All right, let's get into it. Weekly track roundup, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. And it is time for a weekly track roundup. My thoughts, my feelings, my ideas, my conceptions of thoughts and opinions on a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so. We're rounding them up. That's what we do.

And the worst tracks of the week.

They are as follows. We have a handful of those. Let's do it.

New one from Sleep Token. Yes. "Damocles". Surprise, surprise. It's not that good. Just sounds like an annoying pop song with very somber obnoxious vocals. That is until the roaring overproduced metal guitars come into the mix, and then it just sounds like a pop song that is so loud that I want to shut it off. So yeah, not my thing. Still not my thing. Hasn't been my thing. Most likely will not be my thing into the future, but who knows? Things change.

All right, moving on from there. We also have a new one from All-American Rejects. "Sandbox Out of Nowhere". New All-American Rejects. Kind of mind-blowing that this is the same band that well, well, well over a decade ago, about two decades ago at this point, was dropping some of those pop punk and emo bangers, because this just sounds wildly off-key, sloppy, unprofessional. Again, just can't really believe it's the same band, not only because I feel like they fail to follow through with their trademark style, but the playing and sing just feels so absurdly off. This just seems like the recording that you would get from a group with less than a quarter of their experience. That's all I'm going to say.

All right. Flo Milli, "Gripper", featuring T-Pain, which features an interpolation of "I'm in Love with a Stripper". And it pretty much goes like: I'm in love with the gripper. You can use your imagination as to what that's all about. The issue is not that I think that this is like a bad song to interpret or a bad way to interpret it as far as the lyrics go. It is funny, and the original song is pretty salacious. Why not a new version? But this, I don't know, stripped back country direction with the prominent guitar that the song is doing. I feel like it's not really doing it, honestly. I feel like something that would have been a bit more, I don't know, lively, it would be holding my interest better, and I'll leave it there.

All right. "Pink Pony Club", remixed by The Chainsmokers. And of course, with no surprises whatsoever, they ruin the song. They pretty much take out anything that would be interesting from it. And the whole first leg just doesn't really complement Chappell's voice at all. And then once those jutting staccato abrasive synthesizers come in around on the midpoint. It's just all bets are off. It's just terrible. Yeah, cannot stand this, not one bit. It's really the worst thing that I could have imagined. All right. Thank you. Man.

The tracks that I was on the fence with.

They are as follows. Not crazy about them, but you might like them more than me. Here we go.

We have a new one over here from underscores, as well as umru, who are teaming up on a bit of a Y2K, electropop type single. I'm going to be honest, I much rather would listen to a lot of tracks from the previous underscores album, which had, I guess, more of a punky and pop rock flair. This is okay, but I feel like there's a lot of stuff out there like this these days, and this is maybe not my favorite. But if you're looking for more of that throwback, electro pop with super punchy beats, give us a listen. It's nice to hear the underscores' vocals and transition into an instrumental palette like this, though, and it still sounds solid. It just doesn't really sound as distinct as a lot of the stuff from the last album, and I'll leave it there. All right.

We also have Young Thug, who's coming through with a brand new album now that he is out and about. No longer in the midst of his court battle. First single, "Money on Money", features Future. And yeah, it's all right. Just like a standard trap, Young Thug Banger. Okay, Future, Future. I mean, it sounds as solid as anything that was on that record that he came out with in the midst of his trial. However, given that he is now more in full creative control of his music and has the opportunity to record brand new stuff, I was hoping that he would maybe drop something a bit more fiery or exciting, but this is just okay. It just seems like he's back to business as usual. But I'll leave it there.

We also have a new one over here from Portugal. The Man, who are coming through with this track, "VIS", and it's an okay pop rock single. It's got a bit of an indie, Pixies-esque flair, though, I will say, despite this being such an obvious influence, it hasn't really translated into the drama and nuance and intensity that early Pixies is known for. I feel like it's maybe a bit of a pale comparison listen to stuff from that time period. I'll leave it there.

All right. We also have M83. "A Necessary Escape Part 2", brand new track, which pretty much sees the project giving us this very progressive, electronic, ambient synth odyssey. If you're a big fan of projects like Boards of Canada – while I don't think this is quite as interesting as some of the classic works from them, it's certainly in a similar lane. So If you're looking for something along those lines, check this one out. It's a lengthy track for sure. Very immersive.

We also have a new one from Lorde. "What Was That?" Brand new single. And while I do think the very punchy pop production on this track is a welcome change of pace from a lot of the songs from the last album, I feel like the tune on this track doesn't really stand out. I mean, the shouty, "What was that"? I don't know. It's okay. It's getting a little Iconopop, I suppose, though maybe not as fun or as anthemic. And the lyrics are quite intense in terms of their pacing, and it seems like Lorde is just running over a lot of fragments of experiences in the midst of a drug-fueled haze, that thing. It's chaotic. The storytelling is just all over the place. But despite all of the fire and passion going into it, I just feel like we haven't really gotten all that strong of a song. Again, I feel like a lot of fans are going to enjoy this more visceral, punchier direction over a lot of the stuff from the last record, but this is just not really doing it for me, songwriting-wise, I'll say.

All right, we have a new one over here from HAIM, a perfectly fine pop rock single from them. "Down to Be Wrong" is the title of that one. Again, it's all right, standard for them.

We also have a new one Full of Hell who have come through with a new single, a bit of a short one. "Night's Oath" is the title of the track. It's a decent, like black and death metal blend. It's very brittle, very riffy, nothing too experimental or fast or anything like that. I feel like it's just got a very classic black metal death metal combo going on here.

We also have "Pink Elephant:, title track from the forthcoming Arcade Fire album. A very somber, low-key single. It feels like they're stripping it back to a very grim ballad that sounds like something that could be from the Suburbs era, though it's not quite hitting in the same way. It's fine.

And the best tracks of the week.

We have quite a few of those to get to. So let's start digging into that.

We have Squid, who have come through with a new non-album single, which honestly, everything this track brings to the table, the more intense vocals, the horns, the fiery performance, instrumentation, all that, this is everything I was hoping to hear on the band's last album. I don't know why it's popping up now in the way that it is on this track, but I'll take it. I'll take the longer version and the edited version of this track on the new singles because they are both fire, frankly.

All right, moving on from there. "Flame Unbroken", very new track featuring not only Eprom, but Shades and Alix Perez. If you love some bass music, if you want to hear some crazy low end, give this a listen because this is some banger production over here. Great collaboration all around.

We also have a new one from Quadeca. Ben coming through the new single, second from the forthcoming album, which I am really looking forward to. Gave this one a full review over on the Fantano channel, and it is a beautiful, beautiful piece of baroque pop with a lot of interesting allusions to clothing and the lyrics, a lot of metaphor going on. Really some of the most lush and straight up pretty instrumentation we have heard on any quadeca track. So far between this and the last single that he dropped, it seems like Ben is just going for some prettier instrumental palettes, and it is working out quite nicely.

We also have a new one over here from the one, the only PinkPantheress. "Stateside" is the name of the track, The Dare on production. And yeah, actually, her voice sounds quite great over this punchier indie electro production palate. And great songwriting, very catchy, very slick, and again, liking the additional texture that the dare tends to bring to his tracks, and also liking hearing PinkPantheress dig a little bit more into song structure, because while the new singles so far have been tight, they have not been quite as brief as, obviously, a lot of the songs that put PinkPantheress on the map to begin with. So hearing something a bit more built out, a bit punchier, is quite nice.

Also enjoying Cheetah, and Nia Archives, teaming up on this new banger single, "Get Loose". Shouty choruses, strong breakbeats, and a lot of hype, a lot of energy enjoying this one a lot.

Also enjoying this new one from Model/Actriz. This track, believe it or not, sounds like your typical dark, groovy Model/Actriz number. But when the melodic lead vocals come in and the drums switch up a little bit, it sounds like a Tool song, like a classic Tool track. But if you could have it sound like left field and weird and dark, like something a Xiu Xiu fan would enjoy. Believe it or not, I feel like that's the combo of vibes going on here. It works, and it's working for me at the very least. All right.

We also have Megan Thee Stallion, "Whenever". Brand new track, brand new single. Nothing too crazy on this one. Just sounds like some very straightforward, hard Southern hip hop with a lot of shouty refrains and choruses, strong vocal samples that are pitched down. It's got some classic Fever-era Megan vibes going on here, and it's just great to hear her drop a classic style Megan banger right after this album cycle that for her was so personal, digging into just a lot of stuff going on in her life and so on and so forth. Here, she's just straight up talking some shit, dropping some gems, and bringing a lot of that classic Megan attitude.

All right, we also have Kali Uchis's second single from her forthcoming record. And this one is a very pretty, spot-lit ballad with a tried and true chord progression. Radiohead "Creep" vibes, I would say, actually. And it seems like a bit of a mommy ballad. "I Love You So Much It Hurts" is the name of the track. It seems like it comes from a very loving, tender place. Quite nice. And yeah, liking the vibe on this one all around. It's very pretty. It's very sweet. And this one is it. This one is it. All right.

We also have a Flume and JPEGMAFIA teaming up for some new music. We are hearing "Track 1". That is the title of the track, I believe. It's paired with a big long animation music video, that thing on YouTube. And it's quite fun. It's great. Gummy, colorful production. It seems like Flume has this back and forth where he does more mainstream stuff, does more experimental underground stuff. This seems like he's heading back in that weird left field, wonky bass music type production direction. And I'm really liking it. I feel like, once again, it's cool to hear him experiment and explore just more colorful textures and production styles and have JPEGMAFIA in there, bringing some vocals, just make it goofier and more fun.

We also have Caroline, this band that I'm just coming into familiarity with based off of this track, this new single, which features none other than Caroline Polachek. So we have Caroline teaming up with Caroline Polachek for a forthcoming album titled Caroline 2. So Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, Triple Caroline for this track. And just really amazing. It's difficult to describe. I mean, it's definitely got a distinctly classic 2000s indie flair to it, but a bit of post-rock going on, a bit of that big band indie vibe where you have the strings piling up and everything like that. It's just very grandiose. It just sounds very big, and the production and the recording is so crisp and it's so intense. And each piece of instrumentation comes together in just a really rowdy, out of control way. It doesn't all meld together in a wall of sound. But I think a lot of bands tend to layer on a lot of instrumentation like this. They have a tendency to do, maybe because it just makes sense and in terms of instrumental placements, a bit of a Phil Specter sound meld. But this, everything sounds so clear and vibrant up front and in your face. It sounds like you're in the room surrounded by the band as they're playing this song, which has a much more different and intense vibe to it. And Caroline Polachek's vocals on the track are beautiful, are gorgeous. So really great crossover, really intense tune. Love the progression overall. I'm really looking forward to this Caroline 2 album. Some thrilling stuff over here. Thrilling freaking freaking stuff. All right.

We also have a "Itty Bitty" new single from Ashnikko, which we have talked about before on the channel that I thought was okay. But now we have a horsegiiL remix of the track, which I think brings out the song. It's like naturally quirky, weird, funny flavor. It's not quite so dark and aggressive and edgy now. It's just a bit sillier and more fun. And I think the track is the better for it. I prefer this remix over the original, but no, that's just me. But yeah, Ashnikko and horsegiirL teaming up. Love that for them.

And finally, this new one from 8485, "G.I.R.L.", or "Good in Real Life", with Danny Brown. Banger track, banger single. Love this crossover. Like, weird, terminally online pop with a fire Danny Brown verse. I just love that Danny is helping to put on a lot of these different artists in the underground pop sphere as of late. It's just the weirdest, most unexpected series of crossovers. But every single one so far has been super crazy, very entertaining. Danny is just a bit of a chameleon. He can just team up with any number of different artists and just smash it every time. And I'm unfamiliar with this 8485 artist. But after a track like this, after a track that goes as hard as this one, I'm most definitely going to be looking forward to more. That's for sure.

But yeah, that's going to be it for the weekly track roundup.

Anthony Fantano. Weekly Tracks. Forever.