Okay, hey, hi, hello everyone. Anthony Fantano here, internet's busiest music nerd, and it is time for yet another Weekly Track Roundup.

My thoughts, my feelings, my emotions on a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so, uh, whether I loved them or hated them or felt somewhere in between, it's all linked down below for you to check out for yourself.

And worst tracks of the week.

Worst ones. We have a couple, we have a few.

Bam! Starting things off with this brand new Strokes song, "Falling Out of Love," a track that is actually more than a week old at this point, but I didn't mention it the last Weekly Track Roundup because it is so bad I erased it out of my memory out of respect for The Strokes' older work. Not only is the song— the songwriting on this track mid-tier by Strokes standards at best, but Julian Casablancas' insistence on using just horrid amounts of autotune on his voice with some falsetto that is really grating on the ears pretty much makes this song 120% unlistenable. I don't get what the band is doing on this. It's not like they haven't used, or Julian hasn't used, auto-tune before in contexts where it is interesting or appropriate to some degree. But on this track, on the last Strokes single too, it just doesn't make sense. It doesn't complement the song. It doesn't complement the production.

What is the point? What is the appeal of this? It's a total and complete mess. Toss it in the recycling bin. I don't want to think about it until I have to hear the whole album again. All right.

Yes, new Osamason, "off that!" which is pretty boring, frankly. Not only boring, but for whatever reason, he's hitting the mix with like these inflections that make him sound like SpongeBob. I don't really get what's so exciting about that. I, you know, understand this particular shade of hip-hop is supposed to be really noisy and cacophonous and really harsh on the ears. I get the thrill, I get the excitement, but the SpongeBob inflections are not really doing too much for me, frankly.

And Lola Young puts forward, I think, a pretty underwhelming spacey ballad on "From Down Here." Honestly, was hoping for something a bit bolder and more brash with this new album cycle, but that doesn't really seem to be coming through, especially on this cut over here, which almost feels like kind of a watered-down, overly sentimental millennial-type ballad. But you know, that's just me.

Meh.

The songs I was on the fence with, I didn't love them, but you might like them more than me. They are as follows.

First off, we have this new one from Vince Staples. The Cry Baby record is on the way. I really did love Vince's first single from this new album cycle, "White Flag," over here. I'm not too crazy about instrumentally, even if I do mess with the message of the song overall. It's kind of interesting to see Vince embracing more of a rock direction on the production with this record. However, this particular beat feels like something I could have heard off of like a Foster the People record like 10 years ago. It's just not really my sound regardless of what context it's presented in. I just find it to be very, you know, kind of like bland as far as any pop-adjacent rock instrumentals go, and we'll leave it there.

Also not really too crazy about this new one from slayr. I feel like pretty much all the tracks from the recent deluxe expanded edition of his latest mixtape, which I loved, like, run this track, "Homerunner," into the ground, like no question whatsoever. I do appreciate, continue to appreciate, the way that he sort of like melds together elements of emo and rage and pop punk and a host of other things. But I just don't really get a whole lot out of this track.

We have a new one over here from Muse, which surprisingly was not that bad. I mean, per usual with the band, they are maybe doing just a little bit too much, but the really awesome kind of guitar arpeggio layers throughout much of the song are very epic and, you know, I think are quite the thrill. And yeah, you know, it's just a very nice over-the-top, well-produced little rock song and we can leave it there.

We have a new one from Mike D of Beastie Boys fame who's starting to put out some solo stuff. "What We Got" is the name of the song. And while I do think the production is amazing, like really classic, Beastie Boys sort of sound. However, Mike is approaching this track vocally as he would any other Beastie Boys track, in my opinion. And kind of hearing that style, that sound, that routine done just by simply one guy, I just feel like doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. There's clearly a lot of like production talent and artistry and ability going into this sound. I just think that if Mike wants to push things in an interesting direction, he's gonna need to switch it up at least a little bit, or kind of find what's going to make him sort of distinct as a solo artist. This is coming from somebody who's been a longtime Beastie Boys fan. I'll leave that there.

We have a new one over here from Machinedrum, which has some really awesome kind of clubby beats at the backbone of it. But I felt that the kind of bit-crushed squishy vocal samples that had kind of like a washy low-quality MP3 sort of aesthetic to them, took away from the song's appeal. Ultimately, I feel like it would have been a lot more beautiful if, you know, some of these samples and vocal touches were just a little more clean and placed into the mix a bit more sensibly. But still, some stuff to enjoy there from "Bounce n Slide."

We also have Lizzo and Sexyy Red, the song, "HOES" from Scary Movie. It's obviously a tongue-in-cheek song. They're being silly. They understood the assignment. Don't take it too seriously. It's ridiculous. It's a good time if you're not overthinking it. It's not mind-blowing or anything like that, but they're clearly just jerking around and being ridiculous.

We have a new one over here from Getdown Services, who I've been looking forward to some new material from ever since that "Radiator" track, which is a really fantastic piece of underground, scuzzy, almost post-punky rock music. This track over here from them I found surprising. "I Can't Die Like That" is almost like if you had an indie, weird English version of like a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. It's got like a bit of a backwater, southern rock quality to it, but also sort of not. It's an odd mix, one that I don't know if I'm like totally crazy about, but it is unique. I can't say I've heard too many songs that have exactly this vibe. I'll say that for sure.

Best tracks of the week.

We have some of those to go over. They are as follows, bam.

We have Xiu Xiu who are about to drop a project celebrating the music of David Lynch's Eraserhead. And of course, with that, one of the teasers to this record is their very low-key, harrowing, and still minimal version of "In Heaven." And yeah, I mean, in pure Xiu Xiu fashion, they creeped the hell out of this one. I personally feel like it works, but, I know it's not going to be for everybody.

We have a new one over here from Wiki, who drops a really contemplative track about, just kind of chilling in the park. It's a very beautiful slice of life kind of cut. One of my favorite rappers out from New York right now, and he has a new album on the way very soon. Looking forward to that.

We have also Westside Cowboy, really what a lot of people are saying is kind of like the band that is next up in the windmill scene right now. They just dropped a recent EP that had a lot of quality tracks on it. They have a new album on the way in August, "Kick Stones (The Boys)," is the first taste of it. And yeah, it's just a really good quality rock song that has a bit of an indie and an old school kind of an indie punky edge that I really appreciate. The band is sounding solid right out of the gate with this new record, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

We have also over here Channel Tres, who I think has dropped one of his funkiest singles ever on "Pop Pop." The grooves, the vocal charisma, the low-key vibes, just everything about this thing, the bounce, the bass, it's really incredible. It's truly incredible. What a great vibe, what a great energy. I think one of the best productions he's ever come out with, point blank period. And a little bit of a switch up from the typical house vibes that we get from a lot of Channel Tres tracks as well, with again, like I said, the huge funk influences going into this track and being embodied so well.

We have also Sweeping Promises who come through with one of their loudest, rowdiest, almost kind of like a pub rock kind of tune with some very gruff, growly lead vocals, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. I feel like Sweeping Promises are an underground band that's been trying out a lot of different kind of underground rock sounds across their singles over the last several years. And this one, again, being one of their most explosive and aggressive cuts they've ever dropped that I thought was really fun to listen to. "Shooting Shadows" is the name of it, and they have a new project on the way from what I understand.

Also, Olivia Rodrigo. Olivia delivered on this brand new track, title track to her forthcoming album, The Cure, which is also matched with a really impressive music video. But yeah, it's a very powerful, emotional acoustic rock ballad with some elements coming from Foo Fighters, a little Smashing Pumpkins in there, a little Elliott Smith in there, a heart-wrenching vocal performance, some pretty thoughtful lyrics too, a 5-minute runtime with a really sort of epic and well-executed progression that comes to a really strong climax in the finish. I'm liking all the influences, I'm liking the layers, I'm liking the emotion of it. Olivia did really well on this one in my opinion.

We also have a new one over here from mary in the junkyard, liking this kind of low-key, chill, groovy, almost beautifully eerie spin they have on the indie sound on this "New Muscles" track. Really looking forward to the record they're going to be dropping this year off this and a few other singles that they have out right now.

Liking this new track from Lido Pimienta, who I think is giving a sort of art pop flair to a Latin pop sound on this "Tóxica" track, which I think goes over really well. I feel like her vocal chops can be heard in their full form on this song as well, which I think is always a beautiful thing given just how amazing of a vocalist she is. I feel like there are a lot of people out there who don't quite appreciate how good of a vocalist Lido is, truly and honestly.

And The Garden have hit us with a new song as well, and this one is all over the place. Totally insane cut. Wild bass lines, heavy beats and these strange sort of sampled vocal passages that transition into these shimmering, almost like shoegazy walls of noise and guitar. And despite the fact that all these sounds and influences are coming from wildly different places, the progression and the transitions all culminate into a track that is just surprisingly cohesive. The Garden stays just nearly impossible to pigeonhole, I will say, with these new cuts. They're ever-evolving, ever-changing, are never doing the same thing twice, in my opinion.

We have also a big butt and a big banger over here from Big Freedia with some Sophie production on this track. Holy crap, this track rules! Holy crap! Not only do Big Freedia's refrains go insane on this song, but the Sophie production— I didn't know there was still Sophie production like this hanging in the vault. Like, are there more bangers like this in the vault? Oh, please, because if they're— they need to see the light of day. Anyway, what an ass shaker, what an energizer. Just amazing, amazing, amazing energy all around. Like, one of my favorite singles of the year so far, point blank, period. I will say that.

And finally, last one, Charli XCX, "Spring Summer '26," new single from her. Liking this one quite a bit more than "Rock Music." Not as audacious by comparison, but doesn't really feel like it's like completely trying to take the piss. Actually feels quite like a serious song, pop tune with some moody guitars mixed in there. I do wish it came to a stronger climax in the end, but I really do kind of like the sentiment and the message of the song. And I do think there is a really hooky refrain to it as well that I think is quite nice. Charli's vocals on it play well too. It's tasteful, it's sleek, it's got that little kind of like lo-fi guitar rock magic to it.

Again, was hoping for some more bass, hoping for some more drums, but you know, maybe this is going to be her rock record, but taking more of a minimal approach given the production sound of this, this song and the previous song too. I guess we'll just have to see. But there we are, two singles in the can from Charli so far in this new album cycle.

And that has been the Weekly Track Roundup, everybody. Thank you very much for watching.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks Forever.