I’ll cycle through Big Star ballads, Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, and anything Phil Ochs. Ironically, the music that triggers this feeling is rarely loud or anthemic it’s generally driven by an acoustic guitar and kind of sad. Songs that make me feel day drunk and woozy, songs that make me feel like I’m head-over-heels in love with everyone I come into contact with. It’s getting warm again, which means that I’m starting to fall headfirst into “summer vibe” discographies. Hope Sandoval And The Warm Inventions – “Isn’t it True” But the former quote could just as easily refer to a million mediocre bands wisely giving up upon hearing this song, the latter to a precious few for whom “Doubts” becomes a catalyst for stepping up their game. One prominent lyric goes, “What am I supposed to do now?” Another says, “What’s left to lose?” They refer, as does so much emo, to the fallout from a breakup. Its churning undertow and soaring chorus seem to have been created under the influence of DIY cult favorites Pile, and in turn PUP may well influence other fiercely beloved bands down the line.
“Doubts,” a three-minute pop-punk song performed with the ferocity of a 30-second hardcore song, is a prime example of the album’s powers. You ever think about how wild it is that some bands pick up guitars and drums and bass, plug them into the same force that powers lightning bolts, pour their hearts and souls into creating something beautiful, and it sucks so bad that you convince yourself music is dead and sequester yourself into silence indefinitely? Whereas another group of musicians following the same essential blueprint can come up with something so awe-inspiringly powerful that your body conjures a rollercoaster-level adrenaline rush without leaving your desk chair? PUP’s new The Dream Is Over is one of those latter works, a collection of music so grippingly visceral and alive I almost can’t believe it exists. Pour one out while you cycle through his astounding discography this weekend, and check out the best songs of the week when you’re not spinning Prince below.
A world without Prince is not a world that a lot of us want to continue living in, but we can take solace in the fact that our universe wouldn’t look the same today without him. He wrote songs that helped us all get through this thing called life, and it’s heartbreaking to know that his is over. Prince changed the direction of popular culture and, in turn, influenced each of our individual lives in innumerable ways. Prince was more than just a musician he was an icon. He often recited lines from this verse/poem in his live sets (“Words like a sword in the hands of a Spartan marching on Rosecrans in Compton”), speaking to the impact this interlude had on Lamar’s mindset as he moved into adulthood.“We lost Prince yesterday” is a gutting sentence to write. This spoken-word verse is the defining moment when little K.Dot evolved into Kendrick Lamar. In celebration of K.Dot’s 28th birthday, we decided to rank his 25 best tracks.Ģ5. Many wondered how Kendrick would follow his breakout classic good kid, m.A.A.d city, and he responded with a piece of work in To Pimp A Butterfly that established his place among rap royalty. He’s risen from underground sensation to the most acclaimed rapper in the game, with this year’s To Pimp A Butterfly being one of the most musically impressive and vibrant albums of the year. It’s no secret that Lamar’s work, particularly over the past three years, has been the driving force behind TDE’s rise. Now one of, if not the top, record labels in hip-hop, the West Coast-based group consisting of Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, and singer SZA have created staples - even classics - in modern hip-hop. Top Dawg Entertainment, best known as TDE, has come a long way since its founding in 2004.