THE BEST:
‘Grounds’ – Idles
UK rock band Idles have announced a new album, Ultra Mono,
scheduled to be released in September, as well as releasing this new single ‘Grounds’.
The growling guitars and pounding percussion sound almost industrial, while Joe
Talbot’s snarled lyrics are typically provocative: ‘Not a single thing has
ever been mended/ by you standing there and saying you’re offended/ Go ahead,
tell them what I’ve intended/ I’ll say what I mean, do what I love, I’ll
fucking send it’. I also found the ‘can you hear that thunder’ line
pretty spooky, considering there was a thunderstorm going on outside while
listening to the song.
‘REACHUPDONTSTOP’ – Baauer
These new singles from Baauer are some of the hardest EDM
tracks I’ve ever heard. The kick drums sound like cannons and the choppy
sampling sounds like a war chant. The dreamy melodic synths that break up the track help
to add some prettiness (as well as making each drop hit ten times
harder). The track comes off the producer’s new album Planet’s Mad.
‘Human Girl’ – Guerilla Toss
This is Guerilla Toss’s most normal-sounding song to date. While
their recent albums have slowly strayed away from their noise rock roots, Kassie’s
vocals were still pretty loopy on Twisted Crystal. Besides the slightly
unusual time signature, this is a fairly straightforward synthpop track with not
a single loopy vocal inflection. It’s deliciously groovy and I’m digging this
potential new direction for the band.
‘Everyday’ – Logan Richard
Logan Richard is a singer-songwriter from Charlottetown.
According to his Facebook bio, his interests include ‘cats, grapes and tacos’.
This new song ‘Everyday’ is a blues/rock/soul hybrid about being madly in love.
While I’m not usually one for soppy love songs, this track really captures the
happy glow of being in a relationship. I love the upbeat bluesy guitar riff that
opens the track and the way in which the rest of the instrumentation surges in
at 0:35.
‘Immaculate’ – Since99 & BasedNas
This track has been getting some flack, mainly because of
the second dude’s well-spoken verse (some of the comments under the video are
hilarious – somebody said he sounds like he's rapping in Times New Roman). Personally, I think it’s cool that
he’s using his normal voice instead of trying to sound ‘hood’. Besides, he’s
got bars and the beat is fire – what’s not to like?
THE WORST:
‘Trollz’ – Tekashi 6ix9ine & Nicki Minaj
A collaboration between 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj was almost
certain to end up in my worst tracks of the week. The track sees the polarising
pair taking shots at haters (i.e. people like me), but 6ix9ine swiftly veers
off topic, rambling on about his ‘Benz truck’ and his ‘Rolls Royce’, as well as
delivering a chorus of auto-tuned nonsense. Nicki steers the track back on
course with some pretty entertaining diss bars, but by then the damage is
already done.