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Punisher Image
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 31 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.8

Universal acclaim- based on 435 Ratings

  • Summary: The second full-length solo release for the singer-songwriter features contributions from Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson, Jim Keltner, Warpint's Jenny Lee Lindberg, Blake Mills, Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes' Nathaniel Walcott, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Sep 21, 2020
    100
    Punisher is a product of the times, but it’s also one that could have only been made by Phoebe Bridgers. She’s the only artist I can think of who has the ambition and elegance to tackle two crumbling worlds at the same time: the one in her mind, and the one outside her doorstep. It's an album characterized by its finality; a series of lasts in a time where preparing for the end is starting to feel less and less absurd.
  2. Q Magazine
    Jun 9, 2020
    100
    A masterpiece in mood setting, the apocalyptic Punisher aches with sadness, but Bridgers doesn't wallow. ... The end of the world rarely sounds this good. [Summer 2020, p.106]
  3. Jun 17, 2020
    91
    Punisher is a dazzling record, one filled with sadness but not overwhelmingly so, full of moments that sting the first time you hear them but burrow deeper into the soul with each listen.
  4. Jun 19, 2020
    81
    The main difference between Stranger in the Alps and Punisher is simply maturation of her writing.
  5. Uncut
    Jun 19, 2020
    80
    A deservedly confident album. [Aug 2020, p.28]
  6. Jun 18, 2020
    80
    Already masterful at creating sad, smart songs, Bridgers reaches new depths with Punisher.
  7. Jun 19, 2020
    70
    Too many of the songs’ flourishes are really just tricks of production rather than genuine songwriting ingenuity. Her ability to turn a phrase, her gorgeous voice, and her sheer charm can justify a lot, but she needs more than those tricks in her bag to sustain what will hopefully be a long and fruitful career.

See all 31 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 95
  2. Negative: 7 out of 95
  1. Jun 18, 2020
    10
    i feel so strongly about this album that i decided to make an account just to review it. that alone should be enough to explain how absolutelyi feel so strongly about this album that i decided to make an account just to review it. that alone should be enough to explain how absolutely stunningly phenomenal this record is. it’s incredibly timely and although it feels very sad (much like its predecessor, stranger in the alps), it’s a different kind of sad. these aren’t originally my words, but i think it would be apt to articulate stranger in the alps as a “winter sadness” record, whereas punisher feels to me more like a “summer sadness” record. where stranger in the alps feels cold, this record feels hot.

    i also think every second of punisher feels just as rewarding as the highest highs of phoebe’s debut; she seems to have grown tremendously as a songwriter and it shows.

    my expectations for this record was very very high, and it still managed to blow me out of the water. probable album of the year, in my opinion.
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  2. Jan 11, 2022
    10
    Albums of this caliber don’t come around often. There is a haunting depression with each song that pulls you in, then a moment of brilliance,Albums of this caliber don’t come around often. There is a haunting depression with each song that pulls you in, then a moment of brilliance, brought on by either an instrument or a change in Phoebe’s incredible voice. All of which keeps you wanting to connect with music even more. Stunning in it’s simplicity, and brilliant when it gets complicated. Expand
  3. Jul 10, 2020
    10
    my friend made me listen to it. cried a lot. as an artist I can say it's a great work of art. would love to see more of it. personally Chinesemy friend made me listen to it. cried a lot. as an artist I can say it's a great work of art. would love to see more of it. personally Chinese Satellite was my favorite one. Pheobe, girl twinks love ur music! Expand
  4. i94
    Jun 19, 2020
    10
    Listening to this album brings to mind the title of Dave Eggers' memoir: 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.' Phoebe Bridgers' secondListening to this album brings to mind the title of Dave Eggers' memoir: 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.' Phoebe Bridgers' second solo album is the culmination of everything she's done since 2017's 'Stranger in the Alps'—it's simultaneously heart wrenching and liberating, haunting and electrifying, highly personal yet a universally lovable. The greatest skill she possesses is making you laugh before punching you in the gut, forcing the air out of your lungs and tears out of your ducts. 'Punisher' is supernatural: alien spaceships dart across the sky, a lonely ghost floats around a haunted house, birds are mauled by innocent dogs who can't comprehend what they've done. I was born in 1998—"Gen Z", if you will. People in my age cohort have grown up in a world shaped by 9/11, endless wars, economic ruin, government corruption, and now a life-altering pandemic. We're not used to things going right; we're used to the cruel twists of fate that life has unsparingly thrown our direction. No one captures the normalization of this despair quite like the artist currently known as Phoebe F*cking Bridgers. Expand
  5. Jun 26, 2020
    9
    If emo-indie-folk is your thing then Phoebe is your goddess. Great album to put on and let play throughout the day.
  6. Jun 24, 2020
    9
    I wish I had heard this album when I was 24, because now at 26 I found out that I ran in vain. Listening to Punisher worked as an outburst,I wish I had heard this album when I was 24, because now at 26 I found out that I ran in vain. Listening to Punisher worked as an outburst, then as a advice, which I cannot put into practice in isolation. Expand
  7. Dec 10, 2020
    0
    So sorry for album "Calligulla" from Lingua Ignota that evenmore tragic and delivers much more expressive and diverse vocal performances. ThisSo sorry for album "Calligulla" from Lingua Ignota that evenmore tragic and delivers much more expressive and diverse vocal performances. This album full of very predictable melodies, she sings the same in all songs, and the decent late 00s style arrangemets doesnt save the situation. Expand

See all 95 User Reviews

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