November 7, 2024 — Weekly Bullet Reviews
Yeah, what a week. *gestures broadly at everything*
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: On a supersonic freeway somewhere to the liminal center of our universe, this track plays. Its zibbity, zoobulon, arpeggiated synth sounds would be perfect in your local Eurodance club once the drugs hit. Techno decadence. Would also be perfect in Jet Set Radio.
Li-Wei: Ominous, brooding techno with a breathy chill. Equal parts catwalk bounce and upscale film score. If you’ve ever watched Davy Chou’s stunning Return to Seoul… it would be really easy to hear this track fitting into one of the many club scenes.
Georgia Dabbous / Priya Francis – “Sleeping Over”
Justin: Tropical moods coalescing on a strongly delivered R&B banger. “The girls, the girls, the girls” is such a catchy lyrical hook. Georgia Dabbous provides us a confident girls night indulgence whether that means going out or staying in.
Li-Wei: This one’s for the girls!!! Georgia Dabbous and Priya Francis are throwing a slumber party and we’re not invited 🤪✨👏. It’s interesting hearing Priya Francis, who we’ve covered before for her various folksy, singer-songwriter pop, appear on this R&B pop track, but you wouldn’t know it since she’s right at home here. Both Melburnians have lots of fun trading-off verses on “Sleeping Over,” (“Do not disturb me I’m out with my friend / Yes, it’s the one you said don’t see again” is a favorite) and it’s a shame that the party’s over after only two minutes, right as it’s heating up.
Justin: A neo-soul groove shepherded by Keoni Usi’s low-lovelorn vocals. Focused and bass-driven, this track finds friends with the likes Omar Apollo and Daniel Caesar. Hits different for your brand new car with subwoofers. Hits perfect on that “long ass drive back home.”
Li-Wei: How can you stay mad at Keoni Usi with that voice??? “air it out” sees its vocalist winning back his bae with a slinky R&B serenade, and honestly, it’s working. SoCal sunsets, top-down cars, and palm trees are the vibe, and I want to swim in the bliss. Fans of RINI, you’ll probably want to check this one out (makes sense, cause he’s listed as a co-producer here along with Snaggle Owky).
Justin: I was a big fan of Pastel Sky’s “Hanap” from earlier this year. The Pangasinan based band is keeping the irons hot with “Lila”, another solid indie dream pop cut that finds the perfect contrast of tight shimmering instrumentals with undeniably luscious vocals that keep you hanging on each note. Keep Pastel Sky on your watch list!
Li-Wei: Pastel Sky has been invading my YouTube algorithm for a few months now, and when I finally gave in and listened to them I can see why (damn you algorithm gods and random bands that Justin made me look up!!!). There are wonderful dream pop earmarks here, featuring jangly guitars, a smooth vocalist, and airy synths. For even more fun, watch the music video, which captures the retro-looking CRT-TVs from back in the day. I definitely don’t speak Tagalog, but that won’t stop me from singing, “Langit na lila / Bukang-liwayway paalam na” every time it comes up in the chorus. (sorry in advance, Justin)
Justin: That trumpet! That quirk! With “Sundog”, Nightjars is on a high concept island between Sufjan Stevens and Perfume Genius. Two minutes is all Nightjars needs to elicit a mountain of musical ideas on this sharp-witted personal anthem of gender expression and affirmation. “Everything I told that doctor was a fiction / My body’s not a boy for me to have a crush on” is stunning writing.
Li-Wei: “All that said, this is the first time that I’ve felt calm…” Nightjars, the baroque folk project of Adrian Matias Bell, ends his latest song “Sundog” on a tranquil note. Though he’s noted on a recent Instagram post that he doesn’t want to be “pigeonholed or tokenized” when he writes about “queerness and transness” (so please forgive me for mentioning it), “Sundog” speaks true to his specific experiences – pointed lyrics like those in the first verse are hard to separate from his identity and it’s achingly honest. Absolutely gorgeous, detailed storytelling makes the song here.
Also, side note, that wandering trumpet has got me feeling some things.
Justin: Effectively made me feel like hypochondriac with a thankfully effective release through an amazing chorus. The way this track transforms like a molting snake made my spine tingle and hands clam up immediately. “Endless range” is the operating lyric that describes the mystery box of musical influences it must have taken to bottle up in this track while still maintaining its structural integrity. I’m hearing Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, Mitski, and Utada Hikaru? It’s like a Michelin star-rated listening experience with textures from singer-songwriters, R&B, jazz, and experimental pop. HUNJIYA stands out this year as a deeply considerate, exciting, and challenging artist with this one.
Li-Wei: I honestly haven’t been keeping up too much with HUNJIYA (Alice Kim) after we named her debut album Look After August one of our favorite albums of 2019 (still holds up!), but a few seconds into “hypochondriac,” I was brought right back to it. HUNJIYA has made quite a few moves since that album’s release, but the roots of this song – dramatic and sweeping ebbs and flows of sound, gorgeously layered vocals – are once again on full display here, albeit with some extra thumping production work. The subject matter of the song, which finds HUNJIYA missing someone, goes about it in some clever ways. Bonus points for the gorgeously shot music video and the godlike wish-granting tree that it features.
PS: At one point, HUNJIYA asks, “Is it cruel of me / To pay for happiness?” No lie, I bought an In-N-Out burger and fries on Monday literally just for the serotonin kick… so if you ask me the answer is no! Buy that happiness! But I’ll let you ponder that question yourself.
Justin: Pop punk forever! A successful palimpsest of Paramore, Neon Trees, and that ilk with high energy electricity coursing through its angst riddled black painted nails. Olivia Rodrigo fans who are looking for something more substantive to dig your vampire teeth in, Phoneboy is it.
Li-Wei: This is exactly the kind of music that I was looking for when I was a teenager! There’s an angsty emo energy that gushes out of Phoneboy’s “I Look Alive,” and it’s made even better by the band’s raucous nature and blown-out energy. Propelled by keyboardist Jordan Torres’ growling vocals and supported by usual vocalist Ricky Dana, “I Look Alive” is an instant emo anthem – Paramore, Pinkshift, and Meet Me @ The Altar fans better take note. This song seems completely different from Phoneboy’s back catalog (their other stuff is more along the lines of The Happy Fits, who I also love), and I’m very curious to know if this is a directional change for them. More, please!
Also, I would literally go to a Phoneboy concert just to scream, “I look alive / BUT I FEEL LIKE SHIT” during the first verse. Who’s with me?
Header photo taken from Phoneboy – “I Look Alive”.
Check out our other Weekly Bullet Reviews here.