Real Goblin

Reviewing The Week – April 14th

I suppose I missed a few weeks in between. But there weren’t enough tracks that I cared about until recently. 

Indigo De Souza – “You Can Be Mean”

A

Indigo De Souza’s singles ahead of her upcoming album have all been good. I knew a few of her songs before, but never looked too far into her music. I’ve always appreciated that Indigo De Souza approaches her writing and performance with a kind of attitude I can’t explain. But “You Can Be Mean” utilizes that to the fullest. It’s an energetic indie pop/rock song with a tone I hope is consistent with the album.

TOLEDO – “Patch”

A

I really enjoyed this one. I like that the guitar sounds like it came straight out of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”. I like the cadence of the lyrics, especially on the second verse. And I appreciate the synthetic instrumentation that comes in around the final chorus. This is that signature TOLEDO sound that I enjoy so much. This comes off of the “unrated” version of their album from last year, which is out now.

San Cisco – “Horoscope”

B-

San Cisco takes me back. I used to be a big fan. Their earlier indie, almost beach-like energy appealed to me back in the day. Their last album had a couple of catchy songs on it, and “Horoscope” continues that trend for the most part. It’s decently catchy even if it is very plain and simple. San Cisco isn’t in the business of making artistic statements. I think as I’ve grown older, I appreciate music that has something to say more often than the alternative. But the chorus on this makes me turn off my brain for thirty seconds and I like that.

Misterwives – “Out Of Your Mind”

C-

I saw Misterwives live once when I was 16 or so. They put on a fun, short, colorful performance. That’s what worked for me with some of their earlier music. It was fun, short, and colorful. This is not that. It leans more towards rock than pop, but it feels very surface level to me. It sounds like a deep cut by Demi Lovato circa 2014. And not a good one. No shade towards Demi, they seem nice.

The National – 

“Eucalyptus”: C-

“Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” ft. Phoebe Bridgers: B-

With each subsequent single, I get more and more worried about the new National album. I was lukewarm about “Tropic Morning News”. “New Order T-Shirt” was ok. But “Eucalyptus” is like vanilla ice cream without the vanilla. It’s like eating raisins out of one of those little red cardboard boxes. It’s so bland and uninteresting that I am worried for the new album.

“Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)” is one of the better singles, but that isn’t saying much. Even though Phoebe Bridgers lends her voice to this one, it still feels fairly bland. It does sound closer to something from their previous album, which I mostly enjoyed. I’m torn. I want to be excited. I do. But I’m just not.

Grouplove – “Hello”

B-

This is a coming of age, credits roll kind of song. It’s a little busy, a little noisy, but ultimately I think it works well enough. If you like Grouplove, I think you’ll like this.

Hippo Campus – 

“Yippie Ki Yay”: B+

“Moonshine”: A-

I don’t want to say too much on these, since the EP released today and I will discuss them in more depth in a future review. But I liked these. I’ll say that. And that’s final.

Samia – 

“Maps”: B

“Country”: A-

“Maps” is a pretty faithful cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs classic 2000s era song. It doesn’t exactly break new ground, but it does showcase Samia’s voice in a nice way. “Country” is another cover. This time of a Porches song, a band mentioned by name on her album from earlier this year. It’s short, but it’s well done. I like the soaring chorus near the end. 

Lutalo – “Familiar Face”

A-

It’s good to hear Lutalo experimenting with new sounds. This is more energetic, electronic, and fast paced than we’ve heard Lutalo before, so I’m excited to hear what’s next.