Quick Hits, Vol. 200 (The Beths, Paul Simon, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Snail Mail)

It is hard for me to believe how much I have written on this dumb little blog.  Up to 200 of these quick hits posts, with 1109 total published posts (most of those, obviously, about the ACL bands). 48,219 total views of the blog (although I suspect that 85% of that are Russian bots).  Pretty wild.  Sometimes I wonder if this is all a waste of time, but the truth is that even if no  one read any of it, I find it extremely therapeutic and enjoyable to use a little of my time allotment in this way.

The Beths - Future Me Hates Me.  Hell and yes.  This sounds like Courtney Barnett had a younger sister who grew up listening to Weezer ("Happy Unhappy") and Green Day ("Uptown Girl") and Best Coast ("Whatever") and Courtney Barnett (the title track).  I can't get enough of this album.  Haven't really thought about my albums of the year yet, but this might very well win the damn thing, because its a pop rock masterpiece that checks just about every box I have.  I love the way she sings the word "knows" in the bridge of "You Wouldn't Like Me," and that song has a badass way of shifting back and forth from a happy clap-along to a chugging riff monster.  I love the guitar chug and chortle of "Happy Unhappy."  "River Run: Lvl 1" has emotional heft built into the harmonies, again like classic Weezer.  The driving rock assault of "Not Running" made me realize that I did this a few years ago, randomly falling in love with that Paerish album out of no where.  I literally just got chills listening to "Uptown Girl" again.  I'm lost, a goner.  Now all I can think of is seeing this band play live.  GIVE IT TO ME.  I will air guitar until I can air guitar no more.  And on my gravestone, tell the world it was The Beths.

Meanwhile, in Reality Town, not a single one of these songs has more than a million streams.  Which is bullhonkey.  And freaking Lil 69 or whatever gets 400 million streams on a rap track where he just reads a Chinese food menu over a trap beat.  Damn it all to hell.  The world is a messed up place.  But I'll go to bat for these guys anyway.  A New Zealander accent is good stuff too.  The top track is that title tune, the second track on the album.  613k streams.

Yeah, buddy.  And the track right after that one on the album, "Uptown Girl" is a rock and roll blast that makes me need to air guitar and kick dents in order people's car doors.  "I'M GOING OUT TONIGHT!  I'M GONNA DRINK THE WHOLE TOWN DRY! PUT POISON IN MY WINE!  AND HOPE THAT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DIES!"  Check it as the second tune on this live performance in a radio studio.

I will freely admit that the lead singer looks kind of sad in that performance.  I want her to look like she's having a good time, not like she's just about to break down in tears, but if I just listen to the tunes instead of watching her sad eyes, I feel all better again.  Ah, then they explain that she seemed to be rocking her headphones off when she tried to jam loose, so she was trying to be chill.  It also looks like they replaced their drummer?  Or at least the drummer in the first video is not the drummer (absent serious sex change and plastic surgery) in the second video.   Anyhoo - the recorded album is absolutely fantastic.  Get some.

Paul Simon - In the Blue Light.  This dude is such a cool mofo.  I got to see him play this year during his final tour, and while his voice isn't as strong as it was back in the day, he still generally sounds great.  And this new album uses his weathered and worn (but still beautiful) voice and smart lyrics to keep his legacy going - by making a covers album, but of his own old songs.  Calling it a covers album is weird, since he wrote all the tunes, but because he reimagines them and recreates them himself, it seems kind of cover-ish.  Cool.

The album opener, "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor" is clever and funny.  His re-making of "Can't Run But," a deep cut from Rhythm of the Saints reimagined here with woodwinds and brass instead of an African xylophone type thing, is supremely cool.  And the weirdly endearing, even if goofily titled, "Rene and Georgette Magritte with The Dog After the War" puts a lovely sheen on a good story song.  I love the imagery of the couple dancing to the old classic songs, and then the weird juxtaposition of their dog and the war being mentioned each time.  He played that song live and I recall both my wife and I liking it.
Nothing from this album cracks his top ten most popular tracks - I think people still just want to hear the classics (which I totally get).  But these songs are really nice, even if I fully agree that they aren't better than "Sounds of Silence" or "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard."  None of these tunes are re-creations of his most popular tracks, these all appear to be deep cuts from his catalog.  The top streaming track from this album is that "Rene and Georgette" one, with 989k streams.

This song was actually first on his 1983 album Hearts and Bones, but that version is without the flutes and includes some doowop background singing during the chorus.  Still they're pretty dang similar, both quiet and understated and pretty.  And those are good adjectives for this whole album - nothing on here really catches you with a groove or hype tune, its all very pretty and relaxed.  Which is nice.  I think I'll save it.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs.  They definitely don't have to worry about getting their band name confused with anyone else, although I can't remember it for more than 20 seconds.  This is a great album.  Kind of a punky indie rock, with bright guitars and a pop lean in the rhythms and grooves.  The beginning of "Ballarine" sounds like something I've heard before, that bass line, and in the prior version I've heard before it devolves into laughing.  Maybe old Queens of the Stone Age?  Foo Fighters?  Dangit, I hate when my brain won't dredge up on random sound from the eighty billion individual sounds I've heard in my lifetime.  Guess I'm getting old.  Anyway, I really like this album, has a combination of Real Estate plus young Arctic Monkeys.  Most streamed tune is "Talking Straight," with 1.9 million streams.

A pack of Aussies, they have a chilled aspect to them that is appealing, but the tunes also kinda jam out.  Maybe Parquet Courts is a good comparison?  That song gets my head bobbin' all up in this.  I'm in for more of this one.

Snail Mail - Lush.  This gal got a lot of press this year as an up and coming star and whatnot.  I never got around to checking it out during my ACL listening death march, and am only now getting it done.  I really like this album as well.  She called the album Lush, and I think that matches.  Its got a comfortable, confessional, warm sound that makes me feel like I need to hug her and tell her its all gonna be OK.  This reminds me of Soccer Mommy, who I also really liked, and sort of Japanese Breakfast (who played ACL this year and I also liked).  Some Alvvays as well.  Feels very DIY, but not in a sloppy way, just feels like you happened to walk into her bedroom and hear all of her innermost confessions set to a chill guitar groove.  "Heat Wave" is the top streaming track with 4.1 million streams (and I dig it).  But I like "Pristine" better, so you get that one instead - 3.6 million.

Great song.  I love when it first kicks in, right at 30 second in.  Lyrics like the way you really feel when you're 16.  Those jangly guitars, fumbling along under her searching words.  Also of note, in that she apparently just graduated from high school.  Which is kind of insane to be the big indie buzz when you're still a damn teenager.  I'm sure it was hard to write all of this and put it together, but it just feels so simple and perfect.  Some of the guitar licks sound like Kurt Vile.  When "Golden Dream" starts, I want to wrap up in a big fluffy blanket and contemplate my existence.  I think I'm going to knit her voice into that blanket and start using it to go to sleep each night.  I don't know, man, I like this one a lot.  Very pretty and chilled out but still rocking.

Also, she has a Tiny Desk from prior to this new album, and its endearing to see her talking up the crowd in between tunes.

That last song is "Anytime" from Lush.  Honestly, this whole thing is somewhat conflicting, as I my normal musical sensibilities would say to move right on, but I'm definitely digging it.