Hmmm... It may just be my ignorance, but that Skepta track reminds me so much of Dizzee Rascal's debut. Like super close. I like it, but I feel it's pretty indebted to Dizzee.
So many great tracks on this Alvvays album! party Police may not be fave from the album, but it's still pretty damn good and definitely a hearttugger. Love that riff on Party Police - reminds me a lost of The Cure which is always a good thing.
'That's Not Me' was the moment the grime renaissance found its anthem. After years of grime's biggest stars - Dizzee, Wiley, Kano, Skepta himself - making concessions to the pop world in order to appease record labels/headline festivals/crack America (with ever diminishing rewards, artistically and comercially), it seemed as though the genre was a busted flush, a flash in the pan whose biggest tunes were only referenced by "who remembers this??????" and "LIKE if your still listenin in 2013" Youtube comments. It was impossible to imagine that, by 2020: Drake would have co-signed Boy Better Know and co-opted grime's flows and slang; that the 'Functions on the Low' beat would have stormed the charts and been used to advertise just about every product imaginable; that a whole new generation of British rappers and producers, with a new iteration of the grime sound, would be huge, and not among people like me, but among actual teenagers; that said sound would be taken to Brooklyn by rappers like the late Pop Smoke and be hailed as the most exciting thing to emerge from New York in years, despite actually emerging from London; that Big Narstie would seem completely at home on the sets of daytime TV talkshows; that the most widely-acclaimed Glastonbury headline slot anybody can remember would be by a young, dark-skinned black man from Croydon who made his name rapping over old grime beats on Youtube. And, whilst it wasn't the start of grime's re-emergence as an artistic and commercial force (big up Meridian Dan!), 'That's Not Me' instantly became the movement's proud, swaggering, ferocious mission statement, disavowing the pop star trappings that grime's first wave of breakout stars had been chasing for years, in favour of something more authentic, more true, more grime. An apology of sorts, without ever sounding like one. Over a sledgehammer beat that deliberately invokes the video game plinks and distorted bass crunches of grime's early days, Skepta and his brother JME get nostalgic for days that had ended only a few years prior, but that felt like a lifetime ago, and proved in the process that the public hadn't given up on the genre - misguided label execs had 'killed' grime, trying to force its artists to be something they weren't, and having laughably little faith that the public could handle something so real. 'That's Not Me' flykicked open the floodgates like Jet Li, and proved that not only was grime not dead, that it was finally a commercially viable option for the UK's musical youth. "People ask what music I make, turn the volume up 'cause that's what!" _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
While it's cute, I prefer other Alvvays songs (esp. on their later album), so vote to That's Not Me. Actually surprised it came out already in 2014, I was late to that it seems.
Tough match-up. Ended up going with Skepta, but Party Police is great too. Next of Kin is probably my favorite song from Alvvays's debut but I probably would have chosen Skepta over that too. _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
I wish I understood the Alvvays interest. I guess the lyric of let's find comfort in debauchery was ok ๐คฃ , but musically I feel like I'm listening to local talent.
Archie, Marry Me is by far the most acclaimed track on Alvvays s/t, but it's chock full of other amazing songs, some of which I like even better. My choice for the nomination came down to this one and Next Of Kin. The songwriting on Party Police is just so perfect in every way. The instrumental is gorgeous and fits Rankin's vocals and lyrics like a glove. The song has multiple hooks, understated but catchy and satisfying as hell. The themes tug at the heartstrings very effectively for those who recall the experience of being in a fading relationship: longing, denial, lust, wistfulness. All in all, hazy twee heaven.
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