Woo! Hi everyone, Anthony Fantano here, internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. And it's time for a Weekly Track Roundup. My thoughts, my feelings on a bunch of tracks that have dropped over the past week or so.

That is what we are going to do. I got a bit of a tear in my eye because I'm just so emotional about telling you guys what I felt about all these songs that dropped over the past week. And here we go...

Worst tracks of the week.

Without any further ado.

Starting off with this new one, "Changes," Tommy Richman. God, this single is awful. Like, not only does it have a corny, mind-numbing hook, the production is terrible. How has this man's production not improved since "Million Dollar Baby?" And I can appreciate maybe attempting a bit of a lo-fi thing, if that's like really the lane that you want to operate in. But like, the textures aren't even good. It just sounds flat, boring, cheap, uninteresting. I can't believe more than one person was involved in this song.

Moving on from there, we have "Origami," new one from Kesha, which I honestly cannot stand lyrically. While I do vibe with the sentiment of the song, it's a bit too on the nose, and it's got this like terrible over-the-top, like, millennial kind of sentimental ballad type chorus, which I don't really feel like is fitting for a song that is blindingly horny. But, you know, that's just me. All right.

And we also have this new one from Dabo, the Jane Remover diss track, of course, which is absolute frickin garbage. Just garbage content, garbage vocals, garbage production, garbage person, garbage all around. Take it out in the trash. Don't even recycle it. Just put it in the landfill and forget about it forever. All right, moving on from there.

Meh...

The songs I was on the fence with, but still thought they were worth shouting out. They are as follows:

We have a new one from Yard Act over here, UK rock and post-punk act who have a brand new album cycle on the way. This new song over here is very heavy, very dark, very grim. Didn't so much care for the melodramatic heavy passages of it, but I still think there's like some potential there for sure. And I liked the content of the song lyrically, seemed like one of their more kind of thoughtful tracks and certainly a reflection of the times. I'll say that.

We also have a new one over here, which I am a little on the fence with, from Turnover, "I See You and Realize." It's a bit of a jangly kind of pop rock number, which is okay. Fine while it's on, but didn't really stick with me all that much.

We also have one from Tkay Maidza, who I think is very much kind of coloring by numbers with this new track. The combination of pop and dance and trap and that sort of thing. I feel like she tends to do it well, even on this track, "Pressed," but it felt a little short and a little predictable for her.

Moving on from there, 2Slimey as well, I feel like is kind of succumbing to a bit of a predictability factor on this track, "Kno You," as well, as far as experimental noise and rage fusions go.

Also this new Skrillex track over here, which has multiple collaborators on it and is titled "Smoke," is not too bad. You know, it's a good decent drop. I think it would work really well in a DJ set or as a transition moment or something like that, but as a full track, it's not that mind-blowing.

We also have La Roux who is very much doing the usual La Roux synth pop thing on this new cut. Nothing mind-blowing, but it is solid all the same.

Moving on from there, an artist who I'm not really familiar with over here nabbing a Fred Durst collaboration and feature of all things on "COME SAY SUM." Lauren Sanderson, again, not an artist I am familiar with, but when it comes to kind of doing this tongue-in-cheek version of this sort of like, hokey nu metal over-the-top kind of thing, I will say, there is an appeal there. It's very fun, it's very entertaining. I think Fred's verse does weigh it down a little bit because it, it kind of like takes the joke into legit corny territory where it becomes difficult to stand. But, I think Lauren had some very smart, funny intentions with this crossover for sure.

We also have Kim Petras over here with "Jeep," hitting us with an acoustic cut in the lead-up to the new album, which personally I found a little underwhelming. I think the punchier and poppier numbers that we've heard so far are really sort of where it's at, while this one is kind of falling a little short and could have used maybe more variety across its runtime to keep it engaging.

And Kelela over here hitting us with a new track, which I think could have been longer and more developed as well, "linknb" is the title of this one, but still looking forward to this like new era for her, for sure.

We also have ear, of course, with "Ne Plus Ultra," which is a new track from them. A group that is like really on the come up and generating a lot of buzz right now, although yet I have not heard anything that has like really excited me, honestly. While I do really appreciate the very clear influences coming from artists like Postal Service and XX and all that kind of like lo-fi indie-tronica from the late 2000s and early 2010s, the production is there, the attitude and mood are there, but I'm yet to hear a song from this outfit that actually sticks out to me or leaves an impression on me beyond sort of like, you know, the vibes that are clearly being captured by the production itself.

And Charli XCX, brand new track, "Rock Music," brand new era, I'm presuming as well. That is, if this song isn't Charli completely taking the piss. I feel like there are a lot of fans and haters alike who are seeing the very clear humor in this track and wondering whether or not this is going to lead to more songs in this vein. I've even seen some people say over the weekend, this is Charli keeping the rent low and sort of like burning off fans or something. I'll say myself, it's not a great rock song. I think it could have been better with a stronger bass line and some actual like drums kind of filling in the backbone. The guitars are there. I think some of the humor is there. The tune is there, but it just feels a little hollow and too much like I'm listening to a skit. Might work better in the context of an album though. We'll see.

Best tracks of the week.

Best ones, ones that really stuck out to me, they are as follows. Here we go.

We have a new one over here from The Last Dinner Party, "Big Dog," just hitting us with a loosie out of nowhere, which is pretty sick, pretty cool. It's glammy, it's rocking, it's energetic, it's over the top. I'm loving it. You know, it's that usual Last Dinner Party magic.

[This new] Rolling Stones track... because they have a new album on the way. And this song over here, "Rough and Twisted," is a wild, just balls-to-the-wall blues rock performance that is just all over the place. And damn, these guys sound really friggin' good for their age. They're all like, what, 100 to age 110 between all of them? That's like the age range of the Rolling Stones right now? I mean, look, they sound amazing on this track. Again, it's hard-hitting, it's energetic, it's banging. I'm kind of excited to hear if they're gonna kill it on this new record, honestly. Just fingers crossed; we will see.

We have JPEGMAFIA over here, "War Over Land." I'm enjoying this song a lot more just on its own as opposed to the music video it was attached to. I can really kind of appreciate what the ending, kind of the big crescendo finish is doing without kind of the chopper sound effects filling up the mix and everything. It's a very dramatic number for Peggy. It's got a pretty predictable and usual flow from him. But I like the progression. I like the chords that I think are quite theatrical and beautiful. And the way that it builds in a really kind of noisy, abrasive way toward the finish, I think is a nice touch.

We have a new one from Kurt Vile over here, two for two with the teasers. I'm enjoying Kurt Vile more than I have in a minute. "Zoom 97" is the name of this track, and Kurt is just really killing it with some loose, fun, casual fusions of indie, folk and country and rock. It's very chill, it's very nice, it's very enjoyable, you know. It's just chill dude music all around, and it's well written. It's got a little bit of a subtle bit of swagger that I very much appreciate. Shout out to Kurt. Philadelphia's been good to me. New record on the way.

We also have Iceage hitting us with another banger single. This one is a wild rocker with a ton of energy to it. Definitely one of the gutsiest songs the band has dropped in a minute, and I'm excited for Iceage to be smashing it once again. Honestly, the band is sounding better than they have in a long time.

We have Father John Misty hitting us with a single out of nowhere. This new one over here, "The Payoff," is a really dramatic buzzing number with a thick wall of sound that stays engaging and highly textured throughout the entire track. Beautiful tune. Again, very heavy, very dense number.

Also enjoying this new one from Converge, second single from their forthcoming record this year, second album they're dropping in 2026. Hum of Hurt is the name of the album, and I was kind of on the fence with the first track as it seemed a little toned down for Converge by their usual standards, which is not that toned down at all. This one over here, while I do think it has a clarity to it that some songs lacked on their latest record, which I did love their last record, I think the performance is a little more ferocious on this track. I liked it quite a bit more, honestly. And "Doom in Bloom" is the name of this one. Two Converge albums in, in one year is, is crazy, honestly.

And, finally, shout out to Boards of Canada, who are teasing fans with another taste of the forthcoming album, Inferno, their first record in years. "Prophecy at 1420 MHz" is the name of this track, and the project is like really feeding into, I think, like the visions and aesthetics that people sort of naturally associate with Boards of Canada, like VHS tape aesthetics, that sort of thing. It's very synth heavy, it's maybe a smidge John Carpenter. It's like very soundtrack ready. It's very dramatic. It's even got like some deep, strange vocal passages that like fit the track really well. It's an interesting number and, you know, sort of sounds again quite like a movie. And I'm excited to see how many other tracks on this record will sort of like further bolster that, that vibe and that sound.

But yeah, there you go. Those are all of the tracks for the weekly track roundup this week. Hopefully you got some good recommendations out of this video. You're the best. Thank you for watching.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks, forever.