Playing Catch-Up: Part XVIII

Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Album: ‘Villains‘
Year: 2017

For a band who, one paper, can still bring the heat, I’m not sure why this album seemed like such a let down. Perhaps if someone rages for too long you start to think there’s something wrong and feel sorry for them instead of thinking their just some hardcore asshole. There are elements of this album that resonate–their lyrics, their drums and bass lines–but everything else feels hollow. I might need to giev this one another spin to give it a fair shake.

Track of Distinction: “The Evil Has Landed” is good despite the fact my copy had messed up audio. This is a quintessential QOTSA track if there ever was one.

Artist: Tyler, The Creator
Album: ‘Scum Fuck Flower Boy‘
Year: 2017

I don’t think Tyler ever wants to grow up. Since rapping about his immature insecurities and his flaws pay the bills, why grow and adapt as an artist? Luckily, his talent more than makes up for it and this album comes off with more polished than it really earned. Some day, we will look back at a time when two rappers–Kanye and Tyler–kind of broke the mold and gave us a rapper we weren’t ready for and who really wasn’t ready for us, but delivered greatness.

Track of Distinction: “November” reminds us that growing up is scary, maturing is hard, and fame makes everything harder than it should be.

Artist: Foo Fighters
Album: ‘Concrete and Gold‘
Year: 2017

Dave Grohl has become fully self-aware and this album is making us all pay the price for that. This album wasn’t a Foo Fighters album whatsoever; it was a Grohl solo project that he needed help on and it turned into something that doesn’t reflect what they stand for. Perhaps they want to become a pop-rock band and go on something like the Warped Tour as the old guys trying to catch the attention of a younger generation that doesn’t deserve them. C’mon, Dave, we deserve better than this.

Track of Distinction: “Happy Ever After (Zero Hour)” wasn’t awful. It kinda reminds me of stuff from ‘There’s Nothing Left to Lose’ with a hint of Radiohead mixed in.

Artist: The National
Album: ‘Sleep Well Beast‘
Year: 2017

I was told not to expect much from this album, so I don’t know if it was my low expectations that made this album seem dynamic or if it was that good? This band has the handicap of having me compare everything they do to ‘High Violet,’ their best album and one of my personal favs. But this one held its own giving me what I wanted and expected from them–nothing too flashy, Matt’s droning, hypnotic vocals, plenty of dark metaphors to wrestle with. In all, a solid album that earned another spin in the near future.

Track of Distinction: “Cairn at the Liquor Store” is just excellent and even kind of fun to listen to.