Quick Hits, Vol. 351 (AG Club, Charley Crockett, Electric Callboy, Lenny Kravitz)

AG Club - BRODIE WORLD.  This is one of those bands where I liked them from the ACL poster, so I keep chasing that moment I had when they sounded really good a few years ago, with diminishing returns.  In this instance, what I really want is for this to be BROCKHAMPTON, but it continues to be a lesser, uneven animal that looks like a BROCKHAMPTON but is just not.  The album opener has an interesting beat that sucks me in, but the lyrics never go anywhere.  But at least it is mostly rap and none of the singing that takes out many of these tunes.  The top track is the second one on the disc, "Barry," with 1.6 million streams and the kind of bouncy beat and chorus that can get a mosh pit excited.

WHATCHUGOANDO?!  I also realized this weekend that this song is used in a Mountain Dew commercial with a Yeti playing kickball.  As I listen to this whole disc again, I think I like it better than I thought when I started the review.  I definitely do not like the singing parts, but the beats on just about the whole album are solid.  Not too generic, but also not so weird that you can't groove to them.  I feel like we walk that line these days in the rap world, with most folks just going for completely boring vaguely trap beats.  This at least keeps you on your toes.  But "The Iron Giant" just yanks the rug out with its jenky non-beat and sing-song vocals for the first third.  You get to that point and start to forget what you had been liking here.  The song switches beats repeatedly and sooner or later gets to a banger sound, but by then I've lost the thread.

Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy.  Until seeing him with a group last year at the Two Step, I didn't realize how polarizing this guy could be.  And I don't understand it at all.  He's got an unimpeachably classic sound, with a drawl that could float boats over the dams clogging every Texas river.  I think it sounds amazing.  And fun.  And different.  When you hear a CC song start up, you know who it is.  You don't have to search through your country music databank to figure out if this is one of the many generic, young players in Nashville.  I appreciate that.  Anyway, this album is like all of the other ones before it - classic country action with clever lyrics.  The title track is the top streamer with 6 million streams.

I don't care if it is a schtick, it sounds freaking great.  "America" has a little funkiness like that "I'm Just a Clown" track from the Man from Waco album.  Anyway, if you like his stuff, this will be right up your alley because it sounds remarkably like everything else he's ever done.

Electric Callboy - TEKKNO.  Very unpleasant album.  I think Drew Magary must have brought them up at some point, but this is a mix of hardcore metal and dance music with lots and lots of screaming.  Their bio claims that their innovative sound mixes German Schlager with deathcore and hard-style influenced industrial metalcore.  I don't even like typing out those words, much less listening to any of it.  Fascinatingly, several of these songs have a ton of streams.  "We Got The Moves" has 111.7 million!

That is definitely the most tuneful of their tunes, but it definitely feels like Lonely Planet doing a bit.  But after that song, it definitely gets more scream-y and angry.  I bet this would be ridiculous in person though.  But as far as keeping this disc to listen to, no thanks!

Lenny Kravitz - Blue Electric Light.  Kind of a bummer, really.  I loved his first three albums.  Still do.  Mama Said is unimpeachable from start to finish.  But this is just mediocre stuff.  Almost has a Prince vibe to it?  I wonder if that was intentional.  "Human" has the most streams at just over 4 million.

His voice still sounds great, I just don't get anything out of that tune.  Just completely milquetoast generic easy rock.  I can see that woman drumming her head off, but it sure sounds like a drum track too.  The album overall doesn't get me anywhere exciting, so I will let it go.