Quick Hits, Vol. 372 (Massive Pile of Singles!)

A ton of singles have been festering in my New Stuff playlist for way too long, and so it is time to run through them and clear the top of my playlist out.  If my brain worked a different way, I could just delete the Nas single at the top of the list, which keeps bothering me, instead of feeling like I must destroy it all.  But that ain't me, babe.

• Nas - Define My Name.  Now, I made it sound like I hate this song, and I do not, but it is pretty mediocre.  Pretty good classic beat, but the lyrics get me no where. "when click sounds in they mouths was language for humans."  Nah, man.
• Soccer Mommy - Lost. Freaking beautiful.  I've had a soft spot for her for a while, and this one is right where I want her to be.
• Hozier - Nobody's Soldier.  Funky and driving in a really great way.  When this popped out back in 2024 around the same time as "Too Sweet" I figured a new disc was on the way.  No such luck.
• A$AP Rocky - Tailor Swif.  I had a discussion with someone the other day about how disappointing Rocky's raps have become to me.  I think the strength of the beats on that first mixtape obscured how lame his actual raps are.  Pretty nice beat, uninspired rhymes.
• BigXthaPlug - Change Me.  I like it.  His deep ass voice rumbling under those little flute notes make a vibe.  Not winning lyrical awards here either, but I still find it pleasing.
• Blvck Svm - mikealstott.  Laid back as hell and I dig it.  This song popped up as I was flying over the Smokey Mountains, and something about the smooth vibe of the beat combined with the beauty of floating over the mountains and forests made this song click.  Also, Mike Alstott was rad back in the day.  He assuredly has CTE, but he was fun to watch!
• LCD Soundsystem - x-ray eyes.  I've talked lots of smack about LCD over the years, but my stance has softened since.  This tune is kind of goofy, but it still gets me grooving.  I wonder if he'll ever release another real album?
• That Mexican OT - 1982.  Another cool beat with some laid back horn sampling going on, and I kind of dig his flow with that weird stuttering sound he does.  Pretty cool sound.
• Paul Simon and Edie Brickell - Bad Dream.  Classic blues riff to go with better sounding vocals than I expected at this stage.  Fine, but feels like something they did to check their mics in between real songs.
• Zach Bryan - High Road.  As usual, his output just seems insane, throwing more tunes out all the time.  But this one has great imagery as usual and has me seeing it all, and then a strong chorus that would be fun to yell along about his "Waiting by the telephone all fuckin' night" for someone who isn't going to call.
• Zach Bryan - This World's a Giant.  I like the addition of the horns, but this song isn't as good.
• SKLOSS - The Pattern Speaks.  This song freaking jams - the video embedded above...  The drummer for this band went to high school with me, and she used to have to sit next to me frequently because of the alphabet.  Had a big ol' crush on her for a while and asked her to some sort of band formal event, where I'm pretty sure I was too nervous to speak to her and made a mess of it all.  Anyway, she can bash the shit out of some drums now.
• Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tom Petty (!?!), and Jelly Roll - Last Dance With Mary Jane.  Absolutely not.  Atrocious shit.  You dare sully my sweet Tom Petty with this trash.
• Shakey Graves - Coupe Deville.  A bonus track added to the ten year anniversary version of this disc.  Definitely sounds like the classic stuff where he's making all of the sounds by himself, kicking the tambourine as he plucks the guitar.  Sounds great.
• Julian Baker and TORRES - Sugar in the Tank.  Baker is a real one, going from the indie excellence of BoyGenius over to this countrified collab.  These two sound awesome together.
• Sunflower Bean - Champagne Taste.  I like the fuzzy riffage and droning background riffage, but the singer's Gwen Stefani impression isn't working as well for me.
• Hudson Westbrook - Sober.  My girls seems to find this dude entrancing, but he's just kind of okay for me.  This song is pretty slick and I don't much care for it.
• Strange thing - two singles from King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are greyed out.  Oh wow, it looks like they pulled their whole catalog from Spotify!  That is sort of wild.  According to the Internet, they did it to protest the fact that the CEO of Spotify invests in a company called Helsing that develops AI-powered military tech.  Huh.
• Quavo and Lil Baby - Legends.  I don't know if I will ever understand why people like either of these dudes.  Generic as can be...
• Little Simz - Free.  Great cooled-out beat, excellent flow, this gal just makes it all seem effortless as she cruises along on a track like this.
• Bob Mould - Neanderthal.  I saw a blurb the other day that Mould might be getting Sugar back together.  That would rule.  Copper Blue was a fantastic disc of pock rock.  This one comes at you hard, but has some tunefulness amid the pummeling.
• Nathaniel Rateliff and Gregory Alan Isakov - Flowers.  Lovely.  I wish GAI could have been there for weekend one of ACL this year - I find his stuff to be so comforting.
• Car Seat Headrest - Gethsemane.  This one is an entire adventure rolled into a 10:52 long tune. It builds on itself for a while, and then at 2:40 its like a harder edged song begins, and that continues to ramp up into the guitar assault at the end.  I dig it.
• Noah Cyrus and Fleet Foxes - Don't Put it All on Me.  Speaking of lovely things, this is so nice.  Not a normal Fleet Foxes song by any means, but kind of a countrified FF tune with Noah's great voice adding harmony.
• Sheck Wes and Travis Scott - ILMB.  Damn Sheck Wes for creating "Mo Bamba."  Now I come back, hoping, and get this dreck.
• Gus Baldwin & the Switch - (She's Gone) Arigato.  These local dudes opened for the Jack White show earlier this year, but they did an awful job of announcing their name, and so the group of guys I was with just thought they were called The Sketch.  After some digging, I finally found this tune which is a good time.  Very correct opener for Jack White.  Odd how some people sound British who are not.
• Caamp - Mistakes.  I thought these dudes were done for after they bailed on ACL in 2024 (and I thought the lead singer headed for rehab or something).  I guess they got it figured out enough to make a new song that sounds like an old Pete Yorn b-side mixed with a Strokes b-side.  That would be a weird collaboration.  Song is fine.
• Grocery Bag - Last Draw.  pretty sure I heard this one on KUTX on my drive home one day, and it rules.  Just pure fuzzy riffage under a gal droning menacing shit like "you'll be sorry!"  Gimme.
• Offset and JID - Bodies.  The Offset portion is lame, but J.I.D. is a stud and the nod to the Drowning Pool song makes me grin.  Forgettable song otherwise.
• Hudson Westbrook - Funny Seeing You Here.  Again with this kid.  I'm sure he's doing the single release thing to keep interest instead of saving songs up for an album.  Not bad, but also not very exciting for me.
• Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton - A Song to Sing.  A soft-rock, quasi-disco track from two country titans, and I just have to ask why?
• Hermanos Gutierrez and Leon Bridges - Elegantly Wasted.  Leon has become the master of finding excellent instrumental bands to contribute his vocals to.  This isn't as arresting as "Texas Sun," but it has a sweet funk to it.
• Culture Jam, Wale, and Pusha T - Damage Control.  Wale has had a few good guest versus, this is not one of them.  Honestly, Pusha doesn't go anywhere either.
• Zach Bryan and Kings of Leon - Bowery.  Pretty fun collaboration.  I'll allow it.
• Disclosure with Anderson.Paak - NO CAP.  Okay, yeah, this is a kind of fun collaboration too.  I've always enjoyed Disclosure's techno thing more than most others out there, so this one gets me bopping a little bit.

Okay, that got me into a better spot with my New Music. Let's get back into some albums, shall we?