“ She's cultivated an unhealthy, parasocial fan base that will engage in grievous, vile acts to defend a celebrity they don't know”

Idk whether she can be blamed for how weird people are in 2026 with the parasocial relationship thing. pop stars having extremely toxic fanbases has been a thing since the beginning of pop music, it’s only been exacerbated by social media and streaming as they get more glimpses into their lives than ever before.

Album Rating: 1.0

she's definitely leaning into it + heavily capitalizing tho

This is my least favorite era of hers, hoping she does something more interesting next.

Album Rating: 0.5

She can be blamed for it to the extent that she actively fostered it, first by (earlier in her career) inviting fans into her home, then by (more recently) ignoring the online activity of many of her listeners, while likely possessing an acute awareness of it, and having the means to make so much as one IG story telling them to knock it off, but choosing not to do so.



After a while, you can't really blame these emotionally stunted wine moms in Greenwich, CT for feeling like they know Swift personally, because Swift took it upon herself to deconstruct barriers that typically exist between public figures and the consumers of their work

Album Rating: 2.0

Shamus, can't thank you enough for your feedback and comments. Your own write-ups about albums that you dislike are very pointed and scathing and I love them—I want to work more on that style of writing. But they're a tough balance to nail down, especially when they're targeted towards Swift, an artist whose fanbase views every criticism of her as vitriolic. My review is definitely measured, but maybe too measured, as RAMJ also noted—Swift's status and ego won't shatter under the words of a Sput review, so why not address the elephant in the room? Her fanbase will eat up anything she serves and will demand more by the next day, but the rest of us will kneel and beg for a break—not a whole lot, just a standard 2 year break, the kind that seemed all too common in pop music before COVID. That's when Swift released Folklore and Evermore, which are (for me and many others) her artistic peak, but after that, her catalogue amounts to nothing but an endless dump of tepid, uninspired songs that stir up more intrigue with their ability to sell millions rather than remain in public consciousness for even a year. Most Swifties are every single thing you mentioned but, above all, they have an incredibly low bar when it comes to the quality of the music—so when those people, who are vocal and large in size, praise your abysmal offerings, Swift is compelled to make more. Similarly, when people with a more critical eye raise reasonable concerns for that same slop, Swift is compelled to stick it to the haters and make even more slop. That's the saddest thing of all: not only that candid, scathing conversation around Swift cannot happen in fear of pissing off some terminally online fans, but because that conversation won't change the mind of a rich musician far up her own ass.

Album Rating: 2.0

Circling back to my own write-up here, those are views that exist in certain spots, but I could have done more to highlight my frustration with her releases, for sure. I'm interested in music journalism and it's essential to be fair and measured, but it's also important to be pointed and sharp when you express dislike and this review is definitely not the best example of it. I appreciate your feedback more than you imagine.

Album Rating: 0.5

^ everything here is spot on. The only thing I would add to it is that Swift's own creative team seems to be "yes"-ing her to death in the same way her listeners absent-mindedly canonize every last mental musing she deems good enough to put to record, which, looking at her recent output, appears to be all of them. I think the Folkmore tandem of sister records is regarded so strongly because it's the one time in recent memory that Swift was ostensibly pushed past her comfort zone. It represented a renewed sense of her general goodwill among the public after Reputation damaged much of it and Lover failed on its own to make up all of the lost ground in one cycle. Then she oscillated back to electropop pablum beginning with Midnights, and there wasn't much blowback, or if there was, it was helplessly overwhelmed by the symphony of blind praise. Midnights can really be seen as an inflection point in hindsight, the moment Swift became this veritable enigma, unable or unwilling to be challenged.

the knife of a shade grill

“ After a while, you can't really blame these emotionally stunted wine moms in Greenwich, CT for feeling like they know Swift personally, because Swift took it upon herself to deconstruct barriers that typically exist between public figures and the consumers of their work”

I mean, I absolutely can blame them though, because free will exists and they are their own people. As long as she’s not actively whipping them into a frenzy to troll or doxx people or whatever, idk if I subscribe to the idea that “pop star is responsible for their fan base’s actions”. I also FWIW say this as a person who would rather drag my balls through barbed wire than hear another Taylor swift song.

Album Rating: 0.5

No, I know they absolutely can be blamed because they have free will. that was about as much a facetious dig at them as it was a commentary on their parasocial relationship with Swift

Shitlor Shwit: The Shit of a Shitgirl: Shitcore

Just need a tour w Shit Shitken

I only heard patient zero and Cleveland but Jesus Christ that was embarrassing.

This lady is 40 fucking years old for fucks sake, grow the fuck up

Hawks might be gone but the spirit of Hawks livez on :')

Someone's gotta keep a vigil.

Should we make this an atmo bm discussion thread in his honor?

Aye

Folklore is top 10 atmo bm album of the decade