April 22, 2025 – Weekly Bullet Reviews
Wow, it’s been 5 months since the last Weekly Bullet Review so let’s just dive right in 🙂
As always, some ground rules:
- These songs are listed in no particular order.
- Basically these blurbs are our rough first impressions of these tracks, so our reviews will be a lot more relaxed!
- Anything released from the past 3 weeks/month is eligible for a bullet review.
- Songs with new, recent music video releases will also be considered for a weekly bullet review.
Justin: Schemey, moody, and James Bond. Wouldn’t be out of place in a lavishly produced spy film montage. Two loops and it’ll be stuck in your head. The bridge and chorus on this track are a killer combo for sure.
Li-Wei: Between the snapping, the lo-fi indie 2000s aesthetic, and the muted, partitioned colors that scream Kelis’ FOOD, Lotti’s “Bring It Out of Me” feels like an indie-R&B delight. There are a lot more jamz (yes, with a z) like these on the artist’s recent debut Casualty EP, but “Bring It Out of Me” is the perkiest, most upbeat of the bunch that sets the tone of the whole project.
Alex Porat – “Better Than That”
Justin: Somewhere between Olivia Rodrigo and Avril Lavigne in terms of getting the love interest back energy. Notes of 2010s electronic-pop-rock tempo. Upperclassman on Radio Disney or a cool new song you found out through your high school’s dance team rehearsals.
Li-Wei: Alex Porat churns out alt-pop hits like it’s nothing, so a song like “Better Than That” is kind of like second nature to her. Between the recently released “Face Like Yours” and this week’s hype “Better Than That,” she’s ready to dominate some summer playlists this year.
Chloe Qisha – “Modern Romance”
Justin: A zippier, poppier, more upbeat version of Rina Sawayama’s “STFU” down to the dating motifs and minus the nu-metal. Offers cheeky vignettes of what “modern romance” implies. Although, I’m unsure of whether it’s a complete disavowal of romantic theatrics or if it wants to be part of it. Either way, same.
Li-Wei: Chloe Qisha is kind of the talk of the town at the moment amongst music critics because she does indie pop so well – synth laden beats, deadpan asides (“Just call me / Call me”), and straight up funny stuff in her songs are pointedly breaking down what it’s like to be a young woman dealing with romance. “Modern Romance” takes those concepts all the way to the barest outline with its lyrics (“I’ll meet your dog / You can meet my parents”) complete with fake laughter during dates (“Ah ha ah ha / Ah ha ah ha / Ah ha oh”) and general sarcasm. I guess there might be wider implications about the song’s title being “Modern Romance” and the video depicting a stereotypical white guy smokeshow as Qisha’s modern love interest (as a Mitski fan I’m getting flashbacks to “Your Best American Girl” lol) but it’s a gorgeous video regardless. Satirical? Serious? Or just fun? Who knows?
Dabin, FrostTop, Tiffany Day – “Summer’s Gone”
Justin: EDM mimicry blitzing with the familiar ratios of 808 acceleration, sentimental vocals, and bass drops. Perfect for festivals on any of the University of California campuses.
Li-Wei: I don’t listen to rave music but I can hear the appeal. Dabin, FrostTop, and Tiffany Day don’t reinvent the wheel here, but they keep the party euphoric on the soaring “Summer’s Gone” – right on time for all these summer raves in the coming months.
Justin: New favorite chanpan track. A bedeviling, dark tune full of undertones and underground inspirations. Jazz club x breakbeats x Spanish guitar ballad with high pressure shifts in speed. I want to be in the stereo science lab watching the band stir the pot. Listen with headphones. Add to your Halloween in July playlist.
Li-Wei: It’s been a while since chanpan’s “election year” blew up my playlists, and “lost & confused” doesn’t disappoint. Every time chanpan has a new song, it seems like they’re playing with new sounds and “lost & confused” lands somewhere between the bright bossa nova hallmarks they’ve used before, trip hop, and a sprinkling of… layered wild Hendrix-style guitarwork? I’d say this one captures the chaos of the world pretty well.
Justin: An entrancing dose of compulsive techno that will grip your antennae and force you to dance yourself clean. SYNC. SYNC. SYNC. SYNC.
Li-Wei: One of my favorite things to do since I’m stuck in the suburbs is to blast club music on my hi-fi system and pretend that I’m partying it up in the city somewhere (one day…). This one fits the bill. “Sync” goes into the rotation, next to Fcukers and aimei 媚.
ROHAN – “I Wish I Could Tell You”
Justin: Sepia toned distant love crooned from 2000s John Mayer, Gin Blossoms and 2020s keshi, and Dominic Fike. Great dynamic effects explored that allow a shifting texture between the vocals and sound fidelity.
Li-Wei: This song is not strictly emo, but I can definitely hear it if ROHAN ever wanted to get long bangs and black eyeliner. Awesome vocal effects here!
Labit – “CLEANING OUT THE FRIDGE (ft. Emily Rowed)”
Justin: Folk-laden, weighty, and evocative. Impressions of church song, porch song, and bar song. Satisfying in its restraint, which colors the song with a particular melancholy of something lost or futile. Gut says this will grow greater over multiple listens.
Li-Wei: This song probably hits harder if you’re in a relationship. Lovely lowkey pop song, though!
Header photo taken from Lotti – “Bring It Out Of Me.”
Check out our other Weekly Bullet Reviews here.