Tag: music

Is Pop Punk About To Break Again?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I remember the last time punk “broke.” It was the early 90s and I remember hearing Green Day on the radio and thinking, “punk is back.” The thing about punk is there are two clear versions of it.

Australia’s G-Flip

There is just regular old punk that you usually can only hear in dim, dank bars that are scary. And then there is what you might call “pop punk” or, in an earlier era, “New Wave.”

There are a number of bands floating around now that seem indicate there is at least a small possibility that some form of pop punk “breaking” again might happen. There are IDLES and So Good from Great Britain. There is G-Flip from Australia.

But I have my doubts.

I think all my talk about “pop punk” says more about me than any possibility of a vibe shift where, like, good music is pop again. I think we’re doomed to shitty music from here on out for technological reasons, if nothing else.

I will note, as an aside, that if Tik-Tok had some sort of “music” tab that that would be a great way for the audience to passively discover new music. I already do that with Tik-Tok as it is, but it would be nice if there was a specific area of Tik-Tok devoted to breaking new music.

Deconstructing The Artist ‘So Good’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t know what to make of the young woman in Great Britain who goes by “So Good.” Her music is an interesting mixture of pop, punk, dance with some Riot Grrrl mixed in for good measure.

I really like the few songs she’s come out with to date, though some of her lyrics are so on-the-nose that I wonder if they’re meant to be self-parody. But I will give her props for being really, really explicitly political in those lyrics.

But, who knows.

It will be interesting to see what happens with her. She has a lot of potential, yes, but her music has been out for a few months and it has yet to catch on. The moment I heard her music, I was sure she was some huge unknown-to-Americans hit.

Turns out, lulz.

Anyway. I wish her luck. Her music is good.

Huh. Janelle Monae

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve long been a big fan of Janelle Monae. I really liked the beginning of her career. She was really creative and had a very unique, clear creative vision. She was tight with Big Boi and Prince and she seemed like follow in Prince’s footsteps.

And I’ve been pleased with some of her crazy antics of late. She’s got a Baracking body and I’m always game for some T&A.

But.

And this is a huge but — I’m growing to hate her music.

Gone are all the kooky, weird shit that made her great. Her actual music these days seems to very mainstream and, like, trying too hard. It’s very strange. I don’t get it. I don’t understand what is going on.

Could have been that Prince was something of a mentor to her and when he died, she lost her way? I dunno. It’s all very curious.

Did Reddit Kill Rock?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I recently saw someone posit a hypothesis that the reason why rock is no longer pop music is all the punks who would otherwise pick up a guitar and write a rock standard are now Incels on Reddit. This idea has given me pause for thought because it makes a lot of sense.

“Good music”

The fact that “good” music (relative to me) evaporated just about the time the iPhone came out does seem to lend a little bit of credence to this idea. We’re over due for a third wave of punk, if nothing else, which makes you wonder if something like all the punks being keyboard warriors rather than guitar heros has merit to it.

If nothing else, the idea that maybe the nature of adolescence has changed might be to blame for the lack of pop rock. I will note that there’s something else that’s really changed in pop music — women pretty much dominate all the good mainstream pop music these days.

While I’m all for sisters doing it for themselves, it would be nice for there to be some sort of balance. But, whatever. What do I know. No one listens to me and maybe they shouldn’t.

Wait, What? Artists Can’t Release New Music Unless It Goes Viral On Tik-Tok?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is something that can’t be true, right? Pop stars are being told by their management that they can’t release new songs until they go viral on Tik-Tok. That is just crazy, crazy for real for real.

Just nuts.

I mean, who’s to say this or that song is going to go viral on Tik-Tok in the first place? It doesn’t seem to serve anyone. It’s a lose-lose situation. But here we are.

What The Fuck, Ariana Grande?



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me get some things out of the way. First, I’m a pretty big Ariana Grande fan. Second, I think she’s gorgeous. But I also have two eyes and know she’s gotten significant work done on her face recently.

What bothers me is, we’re all going to ignore this as if it hasn’t happened. But here’s the proof. Here is the Ari I remember:

Ari 1.0

And here is the new version of her face that kind of blows my mind:

Wow. Just wow. She looks totally different. She’s still hot as hell, but it’s unnerving because she no longer looks like the person you think of when you think of “Ariana Grande.”

And, best I can tell, there’s been pretty much zero mention of this transformation in the press.

Oh well.

Charli XCX Is Cool


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The reason why I like Charli XCX is she’s sex positive in a way that reminds me of Madonna (etc) way back when. It used to be that female vocalists would run around without any clothes on. I’m old now and I miss that vibe. Charli XCX reminds me of that.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 18: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Charli XcX attends The BRIT Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on February 18, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images for Bauer Media)

I like her music, too, but she wears her sexuality on her sleeve in such a matter that it’s like, “Finally, a pop singer who’s willing to not be a prude.” It’s weird — at least to me — how all the major female vocalists these days a extremely modest compared to what they used to be.

Madonna, for one, made a whole career out of exploiting — and exploring — her sexuality in a very public fashion. I mean, the woman did come out with a book called “Erotica,” for Christ’s sake.

Anyway, it’s all moot. It’s not like the good old days of my youth are ever coming back — with female vocalists or anything else. But I do enjoy Charli XCX being something of a throwback.

‘Bad Art Friend:’ #Lyrics To A #Pop #Rock Song


I’m just letting off some steam, like I always am whenever I write lyrics. I have no idea what I’m doing, but writing lyrics really quick is a lot of fun and is very relaxing.

Bad Art Friend
Lyrics by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
please give credit if you produce or perform

bad art friend
bad art friend
bad art friend

here I am styling
all the while you’re dying
to tell me about your deeds
to help the sick
you won’t give up
until you get in your lick

in the end
you’re nothing but
nothing but a
bad art friend
bad art friend
bad art friend

I try my best
to avoid your serve
but you’re too good for me
and not even my swerve
can avoid your demands
that I tell you all I know

(bridge)
it’s too good to be true
the things you do to woo
you think I’m a hack
with no talent or class
but I know that’s not so

in the end
you’re nothing but
nothing but a
bad art friend
bad art friend
bad art friend

We Stan A Queen — We Have Got To Talk About Halsey’s Very Exposed, Very Dark Areola On The Cover Of Her New Album


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

By Apple Music, Fair use.


I find myself becoming a Halsey fan because of what I’m hearing on her latest album. It’s not perfect — it seems all over the place thematically with the only the holding it together is Trent Reznor wants to remind us that he was in NIN. Ok, we get it Trent.

The first time I saw the album’s cover on Spotify, I did a double take — was it possible I was seeing what I was seeing? A reproduction of a very famous piece of art that involves a baby and a very exposed, very dark areola? I’m very pleased with this image because it’s interesting and it doesn’t treat us like children.

If nothing else, it will get her stans to look into some art history to find out why they’re seeing something so mildly provocative. Motherhood has only made Halsey more attractive. She’s a real babe in her more buxomly itineration.

But the album itself is really, really good. I just wish Reznor was a bit more adept in its production. The whole thing is a mess. It derivative production on individual songs occasionally takes away from how great the album is as a whole. A few of the songs are real bangers (bops?). Being new to Halsey the singer as opposed to a celebrity I barely know anything about, I continue to be taken aback by how beautiful and unique her singing voice is.

Not to sound TOO much like a dirty old man, but I continue to struggle with why someone like Dua Lipa has not “accidently on purpose” given us some T&A. She’s a real stunner and it’s weird that 30 years after Madonna ran around naked we’ve grown more puritanical. Maybe she’ll do it in the Hollywood movie she’s set to star in soon.

Let’s Talk Halsey (& NIN)


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Thanks to Spotify, I’ve found myself obsessively listening to Halsey the last few days. I’m surprised how good she is as a singer and song-writer. Her latest album, “If I Can’t I Have Love, I Want Power” suits my middle-aged white male musical sensibilities quite well.

LOS ANGELES – MARCH 14: Halsey attends the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Glenn Francis/Pacific Pro Digital Photography)

I do have one quibble, though — a number of the songs sound….vaguely derivative? But the only reason why they do so is my age. If you were the intended audience of a young tweener girl, you would never catch one song’s reference to NIN. There’s so much NIN drifting through this album that I wonder if Trent Reznor is her producer. (I checked: HE IS. Which explains why I keep hearing NIN musical cues throughout the album.)

I will note there’s a little bit of Tori Amos dripped into this album, too.

Anyway. If you were too young to know The Downward Spiral, you would never catch how Reznor is plagiarizing himself. His influence is so noticeable in the album that it’s at times rather distracting. But Reznor is a great producer and the overall product is exceptional, given how shitty most modern music is. I applaud Halsey for picking Reznor and Atticus Ross to produce what is otherwise a pretty mainstream pop rock album.

Anyway. I really like this album. The thing about Halsey is she has an extremely unique vocal sound. Her voice really sticks out for how unique it is. It’s like that one hot chick in college you knew who had stunning eyes — Halsey’s unique voice is her greatest strength because of its distinct personality.

It does seem as though we may be slowly, in fits and starts, drifting towards what I call “Rona Rock.” This would be the traditional pop rock that dominated the charts for about 50 years. It died out about 20o8-ish. It would be cool if it came back. It would make me so happy.

One way for that to happen would be for some sort of girl supergroup to be formed with one of its members being Halsey.