Rett Madison – Pin​-​Up Daddy

This album is exquisite. Like the color scheme of the jacket and the gorgeous aqua-teal vinyl itself, this record reminds me of swimming through coral reefs and brushing shoulders with large and beautiful sea creatures. Maybe it’s the cyclical nature of a lot of the riffs, or maybe it’s the reverb on Rett’s voice…but no matter what it is, that’s how I feel…as if I’m in an underwater utopia surrounded by giant oceanic mountains. Incredibly epic.

The music featured on Pin-Up Daddy, Rett’s debut, is every bit as sublime as their powerful voice. It’s hard to even pick standout tracks because the album flows so cohesively from song to song, with each building perfectly and convincingly upon the last…but still, I have a few favorites. Skeptic’s Angels…it will cut you as deep as any modern Adele classic. (And upon a little research…I found that Skeptic’s Angels actually came out exactly one month before Easy on Me…were Adele or her co-writer influenced by Rett? I’m not saying it for sure…but the timing does make you wonder…kidding, of course, but really…) Then there is Fleas, an exciting swampy bluesy bop whose bass will seriously show off (or reveal the limitations of!) your stereo. Seriously, on vinyl, paired with a good system, Fleas is a completely different experience, and is up there with some of the most incredible bass-heavy classics I’ve heard on vinyl. (Think Lou Reed’s Transformer). And finally, there is God is a Woman, which is still my favorite Rett Madison song to this day. I contend it to be the best pop song written in the last 30 years. No exaggeration. I first heard it seeing Rett open for Theo Katzman (Vulfpeck) on his 2020 tour, and that song is like a fine wine. It gets better every single time I hear it. Finally, it’s not exactly music itself, but try not to cry when you hear what I think is the last voicemail Rett’s Mom left them, which closes out the album. Poignant, real, and it hits the heart like a freight train.

As for the pressing quality and packaging, the pressing is fantastic. Even though it’s on color vinyl, it is extremely quiet, with a very, very minor amount of surface noise that is only barely audible between tracks. As far as the music itself, there is not a single click or pop after a good cleaning. I’ve listened to this album on vinyl easily 50-60 times and there is no degradation of audio quality to date. Even if the record is mastered from a digital source, there is still greater instrument separation than on high quality streaming, with very minor compression. This is a fantastic, near audiophile-level vinyl release. Packaging, on the other hand, is acceptable, but not amazing. It’s just a single cardboard sleeve that isn’t super thick or anything, and I wish it hadn’t come with a paper inner sleeve. But I do love the album art! I also wish that the insert had some liner notes or biography, or some sort of information to read while listening and learn more about the story of the album, but that’s ok!

If you’re reading this review, then you probably already own this record, but if by some chance you don’t…I can’t recommend it highly enough. And who knows? Perhaps someone will be reading this years from now…because how fitting it is to be writing this review just one day after Rett signed their first major record deal with Warner Brothers. Maybe this first release will become a real collector’s item!

Music: 5/5
Mixing/mastering: 5/5
Packaging: 3.5/5
Pressing: 5/5

Equipment used: Pro-Ject The Classic SB SuperPack turntable, VAS custom wood-body Shure M91 MM cartridge with ML stylus, Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2 Preamp, Reisong Tube Amplifier, Klipsch RP-8060FA floor tower speakers

-Review by Linc Bradham