Sam Schube : Here’s a Google Trends chart mapping the rise and fall of the phrase “emo revival” over the past five years: Best Top 40 Admission of Deep, Relatable Anxiety: “Issues,” Julia Michaels Without diluting the message of a record saturated with Black Panther imagery one bit, Algiers turned out a banger, an outburst of joy born out of confidence that we’re stronger and more numerous than the bad guys and will therefore prevail. The chorus, however, is … well, let me put it this way: If the Antifa spring semi-formal had a big dance number like the American Bandstand bit in Grease, this is what would be playing in the background. The verses feel angry, ominous, and convicted, like if Rage Against the Machine’s kids were raised by Interpol or Franz Ferdinand. It starts out feeling like a throwback, with the distorted bass of turn-of-the-century mainstream alt-rock (but in a good way) and the pressing urgency of mid-2000s post-punk (which happens when Matt Tong, the best thing about Bloc Party, is your drummer). That’s why the title track off Algiers’s new album, The Underside of Power, is so impressive. It’s tough to be good at both, particularly as today’s politics demand good protest music not only as a means of persuasion or a call to action, but as an emotional release, a musical scream into a pillow. Social commentary and music sometimes mesh like chocolate and peanut butter, but frequently one has to get mashed up to fit the other. Michael Baumann : Message music frequently sucks, partially because it’s earnest and the more earnest art is, the easier it is to mock, but also because it’s a compromise. Which is not, as she once hilariously insisted, a “Backhanded Compliment.” But on this year’s excellent Trophy, she unveiled her weepiest broadside yet. Rob Harvilla : Texan singer-songwriter Sunny Sweeney, architect of sublimely weepy and/or sassy jams like “From a Table Away” and “Bad Girl Phase,” has deserved more attention, more breathless accolades, and way more country-radio airtime for years.
Best Old-Fashioned Country Tear-Jerker: “Bottle by My Bed,” Sunny Sweeney Look, it’s no “A Million and One Questions” or The Dynasty “Intro,” but … I get it now. By the time we arrive at the sweetest of bridges - “Look Mama, you made a star!” - I wanted nothing but success for this young man and his family. When Yachty croons “Tryna figure out why these n*ggas mad at me,” I had to pause and ask myself that same question.
No, it’s not his bars, but his aura - guileless, earnest, and joyful. “Like a Star” did, however, crystallize for me the reasons Yachty is so endearing to many. I won’t say that the Teenage Emotions opener completely converted me from Boat skeptic to Boat fan, or even that I think it’s his catchiest or best song. Of course, Hov repeated this trick over umpteen summers of dominance, while our Most Vilified Rookie has only one, much-maligned album to his name.īut that first song, though. Donnie Kwak : There’s at least one thing that Yachty and Jay-Z have in common: Both the King of Teens and the King of Olds believe in starting an album off strong - if not with a bang, then at least with a convincing mission statement.
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