‘Puberty 2’: Eight Years Later and the Album Is Still a Hauntingly Beautiful Classic

15 January 2025 / by Mary Kamau
Album reviews
Mitski Puberty 2
Released: June 17, 2016
Label: Dead Oceans
Movement:
Alternative / Indie Pop
Lane:
Fiona Apple / Laufey / Phoebe Bridgers / Sir Chloe
Rating:
8/10
Heat:
Crack Baby, Thursday Girl, I Bet on Losing Dogs

I’ll admit it – I discovered Mitski’s album, Puberty 2, through TikTok. 

 

This finding happened as most do on TikTok; I heard music that I liked on a video and then I proceeded to save it on my Spotify. However, this time around, I couldn’t help but notice that I recognized the album cover and found out that I actually had a few songs from this album saved in my music library. 

 

So, then I decided to give the whole album a listen. And I’m really glad I did.

 

Puberty 2 is a reckoning. It invites you to confront all those discomforts, downsides and emotional turmoils associated with growing up so that you can actually grow up. The album sets this tone with the first song, “Happy,” which starts off with a distorted sound that mellows out into lyrics that describe the all-too-real situation of your ‘situationship’ sneaking out of your place while you’re in the bathroom after hooking up. Each song on the album has its own distinct personality, with each song invoking certain feelings from her powerful storytelling. 

 

The sound production of this album is also quite consistent – which makes sense because Mitski only worked with one producer for this album and it’s her frequent collaborator, Patrick Hyland. In an interview with Reverb Magazine, Mitski says that the two of them met “in the same studio program at SUNY Purchase” where they first started making music together using borrowed equipment, outdated software and makeshift studios (Biancardi). Now, with the backing of a record label, the two of them were able to complete this album in a proper recording studio in under a month, using different synths and instruments on modern software to create these unique layers of sound on the album that shouldn’t make sense but it does. 

 

Songs like “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars” use a grungy punk sound to support her angsty lyrics of not being able to pay rent and getting nothing done. Popular hits like “Your Best American Girl” have Mitski singing in a more high-pitched tone over what becomes a progressively more rock sound. Other songs like “I Bet on Losing Dogs” and “Thursday Girl” forego the punk-rock aesthetic and lean more into her soft vocals, sounding like a sad yet beautiful lullaby. My personal favourite song, “Crack Baby,” really punches on a haunting sound that is different than all the other songs yet maintains the same ambience. 

 

Overall, Puberty 2 is a masterclass in manipulating different sounds to create an album that emulates serene sadness as it touches on the melancholy of puberty and dealing with growing pains. This album has cemented itself as a timeless piece of art, given that it continues to show up on my For You Page on TikTok and garner millions of listens years after its release. The music that Mitski has released in recent years proves her to be a poignant artist who understands how to resonate with audiences without losing her authentic sound. Recent hits like “My Love is Mine All Mine” are a testament to this as she continues to connect with millions of listeners around the world with her powerful artistry. If her latest album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We is any indication as to where her music is headed, I’m excited to see what she has next.