t understand.

I love the elegant contour of Bridgers’ melody, and the enveloping instrumental of finger-plucked guitar and hushed drums keeps me drawn in, hanging on every word. I love “Savior Complex,” which features some of the album’s most stunning instrumentation. Swells of strings beautifully follow the contours of her delicate vocal melody while hushed percussion and plucked guitar keep a gentle walking pace.

The only song on Punisher that fails to click with me completely is “Graceland Too.” It’s certainly not a bad song by any means, but I personally don’t find Bridgers’ voice fits with the art-country vibe she attempted here. The record is also quite lyric-driven, so those looking for daring instrumental choices might find Punisher lacking in that regard.

That isn’t to say this album lacks bold musical moments, though. Look no further than closing track “I Know The End,” which brings back the horns from “Kyoto” along with clattering drum fills during the song’s extended outro. Bridgers clearly has a sense for the dramatic but also a very strong sense of restraint. Those tools will take her far, and I can’t wait to see her next artistic moves.

Production: 7/10

Lyrics: 9/10

Songwriting: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

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Thank you for reading! What did you think of this album? Leave a comment with your thoughts, and I’ll see you in the next review!