The Album Review Club - Week #138 - (page 1790) - 1956 - Soul-Junk

[OB1]

Bit short on time but this week’s album made me smile. Definite 80’s vibe. First track reminded me of Nena (yeah I do have the Red Balloons album).

The album certainly doesn’t creep me out.

I probably wouldn’t buy it but there’s something about it that makes it an entertaining pop album, it definitely has personality.

I’ll give it 7/10.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Bit short on time but this week’s album made me smile. Definite 80’s vibe. First track reminded me of Nena (yeah I do have the Red Balloons album).

The album certainly doesn’t creep me out.

I probably wouldn’t buy it but there’s something about it that makes it an entertaining pop album, it definitely has personality.

I’ll give it 7/10.

And this is what I thought too. It goes beyond run-of-the-mill. Were I allowed to score it I’d give it an 8 because it’s not perfect but it’s chock full of songs you remember and enough varied tempos to stay interesting throughout. The thematics are more a sidelight than a driver to why I enjoy it, and probably carry a special interest to a Yank with an LGTBQ child. I am glad a lot of folks seemed to rate it more highly than I expected. I am happy many enjoy a variety of sub-genres within pop/rock despite our usual and entirely understandable typical foci. Hooks, baby — it’s all about the hooks.

 

[OB1]

And this is what I thought too. It goes beyond run-of-the-mill. Were I allowed to score it I’d give it an 8 because it’s not perfect but it’s chock full of songs you remember and enough varied tempos to stay interesting throughout. The thematics are more a sidelight than a driver to why I enjoy it, and probably carry a special interest to a Yank with an LGTBQ child. I am glad a lot of folks seemed to rate it more highly than I expected. I am happy many enjoy a variety of sub-genres within pop/rock despite our usual and entirely understandable typical foci. Hooks, baby — it’s all about the hooks.

It does have hooks. :)

 

[LGWIO]

Listened again and think I was a little dismissive with the "bubblegum pop" labelling. There is a bit more to it and was perhaps focussing too much on "Pink Pony Club" which was bubblegum and actually became a little annoying.
Will give it another listen tomorrow before scoring, but certainly better than PJ & RH

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Listened again and think I was a little dismissive with the "bubblegum pop" labelling. There is a bit more to it and was perhaps focussing too much on "Pink Pony Club" which was bubblegum and actually became a little annoying.
Will give it another listen tomorrow before scoring, but certainly better than PJ & RH

We will just have to agree to disagree on that last line on both artists.

I'm enjoying my "Coffee" for now, which is more of what I was hoping to hear.

 

[Mancitydoogle]

THE RISE AND FALL OF A MIDWEST PRINCESS

Girl bubble gum pop singers are not a genre I can relate nor listen to.However after a few listens this made a refreshing change. RC Or whatever she’s called has a good voice with a decent range, her lyrics are interesting but I haven’t delved into them as there is nothing that I would have any personal connection to, as the song goes ‘It says nothing to me about my life’ but then most of what i listen to doesn’t .Basically it’s a good pop album with an edge ,I get the Katy Perry comparisons, it’ll be interesting if she goes in more of a TS direction in the future.

It’s actually a enjoyable listen and is quite varied, I really like the first track and a good few of the slow ones especially ‘coffee’

It’s a good surprising pick Foggy, having never heard of her i was expecting a Black Flag sounding band!

Anways back to listening to FUEL


6.5/10

 

[journolud]

They say criticism is an art form. Well I say that but I"ve no idea if "they" say it at all, who they may be or if they even exist. If they don't they should but I could find nothing through a cursory search of google to back up my half assed claim.

I say all that not because I'm about to wow you with a review that is akin to a piece of art, or even just to pad out my review with words that make me sound almost intelligent.

No, I say all that in acknowledgement, and I'm not the first to say it, of some of the levels of analysis that this thread throws up and with no disrespect to anyone else with particular emphasis on @mrbelfry initial take on this album. That he qualified it later by saying it could all be bollocks doesn't matter. Great criticism should offer up insights that change the way you view or understand a piece of art, whether that piece of art is music, a film or thingy, you know, a painting.

All that said and done though mostly we view art through superficial eyes. Or the art we view is truly superficial. It would be easy to dismiss this album as being superficial, coming as it does from a genre that I generally hold no truck with. But doing that would be akin to chucking a tin of paint on a canvas and saying I've done a painting (oh, that actually happens apparently).

As others have said she's got a decent voice, I made an early comparison to Lana Del Ray and there were also shades of Phoebe Bridgers in the better parts. Both of whom I'm happy to listen to an album's worth of. I didn't really get the Lena Lovich comparions but the mention of her has made me think I'll revisit her first album. Ultimately there isn't enough here though too sustain my interest. What I enjoyed on the first couple of listens is now dragging a bit. Femininomenon has become annoying (the first few seconds by the way sound like ELO) with it's changes of tone. I can see what it's supposed to be doing but it's a good song spoiled. I won't do a song by song review but Red Wine Supernova I did like and the contrast between the sugary music and the lyrics worked.

I'll repeat what every male of a certain age has said in that this album isn't aimed at me but it did make for an interesting pick. I can see the appeal to a young female audience, I've no idea if she would appeal to young males, no if my two sons are a typical sample.

It's a safe 6 from me

 

[Coatigan]

An album of two halves. Or two thirds and a third, really. Let's get the bad out the way first.

I maybe should have reviewed this after my first listen. Because after the initial promise of intrigue, I feel like it nosedived like 2015 Bony's form. The added 'quirks' of themes that I thought might form into some type of added dynamic, turned out to be for me just shallow attempts to try give it an edge of some sort. Because it is disguising that, ultimately, as a pop album, the pop songs are as average as they get. I have no issue with the themes, no barrier etc, teen topics written for teens, by teens, has always been a thing. Careers and industries have been built on it. It is the delivery I found a bit flat.

Feminimonimonomoinimon is a fucking terrible song. Then a couple basic songs, some added base, a few sound effects, the odd F-bomb, oooh. Nothing bad, but nothing I would repeat.

Coffee then is a good showcase of what she is capable, vocally and as an artist. Casual is a good song too. Has 'hooks', I can appreciate that. I mean, it is Taylor Swift by numbers, but it is tried and tested, and works. Then back to the average but catchy, with a bit of an 'edge'. HOT is for me the best song of the album, in the sense it is the most honest, in what it is trying to be. Go girl. Then a lana del ray attempt at trying to rough the edges up a bit. Picture you, is as strong a song as Coffee, and as good. Kaleidoscope going down the same route, and in fairness showing there is more to her than trying to make just a pop album. Kudos. Pink pony club is a good song. I found myself a bit saturated at that point, but I think starting the album here it would be a damn strong opener. Then a bit more of the same, throw in California as a bit of a musically richer curveball, and finish on another of the same.

There is conflict in this album. And I do like conflict. What I initially thought would be conflict between overt themes and poppy music, for me turned out to be a conflict of the type of music she wants to make and whatever is pushing her to make something 'more'. In either direction, tbf. I split it into, on side 1, Casual, California, Picture You, Coffee. And on side 2, all the rest. Maybe she just wants to do side 2, but is compelled/pushed to offer the rest to her ability. Or maybe that's what she really wants to do, but is compelled/pushed to do more sellable teenpop. Who knows. The dynamic is somewhat intriguing, but as a whole I don't think it is that strong musically. Where she/it (the album) is clever is offering a bit of both to curtail boredom. A whole album of 'side 1' might be preferable to some, but imo wouldn't be strong enough to meaningfully sustain it. The same can be said for side 2. She has cast her net wide enough. It would be interesting to see where she goes next.

This album is no worse or weaker imo, than Katy Perriy's first album, and she is now a star. It is also no worse than that Last Dinner lot's debut, which has been highly praised and heavily pushed. Has weak bits, has strong bits, has hooks. I have given better albums than this a 5, yet I feel there is enough here, even on half of it, to give it a 6, so that's what I will go with.

 

[mancity111]

I think this is an album that I could get to like more as time passes by which is often the case for me albeit on the flip sides there have been albums that initially make an imprint but gradually slip away but the limit and inevitability of time at this juncture as mentioned earlier places it for me in the good to listen to category without exciting me enough to grave for more. I certainly will listen to more of her material in the future to determine whether the hype matches her obvious talent and ability to write a good pop song or whether the machine wishes for her to appeal to the masses beyond the sensibility does just that. The machine is always looking for the next Katie Perry which isn't necessarily fair on this artist and I think she can carve her own niche, A 6/10 for me.

 

[threespires]

Enjoyed this pick, as much for finding out a bit about someone who’s huge but I was completely unfamiliar with, as for the album itself.

I’ve been educating myself by watching the now ‘famous’ Tiny Desk concert and reading and watching a couple of interviews and the bit I find most interesting is the adopted persona vs. the underlying artist. She’s hardly the first to have done this but there are a number of interesting aspects in her case.

Firstly, the Tiny Desk Concert...she’s a decent singer though I wouldn’t say she’s particularly exceptional. I preferred a number of the arrangements on this mini-set, stripped back as they were. I think Rob would approve of the dialling down of the digital vs ‘real’ instruments. With the music stripped back, I also wanted the overall aesthetic to be dialled down too as for me it slightly got in the way. I realise this is to stunningly and utterly miss the point, but I add myself to the list of ‘not the target audience’ and it was just the way I felt. What I thought was really interesting is in this performance you could at times hear the roots that she’s felt necessary to put some distance between in order to be herself. Shorn of some of the digital gloss I think underneath you can hear some country sensibilities. Going back to the album it struck me that Red Wine Supernova was a couple of minor tweaks away from being a great line dancing song!

Which brings me to the most interesting part, which is the difference between Chappell and Kayleigh and what it means for where she heads next. I watched a couple of interviews, one with Jimmy Fallon where she was in the Chappell persona and one with a guy called Tom Powers(?) where she was pretty much Kayleigh talking about her career and the persona. They were like night and day. The Fallon interview was simpering vacuous nonsense to the point where I couldn’t decide which of them was the most annoying. To give her the benefit of the doubt I’ll assume her approach was a deliberate response to the gibbering Fallon. I’m giving her that benefit of the doubt because, in what was an interesting and insightful Powers interview, she came across as a thoughtful and reflective kid. She talked about which tracks were simply ‘bubblegum’ and which she hoped had a bit more to them. She talked about the persona and how it came about and what it does for her. She still came across as quite young for a 26 year old; but I think that might have more to do with my outdated FOC perspective of what a mid-twenties person ‘should’ be! Added to the existing comparisons, watching the second interview I thought of Tori Amos too. Not so much in a direct musical comparison but more in sensibilities.

There’s quite a lot of contradiction in play with her, which is not necessarily a bad thing but some something that I imagine she’s conscious needs to be managed. One minute it’s just a mask and a job, the next it’s clear it’s been an important part of her establishing her own identity. Add in the fact that social media hyper-accelerates the parasocial interactions and relationships with a heavily invested fanbase and the consequent potential for backlash (which apparently is already happening to some degree) and, depending on where she wants to go next, you can see there’s a potential minefield to navigate.

Anyway, back to the album which I’ve previously commented on. Overall, I don’t think it’s worthy of the level of hype she’s receiving (not necessarily her fault) and it would benefit being edited down by around four tracks. Nonetheless it’s listenable and shows quite a lot of promise IMO.

I’m very glad for her that becoming Chappell has allowed her to not just move forward as an artist but as a person too. Whether or not Chappell continues to serve a useful purpose going forward remains to be seen. Either way, I hope she can grow as an artist because I do think there's some potential there for her to be more than the run of the mill.

6.5/10