Rapid Fire Reviews: Coachella ❤️
Let's go babes, Coachella starts today. Whether you're in the desert yourself or watching online it's an exciting time for music fans of all kind. So rather than the monotony of collecting artists by their genre or stylistic choices to make these rapid fire reviews, this time I'm just covering three artists with records I haven't touched on this year that you can hear at Coachella this weekend. Enjoy <3
Three Dimensions Deep - Amber Mark
Bronco - Orville Peck
Canada's own cowboy king is back in action with a second studio album following up 2020's Show Pony EP. I've always enjoyed Orville Peck even though I agree with the major complaint about his music, that it's built around a gimmick. But I honestly really like that gimmick. His adaptation of country aesthetics with a heartland flare paired with his trademark deep vocals is a winning formula in my book. On top of that his interpolation of gay themes is a hilarious subversion of a genre that has always had difficulty with outsiders. With that being said I do understand why some people have come up short on Peck's music thus far. While the highlights combine his unmistakable aesthetic with great songwriting there are a lot of points where it feels like the formula at its core is all a song has. Eight of the songs on the record were released in two EP's before the record came out though I am pretty thankful for some of the adjustments made to the final tracklist for fans who had already been enjoying the EPs. That means I've been mulling over a handful of my favorite tracks on the record like C'mon Baby, Cry and Outta Time for months now. While that may have a little bit to do with the disparity between the records first half and second, after repeated listens to gain more familiarity I still feel like the record gets off to a strong start but begins to tail off later on. Still despite this I have a generally positive impression of Bronco and though I think I'll be higher on it than most critics, something about Orville Peck continues to charm me. 6.5/10
Amber Mark is an R&B singer who has been bouncing around for a while now. I've been following her career for quite a bit as she made memorable appearances on songs with Dirty Projectors and Chromeo while also releasing one single after another in the lead up to this debut album. So yeah if you've been paying attention you were already very familiar with a number of these songs before the album even came out. Those single are generally quite a good bunch that show off her versatile R&B abilities. Though she does occasionally pull heavily from influences like SZA and Solange it actually works as a credit to her versatility that she can pull off so many of the genres defining sounds across the same album. The record is full of highlights starting right away with One and What It Is and including FOMO, Foreign Things, Cosmic and Bliss. Not only are those tracks really great but they're great in a variety of ways both sentimental and confident. The versatility of sound and different effectively conveyed emotions is probably the most impressive thing about the record and I think it shows that Amber will have no trouble fitting in going forward no matter what the dominant sound of R&B becomes. The record doesn't really have an achilles heel but I will point to two ways that it maybe could have been improved. While there has been a long wait for this debut album I don't think the decision to include a full hour of material was the right one. There are certainly some songs here that fall below the quality standard and could really easily have just been cut. Also for as good as these tracks are there's still incredibly strong and instantly recognizable points of influence all over this record. Given that both of those issues are extremely common on debut albums there's very little to complain about here. Amber shows off immense potential as both a vocalist and a songwriter and if she can hone a sound that's more of her own on her next project it could be an instant classic. 7.5/10
Tell Me That It's Over - Wallows
Wallows are a California indie rock band who were briefly the talk of the town in 2019 when their debut album Nothing Happens managed to score both commercial and critical success. I wasn't quite as into the record as some people. Even though the lackadaisical drifting between genres was compelling it meant that the band never really explored those sounds beyond the surface. I was surprised to see that the three years between commercial releases hadn't dulled the bands commercial appeal when I saw all of the pop music reporting Twitter pages commenting on its release and chart placement. From hearing the opening track on the record which absolutely blasts you with booming percussion it may be tricky to see why it has such a breezy commercial appeal, but everything from there on out is an exercise in landing on a "vibes" playlist. Maybe that's harsh. This record actually does manage to bring some instrumental punch now and then but it's almost always in service of some of the most sickeningly sentimental radio baiting refrains I've heard all year. The singles are really the biggest trouble spots here and if you're known to cringe at a bad and very dorky pop hook, avert your ears. Even with only 10 tracks and barely only half an hour of music it can feel like an absolute slog working through one sugary chorus after another. I think it's safe to say that Wallows didn't do much to win me over with this sophomore album, in fact I think it's a big step backwards. 4.5/10
