Quick Hits, Vol. 242 (Beck, Brockhampton, Highwomen, Blink 182)

Beck - Hyperspace.  I love Beck.  I love the funky Beck, the serious Beck, the rock Beck, the love-lorn Beck, the weirdo pushing all boundaries, all of them.  Which makes me very sad to confront this new Beck album, which is not very interesting to me at all.  It aligns closely with a more R&B sound - more modern beat sounds that aren't quirky or weird or original sounding - and a dearth of fun on any of the songs.  "Uneventful Days" came on the radio the other day, and I turned it up to really try to dig in and see if I could find the thread that other people were finding.  The music itself sounds like Vangelis was hired away from the Blade Runner soundtrack by Nintendo in 1989 to try to make the pause screen music for Metroid, and he tried to capture the flavor of Phil Collins' hit "Take Me Home" while still staying true to both himself and the Nintendo brand, but it wasn't good enough for them.  And lyrically?  Sad sack, defeatist musings of a guy with nothing to do but pine for his lost lover - which could be interesting, right? - but instead of pretty generic.  First verse is as follows: 

"I don't even know what's wrong (The days without you)
Ever since you've been gone
Only ten minutes to go (Leave me cold and alone)
I don't even know you now
I don't know where you're from (From my world without you, no)
I don't know where you belong
I don't wanna hurt you (No, no, no)
I don't wanna let you go (Gonna leave me alone)"

I mean, come on man.  That just looks like something he threw together in 2 minutes.  Also, is that autotune?  Illegal.  St. Vincent created a remix - you can hear it on Spotify, and at least it drops out the bad synth track in favor of some funky basslines and smeary organ weirdness.

"Saw Lightning" is a little interesting, just because its a weird swamp boogie of a tune and not quite like anything Beck has done before, but its a little overly repetitive.  I like the classic beat on "Die Waiting," and the way the bright chorus singing soars over it, even though the song itself isn't great.  But then "Chemical" is so generically bad R&B - effects on his voice, finger snaps over 808 bass bumps and trap clicks, a lame sung hook/chorus about being "so high" because her "love is a chemical."  "See Through" is likewise bad both on the beat and the lyrics.  Totally uninteresting song.  So disappointing.  I am so glad to see that "Chemical" is the current top track for Spotify popularity from this album, so that I can give a reason for you to hear its genericness for yourself.

The YouTube comments are falling all over themselves about how amazing this song is.  The "woah woah woah woah woah woah part," and the rap piece just set my skin on edge.  Leave the trap R&B to the flash-in-the-pan kids, Beck.  You stick to the original, inventive, future-sounds instead of biting on the trends.  Which is the real bummer here.  In the past, he put out Odelay when no one was doing anything like that.  He did Midnight Vultures when no band was doing anything quite so funky.  He dropped Sea Change out of left field.  So for this one to just sound like any other current R&B artist produced by Pharrell is a big bummer to me.

Brockhampton - GINGER.  I had a serious Brockhampton crush a year ago, seeing them three times in a week-long span with two ACL performances and then one more encore show at Stubbs.  They're uneven for me - I much prefer the real rap tracks over the pure R&B introspection tunes, and this album cruises that same line.  I prefer "BOY BYE" or "ST. PERCY" or "IF YOU PRAY RIGHT" over the title track or "SUGAR" or "DEARLY DEPARTED," and even the former tracks aren't nearly as good as the best stuff on Saturation.  Which I think is still due, in part, to the fact that they kicked Ameer Vann out of the group, and he was one of their better rappers.  Of course, the top track at 74.7 million streams is one of the autotuned R&B tracks - "SUGAR."

Very weird video vibe there.  Song is OK - just not my style of music I would gravitate to.  I don't hate the album, but I think I'll stick to the classic tracks from Saturation over these.

Highwomen - The Highwomen.  Great concept and album - as I have mentioned, I'll follow Brandi Carlisle just about anywhere she is headed, so I'm in to this one.  I get some serious Sheryl Crow vibes on some songs, and then Dolly Parton vibes elsewhere (see "Cocktail and a Song"), and the whole schtick of covering the "Highwayman" song, but changing up the lyrics to reference women in those same sorts of situations, is really well done.  I like that song for sure.  I figured it would be their most streamed, but it actually comes in third, after "Crowded Table" and "Redesigning Women," which boasts 8.7 million.

A good tune.  "Wheels of Laredo" and "Crowded Table" are very pretty as well, and "If She Ever Leaves Me" is a very good one.  If you're into country music, then this is the good stuff - lovely voices, good harmonies, classic instrumentation without interloping 808s or guitar firework solos.

Blink 182 - NINE.  This one will truly live up to the title of these posts, and be very quick.  No.  I was on the fence about liking this bratty pop-punk back in the Clinton administration, but now this all sounds the same.  Whiny, bratty, generically mediocre pop rock with a great drummer.  "I Really Wish I Hated You" is tops with 16.8 million streams.

They were best when they were funny, and nothing about these songs is funny at all to me.  No.