Rapid Fire Reviews: Bonnaroo Weekend With Jenny Lewis, Foo Fighters & Destroy Lonely

This weekend is Bonnaroo and like I so often do I'm attaching some rapid-fire reviews to celebrate. Because I've already covered a handful of artists in the lineup I ended up with one record I was going to cover anyway, one I wasn't planning on but don't mind trying, and one I don't really want to cover at all. You'll know which one is which.

Joy'All - Jenny Lewis

While at a glance her output may not look as essential as some of her peers, Jenny Lewis has always been beloved by those in the know. More musicians gush over her talent, input, and influence than fans and critics can really even get a grasp for which is why every time she gears up to drop some new material I'm interested.Another reason is despite not completely adoring every one of the record's singles, they do add up to quite a compelling bit. The best of the bunch is Giddy Up an eerier song than I thought Jenny had in her but one that translates that unsettling energy into dignified romance. I also think the record's lead single and intro Psychos is classic Jenny. It's a simple, vintage indie folk cut with gentle instrumentation and catchy refrains. Elsewhere on the record there are even more deep cut highlights. Essence Of Life is a gentle swaying ballad that's heartbroken but doesn't quite bear the entire brunt of its feelings in song. It's an interesting songwriting choice that I grew to like quite a bit. There isn't anything here that's outright bad, well nevermind actually Love Feel is pretty bad. But the bigger issue with the record has more to do with how scant it is turning up a pretty short tracklist of mostly very inoffensive songs. The highlights pretty comfortably outweigh the low points but the album also feels like it fails to deliver anything THAT exciting across 32 minutes. 6.5/10

But Here We Are - Foo Fighters

Every once in a while Foo Fighters will drop an album that nobody particularly likes and when those happen, I also tend to not particularly like them. But sometimes, Foo Fighters will drop a an album that people really enjoy and think is among the better mainstream rock record's of its era, and I still tend to not particularly like them. People certainly say that The Colour And The Shape  is one of the best rock albums of the 90s, but when I listen to it I think it's just okay. They also say that 20011's Waste Of Light is some kind of massive career revitalization for the band and I think that album is jusay too. For a whiel I've been resigned to the fact that I just don't see what so many enjoy about Foo Fighters brand of hammy dad rock. So given the singles I heard from this album and my history with the band's most acclaimed material, my expectations weren't tremendously high. 

Much to my surprise, this is actually quite a bold and thoroughly exciting record. It might be one of my favorite Foo Fighters albums ever when all is said and done. Highlights in the first half like Rescued and Hearing Voices do stick to the bands chugging alt-rock formulas but have a much rawer presentation and unpredictable energy. While much has been made of the massive 10-minute The Teacher, and for good reason, I would argue the far eerier Beyond Me does even more to steal the show. This album has all the hallmarks of a band letting go of their chains and rushing headfirst in any direction that they can think of. While that is the case for the entire project I should also point out that it isn't perfect. The record has its snoozers like The Glass and Show Me How. But I would argue the even worse outings come on moments where their embarrassing dad-rock side shines through, particularly on the track Under You. But still, not only did this record drastically surpass my expectations but it did so in a way I'm not sure I ever predicted I'd hear from the band. Even if this albums sound is a flash in the pan, perhaps brought on by the chaotic mourning period for drummer Taylor Hawkins, more than anything its a proof of concept for what Foo Fighters are capable of at their peak. 7/10

If Looks Could Kill - Destroy Lonely

Destroy Lonely is an Atlanta rapper signed to Playboi Carti's Opium record label. If you've interacted with any 14-year-old rap fans on Twitter you're probably familiar with Destroy Lonely and frequent collaborator and label mate Ken Carson. I've heard both artist's projects in the past two years or so as they've pretty rapidly gained popularity and I can't say I've really liked any of them. They remind me a lot of Gunna and Lil Baby in their early days before they found their sound. Both Lonely and Carson have pretty much no distinct elements to their style. Each one spends increasingly long mixtapes doing their best impression of what "rap," "trap," and "rage" music sounds like in 2023. Even compared to their own label head Playboi Carti, who is far from perfect, the complete lack of personality in both artists becomes obviously apparent. So no, when I first heard this new 90 minutes Destroy Lonely project last month I wasn't expecting much and I didn't get much. 

I know there's a lot of people who were in pre-school when Rodeo came out that get angry at any Destroy Lonely hate online so I'll say this. The music here isn't actively painful to listen to. In a world of MAGA and Crypto rappers somehow still getting attention this is far from the worst thing the genre has to offer. Interestingly enough, I find that the less popular songs on this album are the better they are. In a "which song is the most annoying" competition the record's biggest hit if looks could kill is a STRONG contender. Sometimes on a song like came in wit the best part of the track is how quickly it's over. Jokes aside that is actually one of the more tolerable songs on the project. The first song on the album that I kind of like is the 9th track biggest problem. It's still kind of a featureless blend of the funnier and more vulgar side of hip-hop with a level of ridiculousness that I find funny and refrains that are decently catchy. There are a few more decent songs later in the tracklist that I at least find tolerable but by the time I'm a third of the way through this thing my mind starts to play white noise to tune it out. I think I put more time into writing this review than Destroy Lonely did for any of the songs on this album so I'm going to do myself and any haters who had the tenacity to keep reading on a favor and wrap it up here. Once again I'm left with no distinct impression of who he is as an artist or why he has a fanbase as fervently dedicated to him as he does. 2/10