Aurora - The song is pretty and alright. I am a bit sketch on use of a "Cree proverb" and tribal inspired fashion in a European artist's video, but hey the song is nice.
Gloryhammer - This is the weakest I have heard Gloryhammer. I prefer all of their
second album, because if you like how camp and popcorn this is, that album is everything this has turned up higher. This song doesn't even seem to talk about how he is the Hero of Dundee.
Also for reference, that guy in furs playing the bass is The Hollywood Hootsman, the King of California.
Harris & Ford - It is some seriously big shoes to fill if you are going to be a trashy eurodance track that is going to reference Rock Me Amadeus, one of the greatest trashy Eurodance tracks from the 90s. This song that is barely over 3 minutes 30 seconds feels like it wants to be 3 different songsand the drop doesn't even have any teeth. Supremely disappointed because the 30 seconds where it is pushing the hard dance bass and leaning hard into the squelchy synth I am all there for it. I just want a 12 minute set of that, not 30 seconds.
Midnight - Is this K-Pop doing trap music? The instruments definitely does, as does some of the aesthetic but it still has as many rough edges shaved off as they can. Overall it feels weird as fuck, but I am very here for weird music. I uh don't quite know where it sits right after listening to it, but I suspect this might be a darkhorse for me for the week.
Offset - Hahhaha nope, okay we actually got a video that weirds me out more, so RIP to that I guess. The track itself isn't that far out, but the film clip itself has me confused. I am just not really sure why most of it? That said it works super well for the song, its a pretty basic beat over a short looping piano samples, so a bare bones not much going on video that is just sort of showing off for a standard hype track works. It is a well put together hype track and yeah if you are going to do a song about how people will do anything for clout and how you are great, then having Cardi B on for a guest verse is pretty spot on.
I don't think it is my kind of thing but it is a spot on example of the kind of song it is? So that gets it further than my personal tastes for it goes.
MiniG - Okay so we are doing a numetal rediscovery? Because this is better than most numetal ever was. The majority of the fashion is pretty period appropriate. Baggy pants, hoodies and all that are pretty spot on for a numetal band. Thankfully they have avoided basketball shorts and oversized singlets that Rap Metal bands tended to have. I really dig the song and the whole aesthetic. It is basic rap lines over an aggressive Drop D bass line (I hope to gods it is Drop D otherwise I am both losing my ear for it and they have completely missed the inspirations). I also dig the way most of the outfits are leaning way more into the bondage kink side of stuff, you are taking a musical style that was related but not really there and mixing it up with Marylin Manson and all the bits and pieces that filtered through to mainstream/survived early 90s goth culture in the way so many of the outfits are PVC and plastic. That is dope and obviously plays with the big draw which is the tilt at your Slipknot and similar bands with similar ideas on the masks.
The bedazzled gasmasks are all pretty rad. The gold studded one with the chains and the one with the big long streamer beard on a bouquet that makes them look like Cthulhu by
way of the creepiest new Doctor Who bit (looking at some other material . Probably the best ones are the bits where they have her singing through the hole with no filter though, the pink lipstick is a damn good pick.
I dig the track and I have spent a lot of time talking about the fashion, but I really do need to talk more about the song itself. The choruses are solid numetal mindlessly aggressive crunchy tracks with angry shouting out the chorus. Works well the upper range of a female lead vocalist the just as well as it ever did with like... say something related in alt rock like Guano Apes. What this does do that I like that Numetal never could have? The autotuned verses. I like that it isn't super good autotun, its sharp cuts on all the sounds and the whiny tones that mash up perfectly conflicting with the plonky synth tunes. Yeah I am super into this.
MiniG > Offset > Harris&Ford > Midnight > Aurora > Gloryhammer
Edit - They apparently put out a different version of the music video that appears to have been either a proof of concept or made up of establishing shots or something for the actual video. It is a case where the enforced minimalism I think contributes to an even stronger version of the aesthetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBGHt4gIELYWell worth a watch I think.
Edit 2 - Actually it is probably just made up of shots they did for press kits and shit, just throw on your kit and dick around on a set for half a day or whatever.
