Private Lives

Reviews

Private Lives Think I’m Coming Around / Television Faces 7″

Two songs, no wasted motion. On “I Think I’m Coming Around,” this Montreal four-piece shoves the guitars right up front and lets them bite, and it had my head bobbing from the first bar. Their ’70s-influenced mix of power pop and garage is catchy without feeling soft, and the A-side is fast becoming one of my favorite songs of 2026. Jackie Blenkarn (formerly of PALE LIPS) is a big part of why, holding her own against all those guitars with a confident, cutting delivery. Flip it for “Television Faces,” which works the same territory but sneaks in some new wave and surf flourishes around the edges. I think both tracks pack more punch than anything on their 2025 full-length, and if this is where they’re headed, I’m on board. These are pure rock’n’roll hit-and-runs: get in, light it up, and peel out.

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.

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.

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.