Aster Tracks

This one and the one before might be shorter, you don’t get these in the order they’re released but I wanted you to know. Growing up I was sort of ashamed to be into this type of pop in the same way I felt shamed out of being queer. In my thirties I feel freer to take a ride on the boat I missed out on but in the case of this record I sort of feel like I should have stayed home. Girl with No Face certainly has its takes on the genre and in some instances even comes up with something worth exploring. “Off with Her Tits” goes into body shaming, envy and unwelcomed sexualization and is a pretty good club single. It also, even being the star track here, fails to do anything past albums of this genre have done in a much grander setting, especially sonically. For every song like “Galina,” a cool ode to a music scene, there’s also songs like “John and Jonathan.” On which Allie tries to relate to her audience but makes them sound so ordinary it makes the non-exciting content of her own record ...

I listened to this second-hand so much I was able to go straight to a note taking listen. In the past couple of years mainstream pop has progressed into something of a disco revival. If this is always the way Chromeo has sounded then forgive me, this is my introduction to the Montreal duo. I can’t help the comparison though, especially on songs like “BTS,” or “Better Than Sex,” a fun electro-pop cut with fast string dips and a reverse innuendo as its core message. As it is my introduction to Chromeo I want to say Dave 1 really won me over as a lead singer. The way the vocal melodies on this record are written are so cool and natural with the album opener “New Girl” being a prime and immediate example. He also backs this up in his delivery, he never puts a ton into the performance but it’s still his own. It’s a style not requiring any belted notes but this doesn’t stop us from getting huge hooks like “Lost and Found.” I don’t need a new- Girl, I feel so taken by you. I also just believ...