"I Don't Belong in This Club" - Why Don't We & Macklemore - SINGLE REVIEW

For every 5 Seconds of Summer or One Direction, there are at least a dozen boy bands who don't quite make the cut. Why Don't We would definitely be one of those bands. The fact that they had to latch on to Macklemore, a rap artist who had thoroughly aged out of popularity by 2019, just accentuates it. But is the song any good?

Well, it's not bad. Musically, it has the boys trying on their 5 Seconds of Summer impressions to middling results and Macklemore's signature delivery mixed with some trap-influenced ad-libs. Lyrically, it's about how neither the boys in the band or Macklemore feel particularly comfortable in the club they've entered, with Why Don't We taking a more generally jaded approach while Macklemore tells a story of going from not being recognized to being recognized at the wrong time. Both approaches fit the artists rather well. There's nothing really spectacular about the song, but as far as these types of songs go, it gets the job done. It's fun and catchy, with a few good lines here and there. I don't know if these guys will ever blow up the way One Direction, 5SOS, or even Macklemore did, but they are still quite young, so maybe their time is yet to come. Until then, if they put forth solid efforts like this, I'll be interested.

7/10

Polymer by Plaid - ALBUM REVIEW (tiny schedule re-tooling!)

Hi everyone! I'm back. So a little update to my returning schedule: as I gathered up possible review targets for my blog, I realized that I wanted to review a lot more older music than I thought. So we're going to split the difference between new releases and throwbacks. Instead of single reviews, Wednesday will review releases from before 2000. Thursday will be for any releases from 2000-2018, and today and Monday will be for releases from 2020 or 2019. Got it? Let's go!

This one was actually a request, made to me by one of my Discord friends. If this request had not been made, I doubt I would have even heard, much less reviewed, this album. But I'm glad I did, because it gives me a chance to flex my creative muscles by stepping outside my comfort zone to something I don't typically familiarize myself with: IDM, or "Intelligent Dance Music". Well, I had better like this, or else that means I'm stupid, right?

Well, from what I can tell, not even the artists who make IDM appreciate the label. Consider it the antithesis to the "mumble rap" label, in that IDM makes the genre and its artists seem snobbish and exclusionary, whereas mumble rap is used by people who are snobbish and exclusionary. Not knowing much about IDM, I'd say off the basis of this album that this is more so introverted dance music than intelligent. Which, we can have a discussion about the possible stigma that label would carry, but Jesus, let's get to the fucking album already.

Like I said, IDM is a challenge for me to cover, but so is any dance music, really. I often leave this style feeling cold, like I'm missing something that everyone seems to be getting. And indeed, I started to feel that way going into this album. Everything was alright, I suppose, but I wouldn't go back to any of it. I started to wonder if I had the capacity to give this a fair review. Then I got to "The Pale Moth", and something clicked. It clicked with me in a way that felt illuminating, like maybe I could enjoy this album after all. And indeed, the back half of the album was a lot more successful in retaining my attention. There just seemed to be bolder choices with better payoff.

I'm not sure how much I can scrutinize every individual track, as much of it I can just attribute to the instrumental "working" for me or not, whatever that means. Talking about music is hard! I like doing it, but it's hard, particularly when I have no lyrical story to base my opinions off of. Not that lyrics make or break a song for me, but they help to add context, even if it's just Daft Punk going "around the world" over and over. But I'm happy I listened to this album. It was an experience I wouldn't have sought out on my own, but maybe this is a wake-up call for me to broaden my horizons.

7/10

Best Tracks: "The Pale Moth", "Nurula", "Dust", "Crown Shy", "Praze"

A little break

Hey guys; work and general mental health have been stressful for me lately so I'm gonna take a small break from the blog. I'll come back with a review next Friday. Until then, feel free to go through my back catalog of posts and see how wrong Past!Wumbo's opinions were. Adios!

Throwback Thursday: Late Nights (2015) by Jeremih - ALBUM REVIEW

So welcome to Throwback Thursday, where my Edwin McCain reviews don't feel so out of place! Today, we're going to throw back all the way to 2015, where Jeremih was still relevant. Yes, he had that one minor song with Wale late 2019. My point still stands.

I've always been leery of Jeremih's music. He comes off as a C-list R&B singer at best. Not as personality-driven as Jason Derulo or Chris Brown, though that may not be a bad thing. That doesn't make the majority of his music any less unlistenable, though. Just because he can't hang with the big boys doesn't mean he can't try to make music like them, right?! That's how we get such "gems" as the irredeemably stupid "Birthday Sex" and the dull "Down on Me".

But I was interested in looking at this album, because towards the end of Jeremih's relevance, I admit to finding more of a reason for him to stick around. Shame it happened too late and the American public's attention span is that of a gerbil, but I figured he should he should get his dues through a retrospective of this album.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. I've always loved the soulful and sweet "oui", which remains his best single to this day. But that was one single, and I had my reservations going into this album that it would not be representative of the rest of the project. To my delight, for the most part, it was! But not in the way you'd think.

Jeremih's Late Nights sees him trying on different styles of R&B and branching out with his subject matter, actually sounding like he gives a damn what he's singing about. This album also features a ton of guest appearances, something not foreshadowed by the song "oui", but mostly welcome all the same. I could do without J. Cole's verse on "Planez", as I could do without J. Cole in general. Migos and Jeremih team up "Giv No Fuks" which is a baffling, overlong mess. And Future... well, is Future. But most of the guest appearances work. I like Jhené Aiko dueting with Jeremih on "Worthy", Twista's superfast flow is always welcome on any song, even a slow sex jam, and Big Sean's personality does a lot to save "Royalty" from being a total waste.

But this album doesn't ride or die on its guest stars. Jeremih also gets a few solid cuts in on his own, with the aforementioned "oui" being fantastic, and "Paradise" being a great, subdued closer to this album. Overall, it was a pleasant experience, something I wouldn't have expected from Jeremih at the start of last decade. But here we are, looking back, and I guess Jeremih was okay. Still waiting for his return to real relevance, though.

7/10

Best Tracks: "oui", "Remember Me", "Woosah" (ft. Juicy J & Twista), "Worthy" (ft. Jhené Aiko), "Paradise"

"Boyfriend" - Ariana Grande and Social House - SINGLE REVIEW (and schedule update!)

Trying something a little different now. I think that in addition to album reviews, it's also important to review standalone singles when they come out, as they can be just as important to an artist's career. Also, in the interest of staying current and to be able to take breaks now and again, I will be reviewing current singles on Wednesdays and current albums on Fridays and Sundays, "current" meaning no older than a 2019 release. As for Thursdays, I'll do a throwback to a previous year whether that be an album or a single review. And my Top 10 Tuesdays will remain as they are, with Saturday and Monday reserved for a break, or a random blog post if I feel like it. With that said, Ariana Grande's "Boyfriend"! Don't you wish it could be you?

Well, that's not what this song's about. It's actually about Ariana and the two guys from Social House... or I guess just one of them, portrayed by both of them, having a weird relationship where they're possessive of each other without actually being in an official relationship. All that healthy stuff.

In my thank u, next review, I mused on how Ariana could follow up this album. Unfortunately, this seems like the worst way to do it, taking unfinished, half-baked production elements from thank u, next and using them in frankly a pretty unpleasantly themed song. I think that if you relate to this song, you may need to seek couples therapy. Or non-couples therapy, I guess.

Not helping things are the voids of charisma, Social House themselves. Social House strike me as the Great Value version of The Chainsmokers, just as tedious, but with far less name recognition. Which is a shame, because they contributed quite a few moments of good production to thank u, next and Sweetener alike. But their production instincts don't translate well into being frontmen at all, with one being a low-rent Khalid and the other being a low-rent... I don't know, Justin Bieber? He's so indistinct. And the production kind of suffers here too. It feels like a retread of "thank u, next" the song, only so much more slapdash and rushed, like thank u, next the album.

So is there anything good in this song? Well, Ariana's able to express a lot of personality and flair as she usually does. If there's a saving grace, it's her cool performance that helps to sell the song at all. But as far as post-thank u, next releases go, this is not the way it should have gone. Thank u, next.

5/10

Top Ten Tuesday - Billboard Hot 100 Review: February 15, 2020

Hey guys! Sorry about no post yesterday, I was caught up in a lot of shit. To make it up to you, I will be introducing this new weekly series which I call TOP TEN TUESDAY, where I take a look at the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and give random scattered thoughts, predictions, and hopes. Think of it as a beta version of Billboard BREAKDOWN, if you follow Mark Grondin's work.

Anyway! This week has been pretty un-noteworthy in the Top 10, with most of the songs staying stagnant in their positions. The only noteworthy thing I would mention is "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I surging up to #5. This song blew up overseas long before it crossed over into America, and it has taken a while to grow on me, but I can kind of see its appeal now? It's relentlessly catchy, at least. We'll see how it does in the coming weeks.

Predictions:

I think that "Dance Monkey" will continue to surge, probably comfortably at #3 next week. I also think "Don't Start Now" will make some ground with the monstrous streaming it has, I could see it at least hitting #6 if not breaking the Top 5. And if the world is truly just, "Blinding Lights" should surge into the Top 10 next week, with "10,000 Hours" being a likely candidate to lose out.

Misguided Roses by Edwin McCain - ALBUM REVIEW

Sometimes your muse takes you to weird places. Like 1997, for instance. It brings me today to Edwin McCain, who had a minor single hit in '98 with "I'll Be", a passable soft rock ballad. I was just listening to some late 90s stuff on Spotify and this came up. I thought hey, why not? And let me tell you straight up... this is the okayest album I've reviewed thus far.

Seriously. It's okay. An album embodiment of no strong feelings one way or the other. It's fine. Passable, even. But is there anything to say about it?

Well, Edwin McCain does try to foray into many different genres, which is commendable. There's a bluesy vibe coming off of "How Strange It Seems", some nice college rock guitar tones to lead off "Cleveland Park", and even an interpolation of nature sounds on "The Rhythm of Life", which winds up being one of the best songs on the album. Unfortunately, this genre-bending does less to accentuate any sort of personality Edwin McCain has and moreso just gets him lost in his own music. I feel like I know less about this guy than when I started. He certainly has interesting moves on this album, but they don't do much to tell me about what he's going for as an artist.

So it winds up being okay. Not many of the songs do much to evoke an emotion in my one way or the other. The only songs I really dug were the nature sounds song and "Through the Floor", a hidden track which actually turned out to be a nice surprise for the album's ending. Beyond that, it ranks slightly above "meh", with points to Edwin McCain's vocals and ambition in genres. It's okay. Give it a listen if you're interested.

6/10

Best Tracks: "The Rhythm of Life", "Through the Floor"

Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial by Roddy Ricch - ALBUM REVIEW

Roddy Ricch is quite obviously the next big star in rap music, as he has a song that has been sitting at #1 for the last four weeks in "The Box", while this album has become a streaming monster. It's worth asking: Is the hype real?

Well, I can definitely see why this guy is famous. He has an interesting voice and persona in his music, and knows how to craft a hook. It's no secret that "The Box" is a fantastic, mesmerizing song, and Roddy Ricch's off-kilter delivery is what really makes it shine. Well, that and the "eee-err." Love me some eee-err.

But does gthe rest of the album hold up to "The Box"? I'd argue that parts of it even surpass it. The closing track, "War Baby", is a fantastic portrayal of Ricch's life before he got famous. The album is full of these introspective moments, with "Gods Eyes" providing another perspective on what his fame means to him from where he came from. The songs don't always land, and I feel like some of it could have been cut, but the real gems on this album keep it afloat, and definitely keep me interested as to where Roddy Ricch is going to go with his career. Good stuff.

7/10

Best Tracks: "The Box", "Gods Eyes", "Peta", "Tip Toe", "War Baby"

KOD by J. Cole - ALBUM REVIEW

I'm gonna be upfront about this one: this is my second 4/10. The reason I want to be upfront is because it's a 4/10 for entirely different reasons than Encore was. Encore, for its numerous faults, had intrigue in its spectacular badness. This was just a tedious listen from start to finish.

J. Cole is in that dead zone of rap where he's not fun enough to be Migos, but he's not smart enough to be Kendrick Lamar. So he kinds of shoots between them to consistently mediocre results. It gets even more tedious when he brings these clear insecurities into his music, which you'd think wouldn't be the case, except he brings out his insecurities in such a self-serving, self-aggrandizing way. So to really get down to the meat of why this album sucks, we gotta talk about that ending track.

No, not "Window Pain", which is the official outro of this album and is one of the more tolerable songs on here. I'm talking about "1985", which serves as an "intro" to his upcoming project The Fall Off. It's like a Marvel post-credits scene set to music, but don't tell that to J. Cole, who is so unbelievably above it all that he can't fathom being tied in to such commercialism. Watch as he derides young new trap artists! Well, really, he's "teaching them a lesson". Yes, wise old sage J. Cole, who is so above trap artists that he uses trap beats on more than one occasion. I mean, mask off right there. This is what I mean by splitting the difference. If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. Kendrick never felt he had to talk down to the youth of America. I'm not sure why J. Cole does, but this ending/"intro" is easily the most infuriating song on this numb, tired album.

That's another thing: J. Cole just sounds tired. If he's going to sell himself as old and wise in comparison to the younger artists, then he's at least got "old" nailed down. This album is unbelievably boring to listen to. If you're going to make an album, make it worth caring about. There's maybe two songs on here worth a damn because they don't sound like J. Cole is completely phoning it in. But to have him drone on for an entire album is too much to ask an audience to tolerate. So while this gets the same rating as an album like Encore, let it be known that I respect Encore way more for going balls-out in its absurd stupidity than this droning, pointless mess. Point Eminem. J. Cole better wake up or he's going to go on hiatus and then find out when he comes back that nobody really misses him.

4/10

Best Tracks: "BRACKETS", "Window Pain (Outro)"

Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande - ALBUM REVIEW

Yes, it's Ariana again. I think it's important to really contextualize how I felt about thank u, next through an album that's basically the opposite: perfectly polished, but entirely manufactured in its subject matter. Of course, that doesn't make it a bad album by any means. On the contrary, I think it's quite a bit better than thank u. next, in that it is more polished and simply contains better songs. While thank u, next was a big step forward in Ariana's personality as a pop star, Dangerous Woman is a treat all the same, providing us with some of the best pop music of the year.

The production on this album is dynamite. It is very much of its time, particularly with the island-inspired beat on "Be Alright". But Max Martin and Ariana are magic together, with fiery tracks like "Into You" and "Bad Decisions", and slinkier sex jams like the title track. Alas, very few things are perfect, and I'd argue if there was anything to bring this album down, it would be its guest rappers. Lil Wayne and Future sound awful on their guest spots, and it's not like Ariana really does anything to act like she cares about those songs. Nicki Minaj comes in on "Side to Side" and completely grinds the song to a halt with one of the stupidest guest verses of her career. That's where the manufactured side of this album falls apart; it was made to be a hit, and that means getting some of the biggest rappers to guest on your tracks, regardless of the tracks' quality.

But those are minor issues, and listening to the rest of the songs really erases those bad moments. This is a monumental album with some of Ariana's best songs in her career. She really deserved a #1 hit from this album, and i'm kind of shocked it took her until "thank u, next" to get one. Regardless, many people view this as her best work, and for good reason. It's simply pop excellence.

8/10

Best Tracks: "Dangerous Woman", "Into You", "Greedy", "Bad Decisions"