Review: We Don't Talk Anymore (Charlie Puth feat. Selena Gomez) (UPDATED)

Oh boy, another "tropical" song? What's with this year and tropical music?

Ever since Justin Bieber's smash hit What Do You Mean (which I've probably gushed about before), there has been a bit of an... obsession with tropical-sounding music on the charts. Specifically, this time we'll be talking a song of the tropical house genre. Tropical house doesn't strictly originate in the Caribbean, and is kind of a new genre to grace the electronic scene. It's a fusion of dancehall and deep house, the former being rather traditionally Jamaican and the latter being a rather heavy and melody-driven genre of electronic music. 

So who better to give such a rich genre to but Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez, amirite?

To be fair, I don't know if I would actually call this tropical house or not; it doesn't feel especially tropical. I'll try to explain how I feel about this song a bit better. For now, I'll just say I used to dislike this song a lot more than I do now. This is gonna be fairly brief, so don't get your hopes up.

 This is a standard, basic love song about lovers who claim to have moved on and yet are still clinging on to memories.

(EDIT: Oh jeez, I accidentally published this, didn't I? Christ.)

Anyway... yeah, this is a very standard song. Still, standard doesn't mean bad. This song is actually the closest to good Charlie Puth has ever gotten. Heck, I'd even say it's the best thing Selena Gomez has put out since The Heart Wants What it Wants. Still, the main problem is that it's still Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez.

See, even when these guys are trying their hardest, they're still never gonna be the best thing out there. Charlie Puth is still the Wonder Bread of pop singers, and Selena Gomez is still really boring. Heck, I'd say they're less lively here than on some of their other songs.

You may be asking. "You said this song was good. Why is it good?" Why, once again, it's the production. I'm more of a production guy than a lyrics guy, if you couldn't tell. There is a smooth, clean feeling to this song. Heck, I'd say Charlie and Selena kind of help this song's production move along because they are not loud. They are soft, they are sad. It's not downbeat, but it's definitely mellow.

So overall, it's a good song. It's definitely a grower, and I hope this is a sign for their careers to come. Heck, maybe if it grows on me some more, it could make the Top 10 at the end of the year. But for now, we can just settle on "good."

SCORE: 7.5/10

Review: Closer (The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey)

I said I wasn't going to review this song a few posts ago, but... something has come up. Namely, a lack of interesting new songs, and this song's position. It has recently become the new number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This... okayness is currently the biggest song in the country. I figure this is a perfectly good reason to talk about it. This is probably going to be super-short, so I might as well talk about our contributors, first.

First, there's The Chainsmokers. This DJ duo from New York City includes Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. The two first got big with their viral hit #Selfie, an absolutely abysmal piece of garbage made exclusively to cash in on a trend. I thought that these guys would become poster boys for the term "One-Hit Wonder." I was proven wrong when just this year, they've had three top ten hits, this one included (note that #Selfie only peaked at number 16, and failed to make the year-end). I actually quite liked Roses (featuring highly-obscure singer Rozes) and Don't Let Me Down (featuring up-and-coming teen pop star Daya), their two other hits this year. The former was dark, yet sleek and romantic, and the latter was an aggressive party jam. I'm a bit hopeful for these guys.

Meanwhile, there's Halsey, who contributes her voice to this track. Halsey is a pop singer, mainly appealing to hipster millennials. Her music has positive enough reviews, sure, but I can't help but think of a certain one of her songs whenever I hear her voice. That, of course, is New Americana. New Americana sounds interesting in the verses, it's a dark electropop song, I usually love those. Then you actually listen to the lyrics, and it all falls apart. High on legal marijuana, raised on Biggie and Nirvana, I get it. I just don't like it. It's sloppy and plasticky.

But yeah, let's actually talk about the song.

"Eh."

There you have it, my thoughts on the song. It's just "eh." Not good, not bad, just... "eh." Everything about this song is just plain average. 

This is some of the weakest production I've heard from these guys all year. They went from catchy, yet unique compositions to something a five year old could play on a piano. That's automatically one strike against this song. What about the lyrics?

They're confusing. I gather that the two singers have been separated for something of four years and collectively decide they want to see each other again. All of that is fine. Then the bridge starts, and they're rambling about biting tattoos and stealing mattresses. It's all foreign to me, to be quite frank. Neither singer is too amazing, either.

So there you have it, there's my thoughts on this song. I literally only did this because I was running out of material. Expect a new post within the next week or so.

SCORE: 5/10

Leagueposting (PILOT): Alas, Poor Yorick (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Lag)

Hello, and welcome to my new series called Leagueposting. Here, I'll be covering League of Legends, one of my all-time favorite games. This time, I'll be covering a rather... controversial character from that game. His name is Yorick Mori.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Yorick is a champion (a term for playable characters in LoL) that has only seldom been touched since he was launched. Not because he was perfectly balanced from the get-go, of course. He's had small balance changes over the years. There is a bit of a problem with old Yorick, however.

You see, Yorick is a load of garbage.

Not literally, of course. He's a decent top laner with few counters. However, nothing about Yorick feels clean, or up-to-date, or fun to play against. Despite the balance changes, he still feels like a 2011 champion stuck in 2016. He hasn't even been touched since 2015! 

At least, that's what people say. I had never played Yorick until earlier today. I was playing on the rotating game queue, the current game mode is Nemesis Draft. In this mode, you choose your enemy's character, and they choose yours. I think the enemy picked Nunu, another archaic champion (though not nearly as much as Yorick), for me. But, lo and behold, a guy on my team wanted to trade. They play Nunu, and I play Yorick. I knew all about Yorick's infamy, but I'm like "hey, I'll be the good guy here."

And then the internet went out. I was out of the game for eight minutes.

Needless to say, that was enough for me to go on tilt ("On tilt" is a term used for when a player performs worse than usual out of frustration). I was level one when the rest of my team was level six. But I eventually reconnected, and I went to my lane, and started farming. I got closer to my team as the game progressed, but I was always low on funds.

If you don't know how to play Yorick by this point, he's basically a necromancer champion. Every one of his abilities summons a monster with its own unique stats. These ghouls are incredibly annoying to deal with, and gimmicky to boot. Your damage is only average, so spam the living hell out of them if you even dream of staying relevant.

But anyway, back to the game. I was behind for pretty much the whole thing. Throughout, I slowly realized, and finally understood, the hate for Yorick. I sucked. I mean, the ghouls certainly helped, but without them I was useless. I died quite a lot. He just isn't fun to play as or against. I kept having internet problems throughout, too, disconnecting at random intervals. So yeah, I was super-weak, and we lost the game. No shock there. So, what's the good news?

Yorick is getting reworked.

That's right, Yorick is going to be completely relaunched in only a couple of months. No longer will he be the worst champion in League of Legends by a landslide. He will get a fresh new coat of paint, and he will be beautiful.

But for now, all I can say? Alas, poor Yorick.

Review: Let Me Love You (DJ Snake feat. Justin Bieber)

"Goddamn it, Bieber! Quit making songs I like!"

If you can't tell, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with former teen pop star Justin Bieber. Even after his big comeback, I find it hard to justify the fact that I like his current material. I know he sounds bored all the time, but it's oddly charming. He's incredibly uninteresting on his own, but with a bit of help, he can definitely make some good tunes. A good example is this collaboration with the French DJ and producer DJ Snake.

Now, DJ Snake is not the most well-known of people. He got his start as a graffiti artist, which is how he got the Snake moniker. Eventually as a teenager he became a DJ, and at 19 he began producing. His first major work was as co-producer on the Lady Gaga song Government Hooker, often considered one of the best tracks off of Born This Way. Nevertheless, he didn't get commercially successful until he started taking credit for his own songs.

DJ Snake's first commercially successful song was Turn Down For What, a near-perfect party anthem featuring rapper Lil Jon. His remix of You Know You Like It by AlunaGeorge was next, followed by his collaboration with Major Lazer and MØ, Lean On. At this point, DJ Snake was on fire. He started working on an album. The first single, The Middle featuring British singer Bipolar Sunshine came out, and it was pretty okay. I can see why some people disliked it, but I liked it. Now, his fifth and most recent top 20, Let Me Love You, has arrived. Is it any good? Well, if you saw the first line, you'd already know. But hey, let's do the review anyway.

DJ Snake is one of the most easy-to-recognize producers in the business right now. For one, it's the main sample on the chorus, which I have heard compared to Woody Woodpecker. This is the same sample he used on Lean On, and it still somehow sounds good. Of course, the tone of this song is a lot darker; not necessarily lyrically, but tonally, this song is a lot moodier than Lean On, which was upbeat and energetic.

Let's not forget SuperBieber himself. We can ignore the lyrics, they're generic, but perfectly passable. No, I want to give this man credit for actually emoting. Bieber usually has trouble expressing any emotion besides "mildly pissed" or "I'm into you I guess," if only because he rivals fellow Canadian musician Drake in monotony. Here... I dare say, he sounds great. Justin Bieber, you get the thumbs up. Not the greatest performer in the world, but you've had a good year. Certainly makes up for "Shawty is an eenie-meenie-minie-moe lovah."

But hell, these are some 10/10 production values right here. I would listen to this on repeat for the production alone. In fact, that's what I've been doing while I've been writing this. If you don't like this kind of stuff, you'd probably think I'm crazy. The production is chilling, yet comfortable. Some of the best use of echo I've heard in a while. Now, I am in no way qualified to determine what is perfect and what is not, but either this or Cold Water... one of these songs... best one I've ever covered. Right now, I'll have to give the edge to this, but once the year-end comes, those number scales will be completely useless. I'll see you all next review.

SCORE: 9/10

Mini Entry: Why "Get Lucky" is Perfect

This post is going to be very different from the usual stuff. There's no reviewing. There's no judging. There is no griping, no complaining. This will be pure gushing. Yes, I will be gushing about a song I love. It was recorded in 2012, released in 2013. It is a collaboration between producer duo Daft Punk, singer and producer Pharrell Williams, and Chic founder Nile Rodgers. Here it is, Get Lucky.

This song is a rather unusual song by Daft Punk standards. It came from an album called Random Access Memories, which traded in the duo's usual house style for disco. It was a huge step-up from their third album Human After All, which had a rather harsh and minimalist sound that feels really out of place in their discography (though I do admit that Robot Rock is a personal favorite of mine). You may have also heard Daft Punk's other material before, with classics such as Da Funk, Around The World, One More Time and Harder, Better Faster, Stronger.

There are several things that make this song work. The most obvious is the guitar work by Nile Rodgers. It's impossible to imagine this song without that guitar. It's reminiscent of old 70's disco... which is exactly the point. To be fair, it's not the only bit of amazing this song has to offer. The keyboard work creates a pleasant atmosphere. Of course, it wouldn't be Daft Punk without synthesizers, and even when it takes you out of the disco for a bit of electronic, it isn't jarring at all. It fits perfectly.

Let's not forget the vocals. Pharrell Williams (or just Pharrell, as he went mononymously back in the 2000s) is famous for a lot of things, singing included. The singing and vocals on this are both stellar. This is no mere sex song. This song is about the connection. It's about a good feeling. You've met this person, you feel that spark, you feel that connection, and you're feeling lucky. You two are going to get together and have the time of your lives.

It isn't even a matter of if you buy it or not. The thing is, this is dance music. This isn't your EDM that claims to be dance music but is about as danceable as sounds of crying and screaming. This is music you can actually dance to. I groove to this song every single time it comes on. Check out all of these artists. I promise you will love their material.

HYPOTHETICAL SCORE: 10/10

Review: Me Too (Meghan Trainor)

Originally, I was planning on covering The Chainsmokers' new single Closer, featuring singer Halsey. I discovered the hard way that it's hard to talk about a song when you don't give a shit about it. I have two alternatives on my mind. Me Too ended up coming out on top, though I may cover the other one soon (assuming it actually makes the Billboard chart).

This song... oh boy. For one, it's by Grammy winning artist Meghan Trainor (though we all know how useless Grammies are). I discovered her around the same time everyone else did, with the release of her first smash hit All About That Bass. That song, along with the entire album it came from, is a good reminder of why no one makes doo-wap anymore.

Her latest album Thank You is an improvement, but only slightly. There's no Dear Future Husband, so that's a plus. She's also abandoned the doo-wap for straight pop, thank God. Reviews weren't too positive, though. So, yeah, no expectations going into this. What have we to deal with? Let's find out.

The production on this beast is by Ricky Reed. He produced Ride, a song I've covered before, along with Fireball by Pitbull and John Ryan and Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo, both of which had solid production. Then again, he also produced a couple of songs I hate, including Wiggle, also by good ol' Derulo, which I might add is the worst song about butts I've ever heard. Speaking of Derulo, that guy's influence is all over this; he even has a small writing credit. And yeah, this is along the lines of some of his worst material.

It's this repetitive, droning beat, it's two-thirds of this thing. No substance whatsoever, and somehow less annoying than I thought it would be. The other third is boring guitar twanging and snapping, super-boring. Yeah, you can certainly feel the cheapness.

Oh, yeah, the writing. The worst part. You know how rappers have this annoying tendency to rap about how rich and egotistical they are even though their audience is nowhere near as successful as they are? I like to call it "brag rap." This song is like if someone decided to sing some brag rap. It's evident in the very first verse.

"Who's that sexy thing I see over there? That's me, standing in the mirror."
"What's that icy thing hanging 'round my neck? That's gold, show me some respect."

I never thought the woman who helped Boring McBoreface (actual name Charlie Puth) sing the classic "Marvin Gaye," pretty much the lamest sex song since Afternoon Delight, would go from that to just being really goddamn annoying. It's like a really rich white girl showing off her jewelry to a homeless man.

"If I was you, I'd wanna be me too." No, I wouldn't. I'm perfectly happy being myself, thank you. This isn't an empowerment anthem, because she's pretty much telling you "I am better than you will ever aspire to be." At least Kanye West was good at convincing you he actually was that rich and successful. At least Kanye West has musical talent, not to mention some really good albums under his belt. Meghan has... a song about butts, outdated gender roles, and now this.

 Are there any positives? It's short? Around 3:01. It's about thirty seconds shorter than most other pop songs. But seriously, just skip it. It's probably not technically as bad as Gold, but I feel much more strongly toward it. Skip this.

SCORE: 3/10

Multiple Review Hour (name subject to change)

Though it is the second time I'm covering multiple songs in one blog, I'm calling this the start of a new segment where I'm going to cover multiple songs in one review, usually no more than seven. And this week I'll be covering a batch of songs that are currently charting between positions 21 and 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 (as of the August 13, 2016 list) that I would consider too low-charting to cover in a full review. These could make the top 20, but who knows? All that matters is that they're... semi-popular. Let's get right into it.

  

Into You (Ariana Grande)

This song probably has the most potential for success, mostly because it's from an artist that's already a proven hitmaker. Yes, Ariana Grande's been in a bit of a rough spot as of late, from rehashing her own material on Focus to her most recent album Dangerous Woman just not being as well-received as her last outing, it's been a hard couple of years. I'd say that Into You here is a diamond in the rough.

This is a dance song, feeling like it belongs more in a club than a car radio. There's no dancehall here, I promise, just straight electronic. Still, I'd say the strongest point on this song is Grande herself. She's soft and sultry in some spots, and in others she's powerful and attention-grabbing. It's pretty easy to guess what the song's about, isn't it?

Yeah, it's a song about sex. She's got that feeling, and she needs sexual healing. It's certainly sexier than the title track off her latest album, that's for sure. Dangerous Woman wasn't a bad song, but it wasn't particularly sexy, just sort of boring. This, however, is like an explosion. You don't die, but you certainly feel the power. Great song, give it a listen any time, and if you're looking for more good Ariana Grande songs, check out The Way or Love Me Harder. Both great tracks.

                                                    Never Be Like You (Flume feat. Kai)

Now this is a bizarre song. The singer is Canadian singer Kai, but the focal point is Australian producer Flume. Flume has had a decent amount of success on the ARIA charts (the Australian equivalent to Billboard), with this having topped the main list there, but this is both his and Kai's first hit in the states. Sadly, I can't say I'm a huge fan of this song.

There's something wrong with the song's production. It's incredibly trippy, I almost think the song might be drunk. I thought this was some bizarre underground music when I first heard it, but no, it's by a relatively normal, semi-mainstream producer. The verses have a sort of glittery feel, you can hear chimes, and Kai is relatively calm. Then the chorus happens.

Speaking of Kai, I'm not huge on her vocal delivery. When she's singing normally, she sounds perfectly fine. It's just when she hits those high notes that it starts to get grating. There are also plenty of gratuitous f-bombs that completely kill the mood, whatever the hell the mood was supposed to be. They just take me right out of the song. So yeah, not that great. Next.

                                       All in My Head (Flex) (Fifth Harmony feat. Fetty Wap)

I'm pretty happy that I finally get to cover Fetty Wap on this blog. He was one of the stand-out new acts last year. He got big off of Vine, but he ended up being so much more than just another T-Wayne or iLoveMemphis. Every one of his songs, no matter what the production sounded like, was fun to listen to, if only because of the man himself. He's definitely a character, from his appearance to his trademark voice, and his rapping's good, too. It's no different here, he just elevates the song to "Good time" status.

Of course, he's not the main act. No, that's girl group Fifth Harmony. They're not terrible, per se, but they definitely got off on the wrong foot when Worth It ended up being their first hit, and Work From Home ended up just being mediocre. This is their first major hit to genuinely be good. Yes, more tropical stuff, forgive me. It's a fun song.

Granted, this thing is far from perfect. The singing works well with the production, but lyrically it's not very strong. I don't even remember how the lyrics go, they're super forgettable and uninteresting. I remember the pre-chorus and the chorus pretty well, but the verses were particularly forgettable sans maybe Fetty Wap's. It's a rather large stain on an otherwise strong single. Still, it didn't hurt my feelings on it too much, so give this one a shot.

                                              i hate u, i love u (gnash feat. Olivia O'Brien)

I have a feeling I want to like this song way more than it actually deserves. Inside, I really like this song, but I realize it's only okay. The piano combined with the percussion create a beautiful sound. O'Brien's singing is great. Gnash isn't too bad either, despite the monotone. It's a fairly bitter song. What's kept me from liking it for so long?

This song's focus seems incredibly confused. The pair go from bickering and angry to solemn and wanting each other back. My guess is that it's supposed to represent the confusing and conflicting emotions arising from missing an ex, and yeah, these two definitely seem both conflicted and confused. In that respect, yeah, I guess it does work. You're remembering how bad your relationship was with this person and suddenly you're thinking "maybe it wasn't so bad, maybe I should go back" even though you've long since moved past. Heck, Gnash is even mentioned to have gotten a new girlfriend since the implied breakup!

So yeah, my opinions on this song are a bit conflicted. Overall, though, I don't hate this song. Don't love it, but it's pretty decent, pretty good, it's all good.

                                                                      Gold (Kiiara)

Behold, the worst song I have ever covered on this blog. Heathens may have been mediocre, bordering on bad, but this is just plain bad. Barely anything good about this song. The only thing I can compliment this song on is that it's not the worst thing I've heard all year. Let's get into how bad this song is.

First of all, the production. The godawful, trainwreck production. The only evidence of there being a chorus is the repeated lyrics in some spots. The verses are barely even verses. This is an anti-song. I should probably elaborate.

The first thing you notice when you listen to the chorus is that it is completely unintelligible. You have no idea what she's saying. It turns out most of the chorus is random samples from the verses, arranged in a mostly random manner. The only original lyric on the chorus is "without ever letting you know."

On the verses, at least you can understand what Kiiara is saying. I think the lyrics are trying to portray her as someone who's edgy and dangerous. Lyrics like "Gold up in my teeth," "Imma bite your feelings out," and "Your brother was a good substitute for you," are pretty dang bad, and that's just in the first minute. It doesn't get much better, but sadly the lyrics aren't as memorably bad the further the song goes.

This song sucks.

And that's it. Five songs, five reviews, all done. I really enjoyed working on this, and I'm thinking about doing another one of these in the future. Here are the scores, and I'll see you next time.

Into You: 8.5/10
Never Be Like You: 5/10
All in My Head (Flex): 7.5/10
i hate u, i love u: 7/10
Gold: 3/10

Review: Cold Water (Major Lazer feat. Justin Bieber and MØ)

When I was browsing Spotify one day (I believe it was the first time I listened to the New Music Friday playlist), I heard this song rather early on in the lineup. It was called Cold Water, it was yet another collab between producer trio Major Lazor and singer Karen Marie Ørsted, better known as MØ, but it also had a singer whose name I have heard many times before: Justin Bieber. I didn't check to see who made it until after I heard his voice, and boy was I pleasantly surprised.

Now, I liked Lean On, it was a fun song to dance to, and it was produced in spots by DJ Snake, one of the best mainstream EDM producers there is. This song does not have DJ Snake, allowing Major Lazer to run wild and do whatever the heck they want. Heck, I'll even admit to liking a few songs Justin Bieber has put out recently, mainly What Do You Mean and Sorry, both mainly for the production. Still, it's no surprise to anyone that Justin Bieber needs good production to sound good, because without it he sounds like he'd rather be anywhere else. As for MØ, I don't really have an opinion on her. I haven't heard any of her music, but she seems talented.

So, there's my opinions on the artists. What about the song? Well, when I heard it that day, I thought it was okay. I predicted it would probably become a hit considering it was a collaboration between three (five?) known hitmakers. Still, I was a bit shocked to see that it debuted at number 2 on the August 13th edition of the Hot 100. It's managed to chart above One Dance, allowing that song to further slip into obscurity. Hell, I'm tempted to give this a blindly praising review simply for that fact (seriously, One Dance needs to get the hell out). Sadly, I'm going to have to find other things to praise besides the fact that it is currently marginally more popular than the most bland as white bread song currently out right now. So enough about that, let's get into the review proper.

Well first of all, I'm glad there's a lyric video for this, because it's pretty difficult trying to pay attention to what the singers are actually singing. I'm really loving this production from the get-go. I swear, the fact that I keep doing Caribbean-inspired music is completely coincidental; it's just what's gotten big this year. This is some of the best production I've heard all year. It even manages to make Bieber sound good! The verses are cool, chill, and pleasant. And then the chorus kicks in, and the song shifts into maximum overdrive. It's nowhere near the awesomeness of DJ Snake's best work, but then again DJ Snake is a god among men who should not be trifled with. This drop is epic, but pulls the punches just enough for you to not look like an absolute fool when you're jamming to it in public. THIS is the kind of electronic music I want to see more of, not Calvin Harris.

Lyrically, it's a perfectly fine song. Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco both helped  write this, and those two are incredibly inconsistent writers. That is, neither of them is consistently good or bad. I would say this is some of their better work, along the lines of their last collaboration, Don't, which had been sung by Sheeran.  It's not as bitterly angry as Don't, not even close, but this song has its own purpose.

It's a love song, like most electronic. Bieber's verses have one very basic idea: No matter how bad things get, he'll always be there for you. He won't let go, he'll be your lifeline. And then MØ's verse crops up, and it's very clear that this is a two-person narrative. She's the "you" Bieber has been talking about this whole time. Her situation is unstable, like a rocking boat, she's close to tipping over, and she wants to make sure Bieber's really got her back, and guess what, he's got her back. He won't let go, he'll be her lifeline tonight.

Really, this song pulls everything together at the end. It feels like a complete narrative by that point. I don't know if it's objectively the best song in the world, heck, a lot of critics have called this song mediocre, but I'm a lot more forgiving to this song. I love it, it's a definite late-summer jam. If you're burnt out from grandpa Timberlake trying to be cool again or goddamn One Dance, give this song a go. It'll reinvigorate your spirits.

SCORE: 8.75/10

Review: Stressed Out, Ride, and Heathens (all by Twenty One Pilots)

Every year or so, there's a new act that nobody would have expected to get as big as they did. For example, in 2015, there was Fetty Wap. He had four songs crack the top 40, three of which made the year-end. This year, it was a little indie group known as Twenty One Pilots.

This self-described "schizoid pop" group has only two members. Tyler Joseph is the singer, also performing plenty of other instruments, and Josh Dun handles percussion duties. The group began as a three-man group back in 2009, with Joseph alongside bassist Nick Thomas on bass and Chris Salih on drums. In 2011, both of them left and Dun joined, leaving us with our current group. They released independently until 2013 when they released Vessel under the Fueled by Ramen label, the same one that releases Paramore and Panic! at the Disco's albums. Their most recent album, Blurryface, was released in 2015.

At first, the duo only charted on the designated rock charts, but managed to cross over to the main chart in 2015. Eventually, in October of that year, Stressed Out began its rise. It would reach number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 a few months later. That year, Ride, another song from the album, also managed to make the top 10. Most recently was the song Heathens, released as part of the Suicide Squad movie soundtrack. I'm going to review all of these. Wish me luck.

Stressed Out is certainly a bizarre song. It's rap rock in the 2010's; most people would tell you that genre died with nu metal in 2003. Thankfully, it really doesn't sound anything like the Limp Bizkit or early Linkin Park you would associate the genre with. It's also rock without a guitar. The concept itself sounds like hell incarnate, but the song uses its more indie sound to its advantage. It's unsettling, but that's sort of the point.

The idea of the song is that these guys are "stressed out." Why are they stressed out? Because they're adults, and being an adult and working for money sucks. Joseph is reminiscing about the days when he had no responsibilities, when he'd imagine going to outer space and get sung to sleep. It makes me kind of teary-eyed just thinking about it, even though I'm still not technically an adult yet.

The song also benefits from some brilliant wordplay. My personal favorite is "out of student loans and tree house homes, we'd probably take the latter." Or, is it "ladder?" It's an incredibly dumb pun, but I adore it. Overall, the song does a great job conveying a nostalgic feeling. I'll admit that I didn't like it at first, but it's really grown on me.

Next up is Ride. While I'm not as crazy about the lyrics, the production doesn't confuse me, so that's a plus. This time, they're going for a semi-reggae style on the verses whilst being far more energetic on the chorus. Despite this energy, the song feels fairly dark. I'm not sure what it is, I'm not an expert in music theory, but the song manages to sound low and unhappy whilst simultaneously catchy and upbeat, which is rather hard to do.

Lyrically, there's not as much focus as in Stressed Out. Still, Ride can get rather... interesting at times. For example, the first verse involves Joseph thinking about this happy place where everything is okay, and it's always sunny and tropical (thus explaining the reggae influence). Then he starts singing about how he imagines his own death and how his "enemies" might view him as some horrible person. Then it gets into the second verse, which is rather odd in that it's sort of ranting about one combination of seven words: "I would live and die for you." Whenever we say that, it's a load of crap, and we all know it, but we don't like to admit it. We want it to be true. The rest of the song is rather simple, with the chorus and bridge letting us breathe, or continue to think about those two verses.

Overall, it's great. About on par with Stressed Out, maybe even better. Much more interesting to listen to. I'd say give it a listen.

I'll be honest, I didn't even have to relisten to the other two songs to remember all I needed to say. I could not say the same for Heathens, the duo's most recent hit. I had to relisten to this one twice just to get a good feel about it. Well, it's safe to say this is by far the worst of the three. All I remembered was that the production was godawful, and you know what? It really is bad.

The lyrics aren't important; Joseph's a psycho in an asylum, like the characters in the movie, moving on. What's wrong with the way this song sounds? For one, there's this monotone, robotic voice echoing Joseph's for the entirety of the song that absolutely grates on my nerves. I hate that freaking voice, man. There was also this odd croaking frog noise that would play randomly throughout, usually during the chorus and at the end of verses. Besides that, this song had absolutely nothing interesting to offer. Stressed Out at least sounded unique, and Ride sounded amazing. I know this part is especially short, but just pass on this.

So yeah, that's my three-song-in-a-row review. Overall, they're really not that bad. Their sound is really all over the place and at times confusing, but that's really all the bad I can say about them as a group. Though Heathens was ultimately worthless, I don't regret doing this at all. Stay tuned for my next post where I discuss... I don't know. Whatever I feel like doing?

Stressed Out: 8/10
Ride: 8.5/10
Heathens: 4.75/10