What Have I Been Listening to?
Lukas Graham are most notable for their insipid hit song “7 Years,” a poster child of the Nordic invasion that defined department store pop in the 2010s. I was curious what a band so firmly tied up in my memories of that time period might sound like today, after ten years of presumed development. Well, they sound exactly like it’s still 2015. It’s sort of remarkable. I’ll admit: I did not finish this album. I think I only made it two and a half songs deep. If you’ve gotten far enough in your emotional development to understand that boys can, in fact, cry, but not far enough to understand actual poetry, then the music of Lukas Graham will be exactly what you need for that long drive home, as it has been for over a decade now. However, I doubt that our beautiful snapbacked boys who have spent their decade feeling deeply to the overwrought pangs of “7 Years” are even aware that Lukas Graham has more than one song. I doubt they are any more aware of the band’s continuing artistry than an ant is aware of rocketry. These fellows aren’t exactly big in the noticing things business. This is the cross artists like Lukas Graham have to bear: all their biggest fans probably think they’re one guy. Good on them for dropping out of that Ed Sheeran tour, though.
Rating: ◻
Dinosaur Jr. are a band I love dearly. J. Mascis is a guitar playing inspiration of mine, and Lou Barlow is a songwriting inspiration. The band is a bit of a one trick pony, but it’s a good trick. Loud, fuzzy guitars, sick riffs and solos, and vocals and song structures cribbed from Neil Young. It works! It has always worked, and always will. However, I will never be 16 again, and so no Dinosaur Jr. album will ever hit for me quite like “You’re Living All Over Me.”
Rating: ☆
”MINI SKIRT WARRIOR” is the debut album by pop singer flowerovlove. It’s a bit of an uneven effort, but when it hits it’s a lot of fun. The first half is excellent: “shady” and “Don’t Even” are particularly great. These are the tracks with the strongest identity: they have fun grooves and great hooks, and lean into flowerovlove’s strengths as a singer and songwriter. Elsewhere, though, things sit more firmly in the Chappell Roan/Taylor Swift zone. That isn’t a bad thing exactly, but aside from those choice cuts (to borrow a Christgauism) the album doesn’t stand out much from the current pop milieu. The parts that I liked have really charmed me, though, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what flowerovlove does next.
Rating: ○
New Ty Segall album, and you can basically just re-read what I wrote about Dinosaur Jr., just swap out “Ty Segall” for “J. Mascis” and “Lou Barlow,” and “Melted” for “You’re Living All Over Me.” This album goes down incredibly smooth. Just some real slick guitar rock, and a nice cohesive whole. “Black Paint” is a stone cold banger.
Rating: ☆
It was a big few weeks for artists I already like releasing new stuff. So here’s Denzel Curry on a second collaborative project with Kenny Beats. Their first project together, “UNLOCKED,” was pretty good. It gave the world “DIET_,” which is one of my favourite rap songs ever, but otherwise didn’t make a huge impression on me. This new album, “ii,” sort of follows suit. It’s a very solid little project, but “GONE FISHING” is far and away the best track and the one I’ll be returning to most, similar to “DIET_.” The only real problem with “ii” is that it’s a little thin. These tracks are quick in and quick out, and don’t leave you with a ton to chew on. They manage to be a ton of fun, though. Kenny Beats has stepped it up, to the point where his beats are kinda sounding like budget Madlib on this thing, and to be clear: “budget Madlib” is absolutely a compliment. And Denzel Curry is solid as always. He has such a smooth flow, and the already mentioned “GONE FISHING” is one of my favourite performances he’s ever recorded.
Rating: ☆
”SHIMONAKA,” the debut solo album by guitarist Yosuke Shimonaka, is a jazz fusion record reminiscent of Masayoshi Takanaka. That should be enough to prompt you to listen to it, if you are somebody with a beating heart. To call Shimonaka just a Takanaka knock off would be reductive though: he’s extremely talented in his own right, and this album has it’s own flavour. It’s shorter and a bit tighter than your typical Takanaka album, most notably. This thing is a lean, mean 30 minutes. It also makes use of little vocal parts a few times. Is it the most original thing ever? No, nothing here will blow your mind. But it’s got excellent guitar work and some very nice, very beachy grooves.
Rating: ☆
Here’s an album I’ve put off reviewing for about a month now. It’s the new Phoebe Bridgers, “Lost Weekend.” I’ve been putting it off because it forces me to admit to one of my flaws as somebody who claims to be able to analyze and evaluate music: there’s a specific kind of singer songwriter music where even if I can intellectually see the merit and appreciate it, I end up just finding it sort of boring. Bridgers and the rest of the Boygeniuses kind of fall into this zone. I think Phoebe Bridgers is an incredible songwriter. “Motion Sickness” is an all time great song, and “Lost Boys” from this album is similarly excellent. Her lyrics are deep and her compositions suit them wonderfully. And she’s an excellent composer of melodies. This album deals with the death of her father and her romance with Bo Burnham, and treats both beautifully. But, man, I just find myself a little bored listening to the album in full. It’s got some great moments, but sad times slow music kinda makes my eyes glaze over. It is possible that I am just genuinely too stupid to properly appreciate one of the current pop era’s greatest songwriters. I could probably get really into this album if I listened to it every day for a few weeks, but, just, I don’t think I’m going to do that, probably.
Rating: ☆
Real nice alt country. Comfort food in its purest form, for me. Excellent lyricism, perfect production, and my goodness those vocal harmonies. Nothing too crazy going on here, just a quaint and lovely album. This guy and MJ Lenderman are the 2020s' answer to Jeff Tweedy and Rhett Miller.
Rating: ☆☆