It has been a really long time since I've had an album where I wanted to spend the time to just write a post all about that album and that album alone. Might have been a Sturgill album a few years back. But this album has wormed its way into my brain in a way that made me want to dive deep.
Turnstile is a hardcore punk band from Baltimore. Normally, I'd never be a huge fan of a hardcore punk band. I tried to get in to some of the old classics - Bad Brains and Minor Threat - but it's never stuck. I liked some Black Flag or Henry Rollins, and found a few things in the periphery of hardcore, like Fugazi, that appealed. These guys have some of those ultra-hard sounds, but to me they are more catchy and harmonic. There is a real groove underlying these tunes. Check "Underwater Boi" and the funk groove at the start that then turns into chunky riffage.
The album kicks off with "Mystery," which is a blast of loud and soft parts driven forward by some pounding drums. Love when the bass pushes to the front and starts working it out. And then the spaceship takes off at the end before "Blackout" pushes its way in. These songs feel like they were written solely for me to scream them at the top of my lungs while a bunch of younger people shove their elbows into my ribs to make room for their pogo dance. The drumming has a cool sound in this one, almost gives an eighties party vibe. And when the song drops out and then ramps back up into a slow-aggro banger, I definitely feel the need to enter the pit. "Don't Play" reminds me of early Red Hot Chili Peppers, from the opening freakout to the shrill guitar solo. The thing about most of these tunes - they're aggressive and loud and fast hardcore songs, and yet they are also tuneful and melodic and catchy as hell. Somehow, the album keeps building too, because "Holiday" (5th song) is a freaking jam or crunchy riffage and a beat that must be slam danced along with. It also drops out and disappears for a bit in the middle before roaring back with a vengeance. The album opener is the top streamer, but "Holiday" is right behind it with 7.8 million streams on Spotify.
That quiet intro, met with the fist of the riffage, is hard. But there is still so much musicality and harmony here, it's not just a pure hardcore anger bomb. And maybe that means these guys aren't as accepted in the hardcore world now, because their tunes can translate to me as a power-pop dance bomb in addition to screaming high-speed freakouts. Either way, I'm digging it.
What? A tiny desk!
Ben Folds looking mofo back there behind that mic and organ. That breakdown at the end of "Endless" is freaking dope! "TLC"'s call-out to Sly and the Family Stone is also dope. Great performance, I'd love to see this stuff live. Feels like it would be totally unhinged fun with a few short moments of sleepy chill like "Alien Love Call."
Also, go watch this freaking thing:
I've got goosebumps up and down my arms. That freaking dude slays and makes the whole backbone for the band. I want to scream along to that song in a big crowd immediately.
Cool disc. Hopefully they'll be tagged in to play a show in Austin sometime soon and I can go severely damage my back while trying to dance with the kids.
French Montana - They Got Amnesia. Just a deeply bad album. I don't hear anything on here that is even worth commenting on. Which is too bad, because I still like to play "Marble Floors" from like 10 years ago from this guy. Lots of good collabs on here, but anytime that French gets started, I get bored. Amazingly, "FWMGAB" and its remix "FWMGAB (Remix) [Bonus] (feat. Moneybagg Yo)" each have exactly 26,262,000 plays. Feels like that can't be correct. Either way, those tracks crush all the other songs on here. A bunch of them don't even crack a million, which makes me feel correct to think these songs are jenky. Well, here is that remix for you.
That horn lick is definitely stolen from something else. I can't think of what. Also, that is just a metric ton of ass. My goodness. But just a boring track. Nothing interesting in there. And the whole thing is OVER AN HOUR LONG. Blech. Happily deleting this album.
Sting - The Bridge. Happy convergence of things here, in that I have been watching Only Murders in the Building and listening to this new album, and so I'm having a pleasant resurgence of love for Sting. His classic solo albums were some of my favorite music at the time, and the classic Police stuff is still excellent music (that I think is underrated). Some of those songs of Dream of the Blue Turtles and Ten Summoners Tales were classic mixtape fodder to show the ladies just how deep my love was for them. And he's pretty funny in the show, capably interacting with the show's heroes with just the right mix of aloof star and normal human. This disc has some classic Sting flourishes. I swear, the chord progressions in "Harmony Road" have to have been trademarked by the man by now - especially when that saxophone kicks in. It gets kinda funky sometimes, like his skee-boppin-bittly-boopin' on "Captain Bateman's Basement." It goes gray-haired classic, on tracks like the "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" cover or "The Book of Numbers," which makes me think of recent McCartney tunes that reveal a slight tremble in the old voice. The top track is the first one, with the second in close contention, before most of the album falls into the 6 figure stream range. I'm going to give you the third top streamer, "For Her Love," with 1.8 million streams.
Those guitar plucks sound very much like "Shape of My Heart" from Ten Summoner's Tales. He still looks great, and sounds very good as well. It's a pretty little tune, I probably would have included it on a mixtape as a 13 year old and considered myself very deep for finding meaning in the streetlight. I am continually so thankful that Twitter and Facebook were not around to catalog the terrible, treacly thoughts I had as an adolescent. I've overall enjoyed this album, but nothing on it jutted out at me and demands to be retained for all time.
Snail Mail - Valentine. Loved her last album Lush. (although sometimes I will admit that I get her, Soccer Mommy, and Mitski mixed up in my head). This one isn't as instantly badass to me, but it still has a lot to like with hard rock elements mixed with indie tunes and a lot of plush arrangements that groove. Like "Ben Franklin," which has a bouncy, climbing, smarty-pants bassline that makes me want to dance. Sometimes she slows down too much for my taste, and I lose the thread on the tunes ("c. et al." or "Mia," but I also understand that changing up tempo and style is a good thing). They just kind of disappear into the back of my mind as I work. But several of these tunes grab my ears and demand to be heard. The opener and title track is the top streamer, and is probably the most rockin', so that is what you get to hear.
Starts low and quiet and then erupts. "fuck being remembered, I think I was made for you" is a great line. That video definitely went in a darker angle, but pretty rad anyway. Great songwriting, fun jangly rock, not sure I need anything else. "Glory" is also an awesome song. Very good disc.
Spectacular Diagnostics - Ancient Methods. No recollection of where I found this one, but its a weirdo blast. A pile of samples and beats and freaky twinkles and twists. Great fun. The snippets of dialogue from movies(?) make it seem like this has something to do with space? But then the next track sounds like it samples a Bollywood track and Flavor Flav at the same time. Definite MF Doom vibes. "Crystal Ball Emoji" sounds like Action Bronson should be spitting a rhyme over the top about eating prosciutto at the top of the Eiffel Tower off of a model's ass crack. The fascinating thing is that, seriously, where did I find this album? The top track has 6,076 streams! What is going on? That track is "Yellow.Plates," let's check it out.
Very much a trip hop track, and super short. The whole disc is super short at less than 26 minutes. This track feels like something that would be playing in a hip clothing store. Or poolside at a swanky Palm Springs hotel. He brings on a rapper here and there, like the tracks with billy woods or ELUCID are pretty good. Definitely could do more of those - although I also like the vibe of the rapperless beats. This is cool. I think more people should be checking it out.
My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket. Always odd when an established band releases an eponymous album. I remember when Pearl Jam did that and I thought it was weird then too. How do they not have a better name for the album? Anyway, I was just telling someone that this album had been a disappointment to me. I love me some MMJ - Z and It Still Moves are still go to albums in my collection - but this one doesn't inspire anything to me. The radio track I've heard a number of times is the second track, and current stream champ with 1.4 million. "Love Love Love."
Reminds me of the Foo Fighters for the insipid lyrics that still manage to worm their way into my brain. "The more you give! The more you get!" "You gotta get up when you fall! That's all!" Yeah! Love! The tune is nice, but its just kinda boring. I don't hate the whole disc, but it mostly just meanders by without any substance to me. "Complex" gets loud for a bit, "In Color" goes jammy for a big chunk of its 7:20 runtime. I guess if I think about it, part of the reason the whole disc seems so uninspired is that a lot of it just shambles along like a jam band noodling about on some ideas. No good chorus to yell along to. No memorable groove. That being said, I have still never seen them live, and am bummed about that. Need to rectify at the soonest possible opportunity. [EDIT, JUST BOUGHT TICKETS AND I'M PUMPED!]
Crown Lands - Crown Lands. Ooooh baby. Another classic rock copycat band. Dig it. I think I found this one through Rolling Stone, they had a tiny blurb about them a few months back. Tasty fuzzed out guitar riffs are a definite turn on. I'm trying to think of what the vocalist sounds like. It's not quite the Robert Plant/Geddy Lee thing from Greta Van Fleet, it reminds me of some other classic rock singer with a lesser light. Foghat isn't right, neither is Foreigner or Bad Company. Rick Derringer? Dangit. This is going to bother me and three days from now I'm going to sit up in bed and yell GREAT WHITE! and anger my wife. Anyway, this is one of those bands with just two dudes banging around and making the rock (although you would be forgiven for thinking that the band photo is of one dude and one lady. The album was produced by Dave Cobb, who I think is pretty great, and he does an awesome job of making the band sound like it is a pack of players and not just two. The top track on here has been eclipsed by a new single ("White Buffalo") and so, despite it not even being on this album, I'm going to break protocol and give you that tune. 492k streams.
The guitarist's combo of hair and beard just looks like a SNL parody - freaking cracks me up. That one is more like 80's hair metal mixed with Rush. Not sure I like it as much. The lyrics make me think of that band The WU from ACL last year, where the translation was some awesomely nonsensical messages about rising up to fight with your armies. So, I'm going to give you one of the tracks from the album as well. I can't live with myself otherwise. This is "Leadfoot," with 397k streams.
The righteous bit there is the "oh, oh oh" combined with heavy riffage. More of that, please. Jenky ass Greta Van Fleet-ass nonsense lyrics that sound overly mystic in that one too. I guess that is part of their deal. But if you just want to rock out, and Lord knows I do, that dude can sing about the rings around a tree of light and white buffalo power all he wants. Let's rock.
Key Glock - Yellow Tape 2. No clue where I found this. Never heard of this guy, never heard Yellow Tape 1, no clue. But it's freaking fun. Great beats, which is always required for me on rap. If your beats are whack, then I'm not going to give the lyrics the work. He's got a relentless flow, just feels like its spilling out of him as fast as the beat can take him, but he's not one of those annoying rappers who doesn't even rap on the beat. He flows. And some of his tracks have almost 100 million streams, so its not like he's unheard of, I'm just missing out. "Something Bout Me" is a great opener, "Bill Gates" makes me grin, and "Juicemane" is just a happy-sounding track that I want to play while I swerve in my car. But "Ambition for Cash," with 33.1 million streams, has the stream crown.
Big fan of the Asian-whistle thing sound. And while the lyrics aren't special, his flow just bops along the beat. That's how this whole project works for me - nothing stands out lyrically, but each time I restart the disc I like it. I'll keep my eye on this dude.
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - The Future. I wish I was still in to this, but the schtick has worn thin for me now. The opening track sounds like a shambling Dylan tune, except Rateliff can sing (mostly, sometimes in this song he just hollers at the top of his lungs like he just got bit by a rat). The second track, "Survivor" has the most streams at 4.1 million. But nothing on here is memorable at all. Not like the best stuff from that first album.
That trainer kind of looks like the lady who played Wonder Woman back in the day. Not a bad song by any means, just kind of plodding during the verse and then a little too yell-y during the chorus. This will sound dumb, but it feels like they're trying to hard. Don't love it. I'll definitely let this album go - it will be a relief to remove it from the queue, as every time it pops up I feel resigned about having to do it again.
Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita. I'm a sucker for anything this guy does - his bluegrass albums last year freaking ruled - and this one is weird and wooly, with clever stories and one particular moment that makes me laugh each time I hear it. This album takes the bluegrass mastery he showed on Cuttin' Grass (check the breakdown in the middle of "Shamrock," good gravy!) and applies it to a new set of songs (instead of his old catalog) with a story woven through them of old timey Kentucky settlers. Dood is a son of a mountain miner and a crack shot with his rifle. Juanita is a good hearted woman who calms down his worst impulses. Their story goes south when Juanita is kidnapped and he has to go on a mission to rescue her, but the hero wins in the end. Instead of the top track of streams, I want to give you "Juanita," because it contains the line that makes me laugh. 2.6 million streams.
"JUANITA!!! Where'd your momma get that name!?" Love it. Need to belt it out at a concert sometime soon. Sturgill's Austin show from March 2020 was cancelled and I don't think it ever got rescheduled. Which is dumb. "Sam" is the top song, which is too bad, really, because its about Dood's dog dying too soon. I don't know why the best songwriters in the country genre need to keep making songs about their dogs dying (see "Maggie's Song" from Chris Stapleton) but hearing him sing about how amazing his dog was makes me sad about the day when my dog might die. But still, the song is good and it works in the fabric of this album. Great disc.
Billy Strings - Renewal. If you aren't a fan of bluegrass, then I'm leaving you without a lot of good options here with my first two selections. Sorry. But also, not sorry, because these dudes are absolutely fucking kingpins of musical instrumentation. Like, outrageously skilled players, both of these albums. This one has a more modern skin on it - Strings melds bluegrass with a jam band feel on many of these songs to give it a much different feel than the Sturgill disc (which is tradition all the way through). And I may have just triggered more of you by mentioning jam, but you should really give this thing a chance and just make sure that you want to completely close yourself off to happiness and goodness and the American Way. Up to you. Anyway, if you don't know Strings yet - more importantly, if you haven't seen the dude live yet - then you need to get on board now. His band is made up of killers at each axe - banjo, mandolin, bass, and guitar - and he can be both poignant and witty with his lyrics. I promise you it is good. (although I can definitely recognize a perspective that his band name is dorky as hell). The top track is "Fire Line," which is almost at the end of the album. Must be on a playlist somewhere. 1.5 million streams.
That track definitely gets into the jammy stuff I mentioned before. Heavy on banjo picking and old-school harmonies and fiddle (for the bluegrass crowd), but those faux deep lyrics and the extended soloing and weird spaceship-taking-off sounds shifts it into something for the stoned to zone out to. I really enjoy this disc. I know bluegrass and jam aren't everyone's cups of tea, but I could just keep this one rolling.
Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic. Blown away by this album. Tossed it into the queue as a lark, but freaking dig it very deeply. Makes me laugh repeatedly - in "Leave the Door Open" when he sings "if you hungry, I got the Lays," in the middle of a soft and sultry love-making tune, that shit is funny. And the entirety of "Fly Like Me" is funny as well - just the smoothest, funkiest brand of braggadocio on the streets. "Silk Sonic lemme getcha three piece and a biscuit!" Probably, fans of real funk from the 70's will say that this is all just derivative and not that interesting, but I will say back to them that they need to just die and stop being jerks. Because this is fun. (I could do without the line where Bruno Mars talks about wanting the "gushy gushy good." I can't get that out of my head and I don't want it anymore). Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that this is Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, making perfectly pitched harmonies over the top of killer funk tracks. They feel like they belong together, like they're brothers who have spent 30 years singing together and learning each other's every cue. Every track has over 8 figures in streams, but "Leave the Door Open" is crushing it with 712.7 million listens.
Smoooooooth. "smooth like a newborn!" On top of the fact that both of those dudes have flawless voices, you also have to love the playing going on behind them. "Skate" is also a wonderful groove, as is "777" ("I'm bout to buy Las Vegas after this rolllll!"), and "Smokin Out the Window" makes me giggle when he says her kids are running around his house like Chucky Cheese. I also love that many of these songs have a cheesy ass theme - "Blast Off" gets you some time in space, "777" gets you some gambling action, "Skate" is about roller skating. I mean, all of those are probably actually about sex, but at least they are themed sex. I need for these guys to go on tour so that I can go watch an entire crowd of people erupt into simultaneous, immaculate orgasm at the same time. The issue I have here is just that its too dang short. 31 minutes and 9 songs. Why do I have to get 48 mediocre Drake tracks with every album, but these guys only give us a taste...
Limp Bizkit - STILL SUCKS. Dammit. I know. I should have just ignored that this ever dropped, but there is still a part of me lodged back in 1999, enjoying Bizkit and Incubus and Creed and their ilk. I KNOW THIS MAKES ME A BAD PERSON. I'm sorry. But straight up, some of the best tracks from Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish are freaking great songs. I'm not saying they are on par with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "A Day in the Life" or anything, but if you want to jam out and be ridiculous, then screaming about breaking stuff or rollin' feels awesome. Well, this album comes up with a few tracks that make me feel happy again, and then a bunch of garbage. Overall, not a good album at all. Way too much tender slow ballad stuff like they are a serious band. "Goodbye" sounds like it was an N'SYNC song originally - very terrible. The cover of "Don't Change" feels like an obligatory dirge. "Empty Hole" sounds like they stole a bad Soundgarden B-Side from 25 years ago. And there are many skits, and all of them are too long and terrible. BUT! BUT!!! The dumb ass rap-rock crunch vibe of "Out of Style" and "Dirty Rotten Habit" open the album in a way that makes it feel like we're doing this again. "Dad Vibes" is not as good but still made me grin (and no, he is saying "Dad got the sag in the back with a drip" there in the chorus, not a homophobic slur). That track, #3 on the album, wins the streaming battle for now at 10.1 million streams. Here you go!
I mean, its got a funky beat you can dance to, along with some guitar riffs, and a catchy chorus. However, it is a bad song. I am not defending it as an actually good song, but I can just about guarantee that I will be singing it later today. I won't keep this album around after today, but it was fun to adventure back into the world of 1999 all over again.
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. This album has been an earworm for me for a while now. Can't get enough of it. It's weird, not a straight-forward rap disc at all, and it's not perfect, but I really can't quit it. From the power horns of "Introvert," to the laid back chill of "Woman," to the soul-sampling funk of "Two Worlds Apart," the opening of the disc is excellent. Well, and then the next song breaks out like it's a James Bond theme song before the beat drops. Fun stuff. The top track is "Woman," with 12.6 million streams.
Her flow just makes me so happy. Sounds like someone just having a good time and hoping that you do the same. I also have grinned at the voice mail outro repeatedly. PICK UP THE PHONE! "Point and Kill" is also a fun one - digs into her African background (she is British-Nigerian) with a good groove. The wild thing is that this is her fourth album! Never heard of any of it until now. Good on her. I haven't been able to quit this album so I'll let it hang around.
Go Fever - Long Run. Really digging this disc. These are some local folks who KUTX was pimping a few months back, and its good times rock and roll. Nothing fancy, not too hard, just happy times and chugging guitars. The top track is the opener, but I'll give you the second track - "Nobody's Business" with 15k streams (criminally small!). By the way, if you click on the top video I found for "Go Fever," it was a boring ass presentation about people who want to launch rockets before making sure it is safe. And anyway, I won't give you that song because it doesn't have a video. Here is a live thing at KUTX studios.
Bummer, the description of the video says that the couple in charge of the band are actually moving to California to finish their degrees. Do they not know that Austin happens to have a good University where they could finish up that degree? Duh! But I guess she's Australian anyway, so it is hard to try to claim her as one of Austin's own. Anyway, those three songs are a good representation of what you get here - poppy indie rock with a good grove. Sweet!
Clairo - Sling. Not sure where this one came from, but it is a lovely disc of low-key indie stuff. Sort of reminds me of that newer St. Vincent album at times, a little throwback/lounge-y, but with a charming wit and smooth sound to boot. Apparently produced by Jack Antonoff, but you never get any of his bombast or 80's vibes in here. Maybe on the top track, you at least get a quick beat that pops up after the first verse. "Amoeba" is that track, with just over 34 million streams. That's a lot!
I dig the groove, and the lyrics make me grin too. "I can hope tonight goes diffеrently, But I show up to the party just to leavе." Most of the album is less snappy than that one, the instruments kind of smear around and her voice is rarely clear or forced to the front. Feels insecure. But it also sounds lovely and charming! I like it.
The Harder They Fall Soundtrack. This is pretty great. I had thrown it into my queue before even seeing the movie, but after having seen the flick (which is bloody as hell but still enjoyable) the tracks work even better. It is a weird mix, especially when you know that it goes along with a western movie, to have reggae and rap and soul as the genre selection, but it works. Also, I like the little skit bits of dialogue they use in here. The "nincompoop" one makes me grin each time. You get all sorts of big names - Jay Z, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Seal, CeeLo Green, and lesser folks who are still rad, like Kid Cudi and Koffee, and then a bunch that I don't know at all. As usual, Jay Z sounds cool but ain't saying nothing. And of course his two tracks are the ones with the most streams because that is just how the world works now. I'm going to give you the CeeLo one instead though, because I dig it. 846k streams for "Blackskin Mile."
CeeLo's voice is so good. If you haven't watched the movie, you really should. Some very good performances and some ridiculously ridiculous gun battles. Anyway, fun soundtrack that works really well with the substance of the flick AND isn't just a bunch of old retread tracks being thrown together for nostalgia. Like, I don't know Barrington Levy at all, but his "Better Than Gold" is an excellent reggae track that has a sweet groove and nice vocals. Reading up on the guy, there was a time in the 80's when he was the "biggest star" on Jamaica. Cool to have that tucked among current-sounding rap tracks.
