Lorde—“Glory and Gore”
#88
In case you missed the overarching metaphor the first time out, Lorde would like to explain The Hunger Games to you. The battle for adulthood is on, only in Lorde’s version it’s three-way combat: against the establishment, against her fellow teenagers, against herself. But there’s more involved than just growing up to be the person you want to be. It’s also about creating the world you want to live in, which sometimes means destroying the old one. Lorde’s singles seem to be moving in a definite direction. On “Royals” she set herself against the dominant pop paradigm, on “Team” and “Tennis Courts” she urged her fellows to join up and come along, and now, on “Glory and Gore”, they enter the ring, ready to do battle. World domination is the obvious next step (isn’t it always?). I don’t think she’s joking, either. But it will be interesting to see how long her determination holds up, even metaphorically.
Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith—“La La La”
#98
The music is ordinary when it isn’t silly, but the message, even if the lyrics get muffled and didactic at times, is serious. Willful ignorance being my least favorite thing in the world, I don’t normally applaud those who support it in any way, but if younger people are going to have any chance of creating a world anywhere near what they want, the first thing they’ll have to do is stop listening to us oldsters and start thinking for themselves. But it isn’t as if Naughty Boy and Sam Smith have stopped their ears completely; it’s only when they realize that they’re hearing nothing new or helpful that they tune out. I still go back and forth on this; that hook is more often irritating than entertaining, and childishness is never the answer to anything. But it’s a start.
U2—“Ordinary Love”
#99
Meanwhile, U2 keeps on trucking the good fight, hooking itself to a Nelson Mandela biopic and applying its impeccable craftsmanship to another plea for (what else?) love. “Ordinary” love, at that, which I’m not sure even exists—shouldn’t love be extraordinary by definition? This sort of thing is second nature for U2 by now, and in its own way this is perfect, if hardly earth shattering. They’re not making any new discoveries, just driving home what they already know, which besides metaphysical paradox includes an enduring bass and drums groove. I mean, would anybody outside the U.N. or the Gates Foundation listen to Bono at all if it wasn’t for Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr.?
Justin Moore—“Lettin’ the Night Roll”
#100
Sample titles from Moore’s new album, Off the Beaten Path: “Beer”, “Wheels”, “Dirt Road Kid”, “One Dirt Road”, “Field Fulla Hillbillies”, “For Some Ol’ Redneck Reason” (featuring Charlie Daniels!). Not only does that path sound beaten, it sounds graveled, steamrolled, asphalted, landscaped, and about six lanes wide to accommodate the bumper to bumper pickup trucks that roll on down the highway 24/7. The album also includes Moore’s last single, “Point At You”, which isn’t bad, and Moore has done good things in the past. But “Lettin’ the Night Roll” is bro-country at it’s most obvious and irritating, and I’ll bet the rest of the album is worse.