Quick Hits, Vol. 273 (Miley Cyrus, Sturgill Simpson, The Dead Pirates, Moon Taxi)

I know I'm some level of Dad chump for this, but I really like Greta Van Fleet.  Two new singles are tucked into my playlist right now, and the second one ("My Way, Soon") musically sounds like a Pearl Jam cut off of Vitology or Vs and it is sending me to a wonderful place.  I'm well aware that makes me a bad music lover, but I love it anyway.

Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts.  I read someone authentically trying to make the case that this was the best rock album of 2020, which hurt my heart just a little bit.  But I figured I needed to check it out - I kinda like rock and roll.  The song that immediately catches me and makes me wonder if that might be true is the hella catchy "Midnight Sky," which interpolates a little "Edge of Seventeen" (and smartly ties Miley to Stevie Nicks).  But I think it is generous to call this album rock - it has an edge to it, but it's still mainly synths and drum machines and a more new wave/pop/disco sound.  But, that song jams either way.  Sounds like something that could have been made for the 80's station on Grand Theft Auto.  Just before the chorus each time, that lead in where the music bails out for a bit makes me want to point a finger gun at the stage and scream it with her.  Stream champ as well at 246.3 million.

Even going for the 80's Benetar haircut.  Her other big single from this disc is with another big singer who is trading in modern sounds for another decade's guiding aesthetic - Dua Lipa and her 70's disco thing.  It's not just Nicks she bites from - she full-on covers "Heart of Glass," evokes Joan Jett while duetting with her on "Bad Karma," does the same with Billy Idol of "Night Crawling," covers the Cranberries' "Zombie," and "Never Be Me" steals from The Cars' "Drive" pretty obviously.  I guess some of these songs are rock - if you make the rock tent wide enough to still capture something like Avril Lavigne or Ashleeeee Simpson or Pink.  Doesn't quite pass my rock sniff test - it's more like a Korean bar band who is trying to approximate American rock and roll.

Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin' Grass Vol. 2.  I know I just said that I am getting Taylor swift overload right now, so this is going to come off as twisted, but Sturgill could release one of these a week for the rest of my life and I'd die a happy man.  The first track, "Call to Arms," combines a breakneck breakdown that sounds like a train just an inch away from launching off the tracks with killer lyrics excoriating the war machine chewing up our boys.  What a great fucking song.  And this rearrangement of it is just a hillbilly freakout.  "Sea Stories" is another similarly great one that involves poking some fun at the armed services.  And as with the earlier album, it is high fun to hear some of the great songs from his old albums reimagined into bluegrass.  "Welcome to Earth" starts as a pretty true-to-the-original lullaby, and then turns into a pickin' session.  "Brace for Impact" and "Keep It Between the Lines" remain excellent songs, just with a different flavor now.  The top track is the third one - "Oh Sarah" - with 1.1 million streams.

Sweetly sad love song from the Sailor's Guide album, with that great line of "so forgive me if sometimes I seem a little crazy, but god damn, sometimes crazy is how I feel."  I know some people didn't want to hear volume one, so I get if you won't buy in a second time, but I love the reimagining of his great tunes for a different style.

The Dead Pirates - Highmare.  This is an older album (2016) that found it's way into my queue because of a Drew Magary article.  So, if you know anything about his taste in music, you know that this is something that makes him want to run through a brick wall, and is chock full of riff-tastic shreds.  Reading up on the band, they have an odd backstory - the band was apparently created only because the founder wanted music to soundtrack the animations that he makes.  "At the time, the “band” was just Mcbess himself, a chance for him to stretch his creative muscles beyond the Max Fleischer-inspired artwork and videos for which he’s become known."  What they've made is some psych rock/stoner rock goodness, and if you're into cartoon boobies, some fun video action to go with the top song - this is "UGO," which has over 4 million streams.

Got a little spooky surf guitar thing going on there at the start with the extra reverb, until the action kicks in almost 4 minutes along.  I like the drum drumming himself in the face and flinching each time.  But then he dies!  Poor drum!  But then he lives!  I dig the fuzzy guitar outro.  Solid album - nothing that's going to make the big time, but a fine disc of rock and roll.

Moon Taxi - Silver Dream.  I've been a fan of this band for a while - saw them open for the Revivalists several years ago when I didn't know anything about either of those bands, and the Moon Taxi energy is absolutely awesome to behold.  I didn't love their last album quite as much as the old stuff, and this one is similarly a little too glossy and McDonalds-commercial-ready for me.  I still like it, but I'd rather hear something a little scummier.  The title track has this lovely dreaminess to it, a wide-open vista of 80's superheroes flying through clouds as they seek out adventure.  So far, not a lot of streams - most of the songs on the disc are at around 20k streams, except for "Hometown Heroes," which is the only one over 9 figures, at 2.4 million streams.

That video is hella jenky.  And the song is fine, it's just a little cutesy for my taste - feels like some one hit wonder song where a normally rockin' band broke out the ukulele and got people all pumped up for the new Uke song.  I want more real instrumentation and less sounds that feel like drum machine bits. "One Step Away" is absolutely a Black Keys song, and you cannot convince me otherwise.  Best track on here for sure.  I don't think I'll keep it.