Hey, hi, hello everyone. Anthony Fantano here, internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for another Weekly Track Roundup. My thoughts, my opinions on a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so because it has been a minute since we have done one of these. So there is a little bit of catch up to do, but not too much.

Okay, let's kick things off with the worst tracks of the week.

Starting off with this Yeat song, "Million Dollar Minion." Yes, Yeat doing yet another tie-in with the Minions franchise. And this time it's a lot less interesting, a lot less cute, and a lot more cringe. I don't know what he's doing right now. His last record was basically a bad Kanye album. Where are we at with Yeat at the moment? I'm just kind of confused.

After this we have a new one from Stray Kids, "RUN IT." I don't know who showed their producers terrible stomp clap music, but that's pretty much what this new sound and direction sounds like on this single. They've made better tracks in the past for sure.

Now we have Sombr over here who's coming through with what is essentially a mediocre Coldplay song, "My Body Isn't Ready." The lyrics are very personal, deal in love, romance, physicality. I would say body dysmorphia to an extent. I don't mind the theme of the song, it's just the vocals and the production are very tacky, are very derivative, are very uninteresting. Which is weird because Sombr was originally coming from this place of kind of like lo-fi indie. And while I do think an improvement in production value was definitely necessary and a good thing, his music has only sounded more and more anonymous and uninteresting as he has grown into a more mainstream aesthetic, unfortunately.

We have after this a new one from Loathe, "Fangs," is the name of the track. I see why a lot of fans are liking this. The riffs and mix are heavy as hell, but with the clean vocals sounding the way they are, this just feels like a Sleep Token song to me. I can't get into this. This is not my thing. I mean, obviously with that band and similar groups, frankly, being as popular as they are right now, there's an audience out there for it. It's just not me, frankly.

Next we have Katy Perry, who is really trying to make a comeback here on this new "Watch It Burn" track, really trying to, I think, show fans that she's ready to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. But her anthem, or attempt at doing that, is essentially a bad Kelly Clarkson mom rock song. Yeah, this is not going to get any lift long term, in my opinion. This is not the new chapter. This is not the new era. This is not going to return Katy Perry to her former glory. This is just unfortunate and disappointing.

We have over here Gracie Abrams, who still can't really manage to develop a song that does not sound like a lesser, more watered-down Taylor Swift track on "Look at My Life" over here. New single from her, pretty bland, pretty boring.

And Corey Feldman hitting us with "What Am I Here 4?," a very strange kind of like arena rock tune that almost has like a Gary Glitter kind of thing going on at the start. But then it kind of heads into '80s hair metal anthem territory and it ends up sounding a lot better as a result. It's rocking, but it's still pretty goofy as it is a Corey Feldman song.

Meh

The songs I was on the fence with, you might like them more than me. I'm not completely downplaying or counting out these tracks or anything. Just wasn't super crazy about them. They are as follows.

We have a new one from Yard Act over here who I think are going in a little bit of a '90s alt-rock Britpop direction on this new single. I see why the band is trying new stuff and attempting a different direction here, given sort of the lack of lift on their last record. The songwriting isn't too bad. I just think this isn't like fully my cup of tea as far as like, a rock style. But believe me, again, it's not bad for something in this lane. I've heard way worse music trying to bring this era back, that's for sure.

We have also Sleep, who is, I guess, rolling out their first new music without Matt Pike in the mix. And, while I understand that the band has been on and off, there's been a long hiatus; The Sciences, I thought was a really great comeback project, but, who knows? People could still kind of be in their feelings or want to go in different directions creatively. So the band is continuing without a core member. And, that doesn't mean you need to come through with a track that essentially has little to no guitar in the mix whatsoever and essentially sound like a stoner rock parody of its former self. I mean, is the bass great? Are the drums great? Is there a groove there? Like, is the essence of Sleep there in some capacity? Yes, for sure. But it's not quite as good as it used to be, even in recent years, honestly.

We have Rolling Stones who have hit us with a one-two of a couple of new tracks, an A-side and a B-side, "Jealous Lover" being one of them. It's very odd. I feel like these two songs are almost like reversed to me in some ways. I really enjoy the verses and then hate the chorus on one, and I really love the chorus and hate the verses on the other. Again, especially Mick Jagger's falsetto at this point, I think is, very difficult to take. Look, the band is for sure rocking harder than any group is ever going to at their current age. There's no debating that. But, the songwriting and I think the way that they're bringing different aesthetics and sounds together could use a little bit of work. I'll say that.

We have also Quadeca who has hit us with this new "Baby Steps" single, which I'm not too crazy about. I mean, it feels almost like if you took a Tracy Chapman song and tried to turn it into a chill, vibey, college campfire acoustic jam. Not a mix of sounds or energies that I'm like really looking for, though I do think the tune at the core of it is not too bad, frankly.

We also have a new one over here from Miss Julia Holter, who is of course bringing some beautiful spacey enveloping and enchanting aesthetics per usual on this new cut over here. Though I will say, song structure-wise, this "Fantasy" track is a little all over the place. You do have these curious opening passages which are again really mysterious, but then it kind of pops into this drum-backed dream pop section that feels completely disconnected from everything else, then returning later back to its sort of original form. It's an odd shape, but, there are some pretty moments on it for sure.

Going on from here, we have a new one from GloRilla and Pooh Shiesty, the former of the two sounding a lot better and more confident on the mic than the latter. Loving the smooth bass line on this instrumental as well. At this point, I feel like GloRilla could just continue doing tracks by herself or just collaborating with the other girls out there who are doing just as good stuff, if not better.

And we also have a new one from Future, The Real Me, new record from him. "Radio" is the first single and it just kind of sounds like your average Future song. I feel like this record could have dropped on any number of albums he's released over the past 10 years and it would have sounded more or less like everything and anything else he was doing. It's just kind of like a paint-by-numbers Future track at this point. No more, no less.

We've also got Chelsea Wolfe, who was coming through with a double single, "The Dark" and "Death Is Not the End." Chelsea, very clearly with these tracks, going back into more of an acoustic and singer-songwriter era, which believe me, this is far from the first time she has put together a project that leans more into acoustic guitar. Historically, these records have not been my favorites in her catalogue, honestly, but they usually are still very solid and respectable and continue to put on display her versatility as a songwriter. I think at the end of the day, I'm going to continue preferring kind of those heavier moments or even the interesting trip-hop experiments on her last record. But, these two tracks are still not a bad listen. And I know when it comes to this slow, heavy, patient goth rock, some people do prefer a little bit more of an acoustic touch in that sound. And Chelsea is most definitely bringing that in these tracks.

We also have Alex Cameron, who is coming through with "Jesus Never Had No Porno," which, you know, lyrically as a premise, I feel like is an idea that is maybe too goofy to kind of like get into the vibe and the essence of the song. It feels like a little bit too much of a tongue-in-cheek kind of concept to generate a song that is actually compelling, unfortunately, as much as I have kind of enjoyed Alex's past work a lot, a lot, a lot.

Best Tracks

Let's move into the best tracks of the week because we have quite a few of those to go over as well, starting with this fun, silly, playful little horsegiirL remix of the Wet Leg song, "CPR," which I think brings out the zaniness of the track with some great dance beats to boot.

Following this, a shout out to Tiffany Day, who has collaborated with the one and only, slayr, on this track, "CONSTANTLY." I feel like if anything, this song sort of shows how much creative overlap these two have, and they really bring the best out in each other on this track. Some rage vibes, some hyperpop vibes. It's really a killer track.

All right, moving on from there, we have Steve Lacy, who has collabed with SZA on this brand new track over here, "is it cool?" Very rough around the edges beat that I think signals to Lacy's kind of lo-fi DIY homespun roots. But I really like how kind of raw and confessional the song is in terms of cheating, messing up relationships, being a kind of unreliable lover. And SZA's contributions to the track are really nice too.

We have also a new one over here from Russian Circles, one of the heaviest singles I think the band has ever put out; "Empath" is the name of the song. It's just an absolutely crushing, sludgy mix, with some beautiful instrumental metal that I think a lot of you are going to get something out of.

We also have "Voyager," new album from PJ Harvey, who is taking us on a bit of an Odyssey-type sound and structure. The atmosphere is going crazy. PJ's vocals sound as good as ever, and the synths are quite fantastic too. Liking the direction here. Bold, bold move at this point.

We have a new one from No Cure over here. New-ish one. I liked this track quite a bit last week. The breakdowns are crazy. The pinch harmonics are insane. The vocals are absolutely bestial. "Slowly Turning Blue," it's a nasty track. Really looking forward to It Is Going To Get Dark for sure.

We have a new one over here from Frost Children, who post having worked with Kim Petras on her latest record, are now dropping a new EP very soon. And this first taste of it, of course, is jittery, is hyper, is over the top. It's bringing back Y2K pop vibes, but with like a really hardcore aggressive dance edge. Some of the hardstyle drops on the back end of the song are really scratching a certain part of my brain that I deeply appreciate for sure.

We also have a new one over here that I'm really liking from EsDeeKid. Finally sounding great, sounding punchy, sounding lively with these cleaner song mixes. "RockWave" is the name of the song. It does have a bit of a rock edge to it I would say, solid flow, solid bars. While I do wish there was more maybe of an anthemic chorus to it or something like that, EsDeeKid is still sounding more and more confident on the mic with each new batch of singles.

We have a new one over here as well from Dev Lemons, who seemingly has kind of given in to the alt-rock '90s shoegaze pressure that I feel like a lot of artists in the underground are playing toward right now, but the production on this "eat the pavement" track is actually super good. And I think Dev's, sort of childish, eccentric, and strange vocal inflections on the song bring it a bit of an X factor that a lot of artists who take this kind of a very sleepy affectation approach don't often have. So at least she's kind of switching it up, shaking it up a little bit, not completely doing a paint-by-the-numbers song in this style.

We also have "Wink Wink," new one from Charli XCX. I think my favorite of the three singles so far. We actually do get some beefy beats and bass in the background of this one. And I think the humor on this track actually lands and the chorus is actually quite snappy too. Maybe it's a little bit of, I think, a moment where you have to truly be into Charli as a persona to admit what she's trying to confess and convey on the track. You know, who's to say? This album could pop off commercially, could be one just for the real heads. We'll find out.

We have a new one over here, or newish, again, from, of course, Channel Tres, "Black Techno Guy." This track dropped back on Juneteenth and is obviously a very kind of like self-aware bit of meta commentary, but simultaneously it's a genuinely catchy song too with some fantastic production. Very housey, maybe more house than techno in the grand scheme of things, but still a fun one from Channel Tres who continues to be one of the more underrated dance producers out there today.

We have after this, Carly Rae Jepsen who is sounding absolutely fantastic on this new single over here, "On Wires." Rarely has Carly sounded so soulful on the vocal end, or has her production sounded so heavy and crushing on these choruses, really going for something a little vintage, a little fuzzy, a little thick. I'm liking what she's doing here. She's taking to something in this style really well. It almost feels a little Alabama Shakes adjacent, I would say, but not in a dismissive fashion whatsoever, I make that comparison. Really surprised by the direction of this and even more kind of curious as to what this new album cycle for Carly is going to hold, especially with it being kind of presented up front as like a double LP.

We have also Phoebe Bridgers who has returned with "Lost Boys" and is sounding really amped with, I think, her most anthemic single ever. Loud instrumentation, big horns, lots of guitar layers, lots of vocal layers, some tragic depictions of somebody who is very volatile and not quite as mature as they should be in the lyrics. Phoebe, I think, putting one of her punchiest singles forward ever in her entire career and sounding good doing it.

And, finally, shout out to Beabadoobee. And I am by no means a big Beabadoobee fan historically, and, you know, for sure she is definitely staying very firmly in kind of this '90s revivalist lane. But rather than giving us some very watered-down grunge pastiche, we're actually getting some interesting synced up guitar lines that tie in very tightly with the drums, and some vocals, lead vocals, that are actually a lot more expressive than what I think she has put forward in the past. So really looking forward to hopefully hearing a somewhat bolder Beabadoobee in this new album cycle for this record, Pylon, over here. "Sun Has Set" is the name of the track, just to say it.

All right, and Weekly Track Roundup is in the can, y'all. Thank you very much for watching. Hopefully you got some good recommendations out of this list, and I will see you in the next one.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks, forever.