It seems to be the bi-weekly Release Radar Review, due to the playlist alternating between hot fire and hot garbage. I didn't do a review last week because I was pissed Avril Lavigne wasn't on it. Lots of heavy-hitters this week, as well as some relatively forgettable tracks. Let's get into it.

Songs that didn't need to explicitly feature Travis Barker - 1

Chad Kroeger impersonations - 1

Songs that absolutely no one could have thought had a good hook when they sent them out - 2

 

Dark Days (feat. Jeris Johnson) - Point North, Jeris Johnson - I love Point North. It’s tough when you write the best pop-punk song ever in your first season as a band, but this vibe is sick. Is Jeris Johnson a Chad Kroeger pseudonym? 

hair out - Stand Atlantic - I really like Stand Atlantic. This doesn’t sound like much of a sound evolution so I’m interested to see if they can hold my attention for two albums without changing much. I think they can. 

Talking To Ourselves - Rise Against, IDLES - …wut. 

Upon Their Cross - Vio-Lence - this song benefits from its placement on the playlist. A breath of fresh air from the first note after the industrial dirge of the previous track. 

The Canary (Instrumental) - Protest The Hero - no vocals doesn’t do it for me. 

Count on me - DaBaby, YoungBoy Never Broke Again - good, not great. 

Drunk Dial - Sueco - SCREAMING ALONG WITH THIS FROM THE FIRST SECOND. Pretty sure we’ve got my fav Andrew Goldstein on the production team on this one. 

Neighborhood Superstar - DaBaby, YoungBoy Never Broke Again - better than the first song. How tf did they get two songs on my release radar?! 

ay! (with Lil Wayne) - Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Wayne - this track doesn’t miss. Remember when Lil Wayne toured with blink and it didn’t really work? Seems like it was just ahead of its time. 

Country Girl - Belmont - holy fuck I hate this. It's like an infinitely shittier take on the Uptown Girl concept.

The Mob - YNW Melly, Trippie Redd, YNW BSlime - I see we’re into the heavy 808 part of our Friday. 

Paint Chipping - Mg Lil Bubba, Money Man - we are definitely into the heavy 808 part of our Friday. 

Lost - Charlotte Sands - rhyming a hook with “hey hey hey” is not an acceptable level of writing, and this is coming from a guy who is a fan of using the exact same word twice to fill out a rhyme. 

G Lock -Digga D, Moneybagg Yo - amazing title but I don’t really like the voice 

Straight To It (feat. Fivio Foreign) - King Von, Fivio Foreign - hard beat, hard voice. Love it. 

Payback (feat. Icona Pop) - Cheat Codes, Icona Pop - whoa, big pop vibes outta nowhere. I back it. 

Timber - Bugus, Russ - skip-beat, more like skip song, amirite? Just kidding. But not really. 

Vroom - from GRAN TURISMO 7 - The FaNaTiX, Iris Elba, Lil Tjay, DaVido, Koffee,. - dudes…”vroom” can’t be the hook in your song. It can’t. Don’t release this. Think better next time. 

Money Man (feat. Killa) - Pop Smoke, Killa - bad concept, good hook. 

Hate Me (feat. Travis Barker) - Caspr, Travis Barker - this kid needs to open his teeth when he sings. Mumble-city. Funny how Travis seems to throw his name on the stuff that wouldn't pop on its own and doesn't explicitly add it to the stuff that is inherently amazing.

Trampoline (feat. Missy Elliott, BIA and.) David Guetta, Afrojack, Missy Elliott, BIA, DOE.. - formulaic, done well. 

Alguien en mi barrio - Kogollada Crew, CaliKush, TITUS, SG 95 Music - not giving me an English title, not giving you a listen 

Fcked Up Teeth - Damien Styles - play this in the car with your parents.

This is honestly as far into the radar as I got this week.