Private Lives

Private Lives Salt of the Earth LP

Another winner. This is just pure, driven, female-fronted power pop. Actually, not just power pop, also pure pop. It’s also sort of plodding at times. Whatever you want to call it, it’s super-catchy and the vocals (and the lyrics) are both pretty and strong. It even gets a little garage-y at times. I’m really enjoying this. The catchiest songs (“Dealer’s Choice,” “I Get Around”) almost have you swinging your head around—not bouncing it around, but throwing it around.

• Reviewer Kenny Kaos
• Label Feel It
• Issue MRR #504 • May 2025

Private Lives Hit Record LP

Feel It Records continues a white-hot streak of releases with this Montreal act’s latest release, a spiky, lovely, and scuffed batch of garage pop tracks. It’s impressive to hear big, bold ideas captured again and again within two-minute runtimes, blending influences from ’90s alt sounds to ’80s post-punk and convincingly noisy production on tracks like the chilly “Head/Body” and “Misfortune.” It’s a solid outing and doesn’t wear out its welcome, and while it might not immediately jump to classic status to my ear, it definitely claws me back for repeated listening.

• Reviewer Luke Henley
• Label Feel It
• Issue MRR #484 • September 2023

Private Lives Private Lives cassette

Debut release from this Montréal group that started as a husband-and-wife project during the pandemic. Now actualized as a four-piece, PRIVATE LIVES present five garage-y, post-punk songs with surf-pop drums and fuzzed-out guitars that drop into wiry riffs between distorted vocals, reminding me of CO-ED who I reviewed a while back. In general, this is hard to not enjoy: poppy enough to be catchy, heavy enough to be rollicking, rough enough to retain its edge. Looking forward to what’s next from these Quebecers.

• Reviewer Willis Schenk
• Label Feel It
• Issue MRR #476 • January 2023