Quick Hits, Vol. 291 (Yola, Logic, Chvrches, Nothing But Thieves)

Yola - Stand For Myself.  I got to see Yola play right before the pandemic kicked in, and then I just saw her again in August as the pandemic loosened its grip on the world a little bit.  She freaking jams.  Such a great voice.  This album, like the last one, generally stays in the same lane of playing to a classic, soulful sound.  Feels like Dan Auerbach is still at the wheel (and he is), but his instinct to match her voice to those warm sounds is spot on perfect.  "Barely Alive" is the album opener and it feels just right for this moment - "when will you start living, now that you've survived?"  The disco-ness of "Dancing Away in Tears" is kind of clever.  My only quibble is the quasi-yelling she gets into on "Now You're Here" and "Whatever You Want" - that is less of what I want, even though I get that she should get to holler sometimes  "If I Had to Do It All Again" sounds like it is about to be a great rap song.  But overall it is hard to find any reason not to dig this.  Seems criminally understreamed - only four songs have more than a million and only "Diamond Studded Shoes" breaks two million with 2.6 million.

Got some soul and funk rolled into that one and I'm here for it.  The title makes me think of Paul Simon, but this is a definitely different animal.  I hope it does turn out right, although its not feeling that way right now!  Also love "Be My Friend" and the lovely flow of "Like a Photograph."  Another really enjoyable album.

Logic- Bobby Tarantino III.  Logic is playing with my emotions.  I could have sworn that he said he was retired from making new music.  And then he just keeps rolling out new stuff that is fun to me.  Just quit or don't!  "introll" is funny, and then the beat kicks in for "Vaccine."  "introll" is funny just because it sounds like he's getting all hyped up to start off a rhyme, and then it just cuts off.  I'd leave out the ones that are more song-based than rap based, like "Get Up," but overall this is good beats and good flow.  "Vaccine" is the top track by a lot - 14.1 millions streams and a fun beat that sounds like a posse cut.

Nothing to the lyrics - you'd think that the track would be about the COVID vaccine or something, but its just a plain-jane brag track.  I literally don't think it ever even says the word vaccine in the lyrics.  Overall, the album is just okay - I think Logic has a great flow, but this one meanders around in the R&B-adjacent world too much for my taste.  I will say that I really like the line in "God Might Judge" that he can satisfy the girl like a toy won't.  That line clicks.

Chvrches - Screen Violence.  The opening track of this album is just perfection.  It helps that I just saw them play live and the joy and pleasure of that show is still ringing in my ears, but "Asking for a Friend" does several things really well.  it starts with just the slightest accompaniment and a soft vocal, that then builds into an exuberant dance song, that is topped off by the wonderful-to-yell-along-to chorus of "you still matter!"  They included it as part of their encore at the show a few weeks back and it ruled.  "He Said She Said" and "Good Girls" are also top notch songs that will last from this album.  At first, I wasn't so on board with "California" or "Final Girl," but now they click too.  The top track is "He Said She Said" with 10.6 million streams.

Lyrically, it sure makes it seem tough to be a young woman in the music industry.  I guess it really applies to any young woman who is trying to navigate the social media-concentrated world of right now.  Be thin but don't be obsessed.  Get drunk, but don't be a mess.  Funny thing is, on stage, she said that they had wanted to make a happy album this time, but I don't know what about that song right there could be considered a happy tune!  They have a tune on here with Robert Smith from the Cure, and then the song right after that sounds like they were trying to make a Cure song.  Actually, I hear Cure-esque guitars on here repeatedly.  Good album.

Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic II.  Not an actual full album, at only five songs, but more of the stylishly crunchy rock that I dig from these guys - like Muse mixed with Royal Blood.  Saw them play ACL back in 2016 and dug the sound, so I've been locked in on them ever since.  The opening track is the hit so far with 9.4 million streams for "Futureproof," although I kind of like the swagger of "If I Were You" better.  We'll go with the former for your exemplar though.

Groovy and danceable, but also hard.  You'll just about always hook me with that combo.  "Your Blood" is not the best song on it, but when it gets about half way through and jams into a droning, crushing wall of fuzzed guitars sounding like angry violins in a Zeppelin song, I dig it for sure.  I'm just a sucker for these guys, I like this one too.