I Disagree - Poppy: Review
is a computer girl, and the meticulously fashioned cult leader creation of Moriah Rose Pereira. She first broke out as a YouTube star before signing to Mad Decent records in 2017 and releasing her debut record Poppy.Computer. Her first record is full of short cleanly produced sugary sweet synth pop tunes, but since then she has begun to undergo a fast artistic transition. On her second record 2018's Am I A Girl? she began to loosely adapt some of the sounds of genres like nu metal and post-hardcore into her songs , and the result was a unique and compositionally varied series of tracks that proved she was even more versatile as a vocalist than anyone thought. Last year on her critically acclaimed Choke EP she took this even further collaborating with Rap Metal band Fever 333 and going full on Slint on the track Meat, and I Disagree looks to be her furthest descent into the world of hardcore rock music yet.
Review By Lavender:
I have been a pretty proud member of Poppy's cult for the past few years. After initially dismissing her as a bit of a novelty act with not a ton of musical appeal, I have been in love with everything she's released since her debut record Poppy.Computer. Coming off of her excellent Choke EP last year that I called my EP of the year she was doing even more experimenting and blending of genres than ever before and I was thrilled for what was coming next. Despite her recent announcement of her creative un-partneting with long time collaborator Titanic Sinclair he still has writing credits on every song on I Disagree and just like the pair have done for the past few years, the record incorporates a number of sounds effectively.
Poppy dropped five singles leading up to the record in 2019 and they make up the first five songs on the album. Concrete and Anything Like Me both combine catchy moments I enjoy with hard-hitting metal instrumentation but are pretty one-dimensional in their execution, and Anything in particular just kind of fades out completely out of nowhere at the end. The title track I Disagree opens up with some whispered vocals that explode into a strong lead guitar riff and quiet but confrontational verses from Poppy. The hook pairs a fuzzed out wall of guitars with a booming vocal performance that sees her not taking shit from anyone. The harshness continues on my favorite of the singles BLOODMONEY which wastes no time getting into its blasting breakbeats and fantastic shouted refrain. The electronic manipulation of the vocals shines across the entire track and its one of the best and strongest rock crossovers Poppy has made so far. The final single was Fill The Crown an instantly catchy track with a shiny hook and glitchy title refrain that kick it off perfectly. Once the heavy chunky guitars pick up Poppy joins with a gruff shouted performance and backing vocals that come straight out of the Marilyn Manson book. While I am more enamored with the pop side of this track I still quite enjoy it.
Despite nearly all the singles containing rock elements the rest of the record largely focuses on other areas with only one exception. Bite Your Teeth is one of the more straightforward punchy rock songs but it has a breakdown that sounds too much like The Simpsons theme song to overcome. Nothing I Need is another song I didn't love despite the fact that its reverb heavy and very dreamy keys make for an interesting palette. The track is a slow developing and kind of uneventful one that never really has a defining moment to bring it home.
Thankfully the tunes get better with the excellent track Sit/Stay where Poppy opens up with disjointed chanted commands that sound like a BDSM version of I'm Poppy. This is paired with some jittery electronic breakbeats that makes for a speedy explosive track I fell in love with as soon as I first heard it. Sick Of The Sun is another highlight that takes a really spacey dream pop approach I quite enjoy. Poppy's vocals are perfect on the song and the instrumental is particularly inviting given much of what preceded it. The closing track is another treat Don't Go Outside. The track is just over six minutes long and wanders through a number of sounds starting off as a creepy ballad and then transforming into something almost trip hop like. The middle of the song has an admittedly awesome and triumphant metal passage before returning to some refrains from other tracks on the record in a more somber almost lullaby like fashion. It's a pretty epic way to close the record off and it dives into many of the great sounds that album has across it.
I Disagree may not be as consistent as some other releases from Poppy but her insistence to continue to push her sound and incorporate other genres is as rewarding as ever. Not only are there plenty of good songs on the record but they have a variety of sounds they pull from for a collection of rewarding tunes that cover a huge array of bases. The record is yet another solid entry into a very strong discography getting better and better every year. 7.5/10
