Quick Hits, Vol. 218 (2 Chainz, Weezer, Solange, Soft Science)

2 Chainz - Rap or Go to the League.  2 Chainz can be surprisingly good at times.  I think of him in the same breath as T-Pain for some reason, but that is incorrect.  He has good verse on a bunch of other people's albums, and so over time I've become more and more on board with what he does.  This album has some interesting bits, but overall if pretty uneven.  I HATE the intro to "I Said Me," with its annoyingly high pitched Sound of Music schtick, but then the actual bars are freaking cool.  He has a bunch of good collaborations - Chance, Kendrick, Young Thug - and then a handful of weak ones - Ariana, Lil Wayne, Travis Scott.  "Sam" has a cool beat and a nice laconic flow, with some solid teachings about taxation in the modern age.  Reminds me of an old Geto Boys song about the music industry being a scam.  "Money in the Way" has a happy, triumphant beat that makes me want to hug everyone.  Ugh, of course the top two tracks for streams are those with Ariana or Scott on them.  I guess I'll give you the Travis Scott one, called "Whip," and boasting 7.8 million streams.

That is an OK track - as usual, too much auto-tune, too many of those little Scott asides and fill-ins - but I can see why this one makes folks bob their head and bounce along.  Its OK.  "NCAA" also has a cool sound (even if the "I'm playin' with da clit like a guitar" is a little disturbingly vivid).  The Ty Dolla Sign track about diamonds is horrible.  So, an up and down album.  I'd save a few tracks to keep listening, but the album as a whole can go.

Weezer - Black Album.  Dammit, Weezer.  Why can't you just keep making the exact same album as the first one you made twenty plus years ago?  This is probably not quite an apt comparison, but you know how Maroon Five used to make perfectly acceptable and pleasant soft rock?  Like, Songs About Jane-era M5?  And now they're Adam Levine's unrepentant pop machine of crap like "Girls Like" whatever?  Try listening to "Living in L.A." or "Can't Knock the Hustle" from this album and see if you don't hear echos of that same process - leaving behind the organic KISS-loving sound from the past and going full-pop-star.  Blech.  This is definitely an album where the first song on the disc is the most popular, because everyone tries out "Can't Knock the Hustle," hears that horrible Spanish lyric sing-song thing at the start, and then runs away quickly.  4.1 million streams.  I'm gonna give you "I'm Just Being Honest" instead, because it has more streams than most on the album but also significantly more than those around it on the album, showing that it is being listened to outside of the normal track list.  1.1 million streams.

A little bit more like the old sound of Weezer, but still totally lightweight.  I like the lyrics, telling people honest opinions and then them getting pissed about it, but the tune itself sounds like something they put together in three seconds or picked from a generic list of pre-existing backing tracks they use to write lyrics.  I love the homage paid to Prince in "The Prince Who Wanted Everything."

And look, I don't begrudge them, at all, a change to their sound or an evolution to their sound or whatever.  Bands have to adjust to the times and their own desires - I get all of that - I just wish that these songs didn't sound so tossed off.  Nothing on this whole disc leaves a mark at all.

Solange - When I Get Home.  Her voice is great.  The tunes kind of sound like a quirky Stevie Wonder thing.  And sometimes she sounds like her sister, which is at least interesting.  But I'm just so entirely bored by it all.  I've tried it multiple times, and every time is just blah.  I know it is the cool thing to fall in complete and total love with her music, but I ain't with it. "Almeda" is the top track, with 7.7 million streams, so you be the judge (although don't start to judge until one minute in, because the first minute of that video is not part of the song):

That one, like some of the other tunes, is kind of groovy and something you could bop along to, but it doesn't do anything for me.  I don't need this album (although I do appreciate the fact that it is 19 songs and yet only 30 minutes long).

Soft Science - Maps.  This one was on Keith Law's top ten of 2018 list, and I liked it enough to throw into my new music queue.  And its still good, although what I think I have realized is that the first song is damn good, and then the rest of it bounces between listenable and good.  For example, the second song, "Breaking," has these very bad synth horns that sound like they were cribbed from some long-defunct new wave band, and kind of a plodding beat, and a very milquetoast guitar solo.  It's not horrible, but it bugs.  And those synths maintain a heavy presence in the band, but other times they seem to work well, like in "Know," and driving, kind of ominous rocker.  As for play count?  That is where you realize that I'm too affected by Keith Law.  This is probably, like, his niece's band or something and he just added them to his top ten to get them some play, because almost all of their songs have less than 10k streams.  Which just looks very sad.  Even that first song on the album, the very good one, has only 39k.  This is "Undone."

Kicks in like a Sugar song, and then the bass layers on with the synths smearing around like old Cure.  I dig it.  As for the whole album, I'll let it go.