Review: Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man

That period was on purpose. That's really how their name is formatted.

So, uh, yeah. Portugal. The Man. There's an actual rock band in the top 20 that isn't Imagine Dragons or Twenty One Pilots, hallelujah. I mean, the song's more of a psychedelic-funk-pop fusion, but you get the idea, they're a rock band that makes rock music. This could very well end up being another Foster the People or The Neighbourhood kind of situation where this is their only song anyone cares about, but I don't care. It's a hit.

Okay, a little bit of background. Portugal. The Man is a sort-of psychedelic, indie, alt-rock kind of group, they're not like most mainstream rock acts. They're kind of experimental, which is fine. They have been putting out music since at least 2005, and this song here comes from their eighth major studio album Woodstock. The song is called Feel it Still.

As you can see, the video is also fairly wacky.

You may have heard this song a few time if you've watched any commercials recently, especially in the United States. Apple, Google, and even the guys behind VitaminWater have used the song in their adverts. Yeah, this is more of an American hit, so far it's only peaked at around number 42 on the UK charts, for example. Really, though, it doesn't matter, it's on the radio over here often enough. I'm counting it.

Normally, it gets kind of annoying seeing songs get popular through commercials (Alex Clare and X Ambassadors are examples of acts that have gotten success this way), but with a song as odd as this, I don't have many problems with it. It gives the charts a bit more diversity, it's refreshing seeing something like this so popular. There's a bit of old-school charm here somewhat akin to other hits we've had this year. Still, nostalgia's a bit of an industry nowadays, and a cool one at that. Well, I guess now's a better time than ever to talk about the actual song.

This is a song built around a chorus. Quite literally, the band themselves have said the writing process started with the chorus's first line "I'm a rebel just for kicks." Rebelling for the sake of rebelling. Because someone has to do it. The rest of the song just kind of gels off of it. It's just a solid line, you can do a lot with it. Also, yes, it is to the tune of the opening lines to The Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman, why not?

They sure do a lot with it. There's something about the lead singer's kid in there, that's pretty much what the first two verses are about. This is more to solidify the feeling of oldness. They haven't literally been feeling it since 1966, but they sure feel like it. Reminiscing about those old counter-cultural movements is more what this song's about. What do I mean?

I mean what I say. It's a song about finding connections between what happened years ago and what's going on nowadays. Even the misguided allusion to the Beastie Boys' classic (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) fits into this, as even though that song was made as a parody of "bleep the rules, I wanna party" songs, it just inspired that sort of rebellious attitude even more.

Besides that is the ancient feeling it gives off. The verses about raising a kid only add to that. This song is from the point of view of an older person who was alive around 1966, or at least feels that way, and it shows. The album it's from is even called Woodstock, there's no subtlety to that, and you know what? That's totally fine. It gets the point across. Old people feel old, but also see a bit of a connection to their youth in the turbulence surrounding them. Jeez, there's even a fairly subtle connection between the Berlin Wall and the reactions to the proposed US-Mexico border wall ("We could wait until the walls come down... it's time to give a little to the kids in the middle but oh, until it falls, it won't bother me."). It's subtle, but that's pretty obviously what they're going for.

 I think the verse that does it for me is the third one (the one with the line about the walls). It's a bitterly ironic one, talking about "fighting wars for peace" and "giving in to that easy feeling." It's directed at those who delibrately choose inaction, to go along with the flow and be blindly happy about whatever's going on, and punches are not pulled. Giving a little to the kids in the middle ain't gonna do much, but tearing that wall down sure will. It's brilliant.

Hey, if you're looking for something to rebel to, this is fine. Obvious commercial fodder, but hey, I like my commercial fodder. It's lively, it's energetic, it's inspiriting, and I love it. The album's alright, too. Next time, we're getting a bit more sane.

SCORE: 8/10

Review: Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift

It's like she took her legacy and threw it in an incinerator and left the door open to watch it burn.

Taylor Swift. She needs no introduction. She deserves no introduction. Everyone and their mother knows who this person is. I mean, maybe you don't if you're outside the United States, I don't know, I know a few of my readers are. I'll explain briefly.

Taylor Swift is a former country singer from Nashville, Tennessee who got her break writing and singing relatable country songs for fellow young people. Silly love songs. Breakup songs. She connected to the youth like no other country singer could, and she was successful doing this.

Eventually, around 2012, she started to transition into straight-up pop music. That year she released Red, an album which was mostly pop-country. There were straight country songs and straight pop songs, but it was mostly a blend. In 2014, however, she released 1989, an album which was basically just pop, no country to be seen. Needless to say, it was even more successful than Red and provided Swift with some of her biggest hit singles to date. Now, in 2017, she is set to release her next album Reputation this November, set to have another fairly dramatic career direction change to a harsher electropop sound. She recently released the first single from that album, titled Look What You Made Me Do.

Needless to say, it was polarizing. There were those who liked it for the sudden and bold stylistic change, and others hated it for that exact reason. It's an odd song, certainly, one that might take me a while to explain. Am I up for the challenge? Probably not. I'll try anyway.

So, this song is a dark, edgy bit of electropop with elements of electroclash (a style of electronic music that was vaguely popular in the late 1990s). Also, remember when I talked about Jack Antonoff a few reviews ago (the guy from fun who wrote that one song from Fifty Shades Darker that also had Swift on it)? Yeah, he produced and co-wrote this. You wanna know who else wrote this? The guys from Right Said Fred. How?

Well, would you believe me if I told you the chorus interpolates the chorus of Right Said Fred's hit single I'm Too Sexy? It's true. Trust me, it's as jarring as it sounds. Basically, Swift sings "Ooh, look what you made me do" in the exact same manner as that which Richard Fairbrass says the immortal line "I'm too sexy for my shirt." I have two problems with this. One, it sounds clumsy and arrogant. Two, sampling I'm Too Sexy is, in 99% of circumstances, a terrible idea. It's a classic, and I will hear no counterarguments. It's a masterpiece. Literal perfection.

Of course I'm kidding, but it's still a terrible idea. I'm Too Sexy was a deeply ironic critique of the fashion industry. This loses all of that depth and dives straight into pettiness. It ends up leaving us with probably the worst chorus Taylor Swift has ever made, and possibly the worst chorus of 2017. This is on the level of last year's worst choruses. It's barely even a chorus, there's less going on than there is in any of the verses. I know the chorus is usually the spot in a song with the least amount of lyrical depth, but jeez, it doesn't even get the point across. "Look what you made me do?" What did we make you do?

That's barely even getting into the lyrical content. It's so clearly about her feuds with Kanye West and Katy Perry that it isn't even subtle. I'm pretty sure I heard some lyrical allusions to Perry's own Swish Swish from her most recent album, a song that, while not great, at least had a groove to it. At least Katy Perry had swagger. This has about as much swagger as a corpse in a centuries-old graveyard.

This song is the embodiment of pettiness. Look, I get Taylor Swift is usually fairly petty. She makes pettiness anthems like they're coming out of style, but this is probably the worst offender. Not only is it petty, it is arrogant and absolutely edgy. The constant whining and pettiness coming from the lyrics is legitimately unbearable to handle. Here is a link to the lyrics, I couldn't even begin to describe them in detail. It isn't even just the lyrics, it's the delivery. The whining is apparent from the first few lines. You can tell she feels very entitled to her opinion, whether you like it or not. Her tone is absolutely grating in every single line, from the full-of-herself monotone to the shrill tones of the pre-chorus. It's awful, bottom line.

So yeah, this is the worst pop song of the year so far. Not only is it bad, it's Taylor Swift giving her own career the middle finger. She says it herself. "I'm sorry, the old Taylor...she's dead!" She's reinventing her career again, only it's gone backwards this time around. It's terrible, and her follow-up single ...Ready for It? wasn't much better. I'm not looking forward to the album.

Next time, I have no idea.

SCORE: 2.75/10