Quick Hits, Vol. 311 (Soccer Mommy, Muse, Reigning Sound, Good Looks)

Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever.  The more I listen to this album, the more crushed I feel that I had to give away my tickets to the show in December.  Such a wonderful sounding disc.  Has some harder-edged rock and roll bits, but a lot of really pretty, atmospheric indie rock songs that I love to come back to again and again.  Although, I will admit that "Unholy Affliction," the third song, is a weird and unnerving swerve in the beginning of the album.  Comes on like a taut Nine Inch Nails thing that opens up a little bit, but it still slams the breaks on the vibe right before the hit song, which is weird. But the hot single is the one that was put out a good ways before the album, which I previously wrote about here because the chorus has an annoyingly incorrect reference to gun ammunition.  "Shotgun," with 5.6 million streams.

Yeah, ice cream and alcohol is all we really need.  True dat.  Really enjoyable tune.  Feels fresh even as it probably copies ninety other songs.  "Don't Ask Me" has a Madchester vibe that I dig - very fresh sound.  "With U" starts out like a 90's Radiohead tune.  Nothing on here strikes me quite like "circle the drain" from the last disc, but I really like this album.

Muse - Will of the People.  Just a terrible album.  I have liked some Muse songs in the past, and there is a slice of me that finds pleasure in the hardcore sound of "Won't Stand Down" - makes me think of late 90's Nu-Metal thrash.  But overall, this is really not good.  The title track sounds like they couldn't remember the lyrics to Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People."  "Compliance" sounds like a Holiday Inn cover band playing a lost song from the Flash Gordon soundtrack, where one member of the band refuses to stop playing the Night Rider theme music in every song they play together, and sooner or later the guitarist is going to murder him in a Denny's parking lot.  "Liberation" sounds like they wish they were Queen.  "You Make Me Feel Like Its Halloween" is on some Disney channel-ass bullshit.  it is almost amazing how the album just continues to suck throughout.  "Kill or Be Killed" is another Breaking Benjamin-ass lite-thrash track.  Just dumb.  The top track is that "Won't Stand Down" thrasher.  You're welcome.  37.9 million streams.

Welp, now I've seen whatever that is supposed to be.  Weirdos.  Do you hear that little xylophone bit at the start that kind of steals from A-Ha?  I do.  And it bugs me.  But I'll readily admit that those power chords combined with the pounding drums in the chorus get my inner 18 year old boy excited.  I really hope they aren't a headliner for ACL this year.

Reigning Sound - Time Bomb High School.  This is like if Ryan Adams was making garage rock with the Replacements.  It's also 21 years old, so I have zero clue how this ended up in my new music queue, but I had definitely never heard of it before.  The opener is a kind of uninteresting and lo-fi cover, which is a weird move, but after that this gets to be really good.  "Brown Paper Sack" sounds like the charging R&B freakout of Nathaniel Rateliff.  "You're Not As Pretty" or "Wait and See" or "I Don't Know How to Tell You" are a little more Ryan Adams fronting countrified Wilco.  Either way, it is a great mix of burning rockers and quiet barroom laments and it should have been more popular when it came out.  Unfortunately, the opening track has the most streams (which seems like it would turn people off to the rest of the album in many instances), so I'll give you second place instead.  "Straight Shooter" with 320k streams.

Singer sounds like Bono on the Rattle & Hum album at the start of the tune.  But, like I said, this is a good ol' bashing rock song that sounds borne out of a midwestern garage.  Good stuff.  Worthy of repeat listens.

Good Looks - Bummer Year.  Just a fantastic album.  These guys were a late addition to the ACL poster last year, although I didn't get to see them play because they were weekend two only.  But this album freaking crushes it - good rock and roll, great lyricism, just top-notch stuff.  And their backstory was interesting as well, with a guitarist who was hit by a car right after they released this album and played a gig at Hotel Vegas, putting him in the hospital with terrible injuries and a Go Fund Me to help him pay for it all.  Damn!  I guess he is doing better now! The members of the band are from different smaller towns in Texas - and some of them met up and honed their skills at the Kerrville Folk Festival.  Singer Tyler Jordan claims it was seeing Spoon's ACL taping that cemented his need to move to Austin to make music.  That is cool.  Now I really want to see them play live!  The album opener is the top track for now, with 345k streams.  "Almost Automatic."

Jangly rock and roll that could have come from War on Drugs or some other indie rock darling.  Something about this album just feels like I am getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing.  The opening lyrics for the title track are clever to me: "All my friends from high school / They all got motorcycles / Joined up with a bike gang / supported Donald Trump / I don't think they're evil / Even when they're awful / Not totally class conscious / but ultimately good."  Sloppy-sounding tune, but the imagery he paints is really great.  Nothing in it is ground-breakingly new, but it just perfectly scratches the itch for me.