Fluxblog #319: Sonic Youth | Audrey Nuna • Olivia Rodrigo • Drug Store Romeos • Sugar Candy Mountain
Plus some more Sonic Youth
This week’s playlist is SONIC LIFE: THE ESSENTIAL SONIC YOUTH, a retrospective collecting 50 classic songs from the band’s primary releases from 1982 through 2009. If you’ve never heard Sonic Youth or spent much time with them, this is the perfect introduction to their incredible body of work. If you’re already a fan, it’s a celebration of one of the best rock bands of all time. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
I’m also doing a Sonic Youth retrospective audio essay project as a subscriber exclusive on the Fluxblog Patreon. I’m basically doing a guided tour of their discography with extensive use of music that I probably can’t get away with putting on regular podcast feeds. I’m moving through each era of their existence – the first episode covered their first EP, Confusion Is Sex, Kill Yr Idols, and Bad Moon Rising, and this weekend’s episode will cover Evol, Sister, and Daydream Nation.
Mommies In The Dust
Audrey Nuna featuring Saba “Top Again”
The sound of “Top Again” feels very rooted in late 90s/early 00s aesthetics – think R&B songs featuring a Ja Rule guest verse but with the murkier vibes of classic RZA production, with a dash of Missy and Timbaland aesthetics – but with the new money optimism replaced with a casual nihilism. Audrey Nuna’s drowsy-yet-soulful phrasing is perfectly suited to her deadpan sense of humor, particularly when she’s contrasting images of a luxury lifestyle and immaculate high fashion with the muck and grime of actually being present in the world. (“Gabbana pants sag in the mosh pit” is a particularly great image.) The chorus is so strong and instantly familiar that I wonder if I’ve actually heard something just like it in a hit before and can’t quite place it. But everything about this song feels like it’s an act of fandom for other songs – when Saba shows up for his rap, it’s as if the song is smirking at you and doing that “whispering to date” joke format – “that’s the guest rapper verse.”
Buy it from Amazon.
Kids Who Don’t Know Me
Olivia Rodrigo “Jealousy, Jealousy”
Olivia Rodrigo emerged fully formed this year with one skill most everyone is familiar with by now – an uncanny talent for creating songs so ideally suited to karaoke that her own performances can look like she’s doing karaoke of her own music. Her other skill, a totally unforced aptitude for alt-rock, was not fully apparent until her album Sour came out this past weekend. “Jealousy, Jealousy” is a classic loud/soft/loud alt song filtered through a few decades of genre evolutions – the base structure is Pixies but the skulking bass groove sounds early 00s to me, the dissonant piano more of a post-Radiohead thing, the vocal melody and phrasing are very Lorde. It’s a mishmash, but it all comes together with a casual elegance that keeps the listener focused on the dynamic effect rather than any one component.
Rodrigo’s lyrics about visual social media triggering feelings of inadequacy and envy are particular to the experience of a contemporary teen, but are hardly limited to her demographic. She tries to talk herself out of her own insecurities with lines that sound just like what you might read on an Instagram account devoted to mental health and body image, which I’m not sure is actually meant to come off as ironic. But I think most anyone can pick up on the subtext that Rodrigo – exactly the sort of traditionally beautiful young person with an outrageous level of success that would ordinarily drive other kids mad with jealousy – is feeling this way means there’s no escape from this for anyone besides talking yourself into believing in something else.
Buy it from Amazon.
Glancing To Another Day
Drug Store Romeos “What’s On Your Mind”
Sarah Downey has a soft and delicate voice ideally suited to the dreamy psychedelic music she makes with Drug Store Romeos but that quality in her voice conveys an intense thoughtfulness rather than shyness or a dissociated daze, as is common with this sort of indie rock. “What’s On Your Mind” is an earnest attempt at communication with someone who’s shut down. It’s not a confrontation, and it’s not coming from a place of “are you mad at me?” It’s just an attempt to connect and as much is said in her lyrics as in the instrumental parts, which gradually shifts from spacey parts implying a bit of distance to warmer tones of gentle affection.
Buy it from Drug Store Romeos.
I Tried To Catch Them
Sugar Candy Mountain “Impression”
I’ve been doing this site for a very long time now and have written about thousands of songs and I think in a lot of cases my daily challenge is figuring out what to say about songs without just being like “this sounds nice, the bass part makes me feel good.” And the thing is, a lot of experience with music is just that – sounds nice, feels good. “Impression” is absolutely one of those songs where the sensation of it is the whole point, and trying to get deep into what I like about the chords and tones and melodies feels like going into detail on why a meadow full of flowers looks pretty on a sunny day. Sometimes the point of beautiful things is that you don’t have to think about it at all. The band’s choice to bury the lead vocals a bit so that the lyrics are barely discernible makes me think they’re not trying to get in the way of the sensations here – some words pop out, but mostly it just sounds like syllables for a melody.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
My House of X site is back in action this week with a review of the long-awaited issue in which Jonathan Hickman finally circles back to the Mystique/Destiny/Moira and Nimrod/Orchis plot threads.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• Here’s an excellent Rolling Stone article by Samantha Hissong about McDonald’s strategy in collaborating with pop stars, with a focus on their new promotion with BTS.
• I enjoyed Jenny Eliscu’s new interview with Kevin Parker of Tame Impala on her LSQ podcast.
• Larry Fitzmaurice interviewed the band Sorry for his Last Donut of the Night newsletter.