The Syndicate

The instrumental carries this track. Vocals aren’t my favorite here - but that guitar is sick enough to give the song a sense of forward momentum that it really needs. Sick riff in general, and then the solo is pretty damn good as well. And when the second guitar kicks in? Choice.

Life is hard, and so am I. This is the most 90s thing ever and I’m kinda into it. Vocalist sounds like he’s singing this song with a fist currently being driven into his gut, but like, in a good way. Kinda hurts to have it this low, but it’s a strong category - competition’s tense from here on out.

So it’s no small secret that I’m kind of a philistine when it comes to T-Swizzle, but I enjoy this a fair bit more than I expected to. The song’s very saccharine and the lyrics are lol, but the mood’s infectious and the instrumental actually kinda bangs. I guess this is what happen when your song is scientifically engineered to be popular, heh.

The more Tears For Fears songs I hear, the more I think I should be listening to more Tears For Fears, cause this is pretty neat. Took me a while to rank because I did a lot of judging way too late at night and I kept dissociating to this one, but I think that’s a good thing given the genre? And the production is excellent, as per usual for them. Strong sub.

Lmao this song is good you can’t change my mind.

Stomp clap stomp clamp. Excellent vocals and interesting background textures. Not the sort of style I typically dive into but it executes that style very well and makes me wanna listen to the rest of this album. Also aren’t we a bit early to the spooky category huehuehuehuehue

I never played this game, nor listened to its OST, because it’s a shit game; however, I’ve always had a soft spot for Sonic music, and this is no exception. Nostalgic despite its ostensible unfamiliarity, and I continue to love Crush 40’s style even beyond the point of reasonability.

Solid late-night vibes. Glitch-like noises in the intro are super interesting, and then the song settles down into a nice groove that’s just really pleasant to listen to. The vocals were a bit jarring at first but they honestly fit the song super well. Sonic Youth continues to be one of those bands where I just really really like every song I hear by them but am too lazy to go find more myself.

This is actually one of my favorite albums of all time, and although it isn’t necessarily one of my favorite tracks off of said albums, that still means this song slaps.

Incredible band name. Vocals took some adjusting but once I settled in I could really appreciate the construction of the song. Piano is an excellent texture here. Idk man its Good Song.

If I had gotten an earlier start with music I probably would have been very into Death Cab in high school - but that’s ok, because I’m very into Death Cab now. Good pick.

It’s super simple but there’s something absolutely enamoring about that guitar riff that runs under most of the song. Maybe I just really like this sort of guitar tone? Whatever it is, it’s really fucking good, and there’s a constant forward momentum to the track that keeps me super engaged. Goood shit.

Yeah yeah ok. I love this song, have this album on vinyl, know the words by heart (I think)... been here, done that, great song.

So I absolutely love Chris Cornell and basically everything he was ever involved with, so… yeah. Audioslave good. This song bangs. Big fan.

In high school, I listened exclusively to bad ska (read: Reel Big Fish). Nowadays, I listen exclusively to good ska (read: Streetlight Manifesto). Draw your own conclusions. The horns at the beginning of this song are orgasmically good.

I fuckin’ love Japanese band names. This sounds like the sort of song that was used for an anime opening, but it’s not one that I’ve ever heard before, so I think it escapes the sort of “not a real song” stigma that anime openings kinda pick up for me sometimes, which allows me to fully enjoy everything the song has to offer. And man, I fuckin’ love this style, and I fuckin’ love this song. Good shit. I’m not a weeb.

Ah fuck. One of the few examples of a song where I’m forced to really really care about the lyrics lol, and the rest of the song bangs too. This is just… how can I not give this the win? I love this. This rules. G fucking G.

[mention]MacDougall[/mention]
[mention]NANOOKTHEGREATANDFEARSOME[/mention]
[mention]Timsup2nothin[/mention]
[mention]cayvie[/mention]
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[mention]vanity.[/mention]
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[mention]nutella[/mention]
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[mention]MacDougall[/mention]
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[mention]Timsup2nothin[/mention]
[mention]cayvie[/mention]
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[mention]vanity.[/mention]
[mention]Keldeo[/mention]
[mention]nutella[/mention]
[mention]LordQuas[/mention]
[mention]TonyStarkPrime[/mention]
[mention]Ranmilia[/mention]
[mention]Boomslang[/mention]
[mention]M Plus 7[/mention]
[mention]G-Man[/mention]
[mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention]
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This is more of a hard genre whiff than anything else. This sort of overproduced top 40 nonsense just REALLY doesn’t do it for me. There are individual elements I could point to that I like - the acoustic guitar interludes are fairly ok, and she’s undoubtedly a talented vocalist - but the whole package is just… eurgh. Sort of thing that makes me change the station if I hear it on the radio.

I’m… I’m sorry, I’m just incapable of viewing Jimmy Buffett as actual MUSIC, yknow? He’s an excuse for my parents to get day drunk and hang out with a bunch of other 50 and 60something white people. He’s the reason Margaritaville exists (did you know there’s one on the San Antonio Riverwalk? Did you know you should eat literally anywhere else?) My brain is just pure TV static listening to this. Is this in my walrus? How did we get here? I’m giving it a 5.

Yeah, Bruno Mars is like, fine. I like Uptown Funk a lot! Pretty sure I heard this one on the radio a fair bit back when it first came out, which kind of inoculates me to any sort of emotional response it may otherwise be able to elicit, and the song itself is… pretty safe, pretty bland. Don’t hate it, but like. Whatever.

I can’t muster up much stronger commentary for this than “it’s kinda nice, I suppose”. This vocal style has never SUPER done it for me, but it’s alright. The guitar work is fairly nice, but everything is super super understated and I just can’t really get into it.

They had us in the first 4 seconds, not gonna lie. Those vocals… wow. They’re certainly… impactful. I really like the general vibe and the backing track but the way this vocalist enunciates is a major turnoff. Will say subsequent listens made it a little easier to swallow, but I still wish this song was being fronted by someone else.

One of my most vivid memories from my first month of college involves a conversation with people I didn’t really know, in which they expressed excitement over the latest New Politics release and their desire to go to music festivals what seemed like once a month. It was at that point that I realized I had no idea how to communicate with extroverts even in college. Ah well.

I suppose that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything. This song’s OK. I heard it on the radio a bunch in high school (at least I think it was high school).

Pretty, but short. Hard to be engaging when you’re just over a minute long. Ori’s a good game, though. Need to finish it someday.

Confession time: never been that crazy about Elvis. Dunno why. This is better than I expected it to be, though. The orchestral accompaniment works surprisingly well. Probably the best version of an Elvis song that could have been subbed to me.

The vocals are a bit generic for the genre, but I really enjoy the backing track. Super interestingly layered orchestration. I’m starting to suspect this particular brand of folk may not be my favorite genre either, because there’s a lot of things that suggest this should have scored higher but… here it is.

A pleasant song, if not a transcendent one. I like the occasional horn stabs in the backing track. It’s hard for me to really synthesize further thought on this one, sorry.

Really enjoy the vocals on this one - not that they’re anything I haven’t heard before, but I like this particular style. Was a hard one to place, because it can be hard to place “indie rock song that I just kinda think is Pretty Good”, but I think it lands hereabouts. Would listen to more by this artist.

This is… probably supposed to be a meme? Like, I have no idea what Moose subbed if it’s not this. But the memetic quality is lost on me if it is a meme, so this is just, like… good. This sort of production is exactly what I enjoy in hip-hop - it’s very Nujabes. Very well-done mashup.

I’ve heard a couple of tracks off this album, but frankly speaking it’s not my favorite Jethro Tull album. I love love LOVE Aqualung - but I think I prefer them when they lean heavier into prog and go lighter on the folk, which is the inverse of what this album is. Ah well. A Jethro Tull song I’m lukewarm on still gets you fairly high, heh.

The panning on the opening is actually a little disorienting, but otherwise this is a very nice song. The elements come together in a very nice way, and this might be the most understated banjo of all time (which is a compliment!) Super nice to listen to.

I can’t say I’m super into vocaloids, though I do appreciate Miku’s cultural impact, but this is the first Vocaloid song I’ve heard that I think I’m comfortable saying I like. The vocals sound a lot less choppy than some of them wind up being, and the piano is excellent here. Overall tone of the song is great.

A duet in which I like both vocalists! Excellent! Gun to my head I prefer the woman, but the man’s got this distinctive deep voice that I find pretty interesting. Think the vocal interplay makes this song a lot stronger than if it’d had a single vocalist. Fun time.

These guys have other songs besides their cover of Black Betty?! And they have female vocals?! Jokes aside, I like this a lot. It’s short and sweet, and that punchy guitar is really distinctive. High pitched female vocals on a bangin’ rock song are an easy way to wring points out of me, tbh.

I was worried that this was gonna be black metal and I was gonna have to figure out how to reconcile loving the instrumental but hating the vocals - but nope, we’re in the clear. I can just lay on the ground and let the wave of guitars wash over me. Airy ephemeral vocals work really really well here. Good stuff.

Intensely relatable lyrics. I have fucked up a lot. The first half is very Violent Femmes, and the back half is just really fuckin’ good. Good shit.

Every time I listen to something by OC ReMix I regret not listening to more of them. The Tarantino name is accurate - and as a known proponent of Tarantino’s general aesthetic, I dig. Excellent sax work, excellent tone, excellent song.

Yeah, I ‘member.

J-Funk? Hell yes. This is silky smooth and I’m pretty obsessed with it. Definitely gonna be checking this band out more. Excellent sub.

I’ve heard one Foxy Shazam album, and it’s not this one, but I enjoyed it a lot, and this song seems like more of the same. I considered using one of the songs off the other album as the header for this cat, actually, because honestly they’re just pure distilled fun. The vocals aren’t “good” in the traditional sense but they work super well, and the energy in this song is electric. Love it.

Oh no, my biggest weakness - brass. If this was ever so slightly less Produced it would be a 10, but this is a fucking banger. This is the sort of thing I would be absolutely obsessed with if I saw it live, and as it stands it’s already really damn good. Gooooood shit.

Yeah, so I love Casiopea, and I’ve had this on my Spotify for years. The accidental panders continue. But as you may have picked up on by now, I’m super partial to funk/jazz fusion/etc etc and this delivers HARD. Every instrument pulls its weight, and the overall composition is just… choice. It’s choice.

I’ve never played Jet Set Radio. But now I really want to. The vibe that this song creates… it’s incredible. I wanna be in whatever world this takes place in. Everything comes together super well. Gonna listen the fuck out of this album. Tag walls, punch fascists.[/spoilers]

[mention]MacDougall[/mention]
[mention]NANOOKTHEGREATANDFEARSOME[/mention]
[mention]Timsup2nothin[/mention]
[mention]cayvie[/mention]
[mention]Hally[/mention]
[mention]vanity.[/mention]
[mention]Keldeo[/mention]
[mention]nutella[/mention]
[mention]LordQuas[/mention]
[mention]TonyStarkPrime[/mention]
[mention]Ranmilia[/mention]
[mention]Boomslang[/mention]
[mention]M Plus 7[/mention]
[mention]G-Man[/mention]
[mention]JaggedJimmyJay[/mention]
[mention]birdwithteeth11[/mention]
[mention]Sloonei[/mention]
[mention]Queen Pink[/mention]
[mention]Epignosis[/mention]
[mention]Enrique[/mention]
[mention]motobot[/mention]
[mention]Marcher Jovian[/mention]
[mention]Turnip Head[/mention]
[mention]dobby[/mention]
[mention]Mistyx[/mention]

Unfortunately for you, I have a fairly well-documented dislike of Primus, so this, uh, ain’t it chief. I think Les Claypool’s solo stuff is super good! But the aesthetic they’re going for here is… not one that appeals to me, at all. Big whiff.