Going Steady: New Singles Reviewed 2-9-18 – 2-15-18

Fantasía – Alex Sensation, Bad Bunny – Top DJ meets inventor of Latin Trap for a low key reggaeton slice of superstardom – B-

Me Enamoré (feat. El Micha) – Angeles – Cuban boy band go gooey – C+

TalkTalk – A Perfect Circle – These are the arrogant goth hardcore rock brooders superband who throw paying members of their audience out of their gigs for taking selfies. This is the only song of theirs I can even begin to bear because the “talk talk talk like Jesus” chorus is a goodie – C+

Ride For Me (with Young Thug, feat. 24hrs) – A-Trak – Young Thug is in great throat, he sounds like he is tearing his lungs out, kinda Buju Banton like but less so, great sample, 24 Hrs autotunes himself too much – B

Panic Room – Au/Ra – Electronic indie pop from Ibiza that works much better than you’d think, this is what someone like Halsey should be up to, intense melodicism and mood – B+

Sinners – Barns Courtney – Folk rock meets the old Testament – B-

Things Have Changed – Bettye LaVette – One complaint, I wish she threw the man in a wheelbarrow, otherwise another greatest Dylan cover ever by Betty – A-

Burnin’ – Black Stone Cherry – Yeah, no -too stupid sexist to matter – C

Look Alive (feat. Drake) – BlocBoy JB – Drake steals it with an addictive piece of self-reference back revenge shit, JB almost stays with him – B

Make Luv – Brent Faiyaz – Super cool new school r&b, so hip hop like beats and sounds and soul vocals – B-

Nuh Ready Nuh Ready – Calvin Harris, Party Next – rub a dub with EDM beats, not trip hop, a variant on old school reggae – B-

Leave Me Now – Devault – House beats overtake the backing track and ambient vocal – B-

Who Do You Love – Dorothy – Old school blues rock by old school blues rockers and a whale of a track… the album should be excellent – B+

All On Me – George Kwali, Kideko – Good club track that’ll play anywhere men are hitting on women – B

Overdose – grandson – Alt solo artist,  sounds more indie to me – C

Scars – I AM THEY – Abysmal CCM – MUST TO AVOID – D+

Wild Love – James Bay – I keep on saying I like this deep feel folkieish singer songwriter, but I don’t like anything he has recorded, and certainly not this smartly arranged but bad song – C

Summer’s End – John Prine – Co-written with country guy Pat McLaughlin, this is a beautifully sung and arranged song of life lasting onwards to infinite love and return (renewal). Very moving, well sung, well played, if the rest of it is this good we have an early contender for album of the year – SINGLE OF THE WEEK – A

When It Comes to Loving You – Jon Langston – Great voice, no doubt really, and “I love the taste of a cold beer after work on a Friday” is as written, plus the hook is pretty good, but the song ain’t good enough – C+

I Don’t Think About You – Kelly Clarkson – What a voice, I always see her when she’s in time (actually, I missed her once a coupla years ago at Radio City… and lived to regret it), this is a soul ballad, the song could be stronger but the execution couldn’t – B+

I Came Back to Bitch – L7 – With a picture of a dog on the single’s sleeve – ha, have these women learnt nothing? – B+

Almost Like Praying (feat. Artists for Puerto Rico) – Salsa Remix – Lin-Manuel Miranda – Better than the original, which I also loved – B+

FRIENDS – Marshmello, Anne-Marie – Marshmello falls back to earth only to be saved by Anne-Marie – C+

Mi Mala – Remix – Mau y Ricky, Karol G, Becky G – Slight but catchy, the verse more than the chorus, Karol kills it – B-

Good Man – Ne-Yo – I have a friend who considers Ne-Yo the best soul singer since Luther Vandross. Here Ne-Yo protests long and hard, so you gotta wonder – B+

Plug Walk – Rich The Kid – Old school trap, very good – B

Erasure – Superchunk, Waxahatchee, Stephin Merritt – One of the great punk pop bands with heavy duty help, absolutely kill this one. It ain’t “DIgging For Something” but it will do – B+

Volcanic Love – The Aces – All girl indie band, where have we heard that before? But not really rock, electronic pop with guitars and a backbone – B-

Starcrossed Losers – The Fratellis – A terrific song which sounds like an instant classic and manages to mention the starcrossed lovers who lose without being cliched – A-

Above the Bodega (Local Business) – Titus Andronicus – Patrick’s fucking with us, right? After that ten minute dirge the other week, this absolutely brilliant hooklined song with backup singers following him and sha-la-las every time you turn your head and if that wasn’t enough, some shooo-la-la-las for taste – A-

Long As I Live – Toni Braxton – Remember when Toni was the next Whitney Houston? This 80s style r&b will remind you – B

Love Is Poison – YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Too much autotune, but a good r&b meets rap track – B