Oh...my...gosh...Hi everyone! Anthony Fantano here. Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well.

It's time for the Weekly Track Roundup: my thoughts, my feelings on a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so. That's the deal in this video. Except a little bit extra on top of that, because I did not do a WTR last week.

Also, Austen wanted to do a little bit of a musical shout out here: a recommendation from ISSBROKIE. Of course, this track, "Y'ALL DON'T KNOW MA BODY!". Austin would like to shout out this b side from ISSBROKIE's previous album, whose title I probably can't say. Sorry. She thinks BROKIE's got a lot of fun bangers, especially the femtanyl collab last year and this is another one. No production style is safe from her unhinged bars, this time it's chipmunk soul. So there you go. Recommendation from Austin there.

All right, worst tracks of the week. What are they?

What are the worst tracks of the week? I could say these. I'll say that. Bam.

Zayn. This is his new single for his forthcoming album, "Die For Me". This just sounds like Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack-era The Weeknd. What is the point of this? We don't need this. We've already done this. We've already had this. But better. What is- what is this doing other than wasting our time?

All right, we also have over here, Tame Impala doing a remix of "Dracula" with JENNIE, of course. And yeah, this is pointless as well. And, you know, I would say JENNIE actually even ruins the song. Look, it's pretty much the same track but with JENNIE's vocals additionally, you know, just like kind of popping in to sing certain bits of the song here and there. But then there's a bridge where she's like, "Kevin, uh, Tame Impala, blah blah blah," it's like a weird spoken word thing that totally wrecks the vibe of this silly ass song. Yeah, I'm not feeling this. And you know, honestly, weirdly disappointed because, like, this was the only song off of the Tame Impala album that I liked. And to do a remix that can't even live up to that and keep the single likable song for me, likable, it says something.

All right, we also have Papa Roach, "Wake Up Calling". Papa Roach, for some reason, writing what sounds like a song 3 Doors Down could have recorded a year ago, but, like, with heavier guitars. Yuck.

Meh.

The songs that I was on the fence with. You might like them more than me. They are as follows. Just want to shout them out.

Hayley Williams got a new music project out called Power Snatch. We have some tastes of it on the internet on platforms like Untitled and Bandcamp, but we have the song "ASSIGNMENT" on streaming as well. It's got a bit of like a 90s spoken word, trip hoppy kind of vibe to it. It's okay, you know, it's all right. It sort of seems like Hayley might be using this project as a bit of a, you know, experimentation, testing ground, doing some different stuff now that I feel like her solo work – it used to be that her solo work seemed like the place to kind of try some new stuff, experiment. I think she's really kind of like, solidified more of a sound on her newest record, which is, like, really her best work yet. So, you know, why not side quest again into some stuff, into some ideas, into some concepts that are also, you know, kind of new and different. It's neat, it's interesting for what it is. I wouldn't say, like, structurally it's the most catchy or memorable thing she's ever recorded, but I like that she's still trying some new stuff. All right.

We also have NOFX, "M" or "Minnesota Nazis". The legendary punks over here came through with a song in reaction to everything going on with Minnesota and ICE. It's not their best recorded work, but the message and the sentiment is, like, most definitely there, for sure.

All right, we have over here... guess who's back? Guess who's back? Can you guys guess? Can you guys guess who's back? Metric. Metric is back. "Victim of Luck" is the name of the first single from their forthcoming album. It's a bit of an indietronic affair. Very much a throwback, very much nostalgic vibes. There you go. Emily Haines and the crew, they're back at it once more.

We also have one over here from Kenny Mason. It's a part of a new single that has a few tracks on it. "Moonlight" is one of them. It's kind of like a groovy, summery, low key jam. I would say vocally almost has like a Vince Staples vibes to it. It's okay. Not too bad. Not too mind blowing either.

We also have one over here from Dua Saleh, "Glow", Bon Iver on the track as well. Bon Iver getting a little funky, rippity rapitty a little bit with it on the track. It's an interesting crossover for sure from these two. I mean, I don't know if I'm going to come back to it anytime soon, but you know, cool to hear that they found some common ground for sure on this one.

We've also got Dorian Electra who I feel like is kind of hitting us with some okay electro pop on this new "Fake Denim" track. I feel like the concept and lyrics didn't come across quite as tongue-in-cheek, or as snappy, clever, absurd, as maybe they may have been intended to be. Yeah, I mean, again, by straight up regular electro pop standards, I feel like it's all right. It's okay. It's not hitting me quite as hard as like, you know, some of the more conceptual and left field, maybe kind of silly coded cuts from Dorian's breakthrough record a handful of years ago at this point.

All right, we have a Broken Social Scene who is also back. The Canadian indie scene is on fire right now, everybody. The Canadian indie scene is on fire. They are back to dominate. "Not Around Anymore" is the name of this new horn-packed single that is quite easygoing, quite, I would say, poised, quite mature sounding, you know. The Broken Social Scene has always been a, you know, very well built band. A lot of great, great layered arrangements, that sort of thing. So makes total sense. Maybe not the piss and vinegar of some of like their earlier stuff, but you know, it's refined, it sounds well put together for sure.

All right, we have best tracks of the week now.

They are as follows. Here we go. Boom.

Thundercat, a single from not this week, but the week before that, with Lil Yachty, "I Did This To Myself". Whoa. One of his best singles ever of all time. A totally funky jammer with some of the best production I've heard on any Thundercats song. Amazing bass playing, great hooks. Even the Lil Yachty feature is very funny and quite camped up, I would say. Plays into the vibe of the song really well. This has me so, so, so excited for this forthcoming Thundercat album. Honestly, it's been too long. But honestly, if we get more tracks like this, it's going to be well worth the wait. Okay, okay. Okay.

Don't. Don't kill me, do not kill me, don't tear me limb from limb, don't drown me in the toilet bowl. I do enjoy the new Sombr track "Homewrecker". Okay, I enjoy the new Sombr track, "Homewrecker", and it's for two reasons. One, as you guys may have seen from my recent Sombr review, I enjoyed a lot of the songwriting on his breakout album, but I thought the production was terrible and sounded like garbage and didn't need to be this performative lo fi thing. There wasn't anything interesting about the lo fi approach to the recording. Just make the song sound good, God damn it. Now, the song "Homewrecker" fixes that. It's just good quality production. A little roughness around the vocals, but, you know, a bit of spice is nice. But, yeah, you know, it just sounds really glossy. Sounds really danceable. Sounds, you know, a little indie rock, disco-fied. It's cool, it's glamorous, it's fun. Maybe a little Killers-coded as well.

But another reason I like it, the more I listened to it, the more I thought about it lyrically, melodically, just in terms of the vibe and everything, this is an Alex Cameron song. This is an Alex Cameron song. Even, "you hit like a drunk cigarette," that's like an Alex Cameron opening line. So I was, like, kind of blown away. I was like, why do I like this so much? This just sounds like a peak, you know, Forced Witness Alex Cameron song, and not a bad one at that, I'll say that. I mean, it doesn't really have kind of like the grit and, you know, the silly swagger that Cameron typically brings to the table, but I feel like, you know, the core appeal of the sort of, you know, weird but also endearing songwriting that Cameron typically brings to the table is, like, intact here. I don't know if Sombr's genuinely influenced by him in some way or he's just sort of like, channeling it via The Killers or whatever. I'm not sure. I don't know fully what the source is, honestly, but I like it. I like it. I like the song. I enjoyed the song. I am enjoying it. Okay? Leave me alone. Okay. All right.

Also enjoying this track over here from SOFIA ISELLA, "Numbers 31:17-18". This is a very sort of like, harrowing, theatrical, over the top piano ballad with Some super crazy unique vocals. If you, you know, dig your super dark, off the beaten path singer songwriters, your Ethel Cains, Lingua Ignotas, that sort of thing, you're going to want to give this a spin, even if, you know, the presentation is pretty skeletal, is pretty raw. I feel like there's a lot here, honestly, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing where SOFIA takes things in the near future.

All right, we also have Quadeca, who I want to shout out with this, like, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper instrumental epilogue series of tracks that have been added on this second disk to the new album, which are beautiful. Which are beautiful. They're well orchestrated. It's just nice whimsical ear candy. Enjoying it a lot.

Also enjoying this new horsegiirL remix of Ninajirachi, "Delete". horsegiirL supremacy. Ah, neigh neigh. Eat, slay, sleep, repeat. It's a bop. It's a bop remix. And yeah, really like what horsegiirL adds to this track. Very fun, very fun revisit to this cut and you know, one more shout out, of course, to Ninajirachi.

All right, we have a Mitski over here, "I'll Change for You". Which I feel like is a much better single for this forthcoming album. It's a very somber ballad with beautiful arrangements and instrumentation. Mitski's vocals are fantastic. Not quite digging, you know, the grungy-ish aesthetic of the last single. This one, I feel like, is much more palatable and tasteful.

All right, digging on a track from the new mclusky EP which is on the way as well. Sounds like classic mccluskey post hardcore, "i know computer". Very brash, very eccentric, very angular, very loud post hardcore. It's good quality stuff.

We've also got the Black Keys. What? What? Don't. Okay, don't shoot me on this one as well. I feel like I'm having likes here that I shouldn't have or that you guys are going to give me the side eye on. But the Black Keys coming through with "You Got To Lose", basically their take on a version of a tune done long ago by Earl Hooker. And it's just a really raw lo fi blues rock track with good vocals, great changes, good energy, solid performance. I feel like this is the Black Keys that I originally fell in love with and then the band kind of lost their way because the NPR tote bag crowd started liking their music and they started playing to that audience. But now that audience is gone. Where are they now? Who the hell cares?

Now I feel like the Black Keys have the opportunity to sort of, like, you know, get back to basics a little bit and get back to, like, sort of what made the duo special in the first place. And if this track is a sign of, like, what's to come, I'm pretty excited for what's to come. It's just very good quality blues rock with a little fuzzy, lo fi edge to it. It's good. It's good. It's just good blues rock. I don't know what else to say about it. Just really good, you know, the Black Keys, for all their flaws and all their, you know, whatever people want to say, 'Oh the music, it sounds like Home Depot music. It sounds like whatever,' you know, when they go back to what they do well, which, you know, you can hear on Rubber Factory, you can hear on all their early stuff, they sound great and this sounds great to me. So I'm really looking forward to hearing them hopefully, you know, pushing this direction a little bit more.

We also have, believe it or not, I'm enjoying the new EsDeeKid track over here, "Omens". Sort of sounds like he's hitting us with more music sooner rather than later. And he's already given us a new single over here that I think could have used a hook, could have used a change, could have used something. But the flows are great, there's some standout bars, it's got a nice synthy instrumental, and it sounds clear. The production is good. It's nowhere near as nasty or as lo fi as, you know, anything off the Rebel album. Sort of seems like he really wants fans and, you know, onlookers to see, like, 'no, I'm stepping my game up here. It's not going to sound the same on my next thing. Like, we're evolving here. We're doing something else.' So very much looking forward to seeing, like, where, you know, this goes for him, for sure.

All right, we have also a track from this band that I want to shout out. Egregore, "Stair Into the Vortex". Really chaotic atmospheric combination of, like, thrash and black metal and death metal. There's some really just, like, absolutely ghoulish and just, "aagh" just throaty, deadly vocals on this track that I like a lot. The riffs are nasty as well. Yeah, it is a chaotic performance for sure, but, you know, the points where it hits, it really does hit. They have a new album on the way this year that is dropping, check them out on Bandcamp for sure. For sure.

Also want to give a shout out to Chat Pile, who have a new single out titled, "Masks". Definitely like a bit of a lo fi loosie type, you know, non album single, but the riffs are killer. I would actually say there's even a little Korn influence on some of the vocals to this track, believe it or not. And yeah, just sort of sounds like some nasty ass, forward, straightforward, you know, noise rocking from Chat Pile, which we should love and support with our hearts.

And finally shout out to BNYX, Kid Cudi, and Röyksopp for "EVERYWHERE I GO (REMIND ME)", which is like a really crazy crossover between these three. Like how did the stars align for this one? And also how did it turn out so good? How do we get like Kid Cudi and some, you know, like dance war grooves, and robot vocals, and also BNYX in there too? Like again, totally unforeseen. Three acts coming together on this track and they all complement each other so well. Wow. That's all I have to say. Wow.

All right, that's going to be it for Weekly Track Roundup.

Anthony Fantano, weekly tracks, Forever.