Quick Hits, Vol. 350 (Cage the Elephant, Avett Brothers, Ghostface Killah, Willie Nelson)

Cage the Elephant - Neon Pill.  I am very surprised that these guys have not been back to ACL recently.  2016 was their last appearance, but they very much seem like the right band to show up in the Foster the People-type slot.  This album is reliably great.  I sort of forget about this band as an entity overall, but then I hear these tunes (or the old ones) and am like - oh yeah, this is one of the better current rock and roll bands out there.  Super hooky, catchy, danceable, fun rock and roll goodness.  They came through town not that long ago on the tour for this album and I hadn't really heard this disc much, so I didn't think about it.  Now, I am wishing I would have gone.  This disc has that poppy, upbeat rock, but also dives into some of that Beatles-ey ballad stuff that these sorts of bands can veer into at times.  Looking at "Out Loud" while I write that last bit, and "Over Your Shoulder" a little bit too.  The top song is the title track, with 18.3 million streams.

No clue WTF that song is trying to say though.  Sort of a longing song about his love, but what is the double-cross or the hit and run?  Dammit.  Going to make me research and stuff.  Oh wow.  Apparently, lead singer Matt Schutz says that he was prescribed a medication that put him into a psychosis without him even realizing it (thus the hit and run and being double-crossed by a pill).  At one point, he was arrested for gun possession in NYC while under the influence of this pill (thus the loaded gun bit).  Crazy!  Autobiographical, while just sounding like a random collection of cool-sounding words!  "Rainbow" and "Ball and Chain" are both fun tracks too.  This album is tasty if you like catchy, slick rock and roll.  I hope they come to ACL next year!

Avett Brothers - The Avett Brothers.  The crazy thing about listening to this album now is that when I saw their ACL taping a month or two ago, I figured that a lot of these songs were old ones from prior albums.  They sound classic, and so I had no idea that these were new tracks that I hadn't even heard before on the studio album.  The opener of "Never Apart," which includes a little vocal harmonizing thing at the start, has a heartbreaking beauty, but then that segues right in to "Love of a Girl," which really is a blast of Old 97's-ish or Spoon-ish rock and roll that is deeply fun and a little unhinged.  "Cheap Coffee" was a highlight at the live show and I still love it - just a really well-written tune.  "Love of a Girl" is the top streamer with only 1.2 million.  That disappoints me.

Has the pace of We Didn't Start the Fire at first.  Great harmonies, as well as a fun pace.  "Country Kid" is a good story song.  This is a good disc - keeps me interested in what they have in store next.

Ghostface Killah - Set the Tone (Guns & Roses).  Uneven album, but while listening yesterday it dawned on me that Ghostface may be a top five rapper for me who is still making good tunes right now.  The problem with this disc is that there is too much singing/R&B-guest-crap on it, and so the back half of the album is almost unlistenable for me.  But on the front half, he just goes for full Wu Tang spicy action with tracks with Jim Jones, Method Man, Nas, Raekwon, and Kanye.  Great, classic beats, with good lyrics.  But then, after Skit 2, it becomes all of this sing-song crap.  I can't say that I didn't laugh with the chorus of "Plan B," a song about how a lady's pregnancy is going to mess up his life so she needs to get a Plan B pill.  But to me the only good stuff on here is on the front half.  Maybe that is the reason for the parenthetical album name - maybe I only like the "Guns" half...  Top streamer is the one with Kanye West - "No Face" has 14.1 million streams.

Ye is just annoying, is my main takeaway from that track.  Because that beat is cool and classic and hard, but then Ye just farts around in there doing his usual crapola.  I just think that 'Face sounds freaking cool - kinda like he's mad but also kinda like he thinks its funny.  I dig his whole vibe, even if this disc isn't a winner.

Willie Nelson - Last Leaf on the Tree.  Oh Willie.  How are you still doing this?  I mean, by now, you know not to expect much in the vocals department, as even the low-level of singing he became famous with is reduced even further.  The fascinating thing to me is that he still sounds really good on the guitar.  Trigger is still strong.  Most of these tracks are covers, which is interesting.  He does a rad cover of Beck's "Lost Cause" on here and he's picking and strumming just like he always has (even while his voice is just one step above speaking).  He does a touching cover of the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" that is really beautiful.  That song rules on multiple levels, and I also for some reason love the fact that it has two question marks.  But like the title song, it feels like he is singing about his own death when he says "do you realize / that everyone you know someday will die."  Just one of the best sets of lyrics that has ever been collected. "Wheels" sounds like some weirdo experimental Peter Gabriel song, and was written by his song Micah.  The title track (a Tom Waits tune) is the top streamer with 617k streams.

Pretty damned sad.  If you think about all of the people he has lost over the years, watching every one of his contemporaries die, and his sister, and so many others.  He's still hanging on, flipping Autumn the bird and smoking a joint.  Kinda bums me out to listen to this tune.  But I do like the line that if they cut the tree down, he'll show back up in a song.  I guess keep spinning this while he's making more!