Quick Hits, Vol. 234 (Bruce Springsteen, Black Keys, Taylor Swift, R.E.M.)

So, Spotify just put out its annual Wrapped thing where they tell you all about your listening habits from the year.  Mine claims that the top genre I listened to in the year was "pop rap," and I'm irrationally annoyed about it.  Which made me dig into the issue way more than I should have, which meant that I just spent a long time reading about Spotify genres.  This article is actually very funny, digging into some of the most obscure genres out there.  After all of that, I finally found that Spotify has playlists - The Sounds of Pop Rap and The Sounds of Rap - and they literally look the same.  They both have the exact same song as their first track in the playlist.  So I have decided that I am just as gangsta as I always believed myself to be.  Word up.  [immediately turns on the new Justin Beiber rap album]

Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars.  This guy is always going to get he benefit of the doubt from me - great lyricist with a ton of fantastic songs in his catalog.  So I was excited to hear about a new album that was supposed to have a country-flavored California pop vibe to it - that is definitely not what the last two albums were like (which hewed more rock and roll).  The tunes themselves are fine - a little more orchestral than I would prefer, but lyrically we get a bunch of interesting stories of characters  - a broken-down stuntman listing his bodily ailments and reminiscing about the good times, a cowboy too tired to think, and a D-list actor down on his luck.  Some lean in too close to a Broadway sort of sound and get a little cheesy in my opinion - see "The Wayfarer" - but the majority of these sound like good storytelling Springsteen tunes (albeit all a little softer and less rocking that the past).  Lots of strings.  No song from this album cracks his top ten songs on Spotify, which isn't all that surprising since his old stuff is as classic as it comes.  "Hello Sunshine" pops up the most streams at 7.5 million.

A nice one for sure - that driving patter of the drums, his very solid voice, singing a sort of longing song about sadness and hoping that sunshine will hang around.  "Western Stars" is very good, and I liked "Drive Fast," "North of Nashville," and "Moonlight Motel."  That last one reads like a sad poet's final missive before eating a pile of pills.  It's a fantastic set of lyrics.  The whole album isn't some instant classic, as I would love for it to be, but the tunes do well with repeat listens and concentration on the lyrics, so I think this one will grow on me some.

Black Keys - Let's Rock.  I'm a big fat sucker for these guys.  I'm sure there are a lot of too-cool-for-school rock and roll purists who think they have sold out or are Dad rock or whatever, but I feel like they have injected some life and swagger back into the regular rock sound - mainly by going back to the traditional sounds and tried-and-true methods for this stuff.  Dan Auerbach is a one man production dream team who has made everything from YOLA (countrified soul) to Lana Del Rey (dark pop) to Cage the Elephant (garage rock) ring with a retro style and cool.  I remember buying Magic Potion, the Keys' fourth album, unwrapping it from the plastic, jamming it into my car stereo, and loving every heavy, crunchy blast.
This album stays true to that same sort of rock and roll crunch, although with quite a bit more production value and smoothness to it.  The obvious hit, which is a stone cold jam, is "Lo / Hi," with its fuzzy guitar tone and soaring solos and background singers.  As a very professional music blogger, I am required by law to mention T Rex when I describe this song.  Thus: Sounds like something T Rex would have fired up 40 years ago to get the Camaro crowd erect.

I know there's nothing especially groundbreaking there - but give me that groove all day long - just has more swagger packed into each bar than a couple thousand other rock and roll bands can muster in their whole career.  Give it.  "Shine a Little Light," "Every Little Thing," "Go," and "Breaking Down" also provide heavy lifting of pure guitar rock jams.  Even the non-stompers are great - they always still have a good groove or a smooth feel.  Heavy on tambourine.  This may make me a Dad rock nerd, but whatever, this album rules.

Taylor Swift - Lover.  I'm not some sort of Taylor Swift purist, where I only want her to stick to the original tunes, but I'll readily admit that Reputation was not my favorite of her albums.  Red is still my favorite.  This one sticks with the formula she found on Red and since, pure pop music with confessional lyrics presented by a great voice.  The opening track is apparently a Kanye diss, which I find delicious, and its a pretty good tune as well.  I think my favorite of all of the songs is the jamming "The Man," a pointed jab at male power in the music industry, set over a great dance beat.  I've found myself singing it to myself for hours after each listen.  The chorus is supremely catchy.  "Paper Rings" is very fun.  "You Need to Calm Down" is good and I use it repeatedly on my children when they, in fact, need to calm down.  In a show of just how popular her music is when it is released, all ten of her most popular tunes on Spotify are from this album - so her massive hits from prior albums (over 500 million for "Look What You Made Me Do," 358 million for "Shake It Off," etc.) have been shoved down out of the top ten.  Although "ME!" has more streams, I'm gonna give you "You Need to Calm Down" instead at 269 million streams (mainly because the Brandon Urie bit bugs me).

That opening synth sounds like something from Stranger Things or Bladerunner.  And then she and Katy Perry make up by dressing as burger and fries to hold hands while a bunch of trans ladies throw cake at each other?  Yep.  The catchiness is undeniable.  By the way, she has one with the Dixie Chicks on here that is lovely, tender little country thing.  And then the Panic! at the Disco guy farts all over "ME!" in a way I could do without.  But overall, its a very good album.  Shows many facets of her talent and seems to be pretty happy, which I lean into.

R.E.M. - Monster 25th Anniversary Edition Second Disc That is All Outtakes and Stuff.  Not sure what to properly call this disc, but it is available to stream on Spotify, and listening to it makes me ache for R.E.M. to be a band again.  They were my favorite band for many years, and helped to form so much about what I like in music, and yet they show zero signs of ever reforming and playing their tunes to make me happy again.  Anyway, I saw that they had re-released Monster, their hard-rocking followup to the soft folky stuff on Out of Time and Automatic for the People, and figured I'd go back to it.  After the regular album was over, this second disc started playing, and it's lovely.  Most of these are instrumental tunes, and the first half sounds like they were likely outtakes from the Out of Time or Automatic sessions, because they're heavy on country-tinged sounds and the sustained-organ-notes style that the boys leaned on back then.  "Lost Song" is great.  Then the back half goes kind of hard, probably meaning those are Monster out-takes - tunes like "Sputnik 1 Remix," "Revolution 4-21," and "Time is on Mike's Side."  Heavy on the power guitar.  Here is the top track "Uptempo Mo Distortion," with 229k streams on Spotify.

Can't you just hear a happy little set of lyrics to go with that one?  The annoying thing about these tunes is that they are really solid.  I could easily see them backing a great new R.E.M. tune (or for that matter, a Decemberists song, or Beck, or any number of bands who have ripped off this indie college rock sound since).  Oh well, now I just need to go back and listen to the old REM stuff for a few days...