Man, I can't believe Julie Powell died. Truly insane. Growing up, she was the big sister of one of my best friends, and so I spent a lot of time either being tortured by her or trying to torment her in some way. Even though she could be an awful bitch at times, she also was super supportive of me when I joined up with the high school theater program, and usually had some wry, clever comment for me when we saw each other over the last few years. Death is freaking weird. Like, just one day Julie's not alive anymore. I won't get to have another gimlet with her, or tease her about some 30 year old factoid that I only know from growing up with her. Don't get me wrong, we weren't best friends or anything, but still, I just can't wrap my head around it. You know what is good therapy? Ripping on an awful rap album!
Jack Harlow - Come Home The Kids Miss You. I feel like I have really tried to give this guy a chance, but I just don't get it. His backstory is kind of fun, as I deeply chronicled back when he played ACL in 2021, but it doesn't save this album from being entirely forgettable and boring. I read a long piece about him ion Rolling Stone recently, and was kind of excited to check out this album to see what he had going on these days that was getting people hyped, but I hear nothing of consequence here. "Now the bottles in my section marked Fiji, and its hard to find some girls that aren't freaky." Just a dumb bar, without any interesting bits at all. Are you at the grocery store? Is Fiji water even a thing anymore? I just don't get why people would be impressed here anymore, maybe when he was 14, but now he's just another mediocre rapper. The top hit is "First Class," with, by far, his most streams on this album. Most songs are under 20 million, but this one has 518 million (inexplicably).
"Pineapple juice I get her sweet sweet sweet semen." Ugggghhhh. Not even an interesting beat, really. I guess it sounds lush, like the song is supposed to be, but it just doesn't really do anything for me. The album title sounds like something he stole from Drake. But there is nothing here that I ever need to hear again. Every once in a while, your ears perk up when you're like, "wait, is that Justin Timberlake? I remember him." and then your brain goes dead again because Harlow just keeps saying boring shit over boring beats. No thanks!
Black Keys - Dropout Boogie. I'm all in on just about anything these guys do, which says a lot about my old-ass-ness. But the first single off of this album, "Wild Child," is a fuzzy, groovy blast of crunchy classic blues rock perfection. I love it. They just do such a perfect job of combining the right twists to recreate the classic sound of the best blues rock that comes along. From the background singers to the riffs to the basslines to the tight drums, it just clicks all the way around. I just got to see them play this stuff live earlier this week, and it freaking ruled. Now, "Baby I'm Coming Home" sounds like they just straight-up stole "Sweet Melissa" from the Allman Brothers, so sometimes their classic homage gets a little too close to the original. But overall, I dig this one just as much as I did some of their other albums. "Wild Child" is the top streamer for sure with 23.5 million streams.
Extreme riffage! And also, they took the time to make a real video! With, like a crappy story and real actors and costumes and stuff! I know, the kids probably all think this is derivative and boring and dad rock and whatever, but they also have no taste and are stupid, so they can keep listening to the Jack Harlow drivel and get nowhere in life, and I'll keep bumping the Keys and growing stronger.
Zach Bryan - American Heartbreak. Several years ago, my nephew-in-law encouraged me to listen to this dude, back when he just had the album named after his mom. Since then, my man is having his day in the sun, with a sold out show at Stubb's and then two very populated sets at ACL Fest in the last few weeks. This album came out a few months ago by now, and while I enjoy it, he must have talked to Drake's PR guy before he chose the songs for the disc, because it is OUTRAGEOUSLY long. Like, WTF, man? 34 freaking songs? Over two hours? Good gravy, kid. Pick the best 12 songs! Release three albums this year like you are Lil Fartnose or something! This is just too damn much to digest at one time. And the songs generally track the same sound, so after a while you have no clue what you have heard and what you are hearing and what you are about to hear, it is just going to be more of him telling good stories and strumming his guitar and a basic backing band plugging along shaggily and pleasantly. That frustrates me, when I feel like some curation and variation could have made for a very strong, cohesive, powerful album instead of this behemoth. So, a nice little love song like "Morning Time" gets mired in with the rest of this and you'll never notice it because its the 33rd freaking track. The top song is not the one I expected - "Something in the Orange" - but is instead "From Austin," with 45 million streams.
I just got to see one of those ACL Fest shows, and he tore into this one with some extra verve and a crowd of folks who knew enough to yell the chorus along with him. Pretty sweet. He's got a cool look, a great voice, a songwriter's knack for finding interesting ways to tell a story, and a steadily-growing following, so I expect we'll have more good stuff to hear soon. I like this, but it is hard to imagine ever putting the album on for anything other than a 14 hour road trip.
Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. I know that I am extremely late to the party on talking about this album - this is what happens when you spend hundreds of hours writing about ACL bands for five months. But, to the extent you still haven't dropped into this one, it is an extremely interesting album. I would not say that it is very fun - very few things on here are going to get you dancing or hype - maybe "N95" or "Silent Hill" - but there are some tracks on here that go deeper than any other rapper is willing to go. "Auntie Diaries" is amazing, and I can't think of any other main-stream rapper who would have the balls to make a rap track about trans folks changing genders in this way. Although I'm not sure it is all as deep as it seems on first blush. And so, you end up with a very important seeming album, full of knotty issues and smooth narratives about tough ideas, but it feels like watching a documentary on slavery when you'd rather watch Django Unchained. "We Cry Together" is like watching a shocking one act play that is going to get a theater director fired - and it definitely breaks the mood of the surrounding songs. Just a bunch of jarring screaming among these otherwise chill-sounding tracks. But it also kind of rules - like, it is a real-deal visceral interlude that feels awful to listen in on and yet piques the interest. "N95" is the top streamer with 178.3 million. Only one other track breaks 100m.
I dig the vibe of the song, even if the lyrics are a little more opaque than many of these tracks. Are we talking about N95 masks when saying to "take it off" and is this some sort of commentary about COVID response and being on lockdown? "You're back outside, but they still lied" sure makes it seem like that is the idea? But then it's going into designer labels and the "cop with the eyepatch?" Seems like he is diving deep into his own mind here, but I'm not sure what he is getting at. The album is also freaking long at an hour and thirteen minutes. A little bit of this on the cutting room floor could have made for a tighter package that hit harder. Disc two has much fewer streams, seems like the fans got enough of the vibe before they made it to the second half. Like much of the Kendrick discography, this is a thinking-man's version of rap. It is good, and it is valuable, and it is worthwhile to listen to it. But it sure isn't going to get you hype.
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