Hi everyone, Ohthony Boytano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well, and it's time to do a bit of a Weekly Track Roundup, catching up on a couple of songs that dropped previous to this week, but for the most part, per usual, this video is just my thoughts on a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so, whether I loved them, hated them, or felt somewhere in between. That's the point. That's the deal.

All right, let's get into the tracks without any further ado.

We have the worst ones to start, of course.

Kicking it off with this new Portugal. The Man cover of "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters, which is weak as hell. The vocals are not prepared for the ascending, descending lines on the chorus. It's just not a great performance of a song that I just don't know if I care to hear in this context, even if it was pulled off relatively well. But, you know, amen to Portugal. The Man for trying.

We also have Chief Keef and ian over here collabing on this "Video Shoot" track where they are very much not trying. They have little to no chemistry on this song. No fireworks, no excitement, no nothing. The instrumental is okay. Again, if you kind of like that kind of loose, classic Chief Keef drill sound, it's here a little bit, but believe me, you're not going to be favoring this over anything on his like classic mixtapes or even some of the more experimental works on his recent albums, for sure.

All right, meh, the songs I was on the fence with.

They're not terrible, but you might, you might, you might, you might, you may like them more than me. I thought they were still worth shouting out. They are as follows. Here we go.

Rick Astley, '80s, pop phenomenon, Rick Astley. He has a new single out titled "Waiting On You", where he gives a pretty strong vocal performance for somebody who is up at his age. And it's got some big drums, some huge orchestrations and string sections. It's very dramatic. It's very dramatic. Nothing new that I guess I could say in terms of it aesthetically or in terms of vibe. It's very familiar in terms of like a late-era songwriter you know, big production kind of piece, but still, it's pulled off pretty well and the vocals are much better than maybe one would expect.

We also have The Pussycat Dolls who are back with "Club Song". Kind of sounds like a Neptunes-influenced 2000s club banger. It's okay. It's fine. The production, again, is there for sure, but I wish the vocals were stronger. Vocals were never really Pussycat Dolls' strongest suit, and they're still really like the weakest link in the chain.

We have over here also a new track from MIKE and SURF GANG. Earl Sweatshirt's gonna be on this forthcoming double album as well that they're kind of coming together with. "Minty" is the name of the track. And, you know, I'm liking the production switch in terms of like, you know, this being a slightly more danceable instrumental than maybe one might expect from MIKE. It's got a great start. MIKE is relatively high energy at the beginning of the track, but then it just kind of trails off as it kind of goes on. It, you know, just doesn't really have a strong finish or much direction once it kind of establishes itself. I don't know if there's really too much to say about it beyond that. Just feels like kind of low effort to my ears, frankly.

We also have Kacey Musgraves, a track called "Dry Spell". It's literally about what you think it's about given the title. She is lonely with a a capital H, as she says on the track. And look, I like the tune. I think the production is decent, certainly sounds more well put together than some stuff she has, you know, put out since she has kind of broken into the mainstream and become kind of a country crossover. You know, I think it's just that overall, it's a little underwhelming. You know, the lyrics are clever, there's a sense of humor to the song for sure, but, you know, am I going to be coming back to this one before I hear the entire album? Probably not, though again, it is nice to hear Kacey's sense of humor for sure.

We have Cheekface who's hitting us with "Hostile Street". I do like the hostile street furniture lines on this track, but between the wicka wicka hits and the super bright vocals on the chorus, which are just searing, it's a very grating song from Cheekface, frankly, though I still do appreciate the fact that they are one of the more unique bands out there on the indie circuit currently.

We also have Bebe Rexha, who's hitting us with this track featuring Faithless, or, you know, in tandem with Faithless. "New Religion" is the name of the song. It is a very by-the-numbers dance pop song with some moody production. There's not really anything super special or memorable about it. It's very blasé.

We also have a new one over here from Beabadoobee, The Marías on the track as well. It is a dreamy bedroom pop number with some shoegaze allusions here and there. Not too bad, but I wish there was more bite to it.

And here we have the best tracks of the week.

They are as follows.

Shout out to YG, "STATE OF EMERGENCY", another West Coast banger from him. Dude's recent single run has really been pretty impressive to my ears, even if he has had to push the new album back a bit. It seems like it's finally going to be coming out in 2026, and I'm very much looking forward to it, especially since it seems like he's getting a little more conceptual for this one, for sure.

We also have Thundercat teaming up with WILLOW on a new track, another single from his forthcoming album. "ThunderWave" is the name of this new one. They have some beautiful vocal chemistry between WILLOW and Thundercat. Spacey production too, which is incredibly tasteful and has a lot of depth. I'm liking this one quite a bit.

We also have a new one over here from Robyn, another single, "Blow My Mind". I'm digging this one as well. Heavily treated vocoder-type vocals, lots of dance beats, very sensual, like you would expect from an album titled Sexistential. Still wasn't crazy about the title track as a single, but I'm enjoying pretty much everything else from this forthcoming album for sure.

We also have, interestingly, almost like a bit of a heavy industrial-influenced pivot from Portrayal of Guilt on their newest tracks, namely "Human Terror". It's a lot groovier than their stuff usually is, but also, you know, really kind of maintaining the super abrasive, super noise-laced, heavy, extreme metal sound which I typically dig from them. Really looking forward to their forthcoming LP for sure.

We also have Modest Mouse, who are back with a track that is much more listenable than anything on their last album. "Look How Far..." is a little short, is a little, uh, too brief in my opinion, but I feel like this track has the directness, the groove, and the punch of anything that, you know, is like a highlight off of Good News. But it has kind of like that noisy, wild, out-of-control guitar work that makes records like Lonesome Crowded West so good. So it's a very interesting mix of vibes on this one. It's actually working. Isaac's vocals are quite over the top as well, in a way that I really enjoy. It sounds like Modest Mouse are on the mend with this new single, at least this one anyway. Hoping that continues on subsequent teasers.

Moving on from there, Lip Critic, who I am also very much enjoying on this new "Jackpot" single, have almost like an industrial hip-hop flavor blend, I would say, on this track. The beats are crazy, the vocals are over the top. Dare I say it's a little Death Grips influenced, but, um, you know, still has a kind of a dark electro weirdo wave thing going on. I would even make some comparisons to The Garden, uh, as well. It's, it's got an interesting mix of sounds to it for sure. It's— I'm really enjoying this new era for Lip Critic. They're doing some mind-bending stuff.

Also enjoying this new one from the Lemon Twigs. I mean, you know, it's your typical throwback Lemon Twigs fare with the Beach Boys influences and so on and so forth, but there's some killer chord changes, key changes, some amazing vocal harmony work, especially in the last leg. The band just continues to pack a ton of detail and a lot of amazing musical little harmonious layers into a very short period of time. And it's a very enjoyable, catchy, snappy song all around too. Again, "I Just Can't Get Over Losing You". Really looking forward to their forthcoming album.

Also looking forward to the next Iceage album because they are back with their first single in years. And this one is sounding pretty fantastic, frankly. It's wild, it's jangly, it's out of control. Super expressive vocals from Elias, of course. They are sounding better than they have in years. Really the best since [Plowing Into the Field of Love]. This is the most I've been excited for one of their records since then, frankly. So I'm really, really, really amped for Iceage to make a bit of a comeback here.

We also have Hellripper over here, "Mortercheyn" is the name of their new single, and this project is a really great black metal project with some impressive, fast, intense drums, killer guitar riffs, multifaceted song structure on this track as well. The vocals are really throaty and searing and hellish and demonic. Really loving the energy on this. It's got, you know, that kind of classic Blizzard-type spacey lo-fi black metal sound, but the performance is like killer, like really virtuous playing all around between everything on the track, frankly.

All right, moving on from there, we have Corrosion of Conformity, who, frankly, are still killing it to this day after all of these years with this new track over here, "Gimme Some Moore". Loving the heavy riffs, loving the expressive vocals. The band is sounding as badass as ever, frankly. Looking forward to their new album cycle too.

We also have Blood Command, who made one of my favorite singles last year, this Mariah Carey-referencing metal track titled "Mariah's Song". They have this new Wet Death EP out now. "Wet Death" is obviously kind of the lead track from it. And yeah, it's got some really heavy passages, some kind of harmonious, cleanly sung passages that have like these pitched harmony layers. It's a very dynamic and colorful, short, punchy little metal track that is all over the place, showcases a lot lot of different influences. Very versatile band, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where Blood Command takes it from, from this EP.

We've also got Bleachers, who miraculously have — well, I don't want to say miraculously, because I feel like Jack Antonoff through Bleachers are always good for like a couple of singles at the very least, but they're usually so good they have me excited for whatever, you know, the forthcoming album is. This one over here, I guess is about a true story, a true experience of Jack at his wedding. And there were a bunch of sort of like just lookie-loos who were there. "dirty wedding dress" is the name of the track. It sounds like what you would get if an indie singer were backed by the E Street Band. It's very fun, it's very narrative, it's very energetic, and it's very theatrical, I would say.

Also enjoying this track from Black Country New Road, "Strangers", that I want to shout out from this HELP(2) compilation from War Child Records. It's a compilation, the proceeds go to children who are suffering the effects of living in war zones, Brian Eno compiled the whole thing. It's got a star-studded track list of amazing musicians, everybody from Cameron Winter to, again, Black Country New Road is in the mix on this thing, Depeche Mode as well. Listen, there's a ton of names on this thing. Look up the compilation. It's worth your time, it's worth your focus, it's worth your money. Everything from it goes to a good cause. Big, big, big, big, big, big, big shoutouts to this HELP(2) compilation.

All right, moving on from there, just a couple more. Want to shout out this "Mata Zyklek" track from Angine de Poitrine. They're an experimental rock duo with psych influences, prog influences, and they showcase some really amazing chemistry and songcraft on this lengthy winding, again, prog-y track. The drums, the guitar work are really killer. You know, fans of groups such as King Gizzard should take notice of these guys for sure. I know they've been going viral on short form as of late as well because they, you know, happen to wear some pretty interesting outfits when they perform. But yeah, really looking forward to their next record that is going to be dropping very soon.

We have Spirit Adrift who has this new track out that comes from their forthcoming album that I'm really looking forward to. It's very heavy, very chunky, beefy doom guitars, clean expressive lead vocals that have almost like kind of an Alice in Chains flavor to them, I would say, very '90s coded I would say. The track, of course, is the title track to this album, Eternal Celestial Energy. So yeah, it's a very heavy kind of multi-phase track. A lot of beefy riffs. It's got some great grooves and some killer production for sure.

And shout out finally to 8485, who has come through with a little Lily Allen cover for "The Fear". And, you know, obviously there's a lot of Lily Allen fans that are going to prefer the original, but I will say, as far as like 8485's kind of futuristic pop stylings go, she very much made the track her own for sure, which I very much appreciated.

And that is going to be it for this Weekly Track Roundup, everybody. Hopefully you got some good recommendations out of this video. You're the best. Love you a million.

Anthony Fantano. Weekly Tracks. Forever.