NEW RELEASE: DRIVE BY SINGLES

 There was not a great deal of actual "album" content this week so I will being doing a more expansive single review session!

I will begin with another Travis Barker casualty. We have Caspr, because it is convenient now to leave out vowels from your name. Why does modern pop/punk sound like bad emo mumble rap..? Probably because somehow Machine Gun Kelly is leading the revival. This song is actually worse than most I have heard yet.

Hello Keshi, am I actually going to "Get It?" I don't think I do. Another bad soundcloud style rapper destroying what rap could be with subpar quality.

You know I need to have a TALK with some new indie pop artists. I need them to understand something. It is not convenient or retro to layer your voice in a way in which I can hear every mismatched layer. It sounds like you weren't trying and could have done better. Repetitive lyrics with smooth vocals don't necessarily evoke "emotion" in anything. Luna Li, I am talking directly to you. "What You're Thinking" has the potential to be an actually good pop song but falls short. It does not have enough substance to make up for production flaws, and it does not have good enough production to make up for the lack of lyricism in the hook. She will fall into forgettable oblivion.

Okay here is the second conversation I need to have with indie pop artist. Adding reverb doesn't make you indie. It just makes you a wannabe try hard. I am getting sick of every indie artist sounding the same with the same layering issue, the same reverb drowning them, with the less and less substance. "Indie" should just be morphed into regular pop music at this point rather than being called something "alt". I guess you can tell Bittersweet by Lora didn't grab me either.

Amelia Moore started off with a maybe okay beat and went into the talk-sing cadence that drives me up a wall. Didn't take long to completely turn me off from "moves".

Will there be any saving grace? Ali Gatie sounds a bit like a better sung Post Malone actually. Not insulting Post too badly - I have Hollywood's Bleeding on vinyl to really shock everyone. I actually kind of like this track. It has some flaws sure production wise, as does Post Malone vocally, but I like the vulnerability they can have. 

5 Seconds of Summer is back! This is an exciting return considering concerns of breakups due to Luke and Ashton both releasing solo efforts. If you have not listened, I'd recommend trying them out. I wasn't super attracted to Ashton's album, but Luke's solo album is fantastic and one of my top 2021 releases. Nevertheless, "Complete Mess" is honestly a little too well finessed. For being a complete mess, this song is so perfectly sung that I cannot quite grasp the "agony" aspect. I know often their albums are MUCH better than their singles, so I will wait to judge the whole product.

There's a lot of Michelle's in the world I am sure, but this particular MICHELLE, yes all caps, has written POSE. The song has some potential. I think the vocal levels needed turned up just a little. She's completely lost in the music. Which kind of sucks because it isn't a bad song.

This is almost amusing. Two relatively forgotten dance-pop staples of recent years, Cheat Codes and Icona Pop, collaborating. To be clear, Icona Pop's biggest hit is by far one of my most hated 2010s era hits. There is a couple other tracks by them that I did like. This song falls more into the range of the ones I did. It is a good mindless pop song. Not gonna complain.

Hi-De-Ho, what in God's name is Jack White doing with...Q-Tip? Is this real life? Actually yes. It is Jack White. I shouldn't even be surprised by anything. However this did not work. The song is awful. It is almost a "Funstyle" Liz Phair bad of an effort. 

I love it when indie darlings remind me why indie IS alternative. Sir Chloe leaves an impression of the great predecessors of indie like the Whip-Smarts and the Juliana Hatfields. It has however, an interesting grunge influence to it. I weirdly like this track.

Am I really listening to Machine Gun Kelly with Lil Wayne? I better get extra credit points for suffering through this... What the hell IS the lyrics to this song? Can pop-punk revival stop sounding like pathetic meme edgelords trying to sound serious? And then Lil Wayne inserts his HORRIBLE autotuned garbage into this. He doesn't even fit! Just go get Blackbear oh my god at least he knows what the hell he is doing. 

I have not heard Sueco really until now. But I was immediately shocked. I haven't been thrown back to early sorts of Yellowcard mixed with a Green Day with a hint of talk singing. THIS is what the damn pop-punk revival should actually sound like. This gave me such a nostalgia I am just going to vibe to this.

Charli XCX is a very mixed bag. "Baby" is very underwhelming. At her best, she is unique and innovative while always lacking on the lyricism part. At her worst, she sounds like forgettable dated pop. And this is the worst side of her.

ROSIE I haven't heard before. It isn't terrible. But she isn't carrying a lot of emotion in "Best Life", which makes it hard to connect with the track.

Wow, Camilla Cabello is back! With...Ed...Sheeran? It isn't totally unheard of. They did collaborate on the Number 6 Project. I am assuming this song is meant to be about her breakup with Shawn Mendes. The chorus beat does not FIT the melody she is singing. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Why the hell did they choose that? But then Ed Sheeran also was part of "I Don't Care", an actually terrible hit. He sometimes really shouldn't put his name on such messes.