#(so we both like rock/indie stuff but never the same artists or songs. damn)

[daz4i]

it's always kinda funny when you *almost* share a music taste with someone. we like the same bands but all your favorite songs by them are the ones i can't stand. same genres but every artist you like in them is juuuust grating enough for me to be unable to stand them. on paper we're perfectly compatible. in practice if you put us in a car together one of us won't make it out alive

[louistomlinsoncouk]

Q&A: Louis Tomlinson On 'Kill My Mind,' Taylor Swift, Oasis And More

Louis Tomlinson released his invigorating new single, the indie-rock leaning "Kill My Mind," this past week. The song has become an instant hit, earning raves from his massive fan base and critics.

When I spoke to him by phone this past Friday morning as he was leaving rehearsal for an upcoming show in Madrid, Spain, he said, "With this song I feel like I'm finally comfortable musically."

As a fan who grew up on bands like Oasis and the criminally underrated British band James, both of whom were featured on Tomlinson's recent playlist of "Kill My Mind," influences, Tomlinson is very excited to explore his rock side.

I spoke with Tomlinson about what led to the new direction musically, the love he still has for One Direction fans, why he admires Taylor Swift's social media skills and Liam Gallagher's rock star attitude and more.

Steve Baltin: How gratifying has the response to "Kill My Mind" been?

Louis Tomlinson: I think for anyone who works creatively it's always important to take risks and get out of your comfort zone a little bit. But, for me, with this song I feel like I'm finally really comfortable musically. I think I played around with a few different sounds on my previous singles. And I think I really found my home now. Before I was kind of making music that I think I assumed was the music I was supposed to make as opposed to just following my heart and doing what I love. I feel really comfortable and really confident in this song.

Baltin: It's comfortable for you, but for the fans it is still a little new. So that's what I meant about the response being gratifying.

Tomlinson: Yeah, you're right. It's taking a risk I suppose with the fan base. But I think also where I'm lucky and what my fans have reacted to is they see how comfortable I am and how natural this is for ne. And I think they feed into that. The reaction has been absolutely incredible, it has been amazing. I feel great about the whole process.

Baltin: Do you feel like you are more comfortable in general as you get older and that is extending to music?

Tomlinson: Yeah, and I think as you grow up you're more confident and use your experience and trust yourself really. I think in this process it was important for me to trust myself cause when I first played the song for the record labels they were probably a little bit shocked, when I say record labels I mean my American label and UK label, but very excited. I think it's very important to push the boundaries and it makes me feel a lot better.

Baltin: Do you feel like this is the direction you want to grow musically?

Tomlinson: It's definitely taught me a lot and the reaction being so great, like the playlist I uploaded, this is a lot of my inspiration and a lot of my influences. I think this is probably the biggest statement off the album.I wrote this song with the deliberate intention of feeling a little bit shocking and exciting.

Baltin: Is "Kill My Mind" indicative or does it set the tone for the rest of the album?

Tomlinson: Definitely, I did a long of songwriting over the last two to three years and I've worked with a lot of different people.  I wrote three or four songs with Jamie Hartman, who's obviously on "Kill My Mind." And that was the first of that bunch and it made the songwriting after that a lot easier. One thing I did just want to mention is on the sonics of the song, other songs I released were really emotionally heavy. It was a great song for me and I needed to get it off my chest, but that's also kind of what made me excited also about the sound of "Kill My Mind" and the album kind of following on from that. It feels exciting, fun and nostalgic as opposed to being too emotionally heavy cause I didn't want to be defined as an artist who writes sad songs. That's now what I want to be.

Baltin: But every great artist has that diversity, from Elton John to the Stones, they have that range of sad songs and rock tracks. Who are those artists that inspire you for their evolution and range?

Tomlinson: It's a good question because sometimes in music, I'm not gonna mention any names, you get those bands that follow the radio trends. You lose a bit of identity and who they are as artists. If I think about my favorite band ever, Oasis, and I think about Liam Gallagher, I think it's almost as impressive he's retained such a strong and well-known sound, but still makes it different enough and exciting enough. People have been listening to Liam Gallagher for however many years and still they're interested.

Baltin: I have interviewed Liam multiple times and part of what makes him so special as an artist is he just doesn't give a damn.

Tomlinson: No he don't (laughs). It's refreshing.

Baltin: Going back to the playlist, James for example is a band I love. It's interesting because it often takes time when making a record to gain perspective on what a song or record is about. Did you feel all these influences right away or did it take a minute to hear them?

Tomlinson: I think that playlist, when I put it together, it was kind of a combination of general inspiration to me across my life and also specific to that song. But where I'm from in England, the North of England, that band sound was very prominent anywhere. And it's something that I've always loved and is a little bit different to your average One Direction fan's music choice. I've made some other playlists as well. It's really amazing for me for fans of mine who haven't heard someone like a Sam Fender, unbelievable, and just to get that moment of me sharing what I love listening to music and them giving their feedback is really nice.

Baltin: What would be the coolest thing you could hear someone say about these songs you turned them on to?

Tomlinson: For me, I'm big on lyrics and I suppose that's why I mentioned Sam Fender, I think he is a fantastic lyricist. And if there's a song or a lyric or something that I resonate with and then I get feedback from the fans that they also like that, it makes us feel even more connected and even more on the same page. And social media in general, obviously that is a massive conversation and there are of course pros and cons and everyone can be on social media less. But the amazing thing for me is it gives me a chance to have a real, genuine, direct relationship with my fans. I know that I wouldn't feel as close to my fans without social media. What is great when Taylor Swift, and she is f**king amazing with her fans, does these listening parties and brings fans to the house, the involvement of the fans is never ending. Nobody knows better than these people. So I'm always looking for clever and different ways to involve them and feel like they're included in the whole creative.

Baltin: Talk about how bringing this song to the stage excites you and also invigorates other older songs as well.

Tomlinson: Yeah, and that I have trouble with, putting a set list together because there are certain songs that fans gravitate to. I feel like, especially with my earlier couple of songs, like the Steve Aoki song, I love the song and it was a great song for me at the time, but musically it feels so different to where I'm at with "Kill My Mind" that we actually did completely strip that and start again and made a bit of an indie-pop version of it, my version of it. So it fits more in line with the rest of the stuff.

Baltin: What songs are you excited to bring to the stage and see how people respond to them?

Tomlinson: Well "Kill My Mind" obviously, I'm very excited to do that live. It's a song that naturally leans to a good live show. So that's an obvious one. But I think there are a couple of, on the album in general, songs that are written with fans in mind. So a little bit more sentimental songs and those are always special moments where, like you say, I can make eye contact with people in the first few rows and I can watch their brains thinking about the lyrics and how it relates to them.

[dailytomlinson]

Louis Tomlinson released his invigorating new single, the indie-rock leaning "Kill My Mind," this past week. The song has become an instant hit, earning raves from his massive fan base and critics.

When I spoke to him by phone this past Friday morning as he was leaving rehearsal for an upcoming show in Madrid, Spain, he said, "With this song I feel like I'm finally comfortable musically."

As a fan who grew up on bands like Oasis and the criminally underrated British band James, both of whom were featured on Tomlinson's recent playlist of "Kill My Mind," influences, Tomlinson is very excited to explore his rock side.

I spoke with Tomlinson about what led to the new direction musically, the love he still has for One Direction fans, why he admires Taylor Swift's social media skills and Liam Gallagher's rock star attitude and more.

Steve Baltin: How gratifying has the response to "Kill My Mind" been?

Louis Tomlinson: I think for anyone who works creatively it's always important to take risks and get out of your comfort zone a little bit. But, for me, with this song I feel like I'm finally really comfortable musically. I think I played around with a few different sounds on my previous singles. And I think I really found my home now. Before I was kind of making music that I think I assumed was the music I was supposed to make as opposed to just following my heart and doing what I love. I feel really comfortable and really confident in this song.

Baltin: It's comfortable for you, but for the fans it is still a little new. So that's what I meant about the response being gratifying.

Tomlinson: Yeah, you're right. It's taking a risk I suppose with the fan base. But I think also where I'm lucky and what my fans have reacted to is they see how comfortable I am and how natural this is for ne. And I think they feed into that. The reaction has been absolutely incredible, it has been amazing. I feel great about the whole process.

Baltin: Do you feel like you are more comfortable in general as you get older and that is extending to music?

Tomlinson: Yeah, and I think as you grow up you're more confident and use your experience and trust yourself really. I think in this process it was important for me to trust myself cause when I first played the song for the record labels they were probably a little bit shocked, when I say record labels I mean my American label and UK label, but very excited. I think it's very important to push the boundaries and it makes me feel a lot better.

Baltin: Do you feel like this is the direction you want to grow musically?

Tomlinson: It's definitely taught me a lot and the reaction being so great, like the playlist I uploaded, this is a lot of my inspiration and a lot of my influences. I think this is probably the biggest statement off the album.I wrote this song with the deliberate intention of feeling a little bit shocking and exciting.

Baltin: Is "Kill My Mind" indicative or does it set the tone for the rest of the album?

Tomlinson: Definitely, I did a long of songwriting over the last two to three years and I've worked with a lot of different people.  I wrote three or four songs with Jamie Hartman, who's obviously on "Kill My Mind." And that was the first of that bunch and it made the songwriting after that a lot easier. One thing I did just want to mention is on the sonics of the song, other songs I released were really emotionally heavy. It was a great song for me and I needed to get it off my chest, but that's also kind of what made me excited also about the sound of "Kill My Mind" and the album kind of following on from that. It feels exciting, fun and nostalgic as opposed to being too emotionally heavy cause I didn't want to be defined as an artist who writes sad songs. That's now what I want to be.

Baltin: But every great artist has that diversity, from Elton John to the Stones, they have that range of sad songs and rock tracks. Who are those artists that inspire you for their evolution and range?

Tomlinson: It's a good question because sometimes in music, I'm not gonna mention any names, you get those bands that follow the radio trends. You lose a bit of identity and who they are as artists. If I think about my favorite band ever, Oasis, and I think about Liam Gallagher, I think it's almost as impressive he's retained such a strong and well-known sound, but still makes it different enough and exciting enough. People have been listening to Liam Gallagher for however many years and still they're interested.

Baltin: I have interviewed Liam multiple times and part of what makes him so special as an artist is he just doesn't give a damn.

Tomlinson: No he don't (laughs). It's refreshing.

Baltin: Going back to the playlist, James for example is a band I love. It's interesting because it often takes time when making a record to gain perspective on what a song or record is about. Did you feel all these influences right away or did it take a minute to hear them?

Tomlinson: I think that playlist, when I put it together, it was kind of a combination of general inspiration to me across my life and also specific to that song. But where I'm from in England, the North of England, that band sound was very prominent anywhere. And it's something that I've always loved and is a little bit different to your average One Direction fan's music choice. I've made some other playlists as well. It's really amazing for me for fans of mine who haven't heard someone like a Sam Fender, unbelievable, and just to get that moment of me sharing what I love listening to music and them giving their feedback is really nice.

Baltin: What would be the coolest thing you could hear someone say about these songs you turned them on to?

Tomlinson: For me, I'm big on lyrics and I suppose that's why I mentioned Sam Fender, I think he is a fantastic lyricist. And if there's a song or a lyric or something that I resonate with and then I get feedback from the fans that they also like that, it makes us feel even more connected and even more on the same page. And social media in general, obviously that is a massive conversation and there are of course pros and cons and everyone can be on social media less. But the amazing thing for me is it gives me a chance to have a real, genuine, direct relationship with my fans. I know that I wouldn't feel as close to my fans without social media. What is great when Taylor Swift, and she is f**king amazing with her fans, does these listening parties and brings fans to the house, the involvement of the fans is never ending. Nobody knows better than these people. So I'm always looking for clever and different ways to involve them and feel like they're included in the whole creative.

Baltin: Talk about how bringing this song to the stage excites you and also invigorates other older songs as well.

Tomlinson: Yeah, and that I have trouble with, putting a set list together because there are certain songs that fans gravitate to. I feel like, especially with my earlier couple of songs, like the Steve Aoki song, I love the song and it was a great song for me at the time, but musically it feels so different to where I'm at with "Kill My Mind" that we actually did completely strip that and start again and made a bit of an indie-pop version of it, my version of it. So it fits more in line with the rest of the stuff.

Baltin: What songs are you excited to bring to the stage and see how people respond to them?

Tomlinson: Well "Kill My Mind" obviously, I'm very excited to do that live. It's a song that naturally leans to a good live show. So that's an obvious one. But I think there are a couple of, on the album in general, songs that are written with fans in mind. So a little bit more sentimental songs and those are always special moments where, like you say, I can make eye contact with people in the first few rows and I can watch their brains thinking about the lyrics and how it relates to them.

[hlupdate]

Louis Tomlinson released his invigorating new single, the indie-rock leaning “Kill My Mind,” this past week. The song has become an instant hit, earning raves from his massive fan base and critics.

When I spoke to him by phone this past Friday morning as he was leaving rehearsal for an upcoming show in Madrid, Spain, he said, “With this song I feel like I’m finally comfortable musically.”

As a fan who grew up on bands like Oasis and the criminally underrated British band James, both of whom were featured on Tomlinson’s recent playlist of “Kill My Mind,” influences, Tomlinson is very excited to explore his rock side.

I spoke with Tomlinson about what led to the new direction musically, the love he still has for One Direction fans, why he admires Taylor Swift’s social media skills and Liam Gallagher’s rock star attitude and more.

Steve Baltin: How gratifying has the response to “Kill My Mind” been?

Louis Tomlinson: I think for anyone who works creatively it’s always important to take risks and get out of your comfort zone a little bit. But, for me, with this song I feel like I’m finally really comfortable musically. I think I played around with a few different sounds on my previous singles. And I think I really found my home now. Before I was kind of making music that I think I assumed was the music I was supposed to make as opposed to just following my heart and doing what I love. I feel really comfortable and really confident in this song.

Baltin: It’s comfortable for you, but for the fans it is still a little new. So that’s what I meant about the response being gratifying.

Tomlinson: Yeah, you’re right. It’s taking a risk I suppose with the fan base. But I think also where I’m lucky and what my fans have reacted to is they see how comfortable I am and how natural this is for ne. And I think they feed into that. The reaction has been absolutely incredible, it has been amazing. I feel great about the whole process.

Baltin: Do you feel like you are more comfortable in general as you get older and that is extending to music?

Tomlinson: Yeah, and I think as you grow up you’re more confident and use your experience and trust yourself really. I think in this process it was important for me to trust myself cause when I first played the song for the record labels they were probably a little bit shocked, when I say record labels I mean my American label and UK label, but very excited. I think it’s very important to push the boundaries and it makes me feel a lot better.

Baltin: Do you feel like this is the direction you want to grow musically?

Tomlinson: It’s definitely taught me a lot and the reaction being so great, like the playlist I uploaded, this is a lot of my inspiration and a lot of my influences. I think this is probably the biggest statement off the album.I wrote this song with the deliberate intention of feeling a little bit shocking and exciting.

Baltin: Is “Kill My Mind” indicative or does it set the tone for the rest of the album?

Tomlinson: Definitely, I did a long of songwriting over the last two to three years and I’ve worked with a lot of different people. I wrote three or four songs with Jamie Hartman, who’s obviously on “Kill My Mind.” And that was the first of that bunch and it made the songwriting after that a lot easier. One thing I did just want to mention is on the sonics of the song, other songs I released were really emotionally heavy. It was a great song for me and I needed to get it off my chest, but that’s also kind of what made me excited also about the sound of “Kill My Mind” and the album kind of following on from that. It feels exciting, fun and nostalgic as opposed to being too emotionally heavy cause I didn’t want to be defined as an artist who writes sad songs. That’s now what I want to be.

Baltin: But every great artist has that diversity, from Elton John to the Stones, they have that range of sad songs and rock tracks. Who are those artists that inspire you for their evolution and range?

Tomlinson: It’s a good question because sometimes in music, I’m not gonna mention any names, you get those bands that follow the radio trends. You lose a bit of identity and who they are as artists. If I think about my favorite band ever, Oasis, and I think about Liam Gallagher, I think it’s almost as impressive he’s retained such a strong and well-known sound, but still makes it different enough and exciting enough. People have been listening to Liam Gallagher for however many years and still they’re interested.

Baltin: I have interviewed Liam multiple times and part of what makes him so special as an artist is he just doesn’t give a damn.

Tomlinson: No he don’t (laughs). It’s refreshing.

Baltin: Going back to the playlist, James for example is a band I love. It’s interesting because it often takes time when making a record to gain perspective on what a song or record is about. Did you feel all these influences right away or did it take a minute to hear them?

Tomlinson: I think that playlist, when I put it together, it was kind of a combination of general inspiration to me across my life and also specific to that song. But where I’m from in England, the North of England, that band sound was very prominent anywhere. And it’s something that I’ve always loved and is a little bit different to your average One Direction fan’s music choice. I’ve made some other playlists as well. It’s really amazing for me for fans of mine who haven’t heard someone like a Sam Fender, unbelievable, and just to get that moment of me sharing what I love listening to music and them giving their feedback is really nice.

Baltin: What would be the coolest thing you could hear someone say about these songs you turned them on to?

Tomlinson: For me, I’m big on lyrics and I suppose that’s why I mentioned Sam Fender, I think he is a fantastic lyricist. And if there’s a song or a lyric or something that I resonate with and then I get feedback from the fans that they also like that, it makes us feel even more connected and even more on the same page. And social media in general, obviously that is a massive conversation and there are of course pros and cons and everyone can be on social media less. But the amazing thing for me is it gives me a chance to have a real, genuine, direct relationship with my fans. I know that I wouldn’t feel as close to my fans without social media. What is great when Taylor Swift, and she is f**king amazing with her fans, does these listening parties and brings fans to the house, the involvement of the fans is never ending. Nobody knows better than these people. So I’m always looking for clever and different ways to involve them and feel like they’re included in the whole creative.

Baltin: Talk about how bringing this song to the stage excites you and also invigorates other older songs as well.

Tomlinson: Yeah, and that I have trouble with, putting a set list together because there are certain songs that fans gravitate to. I feel like, especially with my earlier couple of songs, like the Steve Aoki song, I love the song and it was a great song for me at the time, but musically it feels so different to where I’m at with “Kill My Mind” that we actually did completely strip that and start again and made a bit of an indie-pop version of it, my version of it. So it fits more in line with the rest of the stuff.

Baltin: What songs are you excited to bring to the stage and see how people respond to them?

Tomlinson: Well “Kill My Mind” obviously, I’m very excited to do that live. It’s a song that naturally leans to a good live show. So that’s an obvious one. But I think there are a couple of, on the album in general, songs that are written with fans in mind. So a little bit more sentimental songs and those are always special moments where, like you say, I can make eye contact with people in the first few rows and I can watch their brains thinking about the lyrics and how it relates to them.

[shemakesmusic-uk]

This segment features artists who have submitted their tracks/videos to She Makes Music. If you would like to be featured here then please send an e-mail to shemakesmusic@hotmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

With What Eyes

With What Eyes are duo Phoebe and Callista, an indie-pop act formed at Oxford University by two English girls who have been friends since childhood. Harmonising down the school corridors as soprano and alto, playing for the orchestra as clarinetist and violinist, and trumping their peers in Battle of the Bands, they had a very collaborative musical upbringing which they were determined to continue after they arrived at our academic focused University. They started out on the Oxford and London open mic scene with a simple folky sound infused with classical and choral influences from their school days. Today, piano and harmony continue to be the foundation of their music, yet their style has developed substantially over the last year. With What Eyes’ EP Coral Moon debuts these poppier inclinations. Written, recorded and produced by just the two of them, they are always endeavouring to stretch ther sound and add instrumental and electronic depth to their music. ‘Dragonfly’, Coral Moon’s lead single, was picked up by BBC Introducing and aired by the BBC with an artists profile. “Our focus is on creating sensitive, thoughtful lyrical pop with eclectic production choices, flirting with multiple genres whilst remaining distinctly 'With What Eyes’,” the duo say. “We are entirely self-sufficient, writing, recording and producing everything ourselves. The song ‘Dragonfly’ is about dancing by yourself, and being at one with nature - something we’ve been doing a lot of since the UK’s lockdown.” Listen below.

With What Eyes · Dragonfly

V!V

On October 2 emerging Chicago based recording artist Viv Badynee aka V!V kindly graced our eardrums with the release of her new single ‘Sun x Moon.’ Speaking about ‘Sun x Moon,’ a song Viv wrote in collaboration with her producer CBVB (who happens to be her dad), she explains, “It’s essentially about two people that just can’t figure out how to connect (social media be damned!). Or maybe it’s just one person that can’t seem to figure it out. The first lyric I came up with while I was in the shower became the chorus. I was feeling excited for an upcoming date that never happened due to, let’s say ‘a miscommunication’. I started singing a little rhyme comparing us to the sun and moon and how hard he was to reach. I thought to myself, ‘damn, it’s like I need to wait for an eclipse to make this happen!’ Thus a song was born.” The track is a deft mix of Alt-R&B leaning pop with blissed out bedroom beats contrasted by darker distorted elements that’d make Tyler, the Creator proud. Listen below.

V!V · Sun x Moon

Sister Echo

Sister Echo grew up in Essex, and went on to live in London for ten years. She played open mic nights every week and did as much music stuff as she could. “Eventually I had to get a boring adult job and music took a major backseat,” she says. “I just recently moved back to my family home in Essex during this crazy pandemic and have re found my passion and desire to write and record! So, I’m making an e.p in my bedroom and I feel like a teenager again... it’s great haha. I love grunge and soul and trip- hop. I’m obsessed with singers and anyone who puts their balls into a song. I’m especially obsessed with powerful women and their voices.” Sister Echo’s latest single is ‘Tokyo Konveni’. She explains: “The song stems from the idea of control in a relationship. Not in a negative way, more just an exploration of control, and the way society assumes men should be one way and women another. It’s a playful look at one part of the relationship being in total control. I wanted the words to paint a picture which is why I talk about watching me dance and move. It’s just a vibe you know!” Listen below.

Eunice Keitan

Eunice Keitan's soulful voice makes a big impression on listeners. Both her international upbringing and her eclectic music background show in this Canadian singer-songwriter's work which mixes R&B/Acoustic Soul and World Folk influences. While traveling and moving often with her family in simple circumstances throughout her childhood, Eunice noticed the everyday people and their often harsh realities, struggles which impacted her perception of social issues at play in the lives of people around the world. That impact surfaces in the themes of many of her songs, where she explores mental health, social inequality and social change. The songwriter's latest offering, ‘Standing With You’ is an uplifting anthem of hope and solidarity that makes a bold and moving statement for a better future of true justice and equality. Eunice expains: "Five days after the death of George Floyd, during the emotional protests and social unrest that followed, I began writing my new single, ‘Standing With You.’ During this period, I read a pamphlet that was circulated immediately after the lynching of Emmett Till. It felt eerily like it was written yesterday and got me thinking. I began asking a lot of questions about what really needs to happen so that we can stop repeating this same cycle of hate and injustice over and over. The seeds of what would become ‘Standing With You’ were sown as I considered these issues. The message of this song is one of empathy and solidarity. It is a promise to do better and the hope that if we can move forward together as one, we can see real changes."

Eunice Keitan · Standing With You

LORE CITY

Lore City is an American art rock duo formed in 2011 and currently based in Portland, Oregon. Band members include Laura Mariposa Williams (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Eric Angelo Bessel (percussion, keyboard, guitar). They met in 2003 as peers in the College of Visual & Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Reconnecting years later, Laura and Eric formed Lore City in 2011 and married shortly after that. Alchemical Task is the third studio album from the Art Rock duo. It’s been six years since their last release, Kill Your Dreams, and subsequent move to Portland, Oregon. The band’s sound combines elements of Psych Rock, Post-Rock, and Dream Pop. Listen to the album below.

[onestowatch]

The Happiest Accident: a Conversation With Motel 7 [Q&A]

Photo: Paris Brosnan

Anton Khabbaz and Dylan Jagger Lee’s collaborative project, Motel 7, is nothing short of a happy accident. Developed from an allegiance to authenticity and a genuine love of creating music, the two writers and producers have given themselves time and space to evolve their ever-changing sound. Their most recent single, “Things I Hate,” arrives as a young adult’s exposé on the chaotic moments we are so heavily consumed by, regardless of their regretful outcomes. We had the chance to sit down with Dylan and Anton of Motel 7 to discuss the duo’s formation, their latest single, and striving to create timeless music without thinking too much.

Ones To Watch: OK, let’s start from the beginning. Dylan, why don’t you tell us who Motel 7 is and how the duo came to be?

Dylan: Ok, well Motel 7… The way we always describe it is, “the biggest happy accident of all time.” So, essentially we both were working on music, separate projects, both in the EDM space, like making dance music, so we went to school and met each other at this place called Icon Collective and we connected over a different style of music than everyone else was doing. So, we were like, “let’s hang out, let’s make some music.” One day, we went to my house and sat in the living room, had no idea we could sing and just said, “yo, let’s turn some autotune on,” see what it sounds like… see if we can sing, see if we can even do this. Then we wrote this one song, we put it up on Soundcloud and we forgot about it. So two months, three months later, we were like, “what the fuck? The song has 100,000 plays, what happened? This is so weird.” So, I said we have to call it something and Anton said, “let’s just call it Motel 6.” Or maybe I said Motel 6 and he was like, “No, it’s already taken. There’s already a Motel 6… what about seven? Motel 7?” And so we were just like, “OK, it’s called Motel 7.” 

And then we [decided] we should take the song off of Soundcloud, let’s put it on Spotify since it’s working, obviously. You know, something’s happening. Then we came back, and it had 100,000 plays there. Then we just started putting out more music, started taking it more seriously. It just became a creative outlet for us, because we were both doing different music and no one knew who we were. It was just fun to do whatever we wanted with no pressure. And then, all of a sudden, it started actually working and then labels were hitting us up, management were hitting us up. We never expected Motel 7 to even be a thing and here we are. Motel 7 is just a creative outlet, a happy accident, that turned into this.

So it’s been two years since you first put out that track on Soundcloud?

Anton: I think it was 2018 actually, but we didn’t start taking it seriously, or kind of seriously, until two years ago.

Dylan: I mean, realistically, we didn’t have a team behind us until, like…

Anton: Like months ago. 

Dylan: It was really just a… let’s make music for fun, forget about it, put it out. Motel 7 wasn’t going to come and catch us one day… I mean, we’re just so happy to do it now, and it's really exciting because this thing that felt so organic and natural is now something we get to pursue. 

Anton: We always felt like it had potential to do things and we were kind of, like, scared of it. Like, shoot, we’re kind of just doing this for fun and not telling people we’re singing on these tracks, so if it does go somewhere, then we’re going to have to go play shows and like, now we’re kind of in that situation. We have a manager and it’s just kind of crazy to be making music and then taking Motel 7 very seriously as our main thing right now.

Your new single, “Things I Hate,” follows your singles, “Messing with Fire” and “Are We There Yet,” so tell us about the progression of your sound. What was the movement, in terms of production, from past singles to this one?

Anton: Me and Dylan just send stuff back and forth via email. Through the pandemic, it was hard to be in the same room. That song [“Things I Hate”] kind of came about with Luke in a studio session… and Dylan had the idea. Dylan, you had the original demo on your laptop...

Dylan: Yeah. I mean, our sound, the reason why you would assume there’s progression would be because we would probably never make a song that sounds the same. Motel 7 has always been no boundaries. One day we’ll come out with a rap song, the next day we’ll come out with a rock song, the next day it’s this and that. There’s no, “this is what we are.” It’s just… “This is a Motel 7 record.” We always thought about it like that, not pop, indie, rock, rap. 

Anton: I know for a fact we go into every single session being inspired by what we’re listening to in the past week or two, not like, “Oh, we’re going to have to stick to this genre because this is what’s working.” We’re open to new ideas and creatively inspired to challenge ourselves.

When you’re making music, what is the one thing you come back to as the most important? A motto or mantra that you stick to when you’re creating?

Dylan:  Our first project ever is called, A Reminder Not To Think Too Much. So we wrote all those songs super carelessly. None of those songs, if you listen to them one by one, really make sense. But when you put them all together with a title like that, it just puts it together. Like, wow. Those two years were a time period where we sat there, wrote music, did not care what it sounded like, if it was good, if it was bad. We just put it out. They all ended up working, people loved them, everyone connected with them. We just wanted to put a stamp on it so we called it, A Reminder Not To Think Too Much, because whenever we write music it’s just like, let’s write the song today or it’s not a song. It has to just come naturally. So, I assume that is the motto, A Reminder Not To Think Too Much. It’s what we always look back to.

Anton: Yeah, also, our lyrics are so honest and maybe, sometimes, being super honest could confuse us as being too cheesy or too on the nose… and going back to not thinking too much. That always plays again in our heads. Trust your gut and move on with it. Not like, spending three hours on one verse line or something. We’ve always been so good at embracing the imperfections of our writing and our production, because that kind of gives it its character.

If you could assume the music and the career of any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Anton: So many… one artist? Wow...

Dylan: Probably Jack Antonoff. He’s just so creative… like how do you even, I don't know. You just watch him and then you watch him talk, and I just want to write music with that mindset. It’s just crazy, so probably him. He’s so versatile, he’s writing the Lorde record, the Lana Del Ray record, and then he’s writing Pharrell… I don’t even know. He’s doing everything. Like how do you write a Bleachers record and then you write… it’s just so insane. He’s just a genius.

Anton: Producers like Pharrell, like, starting from the good ol’ days of Justin Timberlake. I feel like those types of records, you hear like right now and sound way better than anything else on the radio, Spotify, Top 10, Top 40, whatever. Timeless music like that is so special, and if someone, like a producer now or from years ago, was able to pull that off, that’s one of the greatest things ever. You rarely hear a song that’s timeless these days. I think Pharrell has been one of those guys that has had that under his belt from the get-go. 

Dylan: And probably Paul McCartney, because he’s just a legend.

Anton: There’s so many legends, you know. Like, let’s go down the list!

“Things I Hate” has this edgy, electronic, pop sound. Tell me the story of the song, what does it have to say?

Anton:  It was an ode to going out and those nights were you party and make bad decisions and regret it the next day… or see your friends do stupid shit and I’m pretty sure everyone has been there, right? Like, you’re on a night out in town and your buddies doing drugs or drinking way too much and passing out on the floor. And in your head, you’re like, “Fuck, what am I getting myself into? What am I doing?” I guess you get anxiety sometimes in situations like that or get in your head. It’s LA and nightlife and partying and the idea of going out as the young adult. 

Dylan: Yeah, just like falling back into people and places and things that I hate. Like that line…

Anton: Yeah, you just keep on going back to it.

Dylan: You’ll hang out with the people you don’t really like, always go back to the places you don’t really like. Even if you don’t like them, you’re still going to end up going. It’s the way our brains are programmed nowadays. I hate the club, but yeah, every once in a while I’ll go, I see people I don’t like but I’ll still say hi to them. I mean, you’re programmed to be a yes man.

Anton: It’s the same thing when you’re drunk and then you’re hungover the next day and you say, “I’m never drinking again.” And then the next day, you do it all over.

What would be the ideal spot to listen to “Things I Hate?”

Anton: It kind of feels like a nighttime song, the song you would blast in the Uber on the way to the club. I’m not sure if I see it as a sunset drive on the coast kind of song, but, I could also see it as a song you play in bed, just on your headphones casually, too.

Dylan: Or listen to it on the way home from a party, while you’re like, “fuck…” When you’re in those feels, like, “Damn, I shouldn’t have been there tonight.” Then, turn it on. When you want some reassurance of your thought process after a party, turn it on.

What would be three words you would use to describe Motel 7?

Anton: I just want people to feel like that rawness, like how we felt making the music. I want people to feel that... when we play it live. That’s probably the first thing. Second, I want the brand to feel authentic and unique.

Dylan: Raw, authentic…

Anton: That’s second, and then third… hmm. I always want to feel challenged with what we’re making, not staying in one place. I always want to keep things moving and step out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to be better and to grow and learn… and also to make mistakes.

Dylan: I would also say Motel 7, we want it to be very unique, raw, and authentic. Those three words probably put Motel 7 in its best category. When we’re working on music, we try to keep it as raw as possible. We don’t spend so much time on the tiny, tiny details, but at the same time, we want it to be how we made it in that moment, and that’s it. It’s just, how it is in that moment, is just how I assume everything should sound. I don’t spend too much time on the finer details, Anton’s definitely the guy who loves the little, tiny details but like from my side of things, I love to just…

Anton: You love to just get the idea down, vibe with it, and then I carry it through the details of like song stuff and other little things that no one will ever notice.

Is there anything else you would like to say, as Motel 7, either pertaining to music or something you just want to get out into the world?

Anton: I just feel like we’re always going to be creating. Like Dylan said, Motel 7 is a creative outlet.

Dylan: Pretty much, Motel 7 is an endless and endless hole. We’ll just keep falling until the time comes. I just feel like when we’re creating music, as Anton said, it’s like the next song is always better, the next song is always better. It just feels like we’re forever growing and I feel like Motel 7 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so people should just keep an eye out. There you go. Ones to watch, baby!

[itsjesperfahey]

modern soc au

inej: 

loves to dance !!! esp ballet but she can dance to whatever tbfh, she’s that good 

likes to wear caps, esp backwards. really loves bomber jackets too. 

has a couple, small tattoos dedicated to her saints 

is that one kid who loves to do parkour (both ironically and unironically) for instance is really good at it but sometimes just yells PARKOUR and steps over a rock

usually found eating lunch with her pals on the roof of the school 

is amazing at hide and seek like holy fuck ????? hid for 2 hours once and wasn’t found, came back the next day and was like “y'all losers SUCK" 

loves to study other people’s cultures, as well as history and is great as p.e (never has gotten a bad grade in the flexibility tests) 

likes to read poem books 

has a black cat as a pet named "saint" 

pronounced meme as "mehmeh” the first time she read it 

only has snapchat and instagram. is that kid who ALWAYS posts the sunset every day, esp from weird/high places and the comments are always “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET UP THERE" 

cried the most during fox and the hound 

always braiding nina’s hair. Knows how to do all the super advanced onces as well

"I don’t know, CAN YOU?" 

 the best one at pushing people on the swings 

AMAZING AT JUST DANCE WITH JESPER 

"sorry I ran out of fucks to give try again later maybe?" 

gives the nicest presents. always knows what a person wants for christmas/their birthday 

the one who’s really into photography and is always taking aesthetic™ pics of Nina for her social media accounts 

Prefers tea over coffee

wylan:

bullied for not being able to read (at least up until high school), so is super shy 

loves drawing. the artistic™ one who takes anatomy to be able to draw people better 

MASTER FLUTE MUSICIAN. On the school band. Jams hard af when he plays it 

is in gem math and AP chem with kuwei. 

loves sweet. addicted to blue jolly ranchers. his tongue is always blue 

constantly pushing up his thick rimmed glasses (even if they ain’t on, which causes him to poke his eye)

looooves all the superhero shows on the CW 

V neck sweaters. always

always has his trusty satchel

only has tumblr. has like 10k followers because of his artwork. 

”‘illuminati’ ? is that a band?“ 

cat person even though he’s allergic to cat fur. absolutely adores inej’s cat. settles for owning a horned lizard named "shrek" 

secretly a huge fan of memes 

really gay for tom holland and ed sheeran (calls him "ginger Jesus”) 

gamer with jesper. they always play overwatch together, wylans better tho. a genji and Ana main 

cried the most during big hero six 

wylan, with blank eyes: “I like my coffee how I like my men” // jesper: *spits out his drink* 

matthias: 

sports fan obv. On the schools hockey team bc his fav is hockey. is extremely competitive when he plays it. Is constantly checking but never gets penalties (aka slamming the other players against the walls)

played basketball against jesper and surprisingly lost. jesper won’t let it go 

dog person. owns a pet pomsky (Pomeranian-husky) with nina who’s name is “bub" 

“long hair don’t care”draws inspiration from Harry styles 

really philosophical. takes all the philosophy/ethics classes available 

kind of sounds like Thor (thick and deep accent) 

a good™

"you’re all horrible trash”

“do we really have to be doing this now? I have to finish my homework" 

loves baking. bakes everything for the love of his life 

grey sweatshirts and adidas shoes 

wears contacts Because he hates how glasses look on him. only wears them when he’s home 

oblivious to all the women in love with him

"CAN YOU EVEN LIFT BRO? BECAUSE I SURE AS FRICK CAN” (doesn’t curse) 

real 👍🏻🤘🏻👌🏻life🤰🏻👼🏻🌱student📚✂️✏️athelete🏃🏼🥇🏆🥅🏒

has Facebook and Twitter only

cried the most during bambi and dumbo 

little spoon™ 

has a couple tattoos with very deep meanings

jesper: 

dancer with inej. dances like those ppl who look like robots ??? the ones who look like they freeze parts of their body while the others move. AMAZING at it 

loves jazz but also dubstep/edm and rap/r&b. Beyoncé is MOM/QUEEN. 

sometimes djs parties 

again, huge gamer with wylan. he’s a lucio and junkrat main for overwatch. loves like every video game ever 

loves all the marvel movies, in love with black panther (was team cap) 

dresses like a hipster but also sometimes a fuck boy (tank tops and shorts with a backwards cap style) 

favorite subject is business and debate. great negotiator 

cried the most during the lion king 

A+ cosplayer (especially his lucio cosplay) 

big supporter of human rights (LGBTA+, feminist, black lives matter, poc representation). Will LITERALLY get into fights over anyone who thinks otherwise. Fist fights, always supported by Kaz and Matthias. Got suspended for 3 days for breaking a kids nose who thought LGBTA+ people should **** ** ****) 

that one kid who has 50 fidget spinners and can do cool tricks with them. also manages to sell all of them 

skateboard pro™ 

always sends the blinking face meme, even if it’s out of context 

all the social medias. 

one tattoo only of a gun with a 'bang’ flag coming out of it 

nina: 

 PROFESSIONAL👏🏻 MAKE 👏🏻 UP 👏🏻 ARTISTS 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 HAS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS ON HER INSTAGRAM AND THE SAME FOR HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL 

Speaking of YouTube, she always does cute videos. Baking/cooking tutorial videos featuring Matthias, 'i do my boyfriends makeup’, 'my boyfriend does my makeup’, 'my boyfriend buys my makeup’, does make up tutorials obviously, challenges with her best friend inej like the 'whisper challenge’. everyone loves her and says her and Matthias are their otp 

loves fashion design, takes that class. 

loves horror movies/creepy things but also Disney 

great at roller skating 

always wins the best dressed awards ad school 

also huge fan of ed sheeran. loves little mix more than 5h. 

cried the most during 'up' 

Can speak like 4 languages (English, french, Latin and spanish) 

loves traveling and learning about new cultures too 

dancer!inej’s biggest fan and hockey!matthias’ biggest fan 

always breaks snapchat streaks 

likes to (friendly) debate with jesper, especially over stupid things 

amazing with kids. babysits all the time. calls “bub” (the dog) her and matthias’ baby 

big spoon™ 

notes are so fucking pretty. buys the most expensive stationary and notebooks 

also huge supporter of human rights. runs the feminist club. (Jesper is the Vice President) stresses loving yourself and your body, and makes sure to design comfortable yet GORGEOUS clothes for “"plus sized people”“ 

wins 'dynamic duo’ award with inej 

always eating lollipops 

has a few very small tatos of cute things like roses and crowns. has one quote written in cursive on her rib

kaz: 

prefers black coffee as well 

loves crime shows, whether they’re real or fake. for instance loves both 'Dateline’ and 'Criminal Minds’ also loves 'House’

 favorite class is psychology, learning how a person thinks and acts and feels

has the dregs tattoo on his arm * edge lord 9000™ * such a drama queen and diva like damn 

*deep sigh* "I think I’d rather go take a nap” *gets up and leaves* 

also loves computer science. knows how to hack shit like a pro 

always rough housing with jesper. broke a table once 

does walk with a cane. likes to slap matthias’ ass with it 

“bow down you fucking peasants" 

only types in lower case with 0 emojis and no punctuation marks. CONSTANTLY leaves people on read 

only has Twitter and snapchat. His posts on snapchat never have captions, yet somehow has a 200 day streak with Jesper and a 250 day streak with inej 

loves watching horror movies with nina 

 *in a fight* "oh I’ll sHOW YOU SOME DIRTY HANDS” *swings* 

gets second place for best dressed award 

always sending memes with no context in their group chat, as well as vines 

indie and alternative rock fan 

“does it look like I care because I’m sorry if it does I didn’t mean to give you that impression" 

head over heels for inej Ghafa like wow 

likes to read a lot of mystery books and non fiction books 

cried the most during finding dory 

can solve a Rubik’s cube under a minute and won’t let you forget it 

The one asshole who picks either Kirby or metaknight in super smash brothers brawl

 hates seeing the notification bubble so he always has all chats muted and notifications turned off for apps 

kiss ass to all the teachers to get them A’s

Kuwei: 

SCIENCE NERD. ALWAYS singing the bill nye theme song. Loves ASAPScience on YouTube. Master at chemistry and biology 

"hey did u know bill nye is, like, my dad" 

nina treats him like a baby 

loves everything to do with Star Wars while wylan loves star trek more. Fighting ensues. 

has a pet Siamese cat name sparky 

Used to have a huge crush on jesper and everyone knew it except jesper. 

knows the intro to the bee movie ("according to all known laws of aviation-”)

 jesper in the group chat: “gonna go shower be right back” // kuwei: “without me ;)?” // wylan: “KUWEI SWEAR TO FUCK” // kaz: “watch your fucking language wylan" 

obsessed with Pokémon go even if it died out (chose team instinct) 

"fight me on this" 

has Twitter, snapchat and instagram 

Always drinking ginger ale 

master at bop it 

the one kid who always forgets to pay you back for stuff 

is also into the CW super hero shows, so him and wylan are constantly talking about it 

loves cartoons and anime 

speaks fluent fuckboy 

God awful at comebacks 

"let’s take a selfie guys !!!” // “kuwei no-” // *snapshot sound* 

talks !!! Like !! This !!!! for,,, some reason ???????? 

huge nerd for other things too like lord of the rings and Harry Potter and game of thrones 

cried the most during inside out

 "do you think planes are scared of heights?“ // "for fucks same kuwei it’s 4am”

[othernecessarythings]

RAWRING 20s ASKS

I made some asks! Have fun!

1. Are you more emo, scene or punk?

um i think emo but only in music taste, i dress quite casual and stuff like that

2. Favourite band?

right now paramore!!

3. Any New Year's resolutions?

ye several, for example seeing at least 10 artists live, some different drugs and have over 800 songs on my playlist,, i like to keep my resolutions as actually possible goals, so that’s that

4. Favourite music video?

ooh maybe hard times? call me basic but i love it.. or like the short video of forest by tøp, where he walks on a street, ye that ones special too

5. Favourite song?

nooo don’t make me choose i love so many?? but like turn it off, graveyard whistling, ouch, avalanche, sudden desire, let’s go (khalid), ribs and like teen idle be kinda hitting rn ngl

6. Panic! At The Disco or Fall Out Boy?

um old panic, i don’t listen to fall out boy as much as i used to

7. Favourite album?

fight me but vessel and the black parade hasn’t got any bad song, and they will always have a very special place in my heart,, but right now? like nothing but thieves’ self titled, after laughter, amo and melodrama

8. Do you own a pair of fingerless gloves or skeleton gloves (or the combination)?

no but i wish i did

9. Do you own any band merch? If so, from what bands?

some, from tøp, paramore and bmth, but i only use my purple paramore hoodie

10. Got a jacket with pins?

i had one but then i took of my pins so not anymore i guess

11. Have you got dyed hair? What colour?

ye i dyed it black a few months ago, so it’s black/brown-ish rn

12. Any hair dying or haircut plans for 2020?

absolutely i’m going to cut it really soon, and i’ll probably dye it quite soon as well

13. Crush on any band member?

uh hayley williams i’m free on wednesdays please h it me up on a wednesday what are you doing next wednesday i’m free on wednesday hayley please

14. Killjoy name?

oo i haven’t thought of one yet

15. Are you into The Used?

no

16. Do you want any tattoos? Of what?

i’ve got one small, but i’d like a few more, like a matching with my sister and stuff but i don’t know any other specifically, just that i want it

17. Can you play any instruments? Which?

mm i’m actually quite good at piano, been playing a few years now

18. Favourite My Chemical Romance song?

oof there’s so many slapping songs, but like one from each album would be honey this mirror isn’t big enough, helena, teenagers/disenchanted, sing/planetary go,, and i am aware that’s basic but like there’s a reason why just those songs have become popular? they’re so damn good (and don’t at me with sing hate, it is a masterpiece and do not deserve the slanter i see on the tl)

19. Do you think Twenty One Pilots are emo?

as a former tøp stan myself can i say quite firmly that they’re definitely emo, but we need to re-evaluate what emo actually means, bc like in terms of the 00’s emo music? no, they’re not emo. they’re not like the emo trinity (lol), BUT they’re the perfect description of a modern emo band? so, no tøp isn’t emo in the old fashioned way, but yes they’re emo in a newer context,, and their stans are definitely emo i mean like come on

20. Are you into Taking Back Sunday?

nah

21. Do you wear any make up?

yeah but just casual, i’m always so amazed by people who wear lots of cool makeup every day, i could never

22. Do you have black painted nails?

lol ye always

23. Have you got any band posters? Of what bands?

mm i’ve got one with paramore that i like, and one with blackbear which is only because i likes the color schemes of it, i don’t listen to him otherwise

24. Do you want any piercings?

not right now

25. What's your opinion on All Time Low? Sleeping With Sirens? Pierce The Veil?

they’re cool i guess but i’ve never looked into them any further

26. Do you think it's just a phase or that you'll be emo/punk\scene forever?

oh the music will always live on with me, but how i think and express myself around the subject “being alternative/emo/pop-rock/whatever” will probably change as i grow into another phase of my life,, and like i’m okay with the thought of living my life in phases, and i’ll probably not be too ashamed of my current self a few years from now

27. Favourite magical/mythical creature?

i don’t really know any :(

28. Are you into Black Veil Brides?

nope

29. Do you like any newer emo/scene/punk bands? Which?

no not really i’m a quite boring music person in the sense of that i only listen to like the same five bands for a whole year,, so all the bands i’m listening to currently are releasing new music, but were created a while ago

30. What's your favourite music genre besides emo/punk\scene?

probably indie rock

31. Are you into Mindless Self Indulgence?

nein

32. Favourite Fall Out Boy song?

uh like i’m a slut for folie so like 27 or the shipped golden standard, but dance dance has always been a personal favorite

33. Are you mostly into the so-called "emo trinity" or "emo quartet" or do you listen to a lot of other bands too?

sigh i listened to both the trinity and the quartet a lot in 2018, i was a big fan of this whole trinity/quarter thing, but now do i just occasionally listen to some of them, but they’re definitely the roots of my emo path in this life

34. What's your opinion on Waterparks? Palaye Royale? I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME?

ooh idkhow are both emo/alt/pop-rock and quite new!! i forgot them earlier in this post! ye i love idkhow and their music, but i don’t really listen to waterparks or palaye royale

35. Are you into Bring Me The Horizon?

sure as hell am baby, love them

36. Favourite solo project by a emo/scene\punk band member?

right now is hayley williams solo project petals for armor a huge favorite of mine

37. Are any of your friends IRL emo/scene\punk?

um like kinda yes? or some of them have got the style but not the music, and some have got the music but not the style, so i guess it all adds up to a yes

38. Are you into drawing? If so, show some of your art!

ah i really wish i was creative but unfortunately am i not

39. Favourite colours and colour schemes?

red+black or pastel colors, i shift a lot based on mood, but my go to color schemes are dark blue and black bc i’m always comfortable in them

40. What are some of your favourite lyrics?

damn such a good question, i’ll make a separate post for it and continuesly update it with new lyrics!!

41. The Black Parade or Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge?

sorry but i’m a tbp fan, and you can’t convince me otherwise,, like i love revenge a lot but the black parade just hits different y’know?

42. What's your opinion on Paramore? Green Day? Blink-182?

well my biggest obsession right now is paramore so in short; i absolutely am in love with hayley, taylor and zac, the whole concept of paramore and of course their music+other content, even though they’ve gone through rough (or should i say hard) times

and i’ve listened some to green day, they’re really great and i like them, but there’s too much to get into and i’m not ready to be that much of a huge green day stan yet (will probably never be either) but i can absolutely casually enjoy their music and jam with their songs, without having to get into it any deeper

and for blink-182, i feel like they’re a bit too far away from my preferred genre right now, i will maybe listen to them in the future, probably not, but you never know anything for sure

so that’s all,, i love answering questions like this even though no one will ever read it and i’m cringe i know alright but it makes me feel happy so i’ll keep doing it

[everysuperherofighting]

The Best Music of 2018

2018 was a strange year for me. It should go without saying that the politics were grim, as the United States continued to embrace gestapo-esque tactics and concentration camps as a way of dealing with the “immigration crisis” (a lot of this happened under Obama too of course). The planet continued to slide into a dystopia of global warming as more and more animals became endangered or went extinct all-together. The mid-terms happened, with typically mixed results. Elon Musk called someone a pedophile on twitter for some reason.

On a personal level, in 2018 I moved to Ohio from Oregon (again). My band put out an EP. And I lost my father, something that I still grapple with on a daily basis, though it gets less present over time.

I’ve become interested in how I discover new music, as I’ve gotten older and can’t really consider myself to be fully plugged into any sort of youth culture, sub or otherwise. Finding new music has become a very intentional process; if I didn’t seek it out deliberately, I probably wouldn’t end up hearing much of anything. But that’s always kind of true for arty-weirdos like me.

For better or worse I discovered a lot of music the last two years through Youtube. As you probably know, if you play a song or an album on Youtube, there’s an autoplay feature that will automatically play something else when it’s done. I’ve found a lot of my favorite music lately this way, and in some ways it’s kind of filled the role that “cool record store clerk” or “late-night college dj” might have filled in the times past. This is not necessarily a good change. I’ve heard you can find a lot of white supremacists that way too.

Youtube has also become invaluable if you’re someone who wants to make a list like this one, and can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on albums. I think sometimes the artists even get paid a minuscule amount for the clicks! Hooray free information! I hope we can all find decent jobs someday.

1) CAMP COPE - HOW TO SOCIALISE & MAKE FRIENDS

I debated with myself about whether to put Camp Cope at number one, as they’re not the most musically complex or adventurous of my favorite albums this year. However I can’t think of another band that felt like it lyrically captured the zeitgeist of the times in such a powerful way. The whole album is great, catchy and upbeat jangly indie/punk with tinges of early 90s midwestern emo, made by three woman from Melbourne, Australia. Singer Georgia McDonald has a great voice, imbued with urgency, and her accent is a lot of fun to listen to too. Her lyrics have that same emotional rawness and honest specificity that early emo has as well - on “The Omen” she sings about loving someone since they were 17 and wishes for rescue dogs and a house by the sea, while on “I’ve Got You,” she bounces from the death of her father to police shootings, the loss of her childhood home, and the grappling with mental illness, and it all feels thematically relevant as this great moment of exhaled catharsis.

The stand-outs for me, however, are “The Opener” and “The Face of God.” “The Opener” is a scorching indictment of the indie music scene, as McDonald calls-out all the garbage women in bands have to deal with, from accusations that they only succeed based on their gender, to men continually explaining things, to men showing up to lay down a big steamy pile of unrequited love BS. These aren’t new observations, but hearing them all laid out in a row like this highlights their invulnerability and their ubiquitousness, the daily microaggressions that lead up to a larger picture of persistent inequality. On “The Face of God,” McDonald narrativizes the Me Too movement from the perspective of an abused fan, musing “could it be true? You couldn’t do that to someone. Not you, nah your music is too good,” her tortured delivery capturing the rage, shame, disbelief, and sadness of all the Me Too revelations about artists that we liked, and who abused that power again and again and again and again and again and again and again an

2) IDLES - JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE

Image by Paul Hudson via Flickr

Idles was one of my favorite discoveries of last year. I was actually a little concerned with this album since I’d heard the band was “embracing positivity” , and what I loved about Brutalism was their raw, unhinged sound and clever but cynical and pissed-off lyrics. There’s also a recurring thing for me of finding a really cool raw sounding band, punk adjacent but not necessarily fully in the scene, who then get less “punk” (and to me, less interesting) with each subsequent release as they sort of turn into just another indie dude band who like Big Star or the Replacements. This band sounds raw as fuck, I’ll say, and then later they’ll put out their fucking mandolin album.

Joy as an Act of Resistance is dope though, as their music continues to embrace a raw, chaotic sound of guitars that both swirl and jab like shards of glass, pounding “Lust For Life” toms, and stripped down basslines, while frontman Joe Talbot howls sarcastic indictments of masculinity, homophobia, and racism. In a similar way to last year’s Pissed Jeans album, they tackle ugly toxic masculinity with ugly, tough sounding music, hearkening back to a punk rock that was less rigid in sound. There’s this infectious positivity that runs through the whole thing however, a joy that comes from casting off the fixed roles that the patriarchal society tries to put upon us and embracing our (ironically) gentler natures. “I wanna be your best ever friend forever” Talbot says, sincerely on “Love Song.” “Let’s hug it out,” he repeats on “Never Fight a Man With A Perm,” and though the song is making fun of a coked out bruiser, I have a feeling it’s a sentiment he would share.

3) THE ARMED - ONLY LOVE

The synthesis of hardcore punk with electronic music is something I’ve been anticipating. There’s definitely been forebearers (Horse the Band comes to mind, though there’s probably other stuff in the underground), but this is the first time I’ve heard it done so well. The Armed sound like if you took one of the better mid-2000s screamy hardcore bands and mixed it with the noisiest and most frenetic parts of a chip-tune song. That may sound like a nightmare to a lot of you, but again, it’s done so well here that it just sounds like a noisy chaotic mess in the best and most elegant possible way. This is not to underplay the tightness of the song-craft at work here - the chaotic sound seems to me to be carefully orchestrated. Glitchy, brutal, climatic, and beautiful. (And the parts where the lady sings remind me of Blatz. The world could use more Blatz.)

4) SCREAMING FEMALES - ALL AT ONCE

Image by Jason Persse via Flickr

This band is kind of a mainstay on my year end list at this point, but I feel like they continually top their previous efforts, a rare quality for most bands. Incredible vocals, incredible song-writing, incredible guitar playing, as they reach ever greater levels of accessibility and hookiness, while still maintaining that slight edge that would put them forever as at home in a basement as a venue.

5) KALI UCHIS - ISOLATION

Kali Uchis lands at that sweet spot where pop, hip-hop, jazz, soul, and psychedelia intersect that’s occupied by similar weirdos like Janelle Monae, Miguel, and the Internet. It’s no wonder that one of the all-time prophets of future-looking pop, Boots Riley, shows up on one of the singles. There’s a real bossa-nova, latin jazz vibe on a lot of these tracks, and a kind of retro-sheen even as it pushes into the future. “It’s no fun to feel like a fool,” Kali Uchis croons while straight up wall of sound style saxophones blurp in the background. “Pussy is a hell of an addiction.”

6) THE INTERNET - HIVE MIND

Another year-end list staple for me, the Internet have been consistently putting out some of the best, solid-ass R+B since 2011. The whole thing is smooth as hell, but weird or tasteful in all the right places; the “hoo hoo” on “Humble Pie” or the building horns on “Mood.” And retaining just a hint of that old Odd Future off-kilterness around the edges. OG Dungeon Family poet “Big Rube” shows up on “It Gets Better (With Time).”

7) JEAN GRAE AND QUELLE CHRIS - EVERYTHING’S FINE

Quelle Chris is a new one for me, but I rocked Jean Grae when I first started getting into indie rap back in high school. I always wondered what happened to her since then, but apparently she’s been putting out a steady stream of mixtapes and underground releases pretty much the whole time, self releasing a lot of them through bandcamp. She’s a wicked lyricist, and her and Quelle Chris trade off bars of dense wordplay and biting commentary on the current age of “self-care” and neoliberal hellscapes over beats that are just weird enough. Much of their verses are delivered through a lens of ironic detachment, but it’s especially affecting when the irony cracks into real urgency or emotion, as in “Breakfast of Champions,” a reflection on the grueling, consistent presence of racism in America. “It’s bound to wreck your body or straight burn your body out” they muse, and then later, as if realizing the gravity of it all, “it’s like damn, shit, fuck, wow…”

Also Quelle Chris apparently taught himself to program 8-bit video games for one of the videos.

8) SELF DEFENSE FAMILY - HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PUNK MUSIC

Yeah dude, you know I like punk rock that don’t follow no rules. This is definitely more in the vein of Fugazi, or maybe even a slightly more jagged Wilco, than a NOFX or 7 Seconds, with nods to Americana and a vocal delivery that reminds me of a raspier Craig Finn. A central preoccupation of the album seems to be the delicate balance between art and maturity, made all the more so when you’re tied to a subculture that’s only “supposed” to last you through your early 20s. There’s some great lines throughout: “ “Explaining motherhood to a man, cold observation but he’s not capable of understanding; detailing math to a dog, won’t retain a word but if you’re lucky he may be a good boy and nod” and “The world’s not turning for you and the road never rises, you’re eking out a living like every other asshole” are highlights for me, but I think my favorite bit of cleverness is actually just the juxtaposition between the titles of tracks 6 and 7. “Have You Considered Punk Music?” asks one. The other: “Have You Considered Anything Else?”

9) SINGLE MOTHERS - THROUGH A WALL

Image by CRUSTINA! via Flickr

And here we have a release that’s a little more meat and potatoes, with steam-rolling drum beats, distortion, and yelled vocals about the desperation to be found in modern life’s mudanities, “dog parks and IPA.” This album’s just some fucking ferocious non-screamy hardcore, with that same relentless quality that the best hardcore albums have. “Catch and Release” even has some double kick on it. Interestingly, I find some of the core anxieties the same as in the album above however: “Better people than you or I have lost that spark for life,” Andrew Thomson bellows on 24/7, a Cassandra portending the potential pitfalls of age.

10) HOP ALONG - BARK YOUR HEAD OFF, DOG

Singer Francis Quinlan has an incredible voice, powerful and worldly, and she paints quick snapshots of narrative with her lyrics like a Lydia Davis story. The music has shades of mid-western emo, with some kind of funky, almost Jackson 5 style guitar lines. This one is definitely a step up in terms of instrumentation from their earlier records, with strings, acoustic guitars, and other orchestral touches. The title refers specifically to a dying dog from one of the tracks, though it also seems to apply to all the characters briefly given voice throughout the album.

11) CINDER WELL - THE UNCONSCIOUS ECHO

Beautiful, haunting folk from Amelia Baker of Blackbird Raum (and a few other fellows mostly from the folk punk/bluegrass scene). A little more straight folk than Blackbird Raum’s high energy mix of folk, metal, and hardcore. Stripped down and evocative, with one foot firmly in an irish folk tradition. Like Blackbird Raum, there is a foreboding quality to much of the music, like a warning of dark things to come.

12) NONAME - ROOM 25

A micro-trend I noticed in hip-hop this year was short albums, notable from a tradition that often includes massive releases and mixtapes stuffed with skits and interludes. This is the first of example of this on my list, clocking in at a respectable 34:48. Noname is a great rapper with an intricate flow, technical without being too dense for a more casual listener, keeping her ideas and narratives clear and present over funky neo soul beats. At times she can be extremely candid, rapping about her sexual escapades, emotions, and insecurities. In one of my favorite moments, the track titled “No Name,” she discusses the spirituality behind her stage name: “When we walk into heaven, nobody’s name gon’ exist; just boundless movement for joy, nakedness radiance.” She’s funny too though. “I’m just writing my darkest secrets like wait and just hear me out; saying vegan food is delicious like wait and just hear me out.”

13) JEFF ROSENSTOCK - POST

More noisy power pop from former Bomb the Music Industry frontman Jeff Rosenstock (though I suppose by this point his solo career is at least as significant; Bomb albums never made it to Pitchfork). I think this one’s a little less varied than “Worry” before it, and a little rawer around the edges. The title is seemingly referring to the time post-2016 election, though it seems to often be more interested in profiling the anxious mood than making specific political points (which you probably all know anyway). I can’t think of another song writer off the top of my head that more consistently exemplifies the anxieties of the millennial generation, whether it’s the mid-20s woes of joblessness and friend loss often detailed in Bomb the Music Industry, or this current outing. On “Yr Throat,” he talks about the ease he has talking about relatively frivolous matter like video games and vinyl records, verses more important matters. One of my favorite lines in the song is a little more direct however, commenting on you-know-who: “It’s not like any other job I know; if you’re a piece of shit they don’t let you go.”

14) DEATH GRIPS - YEAR OF THE SNITCH

Image by Montecruz Foto via Flickr

Supposedly the album title has something to do with Charles Manson, at least according to their very vocal and sometimes uncomfortably affiliated online fanbase. It’s pretty rare that I can fully decipher what a song is about, other than generally surreal lyrics that hint toward a dirty and unsettling underground, whether urban, suburban, or solely online. Death Grips, if you don’t know, make experimental and abstract hip-hop, featuring dark and somewhat unconventional beats, with a live drummer, seeming to draw as much from the tradition of noise music than from rap. For as weird as all this is, however, there’s usually a pretty solid song structure underlying each track, and they create some sticky hooks out of all the electronic chaos and bellowed raps. This time around there seems to be a bit of a shoegaze influence as well, which…. doesn’t quite fit their aesthetic? But is pretty interesting all the same.

15) RAVYN LENAE - CRUSH

Steve Lacy from the Internet (the band) produced this 5 track long EP of retro/future funk and R+B. “Sticky” is as catch a song as ever there was, and Ravyn Lenae does a great job kind of floating over the beat, mixing up her delivery. These artists nod a lot to 70s R+B and funk, and I love that they preserve the strangeness of a lot of that stuff, that otherwordly vibe, whether it’s the “oooo-HOO-hoo-hoo” on “Sticky” or the blunted synth stabs on “4 Leaf Clover.”

16) HINDS - I DON’T RUN

Image by Paul Hudson via Flickr

Indie rock from Madrid with several lady vocalists that’s just a tad sloppy, in a good way. Catchy and relationship oriented, but scratching at something deeper beyond the surface. I love the way the vocal mics all seem to distort slightly. Maybe I’m just an old now, but it makes me nostalgic for college in some way, smoking cigarettes and being heartbroken. Which was probably not actually as fun as I remember it.

17) JPEGMAFIA - VETERAN

Hard as hell raps over jittery noise beats that sometimes merge into moments of dreamlike beauty from a hip-hop auteur who handles all the production himself. This kind of reminds me of when Pitchfork called Odd Future “/b/ boys” (referring to 4chan). This is the new Extremely Online hip-hop, endlessly irony poisoned, vaguely left-wing but mostly cynical, inside jokes upon inside jokes. It seems like there’s some real anger in here too, and his raps often involve promises of violence, usually upon various members of the alt right: “Look, it’s the young alt-right menace; What’s the pistol to a pennant?”

18) MILO - BUDDING ORNITHOLOGISTS ARE WEARY OF TIRED ANALOGIES

Milo reminds me of the best of the older backpacker rappers, dropping classic lines so fast that you miss about 2/3rds of them the first couple times through. Equally at home dropping a reference to a video game, a philosopher, the harshness of race in America, and the Guggenheim fellowship, like one of those memes that eradicates the distinction between high and low culture by putting references to existentialist philosophers over a picture of Spongebob. Of course, hip-hop has always been doing that, hasn’t it?

19) EARL SWEATSHIRT - SOME RAP SONGS

Image by Anna Hanks via Flickr

Another notably short album, at a brisk 24:39. The songs are short too, often coming across as sketches, though really this is the kind of project made to listen to in one sitting. Like a lot of the rap albums on here, this is a project that takes the beats as well as the rhymes seriously, pushing forward into avant garde territory, but in a mellower way than JPEGMAFIA or Death Grips. They have an almost hypnotic quality to them, as Earl raps in his slightly aloof manner, though here the aloofness feels more like a mask only thinly hiding a deep sense of melancholy. The samples on here are thick with that old record hiss - even the vocals are hissy, like a transmission from someplace far away.

20) SUDAN ARCHIVES - SINK

Sudan Archives is a violinist from Cincinnati who makes pop music that sounds like nothing else out there, though it takes cues from hip-hop, R+B, electronica, and world music. The beats are stripped down but still lush sounding, the violin often leading in a way that sounds strange and otherwordly, utilized for it’s ability to create rhythmic hooks, while her lyrics meld the personal with the empowering with the political.

21) TEYANA TAYLOR - K.T.S.E.

Kanye West produced 5 different 7 to 8 track albums this year, with mixed results. A lot of people stan Pusha T’s Daytona, but this one was my favorite, a short and sweet album that’s mellow, romantic, and a little dirty. Teyana Taylor puts in a very versatile performance, and her voice is perfectly suited to ride over the old soul samples that make up the bulk of the production. Kanye’s musical output was of course overshadowed by his various bizarre political statements and right wing flirtations, but it would be a shame for this gem to get lost in the fray.

22) CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL - SCIENCE FICTION

I don’t always love heavily conceptualized “revival” type bands, but this one is so much fun, not just doing pitch perfect 70s hard rock, but also spoofing (at least, I think it’s a spoof) the phenomenon of 70s cults. The members seem to dress in all white, and look like they just stepped off some Jesus-dude’s farm/compound. Of course it wouldn’t work if the music wasn’t so damn hooky. Harmonies, heavy organs, and hella riffs.

23) VINCE STAPLES - FM!

And another super short hip-hop album from one of contemporary rap’s best. Vince’s projects usually feature stripped down beats that would sound good in a car or a club, but the lyrical matter is dark as hell, another example of what a strange genre gangsta rap is when viewed from the outside. It’s hyper-masculine and braggadocios, but also equally often an expression of black pain that is then commodified into bangers for clubs, cars, and house parties full of white frat boys to dance and drink to. The contrast is all the more apparent every time Vince mentions one of his dead friends. I dunno dude, maybe I’m just getting old.

24) JANELLE MONAE - DIRTY COMPUTER

This didn’t grab me as immediately as her previous two full lengths, trending a little too close to mainstream pop for my tastes. But underneath the added sheen, it’s still a Janelle Monae album, bouncing gleefully from Prince-style funk jams to buoyant electro tunes. Monae drops the cyber-punk robo future concept to make an on-the-nose, album length celebration of queerness (though I think there may be some sci-fi on the Dirty Computer short film, which I haven’t watched yet.) The celebratory nature fits the larger, more conventional pop moves here, a sort of “queering” of mainstream pop. There’s also more rapping here than ever, and it’s always fun to hear Monae drop some bars.

25) FUCKED UP - DOSE YOUR DREAMS

Image by CRUSTINA! via Flickr

Similar to the above, this is an album from a long time favorite of mine that didn’t grab me as much as their earlier efforts, and that also seems to be making some moves toward a more mainstream pop sound, though here of course it’s pop music featuring a bellowing, gravel voiced hardcore singer and a bunch of loud Cock Sparrer style guitar lines. This is a concept album, apparently about a character who quits his job and goes on a drug fueled odyssey through the nature of reality, learning to reject an oppressive capitalist society, which sounds like the plot of an 80s British comic book, and hey, the cover is basically ripped straight from the pages of Watchmen, so there you go. They try out a lot of different styles here, which can be a bit hit or miss, but the core of Fucked Up, the interplay between Abraham’s bombastic bellows and huge sounding guitars, is as raucous and triumphant as ever, if a little more familiar.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 20th January 2019

So, uh, I‘ve been listening to a lot of Aminé recently.

FEATURED SINGLE #2 – “BLACKJACK” – Aminé

This is our second Featured Single, and I’ve decided this will be before the chart so feel free to skip this if you don’t want something beyond the charts to check out. This recently got a hilarious video, with ridiculous attention-to-detail and impressive... “choreography”. That counts as a single for me, and God, do I love this one. There’s this maddening melody that immediately gets pounded by an intense bass thud, with Aminé rapping monotonously initially, but gradually getting as excited as his ad-libs, with his quick flow accentuating both his loveable voice cracks and some of the funniest lyrics I’ve heard from the guy, including those four lines in the second verse, which he spends just praising and appreciating Jack Black?

Rockin’ and rollin’ like Jack Black / Schoolin’ you n****s like Jack Black (Yeah!) / How could you not like Jack Black? (How?) / I put that on my momma, n****, no cap

That second verse is great, by the way, there’s something so charismatic and enthusiastic about Aminé’s pointlessly specific pop culture references that can either breeze by so you don’t notice them or, as shown above, essentially be a rake joke.

Said she wants a spot on my list (Please) / I told her, “Go pray to your God” (I need to go to Church)

Yeah, that last part’s an ad-lib – more people should be doing back-and-forth exchanges in their ad-libs, 21 Savage’s done it in “10 Freaky Girls” and so has, uh... Cal Chuchesta? Anyway, this is literally a minute and 57 seconds long, so it doesn’t waste your time. Check it out if you like stuff by KYLE or enjoyed Aminé’s one hit, “Caroline”, although this isn’t really in the same range.

Top 10

Pretty busy week, let’s get into it quickly, because there’s not a lot to care about. “Sweet but Psycho” by Ava Max is still at the top spot and has been for about five or six weeks now. “7 rings” by Ariana Grande’ll take this spot next week, although we do have competition.

These next three songs are the competition, including “Nothing Breaks like a Heart” by Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus up one spot to the runner-up space, number-two.

Post Malone’s “Wow.” is also up one spot to number-three – good for it, this is a great song and I’d love it to hit #1.

Now, our first top 10 debut this week, “Dancing with a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani, arriving at number-four. This is Smith’s 17th Top 40 hit in the UK, and his 11th Top 10, whilst this is Normani’s second Top 40 hit and first Top 10 hit, so congratulations, I suppose, even though this isn’t including Fifth Harmony, who were hitmakers in their own right. We’ll talk more about this later.

“Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse isn’t moving at number-five.

Collapsing down five spots to number-six is “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande.

Our second top 10 single that debuted in this spot is “Giant”, by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, at number-seven. This is Harris’ 34th or 35th Top 40 hit and 24th Top 10, and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s 3rd Top 40 hit and 2nd Top 10 hit after his smash “Human”. We’ll talk more about this one later as well.

“Play” by Jax Jones featuring Years & Years is up three places to number-eight, becoming Jones’ 4th Top 10 hit and Years & Years’ 5th.

Once again, we have a debut in the top 10, this time at number-nine, as Gesaffelstein and the Weeknd collaborate once again for “Lost in the Fire”. This is Abel’s 17th Top 40 hit and 7th Top 10, while it’s Gesaffelstein’s first charting song as a credited solo artist ever, so congratulations. We’ll talk about this one more a bit later.

Finally, “Without Me” by Halsey is at #10, and it hasn’t moved from last week.

Climbers

We have two UK hip-hop songs gaining pretty highly here, one being pretty good - “Options” by NSG featuring Tion Wayne, up 11 spots to #14 – and the other being awful – “Gun Lean” by Russ splash is up five spaces to #34, but that’s it.

Fallers

These are a different story, however. “18HUNNA” by Headie One and Dave is down five to #11, “Rewrite the Stars” by James Arthur and Anne-Marie is down eight to #15, “Lost Without You” by Freya Ridings is down seven to #16, “Ruin My Life” by Zara Larsson is down five to #17, “ZEZE” by Kodak Black featuring Travis Scott and Offset is down six to #19, “Undecided” by Chris Brown is down six to #21, as is “Shotgun” by George Ezra to #22, and “Baby” by Clean Bandit, Marina and Luis Fonsi to #23, with the space of #24 being taken by “Thursday” by Jess Glynne, down five spaces since last week... but that’s not all. “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is down six to #27, “This is Me” by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble is down eight to #31, “imagine” by Ariana Grande is down 13 to #33, “A Million Dreams” by P!nk is down 11 to #35, “Eastside” by benny blanco, Halsey and Khalid is down eight to #39 and finally “Woman Like Me” by Little Mix featuring Nicki Minaj is down 12 to #40.

Dropouts

“Let You Love Me” by Rita Ora is out from #28, “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott featuring Drake and Swae Lee is out from #36, “2002” by Anne-Marie is out from #37, “KIKA” by 6ix9ine featuring Tory Lanez is out from #32, “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille is out from #35, “I’ll be There” by Jess Glynne is out from #40, “Grace” by Lewis Capaldi is out from #33 and “The Greatest Show” by Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya and the Greatest Showman Ensemble is out from #38. That’s all, and there’s no returning entries, so let’s get straight to the main attraction.

NEW ARRIVALS

Yup, there’s eight of them. Let’s just blast through them as quickly as possible.

#38 – “Saturday Nights” – Khalid

Khalid is a great singer, and I’ve liked a lot of what he’s put out, but a full project from him would put me to sleep, hence I didn’t check out his EP he released last October titled Suncity. Thankfully, thanks to a remix with... Kane Brown of all people, it’s here for us to review, and as Khalid’s ninth top 40 hit, I can’t say it really stands up to his others. I think the guitar strumming has gotten a little too cliché in chill-pop, and I think Khalid was above following trends to a T, but he doesn’t really add anything except his sultry voice to what is essentially anyone’s instrumental, with off-kilter trap percussion and deep 808s, high-pitched vocal samples and again, that damn guitar. For some reason that guitar infuriates me so much, maybe it’s just because it’s so slick and runs through the entire song? This is entirely too polished and aggravatingly boring in that respect. Yeah, this is Khalid’s worst one yet. It’s exhaustingly overproduced, and not even his voice can save it.

#36 – “Leave Me Alone” – Flipp Dinero

...Is this post-trap?

Okay, so Flipp Dinero has been on the rise, and this is his first top 40 hit in the UK... and I honestly love it. We have this cutesy piano lead that’s so twinky it almost forgives the awfully cliché lyricism. In fact, everything here forgives that. Flipp Dinero’s raspy voice is a great contrast, and the trap beat here actually works because of how he flows over this, as it barely keeps up with him to the point that it has to add the producer tag and the “oh!” used in songs such as Nelly’s “Dilemma” and Travis Scott’s “3500” just to remind us it’s there. Flipp Dinero is freaking fantastic on this, and every “yuh” ad-lib is like an injection of happiness. There’s that flute you don’t even realise until Flipp stops (and no, he doesn’t do this often at all), and I haven’t even got into the hook. Not only is it insanely catchy, but it’s hilarious as Flipp sprays his heart out, with so much passion put into being mildly inconvenienced by a woman who wants to spend some time with him after they broke up. This is beautiful, and that’s not even sarcastic. This won’t be to everyone’s taste, but to me, this is so much fun. Better than the Michael Jackson song, though? Don’t even attempt the comparison.

#29 – “Someone You Loved” – Lewis Capaldi

God, this guy’s boring, and he doesn’t understand how music works. See, the vocals on the song are supposed to make sense relative to the instrumental, and if they don’t, there has to be justification or purposeful juxtaposition (see: “Leave Me Alone”). On “Grace”, he sounded out of place, and on his 2nd Top 40 hit, he sounds bored over a repetitive, droning piano melody. Lewis Capaldi strains his voice to James Arthur levels of undeserved intensity, and while Capaldi is definitely a better singer than Arthur, he’s just as lacking in any compelling content, delivery or personality. Does anyone actually care about Lewis Capaldi and what he has to say? No. No one does, because he’s Lewis Capaldi. We only found out we existed in England, and we’ve quite literally made his songs interchangeable, as his last hit dropped out this week. God, this guy is a bore in three minutes and two seconds. Leave me alone.

#25 – “Longshot” – Catfish and the Bottlemen

If I was still an indie/alternative rock-head like I used to be, I would be able to tell you all about Catfish and the Bottlemen because from what I heard, they were pretty damn good, actually. I’ve liked “7” and I heard their first album, it was okay, but I always knew there was a lack of a real hook to the band, that could blow them up, and I assume they’ve just found it, because this is their first top 40 hit in the UK, and, yeah, it’s pretty good. I like the intense build-up of that one guitar pluck until it just drops into a light pop-rock instrumental with enough power and distortion on the guitars and vocals to make it unique. There’s this ticking sound in the chorus that annoys me, but otherwise, it’s definitely a nice, catchy sing-a-long hook. Whilst I’ve never been all too fond on Van McCann’s somewhat nasal voice, I definitely think it works in the context of these poppier bangers, and like he says in the chorus, the little things do make me smile, as this instrumental is very intricately-layered without being cluttered. I love the passion in McCann’s “woo!” followed by a couple guitar strokes, I just think that’s a great moment you couldn’t exactly replicate with non-live instruments, as that chemistry between vocalist and band is important. This song overall? Yeah, I’m definitely getting back into these guys because this was fantastic. I love the mic feedback at the end and I’m actually really intrigued to what that leads up to on the album.

#13 – “Hello My Love” – Westlife

Why was this performed on the National Television Awards? Guys, you’re Westlife, you’re a music group. Talking about outrageous trivia, can you believe this, Westlife’s 28th Top 40 hit is literally just three minutes of nothing? It’s insane how popular these guys are yet they can get away with stuff like this when they reform for their first song in nearly a decade.

#9 – “Lost in the Fire” – Gesaffelstein and the Weeknd

The lyrical content on this one sucks. This is “Lost in the Fire”, and there are a few lines that are just really creepy, if anything, and really play up Bella Hadid’s sexuality for what seems like cheap views, because there’s really nothing else these dudes haven’t done that doesn’t sound exactly like this. They didn’t even make cover art, that’s how lazy these guys are. The groove’s semi-decent, I suppose, but there’s little to no build up and I feel like it really doesn’t have much of interest to talk about, which shouldn’t be true for a Weeknd song. The personality of Abel is obvious in other songs and albums, and his portrayal of this character is what makes him so intriguing. So where is he here? Is a Drake diss what the Weeknd would do, or what Abel would do? Now that is the question. Oh, yeah, and the synths here don’t exist. This song is boring as hell.

#7 – “Giant” – Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man

Now, I like Rag ‘n’ Bone Man. Like Ed Sheeran, although I don’t like all – actually, a lot – of his music doesn’t mean I don’t like how genuine he is. He’s a normal, average guy who’s been releasing EPs, found a label and had the break-out hit written for him, so now he’s famous. There’s no nepotism, no cheap industry plant tactics, just pure talent getting him this far, and I respect that. So this sucks so much, like, wow, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man goes way too hard on this basic, lightweight synth-funk-inflected deep house beat. The trumpet drop is so pathetic it would make J Balvin and OMI laugh Harris off as an amateur. That shouldn’t be happening for someone 15 years and nearly 15 #1s into their career. I won’t be too mean on Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, though, he did his best, and he probably didn’t even hear the beat prior. What’s with the chanting at the end, though? That’s just odd.

#4 – “Dancing with a Stranger” – Sam Smith and Normani

So, some finger-snaps, Sam Smith humming seductively, and then that house beat kicks in and we get to pleasure our ears with a nice Sam Smith house track, because we totally need more of his entirely unfitting voice over slick, incredibly well-produced beats. Normani sounds absolutely amazing, and that subtle guitar in this beat is a nice touch, so nice it may just be essential to actually try and enjoy this song, because it’s not like these guys have chemistry (I mean, apart from the obvious reasons they wouldn’t have chemistry, guys, at least pretend this could happen).I guess this is okay, but its existence just tires me. Who wanted another one of these, really?

Conclusion

Since “Blackjack” is not applicable, we have eight to choose from (wow), and Best of the Week should be obvious, as it’s going to Flipp Dinero for “Leave Me Alone”. Yup, that’s right, that song’s a banger and a half. Catfish and the Bottlemen were damn close though, so they do get the Honourable Mention for “Longshot”. Worst of the Week goes to Gesaffelstein and the Weeknd for “Lost in the Fire”. Man, that just reeks of wasted potential. Dishonourable Mention? It could be a toss-up between any one of these guys. Pick your poison. Choose your fighter. See ya!

[jbonesy]

Music of 2018

Top 10 Albums (No Particular Order)

Death Grips - Year of the Snitch

Even though it’s had some time to settle, I’m still not 100% sure where to place this album in Death Grips’s discography. Regardless, Death Grips continues to reinvent themselves more and more with every continuous album, and continues moreso to be more unpredictable than ever. The departure from their earlier hip hop sound and more toward experimental punk and rock suits them better than ever. While I’m a bit shaky on the predictability of the sound of some songs (Flies & Streaky notably), the songs of which do fall flat, I absolutely love the direction the majority of the album trends toward - songs like Death Grips is Online, Black Paint, and Dilemma perfectly embody the direction I’d hoped they’d go into after The Powers That B. Meanwhile, songs like The Fear and Little Richard continue to be as odd as ever - in the best way possible. My one complaint is that I’d wished they’d have departed a bit more from the predictable hip hop songs I’d mentioned above, but overall, the rest of the album is so great it’s hard to complain. 

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (Rerecording/Remaster)

Car Seat Headrest’s original Twin Fantasy is a kind of cult classic bandcamp album which garnered a lot of notoriety, so the 2018 reissue garnering just as much should be a surprise to no one. While it’s true that the original rough quality added to the charm and in the re-recording process certain elements of the original don’t have the same effect, the strengths of the album shine through regardless. What can I say about this album that hasn’t already been said? This is the best indie rock album about depressed gay furries on tumblr I’ve ever heard.

Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E

The Kanye Wyoming sessions were definitely a spectacle at the time, and because of all the chaos surrounding the releases, and the incredible amount of hype that was generated during the time, KTSE was unfairly overshadowed by a lot of the other albums that came out at the end - and it being the last to release, further mucked by delays and technical problems, didn’t help its case. Listening to the album in full though, it’s pretty sad this was the case, but in my opinion it’s the best album to come out of the Wyoming sessions. It’s an amazing call back to Kanye’s ability to still sample soul, and some of the instrumentals took me right back to the early 2000s, like a time machine. Teyana Taylor might not be the strongest voice in R&B or the most well known, but her performance alongside these instrumentals is definitely something to be lauded. In addition, Gonna Love Me is one of my favorite songs of 2018.

IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance.

While I have to admit I’m not as hot on some of the social critiques this album delivers in its music, its done in a way that I can definitely appreciate it. That said, the music on this stuff itself is some of the best punk I’ve heard in forever - maybe this decade. There’s some points of contention in the bluntly direct, sometimes annoying lyrics , but overall, a lot of the politics can probably be seen as a callback to the roots of punk with a modern spin. That said, the instrumentation and vocal performances on this thing are great. As a punk fan at heart I have to say this if there’s one punk or rock album you listen to this year, it should probably be this one. It’s amazing.

Parquet Courts - Wide Awaaaaake!

Continuing on from the last entry above, Parquet Courts smashed it earlier in the year with this post-punk revival album. While post-punk may continue to be influential to a lot of artists, I admittedly haven’t heard a lot of straight up post-punk revivalism, especially not as enjoyable as this, in a long time. While the themes of the album are honestly pretty similar to the above album as well, this is probably the closest you’re gonna get to a Talking Heads or Joy Division album in 2018 - and damn is it good.

Hermit and the Recluse (Ka & Animoss) - Orpheus vs. the Sirens

Two darlings of the real hip hop underground link up for one of the best hip hop albums of the year - and probably the best written. Ka continues to push for his well deserved title of one of the best lyricists to ever enter the genre - which is near insane given his very underground status. A lot of the instrumentals on this thing perfectly suit Ka’s style - lots of looping, eclectic beats, with a hint of eeriness or vintage shine. There’s some soul-like samples mixed in as well for good measure, something I’d never complain about on a hip hop album. Ka’s writing is arguably some of the best in his career as well - which given his portfolio up until this point, is really saying something. His densely layered, metaphor and thematically driven calls to mythology and poetically-inspired style of rapping are the perfect complement to the instrumentals over this album.

J.I.D - DiCaprio 2

J.I.D is one of my favorite newcomers in hip hop, and definitely one of the acts in the genre I’m hopeful for the future - not that this is an uncommon opinion. At this point, he’s got cosigns in coming from every direction - enough that people are already calling him overrated - and he hasn’t even really gotten started yet. The Never Story was an interesting debut album when it came out last year - a case study in an eclectic hip hop album that manages to encapsulate much of the modern trends in the genre while also incorporating some fantastic rapping and some oddly enchanting music choices. DiCaprio 2 - in J.I.D’s own words - is not his magnum opus, or his GKMC - an album comparison common in those already comparing him to a young Kendrick Lamar (despite JID being almost 30, surprisingly). However, despite that, this is a fantastic album regardless; the rapping is some of the best of any newcomer to the genre. There’s punchlines and flows that make callbacks to Lil Wayne, and technical skill to match many currently lauded acts. It’s a great mix of technicality, fun, and skill. While not every song is perfect - Tiiied and Westbrook were a bit underwhelming in my opinion - when this album reaches highs, it reaches REALLY high. Songs like Off Da Zoinkys, Skrawberries, and Despacito Too to name a few are hints that J.I.D isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and I’m certainly excited for his future.

MGMT - Little Dark Age

A lot of what I’ve heard from MGMT has been hit or miss for me, but their synth heavy album from earlier in the year is one of those times where when they hit with me, they really seem to hit heavy. The psychedelic vibes on this album are pretty entrancing, and while I can see the vocals as being love or hate, personally I’m a great fan of them on most of the songs. There’s a few low points where they feel a bit robotic - perhaps on purpose - but outside of those few grating moments, the album’s highs are too high for me to ignore otherwise. Mark it up as a win for psychedelic pop.

Pusha T - Daytona

As I said earlier, Kanye’s Wyoming sessions were one of the biggest music spectacles this year, especially for those in the hip hop genre. Combined with the massive hype circling Pusha T’s supposed release of King Push - an album up there with Detox and Doomstarks in probably never coming out - most hip hop fans were posted up for hours each night in anticipation of what would actually release (and what wouldn’t). While I can’t say I enjoyed this as much as KTSE, it’s still a great album regardless. The instrumentals are gritty and tight - there’s no room for mistakes, and there’s rarely any lows. Pusha raps as great as always, minus some slip ups with some poor or awkward lines. Overall, it’s a great album, but it’s short nature and lack of experimentation or boundary pushing leave a bit to be desired. Kanye’s fantastic production shines more than Pusha does at times - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it never feels like Push really leaves his comfort zone; especially after hearing songs in the past like Lunch Money, it makes me wish he did. Regardless, I can’t really thrash this album; it’s a perfectly compressed hip hop album, and one of the best of the year.  

Blood Orange - Negro Swan

Devonte Hynes, better known as Blood Orange, is one of those musicians I’m suprised we don’t hear more about. I have to admit - his voice can be a bit grating at times - but overall, it’s one of those albums whose highs far overshadow subjective lows like that. The instrumentation is varied and lush; overall, Hyne’s production is some of the best its ever been. There’s a nice dip in pop, r&b, hip hop, funk, and other genres throughout the album. While I may have said his voice can be grating at times, I will say when it works - it works. Songs like Charcoal Baby are great examples of his voice working in tandem beautifully with his instrumentals. There’s some great vocal performances on this, and again, I think there’s some amazing production. It’s also more impressive when you realize Hynes alone produced the vast majority of this album, along with singing on basically all the songs. Other complaints? I do wish he brought back Despot because Clipped On from Cupid Deluxe. is an amazing song.

Honorable Mentions / Albums I Found Interesting but not Amazing

Lil Peep - Come Over When You’re Sober Pt. 2

COWYS2 isn’t a perfect album. None of Lil Peep’s albums are perfect - his music has largely remained controversial; it seems to piss off both rock and hip hop fans.There’s a lot of complaints I’ve seen about this album - “it’s overproduced” seems to be the biggest one. Is it? Maybe. But man, this album appeals to my love of emo music like no album has in a long time. His writing might not the best, and the instrumentals might be a bit weak at times, but overall, as a posthumous album, you can only complain so much. It’s not perfect, but neither have any of his other albums been. For what it is - a mix of hip hop and early 2000s pop punk and emo - it’s great as it is. Runaway is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Lil Peep - Goth Angel Sinner EP (Unofficial Leak)

I was debating if I should include this at all since it’s technically unofficial, but given I included COWYS, I figured it was worth it. Peep’s death was an untimely shock, and while his music might not have always been the best, I think his interesting blend of music and notably recognizable voice was something he’ll be remembered for regardless. He was growing in his sound, moving away from hip hop and more into that musical sphere of punk and emo - and GAS is a sad hint at what could have been. It’s some of his best music by a wide margin, and it’s profoundly depressing that we’ll never see him at his true potential. RIP Peep.

Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts

One of the hipster darling albums of the year, I wasn’t as impressed as everyone else. It’s not bad by any means, but I didn’t think it was amazing. There are some great points the album - the production is pretty good throughout, and Cudi and Kanye both deliver some great performances, but overall, I feel like it fell a bit short. The 7 song length didn’t help either; unlike Daytona, it doesn’t feel as tight, and sometimes it sounds more muddy than anything. Cudi’s vocals can be a bit lazy at times as well, and some of the insistent repetition on the songs doesn’t work well in an album so incredibly short to begin with. All that said, it’s a good album - I don’t want to disparage it too much. It has some of Kanye’s best rapping in ages (regardless of whether he wrote it), and it’s a fun listen. Kids See Ghosts and Cudi Montage are my favorite songs. 

Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs

Some Rap Songs is an album I’ve gone back and forth on quite a lot, which is impressive considering it’s barely been out as of writing this. It’s a short album, so I’ve managed to listen a few times, but even so, I’m torn on a lot of it. Earl’s writing is good, and some of the production is eclectic and interesting, but there are times the album dips in severe quality. Regardless of if it was intentional, the muddy (if not straight poor) mixing, lofi recording quality, and lack of variation are some of the few complaints I have on the album. It feels incredibly lazy at times - whether on purpose or not is a different question - but whether it “works” isn’t. There are some songs I do really like - I think Peanut and The Mint are some of the more interesting cuts, but songs like Nowhere2Go among others feel unimpressive, if not falling flat completely. If anything else, it’s an interesting listen, and especially emotional for those already fans of Earl.

Frank Ocean - ENDLESS (2018 Remaster/Reissue)

Frank Ocean is one of those artists who deserves the vast majority of his widespread acclaim. While his less than ideal music release schedule and mysterious public persona (or lack thereof) certainly play into that, his music really is what takes the trophy at the end of the day. When Endless originally released, Blonde definitely overshadowed it (and for good reason), but on its own, Endless still shines bright. The 2018 reissue adds a few new points to the album as well, which overall manage to improve it to a great degree. I was considering placing it in my top 10, but it felt unfair considering this album didn’t “really” come out in 2018, and the changes aren’t big enough to warrant considering it a new album. Still though, it deserved a mention.

Kero Kero Bonito - Time ‘n’ Place

I’m still a bit disappointed at KKB’s artistic choice to change their image and focus - it feels a bit cheap and insulting to some of their audience - but I can’t really disparage their music. While their artistic and musical growth seems more artificial and inorganic than anything, at the end of the day, it’s still growth. On its own, Time ‘n’ Place is a good album. It’s a good mix of their own brand of fun, experimentation, and genre hopping. While the pop fans they courted with their debut might still be disappointed, I did enjoy the album quite a lot, even if the aesthetic felt a bit annoying and - again - artificial. Taken on its own in isolation though, again, it’s a good album.

Anderson .Paak - Oxnard

There’s not a ton I can really say about Oxnard. It’s a good album. There’s a few points in which it falls flat, but even then, it’s not really bad. Okay, maybe except for the last song, which feels completely out of place. It’s no Malibu, no Yes Lawd!, and no Venice, but it’s a good album. Paak’s talent shines through no matter what. Dr. Dre’s influence really does shine through on this album though - it’s very reminiscent of some of Compton to me. I can see hardcore fans of Malibu or Yes Lawd not really liking this album, but the exploration of hip hop and funk more than r&b and soul really do suit Paak during a lot of this album. I say this as a massive fan of Malibu as well - it was one of my favorite albums of the year it came out. He’s branching out and experimenting, and it’s not a bad thing - especially when you look at his entire musical history. It’s worth checking out.

Leon Bridges - Good Thing

I haven’t seen his album talked about, like, basically anywhere. I’m surprised, because it’s a really good neo-soul album. It feels a bit repetitive at times, but the quality is consistent throughout. It’s an enjoyable listen if anything else. It’s not experimental, it’s not super varied, but it’s a tightly strung together, quality listen. The instrumentation is rich and catchy, the Leon’s vocals are great, and overall, much of the album is what I’d expect a neo-soul singer who isn’t D’Angelo in 2018. That said, there are a few weak points in the album where it’s a little week - and trends a bit more towards pop disappointingly, but the pure soul parts of the album are where Leon really shines the best.

Playboi Carti - Die Lit

Carti really can’t write music if his life depended on it, but he doesn’t need to. This thing, as a mainstream trap album, is weird. The instrumentals are odd, definitely not the type of thing you’d expect to hear on this type of album for the most part. They’re reminiscent of cloud rap at times, and at other times so incredibly minimal you can’t help but praise Carti for making the song still get stuck in your head. Overall, the instrumentals are entrancing, hazy, sometimes even bordering on possibly experimental. There’s a unique usage of samples that’s just instantly entrancing on a lot of these songs. That said, there’s still a lot of pop sensibilities, and these songs kind of water down the album a bit by departing from these aforementioned traits. It’s also just incredibly long at 19 songs; while this may work for some albums, for the type of music Carti is making, it kind of suffers from its length. Carti’s performances are the point of contention with most people. His writing is, again, basically nonexistent. Still, he manages to somehow steal the show over the production on a lot of this album. Whether it’s just his excessive usage of adlib ridden, partially lazy flows, or half-sung, half-slurred delivery, he just manages to carry a charisma that’s hard to ignore - even when he is saying literally nothing. It’s catchy, and in this type of music, that’s what matters. For hip hop fans especially, it’s an interesting listen. 

Biggest Disappointments & Least Favorite/Worst Albums (No Particular Order)

Kanye West - Ye

I’m a massive kanye fan, and I recognize that a lot of his more recent work can be panned a bit before growing into place. Yeezus and TLOP were two albums which were more growers than straight out the pan classics or similar. Ye, however, is no TLOP or Yeezus. It’s disappointing because a lot of good music came out of the Wyoming sessions, but for as much of a spectacle as it was, its centerpiece really fell flat. There’s some good songs on it - I really do like No Mistakes for example. Overall though? It’s length does it no favors, and at the end of the day, most of the album is incredibly medicore - which is exemplified even further by the fact that it’s Kanye producing it. Certain songs like Violet Crimes, which were at least meaningful, completely lose their meaning once you realize Kanye didn’t even write them, or given his recent associations with certain people, even mean the words written for them. It’s a mess, but not the good type of mess like TLOP. It’s just a mess.

Nas - Nasir

It’s a throw up between this and Ye for what’s the worse album out of the Wyoming sessions. I mean, in the very least, at least Kanye brought his efforts to this record. The production is honestly not bad, and at times, pretty unique. Cops Shot the Kid is a pretty good song, albeit a little bit annoying because of the repetition. The real problem with this album? Nas. For someone with such a reputation for being a legendary rapper - I mean, he wrote Illmatic - what the hell is this? It sounds like he put this together on the taxi on the way to the livestream release party (which unsurprisingly, didn’t even work). Even beyond, the uh, downright insane anti-vax and 5%-er conspiracy shit on the first song, the writing’s just straight up lazy, and Nas sounds like he couldn’t care less. It’s hard to believe a Nas and Kanye collaboration turned out this awful, but here we are.

Denzel Curry - Taboo/Ta13oo

I know people are going to kill me for putting this on the list, but I have to be completely honest. I really like Denzel Curry, and I’ve been cheering for him since before he even made Ultimate. I’ve known him since he was on Raider Klan and working with LUM on Twistin’. I really like him and his music, which is why I’m so disappointed by this album. It’s not as bad as a lot of the other stuff in this list, but it’s not really that good either. Coming off of his last few projects, it feels like a massive step down, and a failure to utilize his best skills while, for the most of the project, capitalizing instead on most of his weaknesses.I won’t say it’s a bad album, but it falls short of expectations. His lyricism is incredibly weak, and when doing a supposed concept album, that’s pretty important. His rapping - and conveying the concept - is subpar at best. He has some good tracks on this, but not enough that it overpowers the vast amount of mediocrity on it. Denzel isn’t a super impressive singer, and he overdoes it a bit with considering this one of his strengths. There’s a lot of boring songs that say very little but masquerade as being deeper than they actually are. There are lots of instrumental choices that destroy the replayability of otherwise good songs too - for example, the high pitched background noise and odd gargling/scratching on Sirens. Overall? It’s not as bad as other albums on this list, but I’m incredibly disappointed with it. Probably the most overrated album of 2018.

Gorillaz - The Now Now

Not sure what to say about this other than it’s about 40 minutes of mediocre, forgettable electropop and synth funk. It’s uh, better than Humanz at least I guess. 

Princess Nokia - A Girl Cried Red

Oh my god, Princess Nokia, why? I love your music, and you were one of my favorite artists to be recently receiving more acclaim - definitely one of the best upcoming women in hip hop too. But this is...awful. I mean, I get it. It’s a fun side-step project that calls back to her roots as a goth kid, something that’d been prevalent in her music. I like emo a lot myself, as I’ve said earlier, but this is just straight up bad. I hope she had fun making it, because I didn’t have any fun listening to it. It takes the absolute worst parts of Lil Peep’s music and exaggerates it; the emo-inspired instrumentals are cheap and unimpressive, and her singing is...awful. It’s like, parody level of bad. Incredibly unpleasant and grating to listen to, and her lyrics are parody level as well, which I assume is at least purposeful. Might honestly be in the running for not just one the most disappointing albums, but one of the worst in general this year.

J. Cole - KOD

J. Cole is a skilled rapper and producer who’s really overrated in social media and music spheres. While I’m glad it’s gotten a bit better, I have to say, the album he put out altogether this year is pretty unimpressive. I’m happy he’s trying a bit better to be accessible, but it’s just not a great attempt at what it could be. His rapping is still pretty good, and I’m glad he’s trying to reach out and make a bit more “accessible” music, but I think a lot his attempts at things on this album fall flat. The production is subdued and forgettable, which can be alright, but combined with his repeated use of repetitive, uninteresting hooks and little progression in each song, it’s just an overall forgettable album. It’s sad, because he touches on some important topics on the album, but it’s just not that well done - and not nearly as profound as J Cole himself seems to think it is. It’s also a step down from 4 Your Eyez Only, which was already quite polarizing. He took the worst parts of that album and carried them to this, while not having the rest of the elements of the album be strong enough to really carry it. Props to J. Cole for his amazing run of features this year though.

A$AP Rocky - TESTING

Testing sounds like what someone who’s never listened to anything experimental would think experimental sounds like. It’s the type of hollow artsy album whose sole artistic merit is constantly reminding you how artsy it thinks it is. There are some decent tracks on here, it’s not awful or anything, but god, it’s just so mediocre. Nothing on here is really memorable; tracks come and go, and features seem incredibly tacked on at times, such as FKA twigs on Fukk Sleep. Rock has flow, but he’s just such a mediocre rapper still. It’s a bit of a mess, and again, not the good type. There are a few good tracks, and a few catchy moments, but with the wait and rollout leading up to this, I can say none of the hype was worth it.

6ix9ine - Dummy Boy

One of most controversial figures in modern music abandons the style he embraced along his come up to further embrace watered down pop music. There are a lot of features, and some of them are good, and some of them aren’t. It’s a compilation of singles made to chart, and any listener can tell on one listen. Sometimes it’s fun, and sometimes it’s downright awful. Did I really expect anything else? Well, I liked a lot of his pre-fame music to be honest, back when he was still signed to FCK THM and repping Scumgang. Stuff like Yokai for example. Unfortunately, this album just isn’t good at all. Formulaic, drab, and watered down pop rap with little identity or variation; and when it does vary - see the latin trap songs - it’s beyond horrible. Sad!

JPEGMAFIA - Veteran

Not gonna say this is the worst album in the world or a necessarily bad album or anything, but it doesn’t deserve the hype. It’s experimental, sure, and impressive at times, sure, but it’s one of those albums which people say they love to appear a certain way more than they actually will ever listen to it. I know peggy couldn’t give a shit what I or anyone else has to say about his music or his messages, and all the more power to him; even though I disagree, I respect it .That all said, I appreciate experimentation, and some songs are okay, but I’m never listening to this again.

Travis Scott - Astroworld

Rodeo-era Travis Scott is never coming back, and that’s a hard thing to deal with. The album has some highs - Stop Trying to Be God is great for example - but its lows are quite low. Again, it’s not a bad album by any means, but when Rodeo is in your discography...meh. It feels like album release schedule is a Fibonacci sequence, because this album is a collage of his last two - Rodeo and Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight. There’s some impressive directing and musical choices on this, but a lot of that super hollow pop sensibility and pop musical direction of the latter shines through as well. Artists grow, and as Travis has gotten bigger, he’s trying his best to keep his entire audience satisfied. With hits like Sicko Mode doing so well, he’s accomplished that. I can’t really sit here and disparage him in full for doing that, but I also can’t lie and say this album wasn’t a little disappointing knowing what highs he could reach if he wanted to.

Yung Lean - Poison Ivy

I love Yung Lean and will defend him and his music no matter what, but this isn’t one of his better ventures. Coming off of Stranger, Lean showed immense growth and experimentation in one of his best and most personal albums yet. He had a few singles in between that and this which were alright, a bit more reminiscent of Draingang and Bladee’s work. When I saw the album cover for this, I assumed it would be in the direction of his punk band, Dod Mark, maybe with a mix of elements from Stranger. Unfortunately, Poison Ivy falls flat on that. It feels like a massive step back for Lean stylistically, especially given he just released one of his best albums prior. The production is pretty great though on its own, just not really in greater context. It’s more of a Draingang-styled album, which is a niche I’m not a massive fan of comparatively. I’ll still be looking forward to his next album though.

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V

This isn’t a bad album, and before anyone says anything, I’m not a hater of Lil Wayne. In fact, I think there’s an argument for him being one of the best rappers to exist in the genre. That said, the album’s massive wait and hype just wasn’t worth it. People really didn’t know what to expect, and the massive saga that lead up to this couldn’t possibly have met expectations. The music is from an older era, and on a lot of it, you can really tell. Wayne’s rapping is pretty fantastic, and his punchlines and verses are on point as usual. He isn’t really the problem as much as the rest of the album is; dated production, hooks, and features are just a few of the problems I found on the album. It’s a bit sad that this came and went with such an air of general mediocrity around it, because after the saga and the all the shit Wayne went through, he deserved better. Again though, there’s no way this could have met expectations, so in a vacuum - it’s a good album. If this has released when it was originally supposed to years ago, it’d probably be amazing. It’s just in the current musical climate, it feels out of place and dated.

[damnthatnoise]

The Future Is Now | An Interview With Zilla Rocca

Philadelphia is rich with hip-hop history going back to Spoonie-G, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, The Square Roots (The Roots) on through Freeway, Beanie Sigel, Dice Raw, Lushlife and of course the Wrecking Crew’s own double threat Zilla Rocca. With more than 15+ years deep in the game Rocca is approaching the release of his latest and in this writer's humble opinion most impressive album yet via legendary music journalist Jeff Weiss’s POW Recordings with, Future Former Rapper set to drop in the coming months. 

I reached out to the Wrecking Crew, Career Crook, Grift Company Producer/Lyricist to talk about his career, parenthood, how his approach has changed and all sorts of shit in between. Over the course of the conversation I digested the new album and the more I listened to it the more one thing became clear to me...Zilla Rocca is one of the NICEST FUCKING MC’s THIS CULTURE CURRENTLY HAS AROUND! The man has not only studied the greats but he holds tight in his essence the core of what made many of them great to begin with and when you get your hands on this album you will see what I mean.

For now, grab a drink, roll a blunt, and read my interview with Zilla Rocca!

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Damn That Noise:  "Future Former Rapper" you said has taken around 4yrs to create, and in that time you dropped 3 Career Crooks projects, your joint EP with Curly Castro as Grift Company and your "Hard Boiled EP" not to mention becoming a father and husband, and writing for Passion of The Weiss. What was it about this specific album that you really wanted to take your time on, and where do you think you've matured and refined yourself as an artist and man since "No Vacation for Murderers" dropped?

Zilla Rocca:  That’s a great question. All of heady stuff takes me 1-4 years to make for some reason. This album went through a lot of incarnations even though the songs are pretty direct and the conceptual stuff is digestible. When I started making it I decided to record maybe 4-5 songs, play them live, see how people reacted, and then go back and re-record them after doing field research. I’ve never done that before and it was great! Plus as an emcee it helps you catch pockets with the rhymes in a live setting that you might now catch in the booth. 

I think after No Vacation specially I wanted to make more straight forward stuff. I feel like my Shadowboxers projects are ahead of their time and take a minute to digest. Once real life stuff intersected then I really had no time just to experiment and meander with songs. I wanted to get my point across on different types of production on some Danny Brown and Vince Staples steez since they challenge people while being bare bones rappers. The bulk of the album was done before my son was born and his first year I had to pause with all music stuff and just be a Dad and husband. So that year off helped me recharge to do new stuff like Career Crooks and Grift Company.

DTN: I had written about your really growing into an MC who belongs alongside the caliber of folks who came from the DITC era, and you had replied in a tweet saying that you had really been studying those guys for a while recently. What is it about Finesse, Diamnond D, Big L, OC and the rest of the Digging in The Crates crew that inspires your asthetic? You sound like you and not a knock-off, but the essence is there which is hard to do some times....how do you incorporate those inspirations into the process?

Zilla Rocca:  Just being mentioned anywhere near DITC is a blessing so thank you. I feel like DITC is still an all time great secret in rap. I love Wu and Mobb Deep and all the other big groups and cliques but everyone knows them. How many people who love Fat Joe know DITC? I think those guys are incredibly consistent first off which I admire. AG is still great! Showbiz still gets busy. As does OC and everyone else. And their sound has always fluctuated between dark and cinematic but also shiny and bouncy. They could do clubby joints for the car and do headphone cypher riding on the train beats. I’ve been making beats for 15 years and definitely studied their approaches. I told Small Pro that “Good Luck with That” is his Buckwild album. And as a rapper I love Finesse and Diamond D for being so in pocket and dead on with their lines. There’s a beauty to their simplicity on the mic. It’s hard to be simple and dope. Plus Big L was the opposite using 5 syllable rhyme schemes while talking fly street shit. His rhyme structures are like cheat codes. I’m not a die-hard Big L dude but I’ve listened to him for 23 years and his shit is incredibly memorable and catchy. That’s why I did “Lamont Coleman” off Hard Boiled - I had those Big L lines in my head for a week and thought they’d be a great hook. And the beat had that eerie Word...Life/Jewelz feel. So it was the ultimate genuflect to the whole unit.

DTN: We seem sometimes to be in a Renaissance of hip-hop with artists like Armand Hammer's Elucid and billy woods both releasing such prolific group material not to mention solo material, as well as the likes of Milo, Mike Eagle, JPEGMAFIA, PremRock, Karma Kids, Ka, Marci, Westside Gunn and the Griselda fam continuously coming with heat and of course yourself and the countless others dropping really noteworthy albums....do you think we're hitting a creative stride right now that we were worried we might not see again 8-10yrs ago? 

Zilla Rocca:  I think we’re just in a media consumption phase as a culture right now. Binge watching shows. Staying glued to the news all day on twitter and cable. In the past only a handful of rappers were wild prolific like Doom, Kool Keith, Lil B, Lil Wayne etc and it made them stand out. Nowadays people hear your project and say “that’s hot but when’s the next one dropping?” Because people are just consuming endless shit now more regularly in that fashion. I’ve always worked on music and did it damn near every single day from 2005-2012 so once I saw people respond more to lots of music these days, I was game to feed them. I’ve always been diligent with lots of songs on deck so it’s nothing for me to try it this way for now. It’s been highly successful I’ll tell you that!

DTN: As someone who is an artist, and as someone who also writes about music where do you think music journalism specifically online has gone wrong over the last 5-10 years? Blogs at one time seemed like the spot where new artist could be broken and discovered but now most places seem no different than the old pay to play models of old. What do you think killed this?

Zilla Rocca:  With music journalism, it’s just things are always changing. Blogs were a reaction to music magazines becoming corporatized and shitty. Then blogs became corporatized and shitty and streaming took off so they got wiped out. Plus youtube has now been around for over 10 years and people just digest and learn shit from video so sitting and reading something is now a different option for music writing or criticism, whereas in the ‘80s through ‘00s it was almost the exclusive means to know about music

DTN: What about this album was different for you in the approach to bringing it all together? How did you decide on the group of producers you gathered and why them for THIS album?

Zilla Rocca:  I really thought this album would be my last. I was about to be a dad and I didn’t think I’d ever have time to work on music again. So I thought about making an album to capture every era from my career. I started in the early 2000’s doing more experimental stuff. Then did boom nap East coast underground music. Then some artsy indie rock sampling stuff. So this album was about showing off all of that.

So choosing the producers to handle that was the key. Steel Tipped Dove is the bridge between the more loop driven east coast beats on here, from Small Pro, Ray West, Disco Vietnam, and Messiah Musik, to the EDM/trap type beats by Starkey and my man William J Sullivan. I probably started the album with his beats and Messiah Musik’s first then chose beats around theirs. I feel like Danny Brown has been really good at that mixture so I patterned it after Old specifically without doing 2 sides to an album that breaks up the style of production. DTN: Jay is 48, Em is 46, El & Killer Mike are 43, do you see yourself actually becoming a Future Former Rapper at some point in time or do you think that it's just going to transition into a different path of creative writing for you, but keep the same essence?

Zilla Rocca:  There will be a day when I hang it up. Maybe it’ll be when I’m 40? I’ll be 36 tomorrow but I feel energized now with people still discovering me. But once my son gets old enough to play sports I know my time will be even more limited. And I’ll be ok with that. Like I said I really didn’t think I’d be doing music right now a few years ago. But great writers get better with age so you shouldn’t stop if you can help it.

DTN: What inspires 36yr old you now to keep moving forward and creating? If you could sit 18yr old you down and give him advice about what to expect and how to move what would it be?

Zilla Rocca:  I just really do what I like now and I don’t care about what happens after that. If no press gets behind it or If it sells 7 copies I’m ok with that. I’m not as thirsty as I was when I was 18. It’s really just about the work. Since I’ve approached music that way things have gotten easier and I’ve found new fans. I would tell my 18-year-old sell the line I said on “Career Crooks Theme”: nothing comes your way when you chase, best be patient.

DTN: What do you hope Future Former Rapper expresses to the people who take time to sit down and listen to it? What do you want the listeners to walk away with from the experience?

Zilla Rocca:  Phonte described his new album in a way that applies to mine: it’s for people who have other shit to do. I was really conscious about the overall running time and number of songs. Selfishly I just want people to hear it and think I’m a great rapper. If they can relate to some of the topics on a personal level, that’s a win too. It’s really autobiographical and very specific to my life growing up loving rap in South Philly in the 80’s and 90’s. But there’s a song about my wife and son and how they became the first thing I loved more than music. So there’s a lot to digest but I wanted to get in and get out like a bank robbery.

DTN: You have Serengeti, Armand Hammer, Curly Castro and another I know I'm missing on the album as guests... What was it about those voices on this album this time around? I know Curly is a regular voice but why Geti and AH...?

Zilla Rocca:  Castro is the most important voice. I deliberately put him on multiple songs because I wanted the album to reflect my life. He’s my best friend and we talk every single day so his voice should be heavily involved. With Armand Hammer, I’ve been working with Elucid since like 2009. It’s great watching people catch up to him now. Billy woods is one of my favorite rap friends ever so even if he didn’t rhyme on the album I would’ve just called him and recorded him talking cause he’s brilliant and hilarious. With Serengeti, I’ve just been a big fan of dude for years and we’ve been twitter homies forever with lots of mutual friends but we’d never worked together. So I wanted him in the mix because he’s very adventurous and bold while being original. Plus he doesn’t do a lot of features so I feel like it’s special getting him on my album.

DTN:  Why is storytelling such an important element in your writing? Even with your writing being more straightforward you've always focused on telling stories, and your favorite MCs have all been great storyteller... What is it about bring able to tell a story and not just say fly shit that has no real depth that calls to you?

Zilla Rocca:  I think storytelling is hugely important. To me, you’re not a great rapper if you can’t tell a convincing story. I like writing in that form because I’m an avid lifelong reader too. I also like structure and coloring within the lines sometimes and stories make you do that. There’s a beginning, middle, and end. Maybe a cool plot twist. I’ve written a fantasy type of story songs, sports stories, crime stories, relationship stories, and personal stories and I appreciate it when they connect with people. “Time Ran Out” off my new EP “Hard Boiled” is a breakup story and it’s one of the most mentioned favorites which shocked me. I wasn’t sure anyone would like it but I felt like it would break up all the random rhyming and fly talk like you said!

DTN: Favorite rap magazines growing up and why? 

Zilla Rocca:  Obviously The Source. I also loved Blaze Magazine and then later Scratch Magazine. It was a real elation seeing the newest issues on newsstands cause we had to go hunt and search for hip hop back then. It was a secret.

DTN: You've dropped shit on your own label, you partnered with Urbnet for the Career Crooks albums with Smallpro, and now you've decided to sign with Jeff Weiss' newly formed POW Recordings for your latest solo. Why at this stage of your career when you're capable of navigating it all on your own would you sign with a new label, and what is it about Jeff that had you decide to work with him for this release (other than the obvious fact he's a clear champion of great hip-hop of all kinds)?

Zilla Rocca:  I only deal with labels that love the music. I like partnering with people who are excited about the project first and foremost. I just left Toronto where URBnet is located and it’s such a clean and diverse city. Made me realize they really had to love Career Crooks to sign us cause our stuff is gritty and edgy being from Philly, which was not my experience of Toronto at all! With Jeff, we’ve known each other 13 years. I knew of POW Recordings when it was just a thought. His plan was to only sign up and coming cats to help them get shine, not Old grizzled vets like me from the Blog Rap Era on the verge of turning 40 years old. So when he heard the album, he fell in love with it and wanted to be the person who put it out. And I just went with it. It was effortless.

DTN: Thank you for your time my dude, do you want to leave the people with any final thoughts/words?

Zilla Rocca: Check my upcoming album. Check the singles we’ve dropped. Check my latest solo EP “Hard Boiled”, the latest Career Crooks remix album “Thieving as Long as I’m Breathing”, and the Grift Company EP from me and Curly Castro! Psshhew...ok that was a lot. Now, to sign off, peace to everyone who checks my stuff whether you’ve been down since 2008 or 2018. Just you reading this is built off my work ethic and stubborn refusal to quit rapping because I never had a major co-sign or a big manager or was down with a crew that blew up. I just keep doing it year after year so thank you for listening and reading!

Future Former Rapper by Zilla Rocca

[onestowatch]

An Interview With Hippo Campus: The People’s Band

There are certain bands that are meant to be heard live. You are meant to hear the lead singer’s sarcastic quips, meant to see the guitarist’s and bassist’s mid-song guitar duel, meant to feel the lyricism of the songs invade your mind, and ultimately, meant to sit back and listen to some damn good music while it all plays out before your eyes. Indie pop-rock band Hippo Campus is one of those bands, and believe us, they are well on their way to headlining major stages across the globe. 

Self-described as a band “that people really connect with,” Hippo Campus is comprised of four 21-22 year olds: vocalist Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stockar, bassist Zach Sutton, and drummer Whistler Allen. They’ve amassed a strong following over the past three years by dropping a few EPs and hitting the road with bands like Walk the Moon and Saint Motel. 

On March 1, they released their debut album, Landmark. The record is chock-full of catchy tunes that are reminiscent of the band’s signature progressive, sunny sound. Hippo Campus has spent most of 2017traveling for their very own headline tour in support of the new release, but have since postponed shows due to lead singer Jake Luppen’s case of the flu.  

I spoke to Luppen hours before they took the stage in Washington D.C. to discuss their new album, why everyone is so wrapped up in their age, and how they’d like to be perceived as a band of the people.

Ones To Watch: Congratulations on your first album! How does it feel to finally have it out now?

Jake Luppen: It feels awesome. Obviously, we’ve been working on it for a long time. The whole process took 8 months so it feels good to finally have it in the world. It’s definitely a little bit weird to have something you’ve been so close to for so long be available for everybody to listen to, and to gain their own experiences from, but I think overall it’s a really great feeling.

OTW: Let’s go back to the beginning--you guys met at a fine arts high school. Were you in two separate bands at the time?

JL: Yes, Zach and I were in a band called Blatant Youth and Nathan and Whistler were in a band called Northern, and we used to play shows together in high school.

OTW: When did you guys form Hippo Campus? Were you still in high school?

JL: Yes, we were still in high school. I think it was the beginning of senior year when we technically formed in secret actually. [Laughs]. We didn’t really want the other members of the other bands to know because we weren’t sure if it was gonna be a real thing or not, but Nathan and I throughout junior year had been jamming on and off for a while.

OTW: That’s a little scandalous! [Laughs].

JL: I know, it was scandalous. It was terrible when the other bands found out. They found out in the worst way possible, or at least Zach and I’s band did.

OTW: Oh no! What happened?

JL: Zach left his Facebook open, and we had a Facebook group. The other guys from Blatant Youth saw it, and they were pretty upset with us for not telling them about it.

OTW: So you guys formed your senior year. When did you start to gain recognition for your music?

JL: That wasn’t until probably about halfway through my freshman year in college. The local radio station sort of caught on to what we were doing, and they started spinning us, and that’s kind of how we gained some traction in Minnesota. We played a few college gigs too. We were in this one battle of the bands, which we finished second in actually. [Laughs]. But it was mainly the local stations that kind of got us some local attention.

OTW: It’s really difficult to make the decision of choosing to pursue your dreams over your education. What had to happen for you to ultimately leave school?

JL: I was attending the University of Minnesota. I went there for a year and a half, and Zach went there for half a year. Basically we got our first tour offer and I was sitting in a philosophy class, and I remember opening my e-mail and our manager sent over the first tour offer. 

I texted my mom, and I was like, “I like college but I think that I need to pursue this. I think I need to leave and try out touring and stuff.” It all went over pretty well.

OTW:: Let’s talk about the songwriting on the album--it’s really well done. It feels very intricate and thought out. What’s your favorite song lyrically?

JL: I think “Vacation” is probably my favorite song lyrically on the record.

It’s kind of the most raw and the most real. It’s honestly the least thought out, I would say...those were pretty much kind of the first words I wrote. It directly deals with the struggle to write the record and maintain relationships within the band while writing this record, because it really tested all of us. I think it’s just kind of an informative song--you can hear a lot about the record, and the way it was made in the song.

OTW: Is there a particular topic that you like writing about or that you’re drawn to?

JL: I think it varies. It’s all about what you’ve experienced, and what’s honest at the time. I think with this record, obviously we had two years of touring experience after having never done that before. It made that pretty easy to write about on this record. We kind of undertook writing about some social themes, especially with people our age and the way social media influences us. 

That’s another thing we had to immerse ourselves in, is this world of social media--and as an artist, whether we want to or not. We have to engage our fans at this level. So that was definitely something interesting to write about--this world we are kind of forced to be in when we don’t necessarily want to be in it.

OTW: Does anyone else write lyrics as well?

HC: Yeah, Nathan will write lyrics with me.

OTW: The album feel very cohesive but then you have two writers, which can bring up different thoughts and views. How do you maintain that cohesiveness?

JL: We usually split it up song to song, so you can point to a song, like “Monsoon,” Nathan would write the majority of the lyrics to that one. But “Vacation,” I wrote majority of the lyrics to that one, as well as “Way It Goes.” It’s just like that but there’s usually maybe a line or two where one of us will serve as an editor or something like that. It allows things to feel cohesive, but it allows you to have some sort of editor or moderator, and someone to bounce ideas off of which has been helpful. This is the first band where we’ve both kind of done that in, and it’s been nice. 

OTW: I saw you perform at SXSW, and there’s a natural chemistry between you guys and the audience. Has it always been that way, or is that something that has progressed?

JL: I think the live shows have always been our bread and butter. It’s been the thing that keeps people coming back to us. 

I feel like it’s kind of hard to understand what we’re doing unless you’ve seen it live because it’s kind of a different experience. You see a lot of bands that don’t look like they’re having fun when they’re performing, and it just makes it taxing to listen to. A show should be a fucking good time. I mean obviously you should be able to play and be able to perform everything, but you should just be fucking having fun. That’s what people are there for. It’s always been important to us--to have a good time at the end of the day.

OTW: How do you cope with that, specifically as the frontman? Are you an extrovert or an introvert, and how does that translate on stage?

HC: Honestly, I think I’m more of an introvert. I think in my personal life I don’t really have that frontman persona--I really don’t like being the center of attention.If someone had just met us at a party, they’d probably think Nathan or Zach is the lead singer because they’re louder, and I guess they can deal with attention probably better than I can. I can recognize that I can do it onstage--it’s weird. It’s like playing a character. I sort of like play a version of myself.

Photo: Hippo Campus Facebook Page

OTW: That’s why I asked because I feel like you have this alter ego thing going on onstage, and it works really well.

JL: Nice, yeah totally. You kind of have to do that. It’s good to have that separation because otherwise your head could start getting fucked with pretty easily if you don’t have a divide. If you carry this artificial reality that is the stage offstage, shit can start getting super weird. It’s kind of nice to have the divide. I think it’s that for all of us. We have a sort of divide between our offstage and onstage persona.

OTW: Is there any advice or tips that have helped you guys when performing live?

JL: I like the one that goes, instead of talking a lot at our shows, just shut the fuck up and play. I think there’s something nice about that. It’s fun to engage people, but at the same level, sometimes it’s nice to just have the show be entirely about the music, and not be about any single one of us saying weird things. It’s about being thankful to be there and saying that, but I think it’s good advice to just fucking play music. You don’t always have to fill any sort of awkward space with talking. It’s alright to just be present, and hang out and have a good show.

Photo: Connor Siedow

OTW: You guys have played shows with a lot of really cool bands like Modest Mouse, Walk the Moon, and Saint Motel. If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?

JL: For me personally, I’d love to tour with The Shins. I fucking love The Shins. They’re one of my favorite bands. A tour with Death Cab for Cutie would be pretty amazing. Obviously the big ones like Radiohead. They would be an amazing band to play with. Sylvan Esso. We’ve only hung out with them once, but it would be cool to tour with them at some point.

OTW: You guys are playing a lot of festivals this year, including Bonnaroo, FPSF, and Lollapalooza. What’s the highlight of that lineup this year?

JL: I think they’re all going to be pretty awesome. One of my favorite shows we’ve ever done was at Lolla two years ago, so I’m very much looking forward to coming back again. Bonnaroo should be awesome too. It’s our first time. It’s our first time at FPSF too, but I’m really looking forward to Lollapalooza. I think that that should be fucking awesome.

OTW: What do you think sets Hippo Campus apart from other indie bands?

JL: It’s hard to answer this question without sounding egotistical. We occupy this weird space right now. I really want to have a good answer to this question because it’d be good for people to hear it, because it’s like alternative people pigeonhole us as an indie band, and indie people pigeonhole us as alternative. I think inherently we want to be an indie band, or inherently we’d want to be like a press band, but I think that what we’re doing resonates with people, as opposed to like publications or tastemakers or anything. 

We’ve gotten some good press, you know, but I think what makes us different than a lot of indie bands is that it’s just resonating with real human beings on a different level than I’ve seen. If you went to our shows, you wouldn’t expect there to be that many people there, enough people who are deeply affected by it. 

I guess what makes us different is I feel like we’re a people’s band. We’re not a press band, and we’re not really a radio band. We’re just kind of a band that people really connect with, and I’m fucking proud to be that because that’s what is most important. 

Hopefully I didn’t sound too much like a dick. [Laughs].

OTW: No way, that was awesome. I think you summed that up really well. Is there anything now that has to happen for you guys to feel like, “We’ve made it”?

JL: I don’t think we’ll ever feel like that. I think we’re all pretty hungry individuals, so it seems like things are constantly growing, but nothing is really ever good enough to settle on, and I hope that’s something we all maintain. It’s important to not get comfortable. It’s very easy to get comfortable in this business at a certain level but I think it’s a goal to always grow and to always push and stuff because we can always do better. I think we’ve tapped into like 30 or 40% of the potential that we have writing and performing. I feel like there’s a lot of room left to grow.

OTW: A lot of people tend to emphasize your age. Do you think starting out young limited you guys in any way?

JL: Not really--if anything it benefited us. I guess it limited us in the way that every article will start off with, “Fresh out of high school, youngsters..they have a sound way beyond their years.” If I had a nickel for every time that we had “a sound way beyond our years,” I would be quite rich. It’s beneficial in the way it gives us an excuse at times. People are like “Oh well, they’re growing,” which is fucking true. We have to remind ourselves of that. I’m happy people want to write about us, but if we never had another article that started with “local youngsters” or whatever, I would be very happy with that.

OTW: Well shit, that was my headline!

JL: Fuck! [Laughs].

OTW: Who are three artists on your Ones To Watch list?

JL: This band called Whitney are pretty new. They’ve kind of come up as like press darlings. I’m really excited to see what they do in the future. I think there’s a lot of room to grow, and I think they’re a really cool band.

There’s a band from Minnesota called Remo Drive who I will always shout out. It’s like emo rock or punk. Emo revival is the right genre now. Anthony Fantano blogged about them and brought up a few of their music videos that have over 200k views now and shit, so I think they deserve more attention now than what they’re getting in kind of the local music scene, as far as like radio and press and stuff. I think that they’re gonna fucking blow up.

This band called Happy Children is another band too that I think is gonna do really well. They’re great homies, and Whistler actually produced their EP. So shout out Happy Children. Shout out Remo Drive. Shout out Whitney.