Quick Hits, Vol. 303 (Amyl and the Sniffers, 2 Chainz, ABBA, alt-J)

I hate the desire in me to be annoying about things like this, but the new Soccer Mommy single is annoying (it's actually really good, but there is one minute detail that keeps bugging me - she sings that she is a "bullet in a shotgun waiting to sound."  Well, bullets don't go in shotguns.  A bullet is the little projectile that is at the tip of a cartridge, that gets launched out of the gun.  A shotgun shoots a shell that is full of either shot or a slug.  So she could never be a bullet in a shotgun waiting to sound.  I KNOW THAT IS ANNOYING FOR ME TO BE BOTHERED BY THIS.  I can't help it.  I was born this way.

Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort to Me.  Their last album was an absolute banger.  Just an unhinged blast of ridiculously overcharged angry bashing.  "Some Mutts" is a classic.  This one has some of that same flavor, but nothing in here is so perfectly pitched as those tracks on the first one.  Although I really like "Security" and her yelling at the pub's security about how she's NOT THAT DRUNK!  Makes me grin.  I love the guitars and the pounding drums, and her kick ass Aussie accent adds a perfect flavor for these tunes.  The top track is "Hertz" with 2.9 million streams.

I very much appreciate the way the singer just looks like someone who would scream about not being that drunk or yelling at me to climb into the backseat because that is where she'll be waiting.  The lyrics literally could be a country song - "take me to the beach, take me to the country, come in the backseat, if you love me."  I can hear Maren Morris singing that in a nice country lilt right now.  But there ain't nothing nice or lilted about that tune right there, just an angry fuzzy blast of deranged love.  "No More Tears" kinda sounds like classic REM when it starts.  "Laughing" cracks me up because of the weird slang she is using, saying that she is dressed "daggy."  The google says that "daggy" means unkempt or scruffy.  Enjoyable album anyway, but not nearly as essential as the last one.

2 Chainz - Dope Don't Sell Itself.  Right at the start of "Pop Music," there is a woman sampled (or maybe just speaking) who asks "why you face so ugly?" and it makes me giggle.  This disc is generally a throwaway, but its also pretty damn fun.  Just a lot of sexual brags and drug stories and goofy stuff packed over the top of mostly generic beats.  Like "Neighbors Know My Name," which has him rapping that his neighbors call him "oh fuck, oh shit" over a bouncy little bop.  It's goofy, and only 1:44 long, but it makes me grin anyway.  Most of the songs are short - he gets 12 songs in under 33 minutes.  And he has a ton of guests - Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, YoungBoy Never Broke Again (truly a terrible rapper name), and a bunch of lesser knowns - and I think that is when 2 Chainz shines, where he isn't the focus of the track but he gets to swerve in and throw out a punchline or two.  Top song, by a lot, is "Million Dollars Worth of Game" with something called 42 Dugg.  17.4 million streams.

 

That beat jams though.  Never heard of 42 Dugg, but his little raspy voice works on there.  I just read his Wikipedia, and the dude spent 6 years in prison for carjacking and then fighting while in prison.  I am officially frightened of 42 Dugg now.

ABBA - Voyage.  I hate being a dick about a classic band like this, but this album blows.  Their exciting comeback album, and its just super boring stuff to me.  I wouldn't say I love their hits anyway, so I'm not sure what I expected.  Of course, they have some tunes with a bunch of streams from this though, because they're still a beloved band.  "Don't Shut Me Down" is the top one, with 47.6 million streams.

I'll readily admit that their voices still sound really good.  But I don't ever need to hear this album again.

alt-J - The Dream.  This is a really weird album.  I suppose the band has always been odd, but this one has a depressing and offputting vibe to it that I can't get my finger on.  And then "Hard Drive Gold" is goofy as hell, right there amidst the darkly spare other songs.  "U&ME" has a slinkiness to it that is interesting and kind of grooves.  But "Happier When You're Gone" is, as the title suggests, depressing.  And "The Actor" finds him singing about returning to cocaine over a darkly cheery beat.  You know how Radiohead make songs that sound both cheerful and depressing?  That.  The start of "Chicago" sounds like it should be in the new RoboCop, until he starts whisper singing over that, and before the choir starts chanting.  "Losing My Mind" sounds very much like a lost Arcade Fire song from the The Suburbs sessions.  "U&ME" is the top track for now, with 18.2 million streams.

Dig the retro action in that video, but then it gets really really weird.  And also dig the groove.  While I like that tune, and some of these are definitely interesting, I overall am not in love with the whole disc.  I'll let it go.