Bilmuri - KINDA HARD (April 10, 2026) Album • Page 4

He’s had co-writers for at least the last couple albums I think, most songs on here have co-writers

 

I like this quite a bit. I agree that he does have a pretty defined formula at this point, but he does well within it so I can’t be mad at him for sticking to what works

 

More Than Hate is even better in sequence of the whole album

 

His formula is easy to love. He may employ a similar song structure, but there’s a lot of different genres bouncing off of one another and at least for me that’s enough to keep it from getting stale. This album is a little more on the heavy side, and I love it.

I was thinking after AMS I would wanna see more of the country side of things because that’s what drew me to AMS. And I hate country as a rule, but the way he deployed it in songs was just so fresh and didn’t come across like typical country fare. Love me some Hard2Tell.

I was also enamored with Gabi’s input on AMS and there’s less of her here, but I think he did a great job still writing very catchy, upbeat music without as much Gabi.

This is just my long winded way of saying I love this album and it’s a mood brightener for me. I love music that’s fun and lifts my spirits at the same time. I think even though Johnny’s lyrics can be melancholy they are performed in a way that feels very therapeutic. Straight Through You off of AMS was a very identifiable song for me, mainly because I mesh so well with the lyrics and I found a lot of that on Kinda Hard.

 

Love that opener so much. The eagle sounds take the cake for me lmao

 

I think its a better album than AMS but I wish there was more Gabi on it

 

“Thank god you finally got awaaaaaayyyyyyy from me”

Ear worms for days on this record.

 

Honest is such a great song. The last two really seal the deal

 

I thought Gabi was just a touring member, but was she on the recording of AMS then?

 

She’s on 4-5 songs on AMS, and a couple before that, iirc. Live she’s on whatever’s being played.

 

WELL SAID!!!!

 

Is she? I know she has 2 sax parts and subtle background vocals on Blindsided. I feel like everyone is overexaggerating her contributions on this vs. AMS. It feels similar to me. I think everyone has seen how much Gabi adds to the live show and was hoping she would be all over this, which, honestly fair because she is the incredible live, but it feels like it really isn't too different than AMS in that regard.

 

If this Spotify playlist is to be believed, she's on: Blindsided, 2016 Cavs, The End, Boutta Cashew, Drunk Enough, Straight Through You, Too Late, Swamp Creature, KEEPINITBEFFY, and A HOGMAN"S DELIGHT.

 

So 4 songs from the original release of AMS. That's vocals on Blindsided, significant sax solos on 2016 Cavs and Straight Through You, and a small sax flourish in the beginning of Drunk Enough.

Again, I love Gabi as much as everyone else, and I would love an album with her all over it, but it might've been unrealistic expectations based on her prior involvement.

 

I would also assume Gabi’s been so busy touring she may not have even been available for a lot of the writing sessions this go around.

 

There's something up with the production here that isn't working for me. I feel like even in high quality I'm listening to a compressed version of the album. Like the dynamic range is squashed.

 

It's weird some people seem to have issues with the production. It sounds full and clear to me

 

After sitting with this, it's just a solid, fun, engaging listen. wish he took more swings, but it mostly all works. I'm more a fun of the Worst Part of You/Rock Bottom songs, which lean into to pop rock side of things.

If I'm just throwing out ideas for the next step of this project, I'm almost hoping he does a spin on a pop maximalist "boy band" concept (like Max Martin in his hayday), think it would be in his wheelhouse, and there's plenty of "comedy" potential for it.

 

I think this record is damn near perfect. Great mix of hard rock vibes with pop punk country. Only artist doing this mashup that I know of. His entire persona - music videos - etc. is really fun for a proud Midwesterner.

 

New day, different song stuck in my head

 

I feel like given how well AMS was received he could've dialled it down and made a more poppy record to cater to a bigger audience, so I respect that this is quite a bit heavier music-wise

 

The band Nightlife does pretty much exactly what you’re describing, think a lot of people who enjoy Bilmuri would also love these guys

 

I was hesitant to check him out for some reason (maybe because I remember hating Attack Attack back in the day and held some resentment over that) but this musical project is insane enough to work for me

 

Grief’s gonna do what it wants

 

First, this album appears to be a grower for me. Liking it more with each listen. I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s a ton of fun, which is all I can ask for from this project.

Second, Reese is back in the band. To me, the initial accusations seemed like he kind of fetishized the race of his GF which I’m sure was degrading to her, but I’m not wholly upset he’s back. Is 4 months away from your job good enough for being kind of shitty in a relationship? Not sure, but thought it’d be worth mentioning in here.