The new Dry Cleaning song is delightfully deranged. Meanwhile, Muse have gone full-on metal. Plus more cool tracks from The Garden, Jesse Maxwell and Boy Pablo.
THE BEST:
‘Anna Calls From The Arctic’ – Dry Cleaning
The artwork for Dry Cleaning’s upcoming album makes my skin
crawl. I’ve never listened to this band, and so was half-expecting some scuzzy
noise rock. I definitely wasn’t expecting smooth vaporwave synths and jazzy
clarinet. The spoken word monologue about ‘the dog sledge people’
and ‘sensual Steve’ is pretty much rambling nonsense, and yet I loved every
moment of it. Apparently, vocalist Florence Shaw was inspired by ‘phone
calls with a friend who was living and working in the arctic’. The result is snippets of a conversation that build an absurd but vivid picture. Within the
increasingly busy UK post-punk scene, it feels like these guys have definitely found their own lane.
‘Orange County Punk Rock Legend’ – The Garden
‘Orange County Punk Rock Legend’ sounds like if Death Grips co-produced
a pop punk song. The snotty shout-singing and distorted percussion make for a
pretty ugly combo, and yet somehow the sunny guitar riff keeps the track cheery
and upbeat. I didn’t understand a single word of the lyrics, however the
production does seem cleaner than the toilet bowl production on their previous
album Kiss My Super Bowl Ring. The drums and guitar are so crisp I can practically
taste them.
‘Outspoken’ – Jesse Maxwell
This neo-soul song from Toronto artist Jesse Maxwell is
centred around the deafening silence that follows a breakup, summed up with the
line ‘these walls are silent but they’re outspoken’. It’s got a really
cool synth palette (those wobbly synths are particularly fun) and some bubbly digital percussion. The
singer is dropping a new album LP2 this month.
‘Be Mine’ – Boy Pablo
‘Be Mine’ is the latest single from jangly indie pop band
Boy Pablo. The vocals are a playful mix of English and Spanish (the band are
Norwegian by the way) and there’s a fun surprise guitar solo at the end (oops, surprise
ruined). Overall, I’m loving the summery poolside vibe #PoolboyPablo.
‘Kill or Be Killed’ – Muse
Drones had some heavy numbers on it. But I don’t
recall Muse ever sounding THIS heavy. Those opening guitars sound almost
Gojira-like. And did I seriously just hear Matt Bellamy let out a death growl??
The singing is still utterly bombastic and one of the riffs does remind me a
little too much Drowning Pool’s ‘Bodies’. But otherwise I love how hard-hitting
this track is and how the lyrics don’t seem to quite as on-the-nose with their
sociopolitical message.
THE WORST:
‘Casanova’ – Yo Yo Honey Singh, Lil Pump & DJ Shadow Dubai
This verse is lazy even by Lil Pump standards. I got more
out of Yo Yo Honey Sing’s rapping, and I don’t even speak Hindi.