Going Steady: New Singles 5-13-22 – 5-19-22

Me Myself & I – 5 Seconds of Summer – The boy band that never became One Direction but sure got closer than most with a rocker, catchy enough – B-

Will It Ever Feel The Same? – Bazzi – the man who was a hit away from mainstream pop success with his EDM-y ballad that won’t help – C

Welcome To Hell – black midi -spoken word disaster – C-

Last Last – Burna Boy – from the Nigerian star a pop afrobeats beauty that comes directly from African pop – B+

Out of My Head feat. Aaron Gillespie – Charlotte Sands – bedroom pop gets out on the road with overmixed goth electronic dross – D+

WIG (with Moneybagg Yo) – DaBaby – DaBaby never recovered from his homophobic remarks which saw him go from the top to the mediocre, not helped by product like this – C

No Gold Teeth – Danger Mouse, Black Thought – Danger Mouse has a terrific backing track, Black Thoughts isn’t at his best – C+

Black Beatles – D-Block Europe – UK trap and not the Rae Sremmurd track, but the hook gets you there anyway – C+

Roman Candles – Death Cab for Cutie – the indie guys who were pretty goods in the 00s but not after that, this is typical meh indie pop rock – C

Got It For Cheap – Fly Anakin – it’s been a lousy week but even so, Fly is a top rapper and this is a fine piece of rap and roll em – B+

The Tide is High – Julian Marley, Antaeus – a superb version of the Paragons classic with an accent on the high hat on the deliciously and catchy take on a classic, Julian is Bob’s son – B+

Make Things Work – Kabaka Pyramid – speaking of which, co-produced by Damian Marley with a terrific toasting from Kabaka – B+

Stefania (Kalush Orchestra) – KALUSH – The unofficial Ukrainian anthem for the war with Russia just won the European Song Contest as it adds woodwind instruments to rap with a veneer of traditionalism, all in Ukrainian. It is an ode to the singers mother – B+

SUPERMODEL – Måneskin – an important release from the Italian glam rocking Eurovision song contest winners, it will be a smash in Italy but I can’t read it for the rest of the world – B

Too Much (feat. Lucky Daye) – Mark Ronson – who said Mark didn’t have a funky skillset, don’t forget he was behind “Uptown Funk”, I said he could do it but I wish he wouldn’t, the same as we feel about this dreadful slice of 70s style soul – C

You Proof – Morgan Wallen – the stars are aligned for a major new album by Morgan with “You Proof” the third great single and counting which features the best arrangement he has ever presented, he is no fluke and if anybody is any better than Morgan in country today it is Eric Church – A

coming of age – mxmtoon – A queer kid of mixed Chinese, German, and Scottish ancestry, it says here, performing sweet as molasses bedroom pop – B

The Foundations of Decay – My Chemical Romance – a dog with fleas from Gerard Way’s return to sender on a song that could well be dismissed simply on the strength of the song title like the Cure at their most moribund. It is as if MCR forget we love them for their glam and not their goth – D+

Mr. Percocet – Noah Cyrus – a gorgeous song from Noah that works as an electronic neo-folkieness, with a killer line, “will you still love me when the drugs wear off”, clearly a masterful pop about loving a drug addict – SINGLE OF THE WEEK A-

I Ain’t Worried – OneRepublic – I can’t remember when I’ve liked a band least and even if I didn’t, the whistling would be bad enough – MUST TO AVOID – E-

Violence – POLIÇA – brooding electronica from the cinematic sound duo – B-

Cooped Up (with Roddy Ricch) – Post Malone – Posty on the pandemic! It took awhile but the hook is a goodie and Roddy is on his game. It was, in fact, the SNL performance that turned me round – B+

what would you do? – Tate McRae – her first goodie since “rubberband” finds the eighteen year old girl getting a sign off by Charlie Puth -B

She Didn’t Know – Live At The Roxy May 3, 1991 – The Tragically Hip – Gord Downie’s passing in 2017 brought an end to the beloved sons of Canada and a top class rock band, this will remind you just how great they were – A-

Tired of Taking It Out On You – Wilco – pretty good old school alt-country Wilco – B

Don’t Rate Me (feat. Quavo) – YoungBoy Never Broke Again – perfectly good neo-hip hop plus rap of course – B