8/10

mtvkid’s first full-length release is an unfiltered portrait of youth in motion. Stretching across a three-year period of writing and recording, this project feels like thumbing through someone’s journal mid-fire: scorched at the edges, but impossible to look away from.

The record opens with punch and purpose on 'IWDRN', charging headfirst into chaos with hooks that bite and rhythms that refuse to sit still. There’s a thrilling volatility here. One moment you’re thrown into an anthem of defiance, the next, you’re floating in reflection, trying to piece together how you got there. It’s this constant oscillation between grit and vulnerability that gives 'mtvkid' its bite.

Throughout the record, the band walks a tightrope between yesteryear angst and present-day polish. There are nods to early-2000s alt-rock and the melodic sharpness of post-emo pop, but these aren’t copy-paste pastiches. Instead, mtvkid reshape familiar sounds into something that feels unmistakably now. Lyrically, the album strikes a balance between candid confession and sharp observation. Whether it’s the high of chasing something just out of reach or the low that hits when everything stalls, there’s a relentless honesty running through every track.

This is a debut that hits like a late-night drive with the windows down and your thoughts too loud. It’s restless, cathartic, and unafraid to get messy, just like the human experience it so vividly soundtracks.