Quick Hits, Vol. 281 (Death by Unga Bunga, Goose, Vic Mensa, Brockhampton)

Death by Unga Bunga - Heavy Male Insecurity.  Horrible band name?  Great band name?  I'm torn on that one.  On the one hand, it makes me think of Oingo Boingo, which immediately makes me think of Tom Hanks (good!) but also Titty Bingo (douchey!).  On the other hand, it makes me think of the old ass movie Caveman (good? It may have been cancelled by now if anyone actually remembers it, but I recall hilarity when I saw it 30-something years ago) but also fratty dudes talking about female anatomy (douchey!).  I just searched for the reason behind the name, and the lead singer says this: "The name comes from the old Mummies album, but it's also the punchline to an old joke."  I must know this joke!  Oh God.  I looked up the joke.  It's a terrible joke.  And yes, I know that one is "bunga bunga," but there are many examples of both spellings being used.  So, that is unfortunate.  I now, heretoforwith, under the powers vested in me, decree this a bad name.

BUT!  BUUUUUT!  This album fucking jams.  For some weirdo Norwegian dudes who dig bad childish jokes, they created a great disc of purely fun rock and roll jams.  Reminds me a lot of White Reaper - nothing in here is innovative at all, it's just drums, bass, guitars, vocals blasting through catchy-as-hell bashers, but it is immensely satisfying.  There is one song that is crazy catchy, and that confusingly references Jay-Z and Beyonce to reference the special connection the singer has for his best buddy.  Sounds weird, but it super works.  Even without that one and the name drops, "Egocentric," "All Pain No Gain," hell, the whole disc.  It's only 34 minutes long, so it's a power riff blast that doesn't take the time to waste anything.  Remember how Sum 41 had some rad jams that referenced classic rock things like Kiss?  You get some of that here.  Or how Weezer turned power-pop into rock?  You get that here too.  A little surf, a little psych, and loads of harmonies in the choruses.  It's both skuzzy and polished, and I love it.

I'm a little surprised that "Live Until I Die" is the top track, with 138k streams.  That number needs to go way up though.

Yeah baby.  Just streamed the whole album again while driving and it jams.  Sweetness.

Goose - Night Lights.  I blame Vampire Weekend for this.  I already know that most jam band music misses the mark for me, but these guys did such a cool job reimagining 20:21 that I had to go hunt down something else from them and give it a shot.  Some of this is fiiiiiine, but some of it was also so cheesy sounding that I actually worried the other day that the guy working on my sprinkler system might hear it from my home office and judge me for listening to some Teletubbies ass shit while working.  I'm sure the sprinkler guy gave no shits and/or was high and would have enjoyed it, but if you're getting self-conscious about what the sprinkler guy thinks, then you don't love the music.  The opening track is the best one - "All I Need" - and "Time to Flee" is the whack shit.  Neither of those is the stream king though, with "Wysteria Lane" claiming that crown with 735k.

Lower key than most of these other songs, or at least slower tempo.  Feels like the part of their show when you'll realize just how stoned you really are because you've stopped pogo-ing around and yelling alligator rhymed with see-you-later.  I dig some of the other tunes better, where they really intertwine their instruments.  This one is a little more straight.  Sounds like something The Revivalists might have played (except missing the slide guitar).  I have a feeling that I would dig their live show more than this EP.

Vic Mensa - I TAPE.  Lotta yapping on this disc.  Just, like, boring talking by some dude who is reminiscing about something uninteresting, that lasts for like 3 minutes.  And then the songs suffer from some R&B-ness that I don't need.  The intro is just an answering machine message and then some meandering cooing.  The unfortunately named "FR33DOM" starts with this lame R&B intro, and then turns into a hard beat and some brawny verses about not being scared of Hoe-lice.  Dig it.  But then it goes back to a mumble R&B thing for the last minute - sounds like the singer is missing his tongue.  Don't dig it.  Second most streamed at 303k.

I have a feeling that track does not make him very popular with the thin blue line crowd. But the rap portion is solid.  "MILLIONAIRES" sounds like singing Kanye.  But then "MOOSA" has a little R&B to it but otherwise its a good story-telling rap about a dude going to prison.  But then it devolves into an auto-tuned gospel song.  Blech.  "VICTORY" is the only one on here that feels like a full-fledged rap track.  Of course, it still ends with some random violins and a speech that sounds like it was left on a voice mail.  Maybe "SHELTER" is interesting just because I have a soft spot in my heart for Wyclef.  Don't need this album.

Brockhampton - ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE.  Then again, maybe it is just the vogue thing to do right now to make every song into a combo rap/R&B track.  Many of these Brockhampton tracks do the same move - go hard as a pure rap song over a great beat for the majority of the track, then morph into some lovely thing with a singer meandering along moaning about his feelings.  "BUZZCUT" is the hit, with a good cameo from Danny Brown, a great beat, and a fun thing to yell in the mosh pit: "WHO LET THE DOPE BOYS OOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTT!!!"  6.8 million streams.

I forgot how good their visuals are as well.  That video is a trip and a half.  The sample-sounding loop on "CHAIN ON" is also fantastic.  Definitely gets the head bobbing.  Overall, as usual, these guys make great beats.  If you don't recall them, they came through ACL a few years back and I saw them both weekends (with a Stubb's show in the middle) and they are a big collective of artists who rap, DJ, sing, produce, direct, etc.  The banger behind "THE LIGHT" is a head-bobber as well, although both it and the sequel ("THE LIGHT II") are tough tracks at times - with one of the guys getting very personal about his dad's suicide.  Feels weird to be grooving to a good beat while a guy's talking about the Glock his dad offed himself with.  Like jamming "Minds Playing Tricks" as they rap about their various mental illnesses.

The A$APs show up for a good tune.  The second-most streamed track is "COUNT ON ME," which sounds a lot like the last Brockhampton album, with versus by lots of different guys, plus a chorus sung by a crowd of these dudes.  "DON'T SHOOT UP THE PARTY" is also solid.  The one I don't much care for is "I'LL TAKE YOU ON," the beat that sounds like I'm listening to a late-80's Latino pop dance track.  Overall, loving the whole disc though. A lot.