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Kim Petras - "Slut Pop Miami"

29/5/2024

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Back in 2022, I gave myself PTSTD’s...it’s a combination of post-traumatic stress and sexually transmitted diseases. Even the crabs have flashbacks. It’s my own fault frankly, as I discovered an artist by the name of KIM PETRAS, and I dived in, without any protection whatsoever, to the filthiest EP I had ever subjected my hearing to, by the name of “Slut Pop”. It’s like, remember LimeWire? You’d download an album, only for it to be a corrupt file of questionable nature, and your laptop ended up with some incurable super AIDS? Well, this was that, but the file isn’t even corrupt, and you still ended up with the super AIDS. Even Freddy Mercury winced, and he’d been dead for 31 years. 

Kim is a German-born transgender artist who, as we found out rather unashamedly, is not afraid of controversy, and by that, I mean, she doesn't necessarily wear her heart on her sleeve, she more sort of spreads her legs in a manner that could make a Basking shark blush, perhaps wider than you can fathom, with a flashing neon sign stating free parking. After
a highly successful run however, with a massively popular collaboration with SAM SMITH, and “King Of Hearts” from her 2023 album “Feed The Beast” being a legit bop, we find Kim back in the gutter for another incredulous dose of debauchery. This is “Slut Pop Miami”, and I hope you brought tissues...for your tears you degenerates! We aren’t going all Randy Marsh on this album! 

We gape, sorry,
open up with “Slut Pop Reprise” and it acts as a transition of sorts, bridging the original EP into this sequel or follow up I guess...round two...sloppy seconds if you will. There’s a heavy sense of lyrical repetition and she’s proud of her oral prowess, but the chorus does admittedly house decent Euro-pop dance qualities and that alone is already an improvement on the EP. The chorus (If you can even call it that) is actually catchy, with its bassy electronica and autotune rich presentation. I’m praising autotune...make of that what you will. 

Speaking of oral, we follow this up with “Gag On It” and we have some lovely sound effects underlying an off-kilter, almost jazzy, funk-based piece of retro synth. I say sound effects, I’d be surprised if this wasn’t actual audio ripped from some Brazzers clip, but listening to it, it sounds as appealing as you could expect. I struggle gargling mouthwash, for perspective. Don’t ask questions just go with me on this one, please, I’m already a broken man. Mr Muscle loves the jobs you hate but even he wouldn’t touch this. 

Next up we have “Fuckin’ This Fuckin’ That” and fuckin’ hell...what the fuck? It houses this, almost MR. OIZO “Flat Beat” aesthetic, just slowed down, but lyrically even Samuel L Jackson is like motherfucker calm down with the fucks! He’s famously renowned for his F-bombs over his storied acting career, and Kim here is giving him a run for his money on one song. I NEED to see Samuel L Jackson perform this on that “Lip Sync Battle” show. It’s fucking awful though, honestly. 

Following on from this we have “Banana Boat” and, is it politically incorrect of me wanting to deport the bitch based on this song? Instrumentally it’s returned to a more stripped back, very generic formula of seedy, pulsing electronic simplicity, and while there are subtle hints at a CHARLI XCX influence towards the tracks climax, we’re going down on the route of sexual innuendo with an innocent piece of fruit, like some bi-curious George.  

If hell exists,
I’m going there for this next one, as “Get Fucked” incorporates vocals akin to that “Satisfaction” song by BENNY BENASSI and, its less Stephen Hawking, more Stephen Horny. Dribbling from multiple places stuck in his wheelchair on Epstein Island. Sat there, blue screening out of over-stimulation. “Rim Job” is self-explanatory, we won’t be needing Trevor and Chance from Smosh to give another visual interpretation on TNTL. Lines like “He sing a ballad while I’m tossin’ his salad” are impure at their poetic finest, as the electronic beat here pulses, tickling your taint with more Charli XCX influenced pop. 

Musically speaking, “Head Head Honcho” is arguably the albums highlight, with it’s very light, airy, 80’s inspired synth-pop; it’s quite poppy and had some genuinely decent little hooks instrumentally, but you can’t take this seriously with the lyrical content. I’m not saying you HAVE to take this seriously, of course not, but you can’t help but shake your head while you try to vibe to this. Lines like “I’m a penis genius, I’m a semen Jesus” and circumcision references like “I like the taste, no poncho” can’t help but make me think, had Kim been a little older, she would have been a superstar on shows like "Eurotrash" or, "Tarrant On TV". Or Graham Norton when he was unhinged on Channel 4. 

I’m
not going to cover every track here, but I have to talk about “Whale Cock” before I go and that’s a thing I never imagined typing. Tongue in cheek references to Moby Dick are one thing, but the lyric “Lookin’ for my Shamu (Free Willy!)” honestly nearly made me spit my wine out. I legit laughed out loud at that and will continue to do so every time I hear it. I have to give her credit for that, that’s genuinely funny being so out of the blue. It’s worth those couple of seconds alone, just like me in bed. Sorry to brag. 

The question here now, really, is, how are we rating this? Other than ‘R
’. We established from the EP that, musically, this side of Kim Petras is entirely a separate entity from her mainstream pop career. She has released genuinely decent pop music and has the collaborations to back up her credibility, so this is purely an indulgent bit of creative, albeit filthy fun. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not, but it’s not meant to be.
 


There IS improvement here instrumentally with some tracks having actual catchy elements, but the formula is for the most part, the same. While the lyrical content is again, far from vanilla, we’re met with more repetitive, light-techno pop, subtle garage elements, and retro aesthetics that plateau very early on. It’s niche, like the 4 US States where beastiality isn’t formally illegal (I’m looking at you Hawaii, New Mexico, West Virgina and Wyoming, and well done for ruining my search history looking for that). Is it worth a listen? I mean realistically no, but it’s better than REGINA HARDON. The bar wasn’t high let's be fair. In terms of slut pop, Kim Petras really is the head honcho. [2] 

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/KIMPETRAS
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Alkaline Trio - "Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs"

25/5/2024

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When you are the front man and lead vocalist, of one the world's premier alternative punk-rock bands, life is busy; what with the consistent writing, recording, promoting, touring, all that rigmarole. When you find yourself heavily involved with TWO of the most premier alternative punk-rock bands on the planet, well that’s just an insane amount of pressure, an insane workload and a very demanding schedule to say the least. Few people could cope with such a high level of persistent, professional proficiency, but then again, few people are Matt Skiba. Well, I say few, there’s only one...and he’s Matt Skiba, but I digress. 

Over the past ten years or so, Matt has juggled ALKALINE TRIO, from 2013’s “My Shame Is True”, 2018’s “Is This Thing Cursed?”, a self-titled 2020 EP, live shows performing 8 studio albums in full AND supporting THE MISFITS...as well as being a replacement for Tom DeLonge in BLINK 182, releasing two studio albums with them; 2016’s “California”, and 2019’s “Nine”. Not to mention Blink’s tours as well. Where do you draw the line between flowing creativity and fucking kamikaze pilot? Intending to burn out much? 2024 finds Matt return to the fold with Alkaline Trio, as he reunites with Dan Andriano, alongside new drummer Atom Willard, to release their latest album “Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs”. Why don’t you throw in some worm's wort and frogs' breath while you’re at it? Let’s check it out... 

We kick off with a little play on VAN HALEN’s “Hot For Teacher”, courtesy of opening track “Hot For Preacher”, but we’re not talking extra-curricular activities here, nor are we dabbling in any sort of secret sins in the sacrisity with choir boy of the month. It’s in fact, seemingly a stab at modern society and damning indictment on the state of humanity. It’s as if, in a world where we scream for individuality and acceptance, the simultaneous juxtaposition of not being allowed to have that freedom of thought looms over. People preach of inclusivity, rights and equality to an obsequious level of hypocrisy. Imagine having your cake, eating it, and still complaining someone else also had cake. This is the world we live in. 

You can be who you want to be, so long as it suits others. Lines like “Your path has been chosen, your voice has been torn out at the roots, what else is new?”, and “We are so far, so lost, it’s true, we can’t attempt to start anew, we lost our way so long ago”...it’s a defeatist viewpoint but sadly ON point. Juggling hope and criticism. All this is delivered with a fine slab of catchy, energetic, gang-vocal led angst, and it’s a fine opener indeed. 

Dan takes up vocal duty on “Versions Of You” and we’ve got a slightly off-kilter instrumental presentation, it’s quirky for the most part before we’re hit with a classic sounding Alkaline Trio chorus, rich in simple hooks melody. A highly cathartic and reflective track; it speaks of a mixture of infidelity, distrust and dishonesty, via self-reflection and coming to terms with a dead relationship. It deals with being lied to and catfished, the victim blaming and the disintegration of a connection through no fault of your own. You fell for the person, while falling for the person if you will. It’s actually comically relatable this one. “I can only say how fully disappointed I am”. 

Further album highlights include “Break”, which has this intense build up to a deep, hard-hitting piano-backed punk-pop riff. It’s an almost maniacal dose of social commentary, in its own ways watching the world fall apart around you with a sense of “I told you so”. It’s very nihilistic in presentation, very defeatist, but when it's done like this, I.E, done properly, it shows you how poor Green Day’s newest album is in terms of getting messages across. There’s bite to this and it gets you pumped up.  

Lyrics like “Like a werewolf in a dungeon or the bride of Frankenstein” highlight a sense of chaos, confusion and horror, what are we doing here? The world is a mess, and the chorus sums it up brilliantly. “When we break down, when we fall apart, you’ll be there smiling ear to ear and splashing around in our blood, screaming, god damnit I cannot get enough”. No matter what we do, or what we say, we’re all watching the world burn, and it’s laughable, because we’re all so focused on all of the wrong things. We’re in an abusive relationship with the world, and Jerry Springer isn’t around to open our eyes and ears with his final thoughts. 

The title track on paper sounds like the beginnings of a spell or, a potion of sorts, and it’s apt as lyrically we’re dealing with a sense of heartache and bitterness. “We lost touch, and you left town, you said, I never ever want to see your mother fucking face again”, but it’s a song about self-love, self-care and finding your feet again, in a numbed state of mental and emotional recovery. It’s equally vitriolic and therapeutic. But, it’s delivered under the veil of a wonderfully jovial guitar tone for an up-beat pop-rock aesthetic.  

Tracks like “Bad Time” hark back to the sounds of “Crimson” in ways, and it’s a song of longing for love, riddled with excuses and obstacles, because life gets in the way, however absurd. Some of the album is more a case of blood, sweat and tears however, as tracks like “Meet Me” have patches of lazy lyricism, heavy on repetition, though it does house a lovely, lulling bridge. “Hinterlude” is a brief instrumental and a play on words...an album interlude, taking in the peace and solitude of the moment, while a hinterland depicts an area lying beyond what is visible or known...the blissfulness of nothing if you will. And while quaint within context, it really is an empty minute.  

We rather brutally finish up on another slab of social commentary courtesy of “Teenage Heart”, and it takes a stab, or a shot if you will, at the mental health of today’s youth in America. “All I want for Christmas is an AR-15, my stocking stuffed with fentanyl. Drop like a fly at the ripe age of 16, wishing I had I friend to call”. It touches on school shootings and the negative mindset of today’s youth, painting a truly morbid picture. I guess the blood, hair and eyeballs are plastered over the school corridors, which is no laughing matter. Unless it’s art class. Jackson Pollock would be proud. I jest. 

Alkaline Trio do have a distinct sound and overall vibe, that’s for sure, and it does separate them from an abundance of mediocrity. The darkness of their songwriting, the dual vocal presentation allowing for exploration of themes, emotions and storytelling, and the undeniable ability to write some of the catchiest alternative rock songs is something any band would be envious of. Is this their finest work? Arguably not, but it doesn’t make it a poor record by any means. The satirical lyricism, the hooks, the poetic misery and danceable qualities to the depressive nature of their content makes them truly unique. Add “Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs” to your shopping list, it’s a recipe for a good time, I promise. [8] 

WWW.ALKALINETRIO.COM
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    Gavin J Griffiths, a.k.a GavTheGothicChav, lover of new music and supporter of bands. Inspired by a mixture of horror and comedy, and fueled by a blend of alcohol and sarcasm...if you're a singer / in a band and would like a review written up, please do get in touch via the email address at the top of the page and I'll get back to you ASAP. Much love x

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