Hi everyone, Worstthony Boytano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it is time for a review of this new Slayyyter album, WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA.

Here we have the newest and I believe third full-length album from West Coast pop singer and songwriter Slayyyter, who is really having an unforeseen moment this year off the raw and organic buzz that was building off of all the singles in the lead-up to this new album, and the final vision that the record itself presents as people are hearing the whole thing. And the lift is sudden enough, I'm sure, to make some people think that Slayyyter is a new face on the current pop landscape.

But she is very much not. In fact, I remember her initial buzz around the late 2010s off of tracks like "BFF" and "Alone"—songs that were cutting edge for their time, for sure. Like if Britney Spears worked exclusively with deconstructed club and glitch-pop producers.

At least that was the vibe of Slayyyter's very solid mixtape dropped in 2019, which was definitely reflective of something in the water in the late 2010s — this slowly growing demand for more alternative lanes in pop music, and a hunger for the aesthetics of the 2000s to be brought back and reimagined in some way. Which Slayyyter was definitely doing in this kind of self-aware, edgy, bimbofication kind of fashion. But as on the money with that style as I think Slayyyter was during that time, she just could not build as much buzz as her contemporaries. Maybe it was funding, maybe it was promotion.

For sure, her public apology for some offensive tweets launched from some edgy stan account I'm sure had some kind of measurable impact. Could have also been her debut, which in comparison with her mixtape had a much less memorable crop of songs. Plus, by that time, hyperpop was very much in full swing, with so many new artists and producers investing in the wave, and all of a sudden it was the coolest thing to be, you know, an underground pop weirdo, which again I think kind of made Slayyyter, despite her potential, another face in the crowd.

And I think this left her with no other option than to embrace her edgier side, which is very much why she is currently reaching a peak with WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA. And this record is being hailed by listeners to be her best album to date, and I don't disagree with that.

Even on a first listen, I was coming away from this album having remembered many more moments than I did on her record, on her second record. And like with her first mixtape, on this project I would say Slayyyter's finger is really on the pulse here. And she's not early this time, she's actually just on time for what this album is doing, I mean. 'Cause here come my least favorite four words at the moment: indie sleaze is back. Indie sleaze, a phrase that somehow means nothing but everybody's saying it like it means something at the same time.

Because, yeah, indie sleaze as an idea was never really quite a thing during the time period that this catch-all term references so heavily, as it's really more of a descriptor for the music and fashion vibes in the alternative scene in the 2000s. And artists like The Dare and The Help and Bassvictim, Snow Strippers are being widely credited for sort of, like, helping to bring it back. And these artists are all cool for sure in their own right, but none of them have been able to capitalize on this moment in the way that a very bold, in-your-face pop star like Slayyyter could.

So with this album, she is referencing this era in a very bombastic way, with its love of indie rock, of synthpunk, of electroclash and French house. And she really chose the perfect slate of guest producers to really help this sound and vibe come together.

I mean, this is easily Slayyyter's best-produced project to date, and I would argue in a lot of ways the production really is the selling point of the album. I mean, the track "YES GODDD," with its pumping beats and dense, sinister chord progressions that rush in on the hook. Then there's this ending on the track that's like a whole-ass Cross [by Justice] ripoff. But it's a very well-done Cross ripoff, I'll say that. But yeah, this track is so loud, so aggressive, so over-the-top, and so thick with sound, it doesn't really leave a whole lot of room for Slayyyter's voice.

Her singing, her shouting, is often buried underneath everything else in the mix, and she's kinda like the least memorable thing about the track. And while many other cuts on this record feature much more prominent vocal mixes, still it's really the beats that are wowing me, whether it's "BEAT UP CHANEL$," or the industrial undertones of "CRANK," which has this wild wall of just noisy synths and distortion, the whole track sounds like a horror movie trailer. I also love the roaring walls of distorted tones on "OLD TECHNOLOGY."

In this album's best moments, it's delivering these 'turned up to 11' electroclash bangers that somehow rock harder than actual rock songs, even the rock song featured on the third track of this record "CANNIBALISM!" – I do have to give it to Slayyyter, though, for really curating a fantastic set of beats, because the reference points and what she's trying to do with these tracks tell me that she is intimately aware of the territory she's claiming with WOR$T GIRL. Be it whiffs of Daft Punk, Crystal Castles, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, DFA 1979, it all leads to a lot of songs that sound like Karen O riffing over Justice drafts.

And look, I like all these things, I like these sounds, I grew up on them, but sometimes it feels like recapturing a specific vibe on this record is more important than actually sitting down and writing a super memorable song, which kinda leaves this record feeling less like an album and more like a mood board. A very good mood board, but like, a mood board all the same, because rarely do I walk away on these tracks being all that stunned by Slayyyter's style, or lyricism, vocal performance. Whether we're talking about the utterly faceless and forgettable "WHAT IS IT LIKE, TO BE LIKED?" or the song "UNKNOWN LOVERZ," which kinda sounds like a 2008 iPod commercial music bed in the worst way.

Conversely, though, I do appreciate the genuine storytelling on the track "GAS STATION" and emotionally what that track speaks to. The desperation, the betrayal, the heartbreak. But sadly, similarly focused moments deeper into the album don't hit quite as hard, whether it's "OLD FLING$," which kinda sounds like a young Charli XCX trying to do an Alice Glass impression while writing about running into an ex, or "I'M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS," which is this moment of deliberate camp gone wrong, as the novelty angle the track takes, to me anyway, is quite obnoxious, and kinda takes away from how good the instrumental really is.

There are also moments that I really enjoy: the hook, and again, what the production is doing, but Slayyyter is just rubbing my face a bit too hard into these bars that are just severe eye-roll moments, whether it's, "He wanna fuck Slayyyter / Richard, we should link later"— we're getting Richard Linklater references in 20-fucking-26 — and also, of course, "I'm doing drugs tonight / ones that I'm not prescribed," which is maybe the most unfunny and unnecessary specification we will hear in a pop song this year.

I am kinda torn, though, because on some of these best moments, they're usually such a thrill to listen to that the lyrics don't weigh them down that much. And look, it's not all bad — tracks like "$T. LOSER," in my opinion, are a flash of genius on all fronts. The instrumental is absolutely crazy, one of the most experimental pop pieces you are gonna hear this year. And lyrically, Slayyyter is actually pulling together some really sticky refrains, and the verses have some genuinely funny moments, too. "I shouldn't be such a hater / if kids are bumping my music, that's a recession indicator." It's kinda like if LCD Soundsystem were a word I can't use here or it's gonna get demonetized.

The closing track "BRITTANY MURPHY" I think is a very solid credits roll moment for the album, and obviously that nod to the iconic actress of her time, who I think represents a lot of the vibes and energy, almost like kind of a brat energy on this record. It does kind of like really point even harder to what Slayyyter is trying to go for here, the vibe she's attempting to evoke on this record. Which again leaves me walking away from this album feeling like, yes, it is kind of just like a very well-constructed mood board. I do like and respect what Slayyyter is going for here, and again, I can't deny the 'best album so far' allegations. But given the amount of hype this album has been driving so far, I guess I was hoping for something that just had some stronger writing behind it and more of a distinct personality.

And look, if you weren't on the front lines for a lot of the music this record is calling back to, I could see why it stands out to you in the current music landscape. I mean, as much as, you know, some of these electroclash vibes have returned, a lot of the records and artists who are attempting, going for this sound and vibe, they're not very good. Slayyyter and her producers are very much leapfrogging a lot of them, even if the lyrics aren't the best, or there's a handful of vocal performances that are kind of repeatable or derivative.

Still, though, I think Slayyyter has very much hit upon something here, and the buzz behind this record will most likely only incentivize her to dig further into these sounds. And given how the best moments on this record came across, I do feel like there is still, like, more potential in, in what WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is doing.

Again, so long as Slayyyter and her producers try to up the ante on the writing front in the future. Which is why I'm feeling about a strong 6 to a light 7 on this one.

Anthony Fantano. Slayyyter. Forever.