Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well. It's time for a weekly track roundup. My Thoughts, My Opinions, My Feelings, on a bunch of tracks that have just dropped. Whether I loved them or hated them or felt somewhere in between.

Well, worst tracks of the week.

We have a handful of those. They are as follows.

We have a new one from Nettspend, basically big up and comer in the rap underground. If to you, underground means sounds like Playboi Carti. In a word, this is lazy. This is basically the definition of a lazy, very mid-average, distorted, cycling, rage-style production with forgettable flows, forgettable vocal inflections, and timbre. Not a whole lot to it, lyrically or aesthetically. It's very derivative. We'll leave it there. All right.

Also, a new KSI track featuring Trippie Redd, a song that is so obnoxious in terms of its lyrics and forced melodic flows that I didn't even stick around for the Trippie Redd part. This is pretty dismal by KSI's usual standards. A lot of people seem to not really be vibing with it, and I can see why. He's done better, frankly. He's done better.

We also have a new one from Jaden, who is also trying his best to keep up with the rage wave with this distorted little track, "D.U.M.B.", which is actually dumb. I feel stupider having listened to it. It really is obnoxious, and I have no idea where Jaden gets off commenting on anyone's intelligence, frankly.

We have a new one from ian, "End Up Gone". Yeah, this sucks. This is terrible. ian, once again, is just a trend chaser, a wave rider with no real personality or style or anything outside of just looking and being like a regular ass white guy who wishes he was Playboi Carti. It's very basic, it's very plain, it's very average. Musically, there's absolutely nothing special about it. And in fact, I would say this is actually one of the worst beats he's ever hopped on, too. This is literally some basic ass preset shit. What is this? Especially that weird synth, upright bass. It sounds awful. My guy is not even picking good production. If you're going to be so mid that the entire draw of the song is the beat, at least pick a good beat. But ian fails to do even that. So what is even the appeal of music in this lane at this point? The lyrics suck, the flows suck, the vocals suck, the mixes are trash. And now you're telling me the beats are going to be shit, too? Is all of it going to be shit? Is just going to be multiple layers of shit, a shit lasagna? Okay. All right, let's move on.

All right, meh.

The tracks I was basically on the fence with, they're not blowing me away, but they're not terrible either. They are as follows.

Bam, we have a new one from Rachel Chinouriri with Cat Burns in the mix. It's a nice little indie rock ballad type song, but the guitars are a little harsh. I don't know. I feel like the vocals are there and the tune is there, but the production is just okay. I wish Rachel's instrumentals took on a more adventurous direction or something. I feel like something's missing.

Moving on from there, Michael Kiwanuca has a new track out, "The Rest of Me". It's a very soulful, throwback, almost 70s-style singer-songwriter cut. It's pretty while it's on. For sure. But I would say the tune is not necessarily sticking with me or anything like that, but it's got a vibe to it. It's got a vibe, and passionate vocals as well. Michael's usually killing it on the vocal and for sure.

Moving on from there. Next, we have a new one from FINNEAS, who continues to tease toward his new full-length LP. "Lotus Eater", is the name of this track. Again, like some of the other teasers he has given us so far, I feel like the tune is there, but production-wise, it's just not super interesting. It comes across plain, even if the vocal melodies, I think, are slapping. I just wish the production was a bit more adventurous.

We also have a new one over here from A$AP Ferg with Future in the mix. So I actually think Future goes above and beyond, at least by his usual standards, lyrically on this track. Ferg is not too bad either. I love his almost sung little background vocals. It's really Mike WiLL Made-It's beat that I think holds the song back. I think this is actually one of his most average pieces of production in a long time. What does the Mike WiLL Made-It name even mean if you're getting beats as bland as this? Moving on.

We have a new one over here from COCHISE linked up with Amine for this new track, "Nasty", over here. While this isn't necessarily my favorite vibe or style or anything like that, I think Amine brings a lot to this super distorted hype rage type of track, and the refrains are definitely sticky. It's just grading after a while, and I'll leave it there.

All right, we also have Cheekface who has a track over here titled "Flies" that feels like maybe a bit of a leftover from their last album. Not one of their best singles for sure. I feel like they're painting themselves a little bit in a corner vocally and melodically. It just feels like we're getting that usual Cheekface formula, if I could put it bluntly. They're not necessarily giving us anything that's, I guess, top tier with that formula. This feels like, again, a pretty average track for the band at this point with their combination of indie rock and 90s dork pop rock and spoken word and so on and so forth. All right, moving on from there.

We have a Bree Runway with "2BADGYALS" new banger with some almost Sophie-inspired production. Really badass vocals. I just wish it was longer. It's short. It really could use a feature or another verse or a something. It's just a tad too brief, but I do think it is one of Bree's heaviest, darkest, and again, most badass tracks ever. I just wish there was more to it.

We also have one from an up and coming artist who goes by the name of 2hollis. "Gold" is the name of this new track. Now, I feel like as far as, again, stuff that's going in this hyper-distorted trap, auto two-tuned, rage-type direction. This is bringing together a few more different influences. There does genuinely seem to be some hard style or noise pop or even emo vibe is creeping into this track a little bit. And while it's not necessarily blowing me away, there's definitely some artistic merit to what's going on here. The vocal melodies are more coherent, too. It seems like there's actually some conception of something greater than your average everyday Cardi rip-off going on here. So I don't know. I'm definitely going to be looking into more of what this artist does as more tracks roll out for sure. I'm intrigued, not blown away, but certainly intrigued.

Best tracks of the week.

We have a handful of those. They are as follows.

One, new one from The Weather Station. They have a new record on the way. The first taste of this upcoming album. "Neon Signs" is like if you had a young, slightly less angsty Fiona Apple fronting one of those somewhat orchestral, multi-member indie outfits or something like that. And I mean that in the best way possible. It's a very pretty, very captivating song the band has handed over here. And I've never been a big Weather Station guy. I was definitely impressed with this track, "Neon Signs", again, for sure.

All right, moving on from there. Mount Eerie, Phil Elverum, has given us another track from this very fat, very gigantic 30-song full-length album that is on the way very soon. "I Saw Another Bird" is the name of the track. I love the ending lyrically, how it just cuts off with the final statement that Phil makes on the track. It's got some heavy guitars, interesting progressions. It's almost like a little Weezer-esque at points. I'm messing with it. It's definitely an interesting track from Phil, and a bit joyous and upbeat for him. It sounds like he's in a very positive, almost like bright era of his sound, of his career. I'll leave it there.

All right, we have Maruja, who's come through with a new track. The band's usual blend of art rock and punk, and jazz, and post-rock is coming back around again with some intense, insane saxes, great riffs, fiery lead vocals, "Break the Tension", again, the name of the track, a fiery single. It's passionate, it's explosive. The band continues to kick ass, and really looking forward to what they have coming out in the future, considering everything we have put out so far, even including this new random album of roughly recorded jams has been very impressive to a lot of fans who've been following them up until this point on their Bandcamp.

So moving on from there. We also have Machine Girl, who has been putting out some heat in the lead up to the new album that is dropping very soon. "Psychic Attack", I believe, is the closing track to the record as well as the latest single. I recall hearing this track, if I remember correctly, played live when I saw Machine Girl open up for 100 gecs. It was either this song or something that sounded very much like it. And it was like this really speedy, intense fusion of digital hardcore and rock and trance, and the synths were insane, the vocal switch-ups were insane. There's just so many great progressions to the track, but it's super catchy as well. It's just controlled chaos all the fucking way. And again, super just manic, super digital, super almost like rock-oriented and inspired. It's really raw but methodically assembled. I'll say that.

All right. I want to shout out at least one track from this new EP from Haru Nemuri and Frost Children, which is like the most insane fucking unexpected... How the hell did this collaboration happen? "Soul Kiss" is the name of the EP, but what I've been hearing from it so far has been absolutely freaking fire. "Supernatural" is the name of this track, and it's It's like Frost Children has gone back a little bit to their more abrasive electro clash sound, which I've enjoyed. But they have Haru Nemuri in the mix who is very versatile vocally and brings some melodic lines, brings some very gruff and aggressive vocal lines, too. It's absolutely insane, and I'm loving the crossover that's happening here. I did not know that two unlikely artists could meld so well on a new EP of tracks. I'll say that. All right.

Also enjoying this new one over here from Faye Webster, "After the First Kiss", which is a very low-key, lovey-dovey, serene little ballad that I'm loving the lyrics in. I feel like I was not really that into many of the quirkier bits on Faye's latest LP. But I'm really loving this single, though. This is quite the enchanting little love song that's going on here. And again, lyrics, vocals, instrumentation, it's all just pretty, pretty, pretty to the nines. All right, moving on from there.

We also have a very interesting enchanting cover from the one and the only Ms. Ethel Cain, who is actually doing some American Football over here, miraculously, but doing it in a bit of a slowcore fashion. It's the song "For Sure". And yeah, it's a very immersive and beautiful little rendition of the song. You really could soak in this one. I'll say that. But yeah, really excited to see Ethel continue to switch it up artistically and take some risks and just wear some of her influences on her sleeve here in such a creative way.

All right, moving on from there. bbno$ has given us a track that I feel like, formula-wise, is very similar to his last single. So it's like a one, two punch, which I suppose is fitting, considering this track is titled "Two". But it's just very quirky, funny, tongue-and-cheek jammer with a dance beat, and a lot of silly lyrics, and a lot of just reserved but zany vibes. I'll say that. bbno$ continues to kill it with some of these new tongue-and-cheek bops. A

nd finally, shout out to Allie X, who has come through with a really dramatic, wonderful new wave era synth pop, throwback, anthem, "Bon Voyage", with some great lyrics, high drama on the vocals, great synthy, vintage new wave production. It's very well put together, very aesthetic, and I'll say that.

All right, that was your weekly track roundup. Hopefully, you got some good solid recommendations out of this video.

Anthony Fantano. Weekly Tracks. Forever.