Alt Pop 2020 Rate | #48 Teach me how to love myself

Goodness. That was in for way too long.

 

There’s much worse still in but it’s hard to hold much good will for Elena

 

Coincidentally, the next cut rhymes super well with Brightest Blue and also has 3 syllables in its title

 

I'm intrigued by this but have no idea what it is.

Wait! A certain Phoebe Bridgers song comes to mind...

 

Part deux









































































@Aester is right on the money, actually!









77 (II)



HIGH 10 (@boombazookajoe @Jonathan27 @Trouble in Paradise), 8.75 (@Oleander)
LOW 0.5 (@Ana Raquel), 4.5 (@Hurricane Drunk)

Presenting the second-to-last of the main acts to lose a song, here's Punisher's penultimate track. Do I feel like it's a fair first sacrifice? Absolutely not. I narrowly missed the top scorers, and there are at least two album tracks I would've picked to leave before. I can say that this ballad suffers from two things mainly, from my point of view: preceding that closer and being one of the more stripped back, folk acoustic songs in the album. But the positives are there, and here I want to let @Trouble in Paradise (10) explain very succintly from his heart:

"I know this delicate bumpkin ode to mental illness is not long for this rate but it still crushes me every time. “No longer a danger to herself or others” is a wallop of a first line and helps me readjust to the present moment of my life. Phoebe, Lucy, and Julien go on to describe this present moment in the best cracker related mental illness moment since Obsessions: “Said she knows she lived through it to get to this moment, ate a sleeve of saltines on my floor.” The amount of times in the past two months that line has wrapped itself around me as I stare at my pantry willing myself to eat and given me the push I need to take care of myself. I’m already mad that y’all will do this song dirty so let me just turn up the music so thoughts don’t intrude".

My favorite bit is the first verse, because it paints a vivid image of someone in psych ward finding an empty building and walking out liberated and ready to restart a life, like she's earned it after years of mental illness. This fortitude is highlighted by a strings performance that blends with the vulnerable heart of the song itself. I think it's one of the most underappreciated moments in Punisher. @godspeed (8.5), who agrees with me in score, shares the sentiment that it: "Works incredibly well as a fleeting moment of solace and joy before the devastating final".

But what about the title? Graceland Too is, as a matter of fact, a defunct tourist attraction in Mississippi, a little oddity down on the South to mimick Graceland, Elvis Presley's Tennessee mansion, and serve as a museum to display various things from the musician. These snapshots are present in the second verse, alude to fellow Boygenius member and close friend/soulmate Julien Baker's home state through the symbol of Elvis. So in that respect, this is an ode to the admiration and trust Bridgers has for her and her journey with mental illness, reprising lyrics from Halloween in a heartfelt outro of many a "I would do anything / I would do anything/ Whatever you want me to do, I'll do".

As mentioned, this is the most bumpkin folk ballad moment of the album, so of course @Ana Raquel (0.5) is placing a ban on any playlist if she so much as hears five seconds of banjo: "Sorry. this is definitely a NO. There is absolutely nothing positive I can take from here. The only reason she doesn't get a zero is because she is not a man (as in I'm not nearly as picky with female voices). She added several instruments and melodies in there. Yet it still sounds too monotonous". Like Madonna said – let all the hurt inside of you die. This sounds gorgeous (for the most part)!

Normally, Phoebe does this track solo, but besides the first performance for the superb concert she and the band recorded at an empty stadium for the RedRocksxUnpaused 2021 event, here's another actual tour performance in which Julien joins her in vocals for what I'm sure was a #moment to watch live. I know would've been tearing up!

Spoiler: Audio

Spoiler: Live at RedRocksxUnpaused

Spoiler: Live at The Greek, Berkeley

 

One of my favorites from Women in Music is up next



















































































76



HIGH 9.5 (@slaybellz), 9 (@Trouble in Paradise @godspeed @Dijah. @klow @Attis @Cutlery)
LOW 4 (@Aester @Hurricane Drunk), 5.5 (@Ana Raquel)

First of all, let me let @godspeed (9) say what everyone's been thinking: "All that ever mattered was you AAAAAAAAH OOOOOOOOOH!". Danielle channels Caroline Polachek during Tears and provides the cathartic screaming in the choruses that I'm positive is responsible, in part, for the mixed reception that this gets when compared to other tracks in the album.

Like the band has said in an Apple Music interview, this is one of the experimental moments in Women in Music, and whereas a big chunk of the album looks introspectively and behind the sisters' shoulders to find influences from the past, All That Ever Mattered manages to look outward into the future with this riff-heavy, dynamic and, ultimately, super fun cut. @Trouble in Paradise (9) wholeheartedly agrees, telling that: "Haim has the albatross of their debut round their neck in how much it locked in their sound and influence on the genre (would the Aces even be in the extras without Days Are Gone???) While songs like Don’t Wanna, Another Try or Leaning on You are great listens, they all feel a bit done before. All That Ever Mattered sounds like Haim breaking free from that expectation, kicking and screaming". Yeah!

The obsession with one person, underscored with a shoutout to You Never Knew and the dry, sarcastic humor in trying to sound so over them while feeling dread because something's been broken provides great lines, and while it's something that couldn't rise above an obvious album track, this design is not a bad thing. @Ana Raquel (5.5) closes off by complaining about the choice of album at large: "The screams on the background are me screaming on how beige this album is... I'm suffering". But... this is so fun, dynamic and not monotonous, how come it got the lowest score from all but three songs in the album from you??

Spoiler: Audio

 

I felt my luck was changing in this sub forum and assumed it was in the quirky pop rate but it was this one! Y’all aren’t here for the ALT only the Pop!!! Real Gherls love being screamed at!!’ Hello!! THE DREAMING BY KATE BUSH!!!

 

No Phoebe songs should be leaving yet!

@Ana Raquel praying for you.

 

Have we already reached the point in this rate where all of the material left ranges from good to fantastic so every elimination feels like a sacrifice?

Very happy to have this rate back! Those write-ups are always a pleasure to read.

 

Yeah, I couldn't handle the screams. But maybe if I liked the rest of the song more, they wouldn't bother me so much? I do love The Dreaming, particularly "Get Out of My House."

 

About Damn Time for this one cut coming up!


















































































75



HIGH 10 (@slaybellz @TéléDex @Remorque @Phonetics Girl), 9.5 (@Cotton Park)
LOW 0 (@Attis), 3 (@Trouble in Paradise)

Once again, leave it to the gracious @Trouble in Paradise (3) to serve a similar taste as mine and explain everything wrong with this single: "I’m tempted to absolutely tank this as I’ve grown to hold a grudge against King Princess but it’s already enough of a mess of a song that my own petty indulgence is unnecessary. This feels like a frankenstein monster of Toms Diner, Wham!, 90s dance and more without ever doing a single original thing. Its like the musical equivalent of owning a bunch of books you’ve never read". It's pastiche-y for sure, and down to the way the vocals were produced I think. But I will say the keyboards sound great, though not the synths, and that's my main takeaway from the track. Moreover, one or the very limited cases of a zero was awarded by @Attis (0), who states: "Annoying". I feel you.

However, considering this has the second most 10s outside of the top 60, losing only to LUCID, we'll hear from one of PAIN's stans too, @Cotton Park (9.5), who says: "Even though I like King Princess a lot, I'd never heard this for some odd reason.". Well it did come at a weird time in the world, plus the other release that she had around this time and followed a cohesive aesthetic with this song was the much more contemporary Only Time Makes It Human, which I think loses out for sounding quite generic. Whether these two were meant for a scrapped album, or were always going to be stand-alones, I couldn't really tell you. However, the new King Princess album has come out just last week, Hold On Baby, featuring neither of these songs.

The video is one that tries to do the most out of a limited budget, as we see KP in a series of misfortunes like being shot with arrows on a target-shaped bra, wrestled, tied up and dominated by beautiful women, and I like the element of camp that comes with the visual honestly! It's a fun video making heartbreak lighthearted while still oozing a sex appeal that almost justifies the ladies magnet/arrogance/cockiness attitude that runs throughout the song. I commend her for trying to make me more on-board with it.

Spoiler: Video

 

I totally understand how people could find that one annoying, but I find it weirdly charming.

Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu, tu-tu-tu

 

I believe she was gonna release a dance ep that got scrapped. Happy to see this one go!

 

If these are the indication of a King Princess dance album, then regarding that scrapped release, well

 

What the fuck at the last 3 eliminations? Maybe restarting this was a mistake!

The Ellie elimination is good at least. I forgot she was even in this.

 

74



HIGH 10 (@Remorque @godspeed @Trouble in Paradise), 9.5 (@BubblegumBoy @Jonathan27)
LOW 3 (@Ana Raquel), 4 (@Hurricane Drunk)

A second hit for Punisher incoming! This time, it's about gay people's favorite holiday! Do not expect spooky pianos and ghostly sounds, though, as Halloween is firmly into acoustic, if slightly drowned-out, ambient territory. The subject of the song is a dying, fatigued relationship, in which no part is willing to call it quits and there's a sense of lingering boredom and going through the motions. Yet, our protagonist, who's surprised by how much she's made the relationship matter to her, lends out her hand for one last trick-or-treating, that for one night, they can put on a happy person costume (with drinks in the middle) before going back to the usual.

This disenchantment is shown through a spacey instrumental; just a guitar, a drone synth, drums and sounds of the wind. Which might be a minimalist serve for some, but for @Ana Raquel (3) it's torture in its purest form: "The small details add quite a charm and a few points to what otherwise would have been a zero. I really dislike almost non-existent instrumental. Pheobe pleaseeeeeeeee – I should discount some points for calling this song Halloween and ruining my expectations. I ASKED HALLOWEEN-NAMED SONGS TO PLEASE ME". Well missy has tragic memories attached to the holiday, let her be!

Speaking of tragic, the song is interesting for lines like "They killed a fan down by the stadium / Was only visiting, they beat him to death" that she explains are about her morbid obsessions with murder, with the shock factor of a life ended in the middle of an entertainment gig such as a football match. But could you imagine people killing each other at a Phoebe Bridgers concert? I can't. Interestingly, the last minute or so connects with the final minute of Graceland Too, as it tells "I'll be whatever you want / Whatever you want", but in this case it's quite sad to feel that it's the pleading call of someone willing to lose themselves just to keep a relationship going. Personally, I love the theme and it comes across well in the lyrics, but I'm simply bored to tears listening to the song, and those male vocals at the end? I'm gonna pass on this one, and judging by the place it got, most of you seem to pass too.

Spoiler: Audio

Spoiler: Live at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

 

I don't mean this in a shady way since I think Brightest Blue is great, but that was my reaction when I saw that elimination too ff

 

Even more confusing because I was catching up on all my rates and both your Quirky Pop rate and the UK Girls rate has Ellie songs in them. Didn't know which thread I was in for a sec dd.

 

This is for the Rina cuts I didn't start the war!!1

 

Halloween!? I literally can't at this rate. You girls were clearly too happy when you rated Phoebe's songs.