this is one of the canonical youtube videos btw

there should be a ritual that happens when I make a post that includes a new tag that will have... implications later (the first tag for an artist, or else a bit that I am thinking of doing)

what is "there exists a tunnel under ocean boulevard"?

What can I say about Brat? It taught me it was okay to be weird

pretty sure this DVD series is the reason that music videos are one of my primary interests? I would like to see a reboot that features Hannah Lux Davis, Director X, Sophie Muller, and Dave Meyers

This is the first record in the "fringe" category that I'm posting in my will-probably-take-all-of-2025 2024 retrospective, so I'll explain briefly that this category represents stuff that I had some vague appreciation for but never quite "took to" in 2024. (For those keeping track, that makes the current category list for 2024 records: "Safe Bets", "You Could Make a Case For", and "The Fringe"; there are 6 more categories making up my notes that I have yet to write any reviews from). I'll be writing about "fringe" records either because they became more important to me in the months that followed or because I still have some nagging idea that there's something there, even if I never found myself listening to the album regularly. This first one is a case where I've actually found myself reaching for it more in the first few months of 2025!

Bubble Love took a while to grow on me because I wanted more Tread and this is not that–but of course it's not, it's even released under a different name! Tread's tracks had this cool forward momentum to them; they were headed somewhere and I was getting to hear what happened along the way. This one in contrast simmers, perhaps giving the DJ the reins with any track selection to stay somewhere for a moment before their work takes people on to the next destination. The sampling simultaneously feels blunt and like a more restrained DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, and there are some gloriously 90s steel drum and panflute patches that sound like they come from a CD-ROM where a cartoon dog teaches you chemistry concepts. The "Love"/"Hate" combo is very good back to back, but I'm partial to "Ugly"

I unironically love this music video reaction video on youtube dot com. The way this guy responds to the moment of discovering who Heems is makes me so happy. I have not looked at literally anything else he has said or done so apologies in advance but yeah man

here’s an album that’s a great example of “I put it on while doing something else and found it vaguely pleasant; I sat down and listened to it while doing little else and realized it was extremely my shit”. The little synth horns and flutes on this thing are so good. Love how many moments just don’t have drums? The Taste or Waste crew heard Stardew Valley in “thank you for recording” but I hear, like… Microsoft Encarta? Computer programmers who are obsessed with Kraftwerk? It’s icy and weird but kinda boppy, it’s got features by bladee and underscores, it’s hitting all the right notes for me. I’m not quite convinced it’s all-timer album material but I am definitely going to enjoy it right now

Last year's album It's Sorted felt kind of like they had polished the whole Cheekface bit to a perfect point so it's not surprising that this one would be a ~transitional record~; it sounds like the members of the band have been through a lot in the last year (relatable!) and this album is being kind of press junketed as the result of that but I'm not sure that really pays off. I think it's cool that they collaborated with McKinley Dixon for "Military Gum" but I'm not sure the result is as good as a Cheekface track or a McKinley Dixon track. "Growth Sux" has a funny and possibly insightful point but to me it feels like they barely scratched the surface and I find it hard to say where their commonly-employed satirical voice ends on the topic, which sort of defeats the point of their whole schtick.

I do think there's something cool that's happening with Cheekface's particular blend of music and writing and comedy and politics and I want to see it continue and get better and smarter. There are individual moments on here that are catchy enough that I'm sure they will pop into my head unbidden for years to come ("Wind is Gone"'s refrain of "Dial 999-9999" has been on loop, maddeningly, for the past 48 hours), but... I dunno. I'm not seeing the depth that I know they are capable of.