Fluxblog 510: bratty cheerleader music
Plus new music from Darkside, Ethel Cain, and Estelle Allen
This week’s playlist is BRATTY CHEERLEADER POP, a collection of songs with that “Hey Mickey” cheerleader spirit. It includes music by Chappell Roan, Sleater-Kinney, Avril Lavigne, Lil Mama, Sleigh Bells, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Gwen Stefani, Grimes, The Ting Tings, Charli XCX, Rosé, The Go-Go’s, and many others. It’s a lot of fun!
[Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
I Did It For The Rush
Darkside “S.N.C”
The first minute and a half of “S.N.C” is about what you’d expect to hear from Darkside – moody, muted palette, sensual but not overtly sexual – and it’s gorgeous. They could have stayed in that mode through the whole song and I’d love it. But then it gets much more interesting – a Stevie Wonder-ish clavinet riff struts into the mix, the funkiness gets dialed up by 90%, and suddenly there’s a reverb-soaked vocal that sounds like it’s superimposed over the rest of the song. It sounds like if God was a member of The Bee Gees. It feels profound, like some kind of divine intervention by way of overlapping radio signals, even if the voice is singing “I did it for the money, I did it for the time of my life and the thrill.” It’s one of the coolest things I’ve heard in a song in a while.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Twenty Times A Day
Ethel Cain “Vacillator”
“Vacillator” sounds a bit like a more glacial version of Cowboy Junkies – soft, hyper-feminine, and romantic, but also sooooo sloooooow and zoned out it borders on feeling dissociative. Ethel Cain’s lyrics are overtly seductive and alluring through the middle section of the song, but the emotional context emerges with a knife-twist in the extended outro: “if you love me, keep it to yourself.” It’s such plain language, but it’s open to a lot of interpretation. Is she ashamed to be attracted to this person, or is it more of a warning to them about what may happen if people find out they’re having sex with a trans woman? Is she discouraging a feeling she knows she can’t reciprocate? Is being loved too much for her to bear? There’s so much angst and shame swirling around in this song, but the lust and romance is still the overpowering feeling.
Buy it from Amazon.
A Slice Of Heaven In My Mind
Estelle Allen “Girlfriend 2”
A lot of Estelle Allen’s music is in the same aesthetic realm as 100 Gecs – twitchy, warped versions of trashy Y2K-era music with heavily processed vocals. But while the Gecs focus on a hyper, bugged-out energy, Allen has much more capacity for her version of smooth and chill sounds from the same era. “Girlfriend 2” seems to be aiming for a D’Angelo/Dilla vibe with the groove, and the vocal melody wouldn’t be out of place on the first Justin Timberlake record. It’s fun to hear that sort of music with a messy, awkward feel to it, particularly as Allen is singing from the perspective of someone who’s kind of a wreck but is yearning for that sort of romance and suave self-assurance. I find myself rooting for her as she tries to convince this girl to come over and move from casual summer fling to proper coupledom, but also play it sorta cool. I mean, she’s not doing herself any favors by singing “I promise that I’ll clean my bathroom one of these days,” but I’m hoping for the best.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
LIVE LIVE LIVE LIVE
I went to the Antics second issue launch show at Baby’s All Right on Wednesday night, which featured Thus Love, Celeste Allen, and Fernette, who blew me away with a set of songs that basically sound like Nico performing at a jazzy piano bar while robot aliens attack. It was quite a thing to hear with zero context or expectations. You can buy a copy of the new issue of Antics here. Support new music media!
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• I enjoyed this episode of the Talkhouse podcast with Paul Banks of Interpol interviewing Frank Black of Pixies. They mostly talk about Teenager of the Year, which Black is now playing in full on an anniversary tour, but it’s most enjoyable when they’re off on tangents about Black’s young adult children and a story about him auditioning for Zodiac at David Fincher’s request. Banks does his best to dial back his fandom, but I like that he’s so forthcoming about the impact Black’s music has had on him as an artist.
• I recommend checking out Colette Shade’s new book of critical essays Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything. It’s full of interesting ideas about an era I didn’t particularly enjoy living through, and it’s also pretty funny a lot of the time. If you’d like to get a feel for Colette and her POV, I suggest listening to her guest appearance on a public bonus episode of Chapo Trap House that came out earlier this week.
• Recliner Notes has a post highlighting the ways that 2024 was A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus. They’re right to say it!
So great to hear the Pom Poms again, thanks!