The Hit Songs of September 2023

October 20, 2023 ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

Ha! You thought we forgot to do this. And you’d be right. But we’re here now so let’s talk about September’s charts. They were an anomaly this month because first, they were actually pretty good top to bottom and second, they were dominated by the three albums that pretty much charted in their entirety. But by now you know how we felt about the month because you’ve heard the show and then… oh, you haven’t? Well let’s take care of that first and while you do that you can check out my full rankings for the month.

So really briefly, here’s what I do when I review the hot singles of the month. I listen to a song and immediately give it a 0-100 score. Then I listen to the song again, adjust that number and write some notes about it. Lather, rinse, repeat a few times and you get something that looks like this.

Artist	Song	Rating	Notes
Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves	I Remember Everything	83	Feels closer to The Head and The Heart than the mainstream country charts. Kacey takes it to the next gear.
Rod Wave	Nostalgia	81
Zach Bryan	Fear and Friday’s	80
Miley Cyrus	Used To Be Young	79	A lot of nostalgia feels here. I know its a song of personal reflection, but there is a lot to relate to here.
Zach Bryan	East Side of Sorrow	79	I feel like this song would have found its way into an episode of Scrubs if this record came out 10 years ago. That is in no way a bad thing,
Rod Wave	Boyz Don’t Cry	79
Olivia Rodrigo	teenage dream	77
Rod Wave ft. 21 Savage	Turks & Caicos	77
Rod Wave	Great Gatsby	77
Zach Bryan	Overtime	76	There’s the more epic sound of a Mumford and Sons single
Olivia Rodrigo	love is embarrasing	76
(G)I-DLE	I DO	76
Zach Bryan ft. The War and Treaty	Hey Driver	75	Note to self: give The War and Treaty a good listen
Olivia Rodrigo	all-american bitch	75
Olivia Rodrigo	ballad of a homeschool girl	75
Rod Wave	Call Your Friends	75
Zach Bryan ft. Sierra Ferrell	Holy Roller	74
Olivia Rodrigo	lacy	74
Zach Bryan	Smaller Acts	73
Olivia Rodrigo	get him back!	73
Olivia Rodrigo	making the bed	73
Olivia Rodrigo	logical	73
Rod Wave	Come See Me	73
Rod Wave	Long Journey	73
Zach Bryan	Tourniquet	72
Olivia Rodrigo	the grudge	72
Olivia Rodrigo	pretty isn’t pretty	72
Drake & SZA	Slime You Out	72
Paul Russell	Lil Boo Thang	72	Dumb but fun
Zach Bryan ft. The Lumineers	Spotless	71
Zach Bryan	Ticking	71
Zach Bryan	El Dorado	71
Zach Bryan	Summertime’s Close	70
Charli XCX	Speed Drive	70
Kylie Minogue	Padam Padam	70	Fine for what it is a dance track, but otherwise a sugary mess of layers upon layers of overproduction
Tate McRae	greedy	69
Zach Bryan	Fear and Friday’s (Poem)	67
Timbaland, Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake	Keep Going Up	67
Chris Brown	Summer Too Hot	66
Selena Gomez	Single Soon	62
Nicki Minaj	Last Time I Saw You	60	I can appreciate working outside one’s genre or expected output, but this is the first time I recall being bored by Nicki
Young Nudy ft. 21 Savage	Peaches & Eggplants	59	Speaking of annoying, repetitive samples and pretty much nothing else
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion	Bongos	57	It’s really only 2:55? It felt like a year and a half of that sample drilling into my brain

The Hit Songs of May 2023

June 15, 2023 ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

Hey, we’re doing this stuff again! If you’re here, it’s probably because you just listened to our May reviews episode and heard me mention that I posted my full singles list and notes on the website. And this time I really meant it. In case you haven’t me go into details of my top 3 and bottom 3 songs of the month, and Jay and Zack talk about their favorite albums of May, catch it here:

Artist	Title	Score	Notes
Lizzie McAlpine	ceilings	83	I definitely came back to this 3x before I felt like I could grade it. There’s a haunting beauty to its simplicity, even with its upbeat and rather sweet descriptions of being in love and finding someone worth spending time with. I should hate it but I can’t. There’s something in her voice that is enchanting, almost hypnotic here.
Lil Durk ft. J. Cole	All My Life	81	Were you expecting a grand, anthemic, inspirational track from Lil’ Durk? Me either, but this is a very pleasant surprise. And the more verses I hear from J. Cole, the more I like his work.
Kali	Area Codes	79	A more believable sounding Bitch, Better Have My Money. I believe Kali in a way I couldn’t believe Rihanna. Her flow hits as hard as the deep but sparse bass, both are very impactful.
NF	HAPPY	77
Rita Ora ft. Fatboy Slim	Praising You	75	Most danceable of the three 90’s techno re-works this month. I think it’s the best of the three too, keeps enough of the source material while creating a new piece around it, upbeat and fun
The Weeknd ft. Future	Double Fantasy	74	A song as uncomfortable as the HBO series it soundtracks.
Miley Cyrus	Jades	73
Kim Petras ft. Nicki Minaj	Alone	72	Another single using a 90s dance/techno sample…Petras at least writes her own chorus.
Charlie Puth ft. Dan + Shay	That’s Not How This Works	69	The sounds coming out of these three’s mouths should drive me away, but I am hooked in by the writing, taking the formula they usually work in (especially Dan + Shay) and turning it on it’s head.
Fifty Fifty	Cupid	69	Doja Cat quickly got some soundalikes. Not a bad song persay, but someone should really tell this group to develop their own sound if they want to make it past their first single over here.
Lewis Capaldi	Wish You The Best	69	Back to yell-singing I see. He’s not as egregious here, almost like this is Someone You Loved Part 2, where he finally actually accepts that things are over. The angst is still overdriven in his voice but the writing is better, more thoughtful.
Corey Kent	Wild As Her	68	Not quite boyfriend country, a song pining for a lost love so still very much in the country ouvre. Kent’s voice is rather thin and the backing vocals don’t make up for it. The guitars do go a ways towards that though.
Jordan Davis	Next Thing You Know	61	I’m sure this is touching to those people who still feel feelings, but the country trend of writing first wedding dance songs as singles has way jumped the shark AFAIC. Next thing you know, your third album is released directly into the used CD bin.
David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leroi	Baby Don’t Hurt Me	60	Rewriting, or actually adding verses can’t save this reworked Haddaway hit from being just as inane and annoying as the original.
Bailey Zimmerman	Religiously	59	Gotta get that title in the chorus with a crowbar, eh? And why does your break down just sound like your nose is stuffed up?

The Hit Songs of the Summer

September 25, 2021 ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

It occurred to me that I have been derelict on getting my full rankings of the charting single out this summer, which is no good because how else are we supposed to name a song of the summer? Let’s remedy that now that we’re officially into autumn.

June

Roddy Ricch – Late at Night
BTS – Butter
Olivial Rodrigo – brutal
Riton X Nightcrawlers ft. Mufasa & Hypeman
Sofia Carson – Fool’s Gold
Megan Thee Stallion – Thot Shit
Bad Bunny – Yonaguni
Polo G & Lil Wayne – GANG GANG
Jackson Wang – LMLY
DJ Khalid ft. Post Malone, DaBaby, Lil Baby and Megan Thee Stallion
Olivia Rodrigo – hope ur ok
Polo G ft. Lil Durk & The Kid LAROI
Migos – Avalanhe
Anitta – Girl From Rio
Olivia Rodrigo – traitor
Doja Cat – Need To Know
Olivia Rodrigo – favorite crime
Migos ft. Drake – Having Our Way
Olivia Rodrigo – 1 step forward, 3 steps back
Olivia Rodrigo – enough for you
Olivia Rodrigo – jealousy, jealousy
Olivia Rodrigo – happier
Dierk Bentley – Gone
Marshmello and the Jonas Brothers – Leave Before You Love Me
AJ Mitchell – STOP
Chris Young and Kane Brown – Famous Friends
Nessa Barrett ft. jxdn – la di die

July

Dua Lipa – Love Again
Doja Cat & The Weeknd – You Right
Tyler, the Creator ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Pharrell Williams
Tate McRaw and Khalid – working
BTS – Permission to Dance
Rauv Alejandro – Todo de Ti
Tyler, the Creator ft Youngboy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla Sign – WUSYANAME
Normani ft. Cardi B – Wild Side
Billie Eilish – NDA
Maneskin – Beggin’
Coldplay – Higher Power
Dan + Shay – Glad You Exist
Bella Porarch – Build A Bitch
Jason Aldean – Blame It On You
Doja Cat – Ain’t Shit
Cheat Codes – Lean On Me
BIA ft. Nicki Minaj – WHOLE LOTTA MONEY
DaBaby – Ball if I Want To
The Kid LAROI ft. Justin Bieber – STAY
NF – JUST LIKE YOU
Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
Cole Swindell – Single Saturday Night
Post Malone – Motley Crew
Walker Hayes – Fancy Like
Chase Rice ft. Florida Georgia Line – Drinkin’ Beer, Talkin’ God, Amen
Aaron Lewis – Am I The Only One

August

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
The Weeknd – Take My Breath
Silk Sonic – Skate
Lizzo ft. Cardi B – Rumors
Kane Brown ft. Blackbear – Memory
Pop Smoke ft. Dua Lipa – Demeanor
Tones and I – Cloudy Day
Tai Verdes – A-O-K
Lainey Wilson – Things A Man Oughta Know
TOMORROW X TOGETHER – Magic
Aventura ft. Bad Bunny – Volvi
Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood – If I Didn’t Love You
Camilla Cabello – Don’t Go Yet
Farruko – Pepas
Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY
Luke Bryan – Waves
Bazzi – I Like That
WizKid ft. Justin Bieber and Tems – Essence
Maroon 5 – Lost

And after all of that I am calling the song of the summer, which totally doesn’t line up with my rankings at the time but after hearing it a bunch the song for summer 2021 is…

Silk Sonic – Skate

You cannot deny this feel good jam. It should have risen a lot higher up the charts because this song is just too fun to be relegated to just the second single off the Silk Sonic record.

June 26, 2020

July 3, 2020October 16, 2020 monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

HAIM – Women In Music Pt. III (Haim Productions)

First and foremost: there is not a “Women In Music Pt. I” or “Pt. II”. There is a lot of significance to the number “three” here, however, given the three sisters that make up HAIM (Este Haim, Danielle Haim, and Alana Haim), this being their third album, and likely other references that I’m not smart enough to get. Regardless of nomenclature, though, this is a powerhouse of a pop album.

Women In Music Pt. III shines for all of the different areas that it touches and excels in. From a funky beat on “Los Angeles” that would be at home in an early 90s hip-hop track, to something closer to a Fleetwood Mac track (“Up From A Dream”), HAIM hits all the literal and figurative notes.

I refuse to call HAIM a “girl group”, because that would insinuate that “boy groups” are on the same level, which the vast majority are not. The sisters have not only matured their sound, but have truly expanded upon it here. I will be doing them the justice that I should’ve done them years ago, and going back to check out their previous two albums. I know they won’t be as good as Women In Music Pt. III, but they will still be a treat.

FFO: The Aces, MUNA

June 19, 2020

June 26, 2020October 16, 2020 monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Phantom Planet – Devastator (Gong Records)

If you’re like me and you were a huge closet fan (because you were way too old to be an “out” fan) of the teen drama the O.C. in the early 2000s, then you are already familiar with at least one song by Phantom Planet, “California”. This little band actually had 4 studio albums between 1994-2008, but haven’t played together or released anything since. Even though Jason Schwartzman is no longer a band member (fun fact, he was the drummer for the band from 1994-2003), I am still a fan of this band that I have heard dubbed as the kings of “wholesome American Indie”.

It’s always tricky for bands with long spanning careers to release new albums, especially when they have fallen into a strict genre of music. On the one hand, fans expect a sound that they can recognize. We want to be able to turn on the radio and say “Hey, that’s Phantom Planet!” On the other hand, we want something fresh and new, something that doesn’t sound exactly like the previous album from 2018. Devastator does a great job of this on both accounts. Their unnecessary teenage angst is gone (come on guys, you live in California), but what remains is an album of heartfelt melodies, exceptional instrumentals, and an album that I have not been able to stop playing on repeat.

My favorite song on the album also happens to be the first single released: “Time Moves On”. This is a bit of a sad and angsty song (albeit more grown up level angst) about time passing us by and the constant hope for things to change, all the while they just stay the same. “BALISONG” and “Party Animal” both play like upbeat rock anthems, and “Through the Trees” is a tale of accepting heartbreak from a “gated community turf”. “Torture Me”, “Waiting for the Lights to Change”, and “Gold Body Spray” are all also break up songs, presumably about the “devastator” who seems to have done just that.

Overall, Devastator is a no-skip playthrough, an album that will remind you of your emo days while remaining modern and relevant.

FFO: Rooney, Augustana, Neon Trees

May 29, 2020

June 5, 2020September 16, 2020 monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Dive Index – Waving At Airplanes (Neutral Music)

In the past, I have been accused of comparing too many artists to Radiohead, to the point where that comparison loses some meaning. As such, I hesitate to use that as a jumping off point, even when the record is screaming for it.

Dive Index is an L.A. based collaborative electronic project led by producer and composer, Will Thomas. Waving At Airplanes is the fifth full-length album under this name, and collaborators for this effort are vocalists Natalie Walker and Merz. In a convenient arrangement of songs, the tracks alternate back and forth between the two of them.

Stylistically, this is shoegaze electronica at the top of the class. Most of the music is static pulses, electric blips and ethereal, atmospheric chord progressions. Every sound on the album is made using a modular synthesizer, with the exception of the construction sounds that happened to breach the studio soundproofing.

Natalie’s vocals are beautiful and intoxicating, singing about deeply emotional moments of self-discovery, ignorance in relationships, and being absorbed by the things around us. “She’s Exploding”, “Wish I Had A Pulse” and the eponymous track stand out as jewels in this particular display case. Merz’s tracks, on the other hand, are a pretentious word salad that only occasionally stumble across a message. The most egregious example is “Pristine Wilderness”, which makes as much sense as a stroke victim with Tourette’s. His tracks SOUND good, though, and ultimately, that’s what is most important.

This record is definitely not for everyone, but it certainly struck a chord with me.

FFO: Amnesiac-era Radiohead (Sorry. Had to.), Roger Eno, Ian Masters

May 8th, 2020

May 14, 2020September 16, 2020 monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Mark Lanegan – Straight Songs of Sorrow (Heavenly Recordings)

Since the dissolution of Screaming Trees in the mid-90s, Lanegan has pumped out a steady stream of solo, quasi-solo, and collaborative projects. Each of these projects falls inconsistently into the generic and not-so-descriptive genre of “rock”. While some of his work has a definite and undeniable relationship to blues, folk, and shoegaze pop, a large proportion of it is rather tightly related to Leonard Cohen’s brand of nearly monotonous croaking. This places the emphasis on the dark poetry of the lyrics, rather than be distracted by trifling diversions like melody and beat.

Straight Songs of Sorrow is not an exception to this tendency. Rather, it feels like Lanegan digging his heels in, daring us to challenge his brand. His voice is croakier than ever, nary finding a foothold on whatever staggered melodies exist. In most of the tracks on the record, we have a choice to make: do we focus on the poetry or the attempt. When the poetry is good, it’s emotive and colorful and we hear his internal struggle. When it’s not good, it’s super-repetitive and banal, grasping at overused imagery and ‘sung’ with no connection whatsoever.

The musical attempt is pretty typical of Lanegan’s tendency toward slow, three-chord progressions. By itself, it isn’t much to write about, as it relies heavily on a relationship with his voice. When that relationship is evident, it bangs. It’s a vibe that Lanegan has repeatedly dubbed “Dark Disco” in the lyrics to his songs (“Ode to Sad Disco” from Blues Funeral, “Dark Disco Jag” from Somebody’s Knocking).

The big problem with Songs of Sorrow is that the 2 elements rarely line up. When the poetry is keen, the music is dispassionate, and the song falls short (“Burying Ground”). When the music is cool and reaching for attention, the lyrics are rambling and incoherent (“Bleed All Over”, “At Zero Below”). And sometimes neither is there (“I Wouldn’t Want To Say”). The middle of the record has the songs that stick out as examples of what Mark is capable of. For 3 contiguous songs, everything lines up, the clouds allow the light in, and we get to bask in his post-grunge, drug-addled perfection (“Stockholm City Blues”, “Skeleton Key”, “Daylight In The Nocturnal House”).

FFO: Screaming Trees, Afghan Whigs, Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey

April 17th, 2020

April 23, 2020September 16, 2020 monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Nils – Caught In The Groove (Baja/TSR)

Let’s face it: these are trying times. We’re all stuck inside, oftentimes without much to do. Some of us are locked down with significant others, boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wifes, etc. After that 5th or 6th ep of your rewatch binge of The Office, you glance at one another, and it’s time. Clothes go off, deodorant goes on – don’t pretend that you smell good right now – and from there it’s into or onto the bed, the couch, or even the washing machine.

You know what’s missing in this scene? The music, of course. But not just any music; it has to be right. The two of you (or more, I don’t judge) deserve it to be right. And that’s where Caught In The Groove comes in.

I can’t claim to know much about German jazz musician Nils Jiptner, or what exactly he was thinking as he conceptualized this album. Maybe it was an audio illustration of the rolling German countryside, or an ode to the neo-gothic architecture still on prominent display in Munich. Perhaps it was more of a call-to-action, to encourage all who listen to unite and make the world a better place. But regardless of any of that, this is very clearly a sex album for doing sex with other sex-doers.

From the uptempo “Good Times are Better” and “I Like The Way You Do It”, to the slower “My Mornings With You” and “All Roads Lead To You”… oh. I guess Nils knew that he was making a sex album all along then. As smooth as a fine whiskey, and as layered as a fine dip, Caught In The Groove delivers as a complete listening experience. Good luck getting through the whole 12 track ride with your pants on.

FFO: Sex

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