I've been through the album a number of times now, and it really doesn't grab hold of me. It is nice, a good set of background tunes, even though I'm sure that the lyrics are the real reason to listen. I'd rather something that grabbed me sonically and then revealed its good lyrics though.
Koffee - Gifted. Using snippets of "Redemption Song" in the opening track "x10" is bold. Koffee came through ACL a few years back and I thought she was cool - new reggae action from an up-and-comer. This one has a reggae flow to it but frequently just sounds like rap/trap with a singer who happens to have a thick Jamaican accent. "West Indies" though, that tune is legit. Interestingly, the album's first few songs are not the most popular, but instead the last three crush the rest of the album. Very abnormal distribution. The top one is the final song on the album, "Lockdown," boasting 27.1 million streams.
A pandemic reggae tune! Except as an allegory to putting her love on lockdown, instead of just the entire world. That is a super fun tune. Meh on the album overall though.
Maren Morris - Humble Quest. This one has been in my queue for so long that it is starting to feel like an old classic that I have always known. I will readily admit that I don't love Maren Morris - or at least my mind has always registered her name with some disappointment. Like, I get that I am supposed to like her, but then I listen to anything beyond "My Church" and it isn't there for me. But I will admit that this album has adjusted that perception some. She's got a great voice and some clever lyrics in here. Frequently not a country album, like the piano pop of "The Furthest Thing," and sometimes she straight up sounds like an R&B singer from some classic Jive album ("Tall Guys"), but overall I suppose you would call this country. "Tall Guys" is an ode to how great a tall man is, which very much seems like a country singer topic, but the delivery just feels like we are listening to something by early P!nk. "Good Friends" is a fine tune. "Detour" sounds like something she might have released with The Highwomen. But the stream king is the opener, an ode to the aimlessness of life in your small hometown as you try to write hits to get you somewhere else. "Circles Around This Town," with 32.8 million streams.
Something about her glamming as she sings bugs the crap out of me, like she's trying to emphasize the shape of her lips more than the shape of the words. But I like the song. Overall, I enjoyed the whole album. I am surprising myself with liking traditional Nashville country ladies recently.
The Mysterines - Reeling. There you go. A friend told me about this band months ago, and I figured it would be good, as the two of us have long bonded over loud, fast, hard-edged tunes. This one does not disappoint. "The Bad Thing" has a really sweet, driving jam that erupts in the middle of the tune. That - driving jam - is actually the theme of most of the album for me - fuzzy guitars, driving beat, and an ominous, powerful set of vocals that is ready to wail at any given time. Kind of a grunge/alternative crunch. This is apparently the debut album for this band, released in 2022, so they are brand spankin' new. It is a full band, but at times they kind of have the sound of a Royal Blood/cleopatrick where it is just a duo bashing out the tunes. Maybe they'll be at ACL this year! The top tune is the second song on the album, "Hung Up," with 2.5 million streams.
Yeah baby. Jam it out. Did they rent the ballroom at a Holiday Inn? I know that it is deeply uncool to be in to rock in this day and age, but that tune just cranks. I hope this band keeps it up - I've not heard anything about them or from them other than my friend's suggestion, but hopefully they blow up soon.
I actually had a thought about something like that the other day, and am deeply annoyed with the "alternative" radio station here in Austin. Time for a short rant. When I listen to the alternative station's morning show on the way to work, they pretty much talk about something inane for a few minutes, and then queue up some ancient, dusty alt rock track. For example, this morning, I heard the following: Staind - Outside (2001), Beck - Loser (1994), Twenty-One Pilots - Heathens (2016), Fuel - Shimmer (1998), Panic! - I Write Sins Not Tragedies (2005), and Alice in Chains - Man in the Box (1990). Don't get me wrong, some of those are fun songs. But three of those seven weren't even from this century! None were released in the last six years! WTF, man! There are so many good, fun, alternative rock tracks that they could play. Be the ones to champion something new and interesting! That used to be the point of the alt rock station! Soapbox - done.
No comments:
Post a Comment