Quick Hits, Vol. 68 (G-Eazy, And So I Watch You From Afar, Don Henley, Sam Hunt)

The late, great David Bowie.  I know the entire planet is, right at this very minute, making sure they quickly publish their heartfelt tributes to Bowie and going on and on about the out-sized influence he had on the world. I have no reason to contribute much to that, as every major media outlet and everyone in my social media feeds are filling the ether with their bloviations right now.  I like his old rock and roll stuff ("Queen Bitch," "Life on Mars," "Suffragette City," or "Space Oddity") well enough, but likely first realized who he was because of Vanilla Ice, and then got comfortable with him and learned to like his music because of Wes Anderson.  For whatever reason, the only album of his that I own in 1977's Low.  Which is weird, as it doesn't have a single hit anywhere on it.  I'll have to check out the new album and see what I think, but more likely I should just go back to the classic from the 70's and enjoy those again.  Rest in Peace.

G-Eazy - When It's Dark Out.  I listened to G-Eazy for a while last year while checking in on the Lolla poster and then while reviewing ACL bands, but this album came out in December and I hadn't gotten around to it until now.  Like his last album, this one is uneven. I vastly prefer the true rap tunes, like the highly excellent brag-fest of "Random."

That beat.  Strong.  Lyrically, its fine, just more boring tales of how he's better than you.  But the flow of it is tight for sure.  I've listened to this track a lot.  He's got a Big Sean track and a Too Short track, and then a bunch of sing-song R&B tracks, like the most popular track on this album, "Me, Myself, & I," featuring someone named Bebe Rexha.  I have no clue how this track has 48 million listens. I do also like "Calm Down," but the rest of the album can probably go on.

And So I Watch You From Afar - Heirs.  I'm not entirely sure what to call this kind of music other than cool.  Kind of rock and roll, kind of punk, kind of happy-instrumental-singalong-for-chugging-beer-and-watching-soccer ("Wasps"), but all of it is solid.  Irish dudes, but I would have pegged this as Californian before reading up on them.  No tracks from this album break the 100k mark except for "Run Home," so I am assuming that is the top track from the album.

Although it is also the opener to the album, so this may be one of those situations where people check out the first tune and then move on.  I don't know.  It also could have been featured in an Irish soccer promo or something.  Either way, this is a pretty cool song, spiraling up and tightly wound, until the quiet break in the center.  Much of this album has that spiraling, repetitive, technical sound.  Not something I am used to, but I am enjoying it quite a bit.

Don Henley - Cass County.  I've been putting off a review of this album for months.  It isn't bad, but I just can't get my head around whether I like it or hate it.  I like Don Henley well enough, and this sounds lovely at times, but I don't think I care for this foray into the country genre with help from Mick Jagger, Haggard, Dolly, etc.  If you want to hear Henley go back to his Texas roots, then by all means, fire this up.  Otherwise, here is a taste to whet your appetite (and save your time).  The Dolly Parton-assisted "When I Stop Dreaming."

Sam Hunt - Montevallo.  This one popped onto my radar because Hunt is nominated for Best New Artist with the Grammy Awards.  This album is some high-octane bro "country" action.  The first song is this hilariously tender jam for the stranger lady he spotted across a bar all about the ways he is going to be so good to her without being obnoxious.  "I don't want to make you love me, I just want to take your time.  I don't want to blow your phone up, I just want to blow your mind."

And then that video takes it in a different direction, with Hunt saving a lady from getting her ass beat by an extra from Justified while she tries to run for her life with their baby.  Yikes. That does not match up to the song, at all.  And weird that Cletus just lets him walk away at the end.  The rest of the album is similarly slick "country" music (if you consider throwing a banjo lick over a drum machine track to be allowed to be considered country) with generically bad lyrics ("killin' in yo Levi's," or "if you wanna be a homebody, we gonna have a houseparty").  I can't support what is going on here.