Going Steady: New Singles 3-11-22 – 3-17-22 Reviewed
Baby – Aitch, Ashanti – third generation English rap pop with a terrific Ashanti sample – B+
Olive Branch – Alanis Morissette – brutal adult pop by a woman who hasn’t recorded anything worth hearing since “Hands Clean” – D+
Fever – Aldous Harding – John Parrish is the anti-Travis Barker, every time you see he produced you know it’s safe ground, singer songwriter Aldous is glomming on Burt Bacharach but subtly – SINGLE OF THE WEEK – A-
If They’re Shooting At You – Belle and Sebastian – still twee indie folk and pop – C
Woke Up – Cheddar Boy, Kodak Black – hip hop between autotune – B
Let Somebody Go – Coldplay, Selena Gomez – Selena sounds sweet and Coldplay sound like Coldplay and what’s with the incessant clack track? – C-
Boycott – Dälek – industrial rock backtracks and mediocre rapping – B-
Hold on to Yourself – Daryl Hall & John Oates – borderline generic H&O sound of Philly – B
Starlight – Dave – in UK rap stakes, Dave and Aitch are near the top the food chain, though Dave’s, er, romantic track is the same sound of heavy trap clack plus self portrait – B-
June – Destroyer – post New Pornographers electronic pop vibe – C+
Goodbye Mr. Blue – Father John Misty – the one time I saw him I thought he was an overblown twit with way too many crappy songs. However, the second song from his upcoming album is an astonishingly adept attempt to meld Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Webb and Lee Hazlewood with “Everybody’s Talkin’” melody added to a heartbreaker about a break up that is finally completed with the death of their cat – A
These Times Have Got Me Drinking / Tripping Up The Stairs – Flogging Molly – just in time for St. Patty’s day, Gaelic punk rowdiness by heroes of the same – B+
My Love – Florence + The Machine – that’s more like it, electronic, adult pop with an ace vocal – B
Put You On (feat. Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA) – Girl Talk – Girl Talk is a top producer if samples is your gig, here he gets the class of 2010 with a fair enough rap track – B
People Are Pissed – Gruff Rhys – Gruff Rhys return with a godawful Boris Johnson dis – MUST TO AVOID – E+
Publicity Stunt – Gucci Mane – the song ain’t bad and the rapping is great, fluid and clearly spit tongue twisting of the first order – A-
Anti-glory – Horsegirl – strong post-punk rocker – A-
Bones – Imagine Dragons – a thumping rock plus beats anthem, and, yes, it’s entertaining – B+
Where Did You Go? (feat. MNEK) – Jax Jones – already a hit, this is the definition of house EDM – B
Never Coming Back – John Doe – he has a new collection of songs that all take place in 1890 though that has nothing to do with the sound on the well played but boring rock Americana – C+
No Prizes – Kae Tempest, Lianne La Havas – Kae is one of the very best rappers and Lianne is excellent on the gorgeous hook – B+
The Dripping Tap – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – from the Aussie garage rockers, a glistening 18 minute jam – B+
Wheelie (feat. 21 Savage) – Latto – The Atlanta rapper is wonderful and she kills both the hook and the verse and when 21 Savage (where is his next album?) joins her we remember why we want more than a feature – B
Nervous – Maren Morris – just awful, as generic as possible AOR – D
Sweetest Pie – Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa – amazingly ordinary disco pop 2022 style. Dua is fine but we expect more from Megan – C+
Higher – Michael Bublé, Nicholas Jacobson-Larson – what the hell??? Even by Buble’s standards this is an overwrought electronic snooze, I don’t get it… wait Ryan Tedder got a co-sign? Now I get it – C-
Romance With A Memory – Oliver Sim – The XX bassist shows up as a crooner with electronic production from Jamie XX – B
Chinese Satellite – Live From Sound City – Phoebe Bridgers – much better than the original version, you can actually hear how well written it is in this stripped down version – B
Give ‘Em Hell (feat. Merk, MoneyM!ll$, Blasé, & Mickey Matta) – Plato III – hard rock meets rap -so nu-metal I guess – B
LAUGH IT OFF – Pussy Riot,VÉRITÉ, LATASHÁ – Pussy Riot remind me of Yoko Ono, they began life as up against the wall art pop and have become a fully fledged electronic funk band – B
In & Out – Sonic Youth – I thought this would be from their upcoming instrumental collab and since the words are so muffled wrongly concluded it was nonsense sounds, it isn’t but it is good – B
This Is A Life – Son Lux, David Byrne, Mitski – weirdly constructed made digital art pop – C+
The Mainline Song – Spiritualized – ladies and gentlemen, Jason jumps on a runaway train – B
Brexit at Tiffany’s – Tess Parks – the pun of the week and a bluesy keyboard plus spoken word – B+
Wild Child – The Black Keys – business as usual, white boy blues – B-
iPad – The Chainsmokers – I have sky high hopes for the Chainsmokers as the second single though not quite as good as the first single from the soon come set, “Ipad” is a sweet as molasses EDM pop track – B+
Where I’ll Stand – The Dream Syndicate – it is fair to say that Steve Wynn’s second act with The Dream Syndicate is as great as his first on this psychedelic , electric significance – B+
The Funeral – YUNGBLUD – T-Rex-y bubblegum hard rock – B+
I Hate YoungBoy – YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Sounds like Weezy!! – B+
