Originally Published on June 26th, 2025
About the Artist
Looking in, sometimes it’s hard to see our own progress. We dedicate ourselves to the work that we do to improve; to be better. We set goals, we celebrate achieving those goals by setting new goals for ourselves, and we put our heads right back down to reach those new heights. Do we ever look at ourselves to say, “Wow! This is where I was last year and look at where we are today?”
It’s hard to speak for others. I know I don’t do that for myself, but as a journalist who has access to other musicians and the opportunity to them from one time to another, it is something I like to do for others.
Only Monsters is an artist who I’ve been listening to for a year now and his progress has been so inspiring to hear. His music has always been enjoyable. Last year, when I wrote the review for One, I took an opportunity to listen to his progress to that point. Hearing his albums Influence and No One Hears, No One Sees, I remember hearing the progress between a year of those two albums.
With Influence, he was really working to discover his voice, his sound, and who “Only Monsters” was. He was Hayden, a school teacher from Washington. He was an artist who was trying to find an outlet for a part of himself that had been left dormant so that he could focus on doing “adult things,” only to realize that we can do both. Influence was discovering that realization.
No One Hears, No One Sees, let his audience see that some discoveries had been made. From the start with In Medias Res, the reverb pulled over the music like a black veil, the layers of guitars and percussion panned around our heads, putting us right in the middle of the song. The commitment. The focus.
Then Only Monsters started releasing for what would be his next albums. He would release three EP’s: One, Two, and Three, which would be comprised of the first editions of the songs that would make up this album.
Listening to One, I was taken aback. I remember thinking about how much progress I heard between Influence and No One Hears, No One Sees, but I really attributed that mostly to an artist finding his legs and trying to figure out what kind of music he was playing. I had no idea the intensity that would have amplified from No One Hears to One; a time gap of just four months. This EP was haunting. I couldn’t stop playing The Endless. Hearing the words “I want to understand what I am” being sung as this epiphany; not this simple question that people ask who don’t understand what it is that they’re asking. But it was this real, relatable, and tragically existential moment.
The hits would keep coming with each release.
About the Album
Past, Present, and Obsolescence is the third album of Washington artist, Only Monsters. This 9 song LP runs at around 35 minutes. It is the collective works of the prior releases, One, Two, and Three. Past, Present, and Obsolescence features instrumental and vocal performances by Only Monsters and was independently recorded. It released on June 26th, 2025, with an early release on Bandcamp.
About the Music
It’s one thing to hear the EP’s but listening to them does not mean that this album has been heard. Hearing this body of work collectively played together is a completely different experience. Once again, the growth is very evident. As Past, Present, and Obsolescence opens, we are immersed with Eye for an Eye.
His latest single, Silhouettes, is the 4th track on the album, and serves as this eloquent bridge in the album. The guitar progression that begins in the middle of that song, almost playing like a medieval harpsichord, brings so much character to the work in whole.
There has been significant development with the programming and synth work over the last two years in the production quality of Only Monster’s music. His new music almost encompasses itself as each part emerges over the other, song after song.
Track seven, Lullaby, takes this illuminating step with its bright arpeggiations at the beginning of the song. Coming from a fixation in the dwelling, it’s almost illuminating, like walking into the sun. It is spoken word but there is so much melody and dynamic representation through the synths and drums. The arpeggiated synths crash around the song like waves throughout.
As the album closes, Soothsayer plays with great resolve. The warm organ is a soothing embrace after completing the walk through of the darker elements of the album. It’s a peace to the anxieties felt as Only Monsters analyzes how finite our mortality is, and how little we’ve learned about ourselves. Soothsayer, confirms it’s impossible to know. But it also makes it ok, as long as we keep trying. It’s the one thing we can do.
Final Thoughts
It’s impossible not to absolutely admire how much Only Monsters improves from one album to the next. There is so much evidence of this discovered self awareness, I am almost envious. How fascinating it must be to be learning so much about one’s self.
Only Monsters debuted as a recording artist in 2023. Today, a completely different artist has emerged from that beginning. He is unapologetically transparent. He understands how to take words and melodies and make a true bond between them. Not just picking a mood. The music is a true reflection of the lyrics in every song. Past, Present, and Obsolescence is more than an album, it’s a journey. I find myself reflecting within, based on the lyrics written by another person. It’s the best kind of high. Even in an instance where the subject is as unsettling as contemplating our own existence, I still am obsessed with that feeling.
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