Real Goblin

Not really blown away by any tracks this week. I’ll start sorting these by best to worst I guess.

HAIM – “Relationships”

A

You know, I was about to write something about this one being forgettable. But then I walked to the corner store to get a tall can of beer and listened to this on the way back. Didn’t even make it halfway to my apartment before I just cracked that thing open. So now I know this is gonna be on those summer playlists of mine. It’s lacking in that effortless quality that was all over Women in Music, but it has some other unspoken quality that I can’t place.

Lil Nas X – “HOTBOX”

A

Let’s go.

Selena Gomez, benny blanco – “Sunset Blvd”

B+

This is cute. Nice melody. I like Selena Gomez. I didn’t know who Benny Blanco was until I started seeing people being weirdly aggressive towards him and calling him ugly. He seems like a nice guy. But if it comes out later that he’s not a nice guy, I deny having ever said that.

Bon Iver, Danielle Haim – “If Only I Could Wait”

B

If you ever wanted to know what it would sound like if the 1975 produced a Bon Iver song, look no further.

Chappell Roan – “The Giver”

B

Gotta feel a little bad for Chappell Roan. I enjoyed her debut album as much as the next guy. It’s got some bangers on it. I’ve been listening to “Pink Pony Club” for what feels like 5-6 years now (because that’s how long ago it released). But despite an album that’s pretty good, she’s been elevated to a level of stardom that nobody could have anticipated. How do you follow that up?

I think “The Giver” is fun. It’s pretty catchy. But I don’t really feel like listening to it much more now that I’ve heard it. Part of that is the eerie feeling that I’ll be hearing this at the grocery store for the next year straight. But also, I just don’t have any strong feelings about it whatsoever. It’s a fun, somewhat satirical, country-pop song. That’s it. But I feel bad that her music (and her persona) will probably never be appropriately critiqued again. At least not for the next 3-4 years.

Lucy Dacus – “Talk”

B

Doesn’t quite suffer from the same melodic issues as the other singles. But it feels a little lyrically bloated. Lucy Dacus has a beautiful voice, and I think it’s wasted on this brand of distorted indie rock. And nobody is more of a sucker for that sort of thing than I am.

Playboi Carti, Kendrick Lamar – “GOOD CREDIT”

C

Kendrick. Hey buddy. Remember how you spent the last year parading around off of a moral victory over Drake? And how everyone loved you for that? Yeah, why did you make the next appearance after your huge Super Bowl performance a collab with known abuser Playboi Carti?

Yeah anyway, I don’t really care about this at all. Never actually liked Playboi Carti and the beat on this is turning my brain to mush.