RC f/u Pt. 15: Miley Cyrus, Gorillaz, and the National

Here's another batch of albums released by Record Club alumni, in the time since we covered one of their albums. It's the RECORD CLUB FOLLOW UP, the least essential thing that Record Club does around these parts. Thanks for joining us.

Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus

Released: March 10, 2023

Follow-up to: Plastic Hearts, Week 96

I know that to some, Miley Cyrus remains somewhat of a joke. Child star and then the silly viral "We Can't Stop" video is a timeline just too too much for some people. It's okay, I get it. You're talking to the guy who had an ironic Hannah Montana poster in college and spent an entire album review talking to it. I get the joke. What I'm proposing now, however, is that Endless Summer Vacation presents undeniable proof that Miley Cyrus is not a joke.

I'm not saying that she's flawless, and I don't have to. When it comes to pop music, I ask for very little, and yet so few people provide for me what I require in this genre. Miley Cyrus hits all the targets, and at this point, I can say she hits them consistently. She is an unquestionable talent, not only co-writing all her songs, but also, the voice is one of the best in the business.

And the songs are there. Enough of them, anyway. All I want are some hooks and some interesting choices. Cyrus has my back. Sure, some of it is pretty boilerplate, e.g. "Violet Chemistry," which is generic dance pop with none of the character that someone like Jessie Ware would bring to the song. Or shit like "You" or "Wonder Woman," kinda boring, and only not terrible because Cyrus is just that great of a singer.

But then you have some great songs, and some okay songs that are nevertheless interesting in very tolerable ways. Examples of the former: "River" goes wild, and has the Miley charm, while at the same time almost sounding like La Roux; "Jaded" is catchy and has this sort of wobbly synth that reminds me of Mac DeMarco at his peak (one thousand years ago). Examples of the latter: "Handstand" is weird and harsh and almost brave in its lack of melody; "Muddy Feet" is just straight up silly but I love hearing Miley mutter something like "fuck out my bed with that shit"; "Flowers" is fine, I guess, almost a little boring, but I'm really glad she has another hit under her belt.

Unlike Plastic Hearts (the rock album), Endless Summer Vacation sounds like a move toward the center of pop. It's not what I'm prefer, but I'm okay with it in this particular case. The "center of pop" for Miley Cyrus still sounds like nothing else that anyone in pop is doing right now, and I am here for the ride. Rip down the old posters, and plaster Miley Cyrus' grown up face in your adult bedroom.

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5 (-0.5 from previous review, but maybe Plastic Hearts was a little overrated)


Cracker Island by Gorillaz

Released: February 24, 2023

Follow-up to: Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, Week 97

The underlying point of the Strange Timez review was that I don't really know Gorillaz all that well. So take what I'm saying here with a grain of salt, since I don't really listen to that album all that much anymore, and I've listened to Cracker Island once, which I felt was enough, honestly, but still—I think that Cracker Island doesn't feel like Gorillaz.

Or at least it doesn't feel like my perception of what the Gorillaz have always tried to be, and that is idiosyncratic and somewhat propulsive rockers, chameleons that take on different roles but always keep it interesting, genre-less but never anti-genre. I don't get any of that on Cracker Island. I hear a lot of twitchy, boring quasi-dancey duds. It's not weird, and it's not all that fun.

I wouldn't say it's bad, per se. Just not all that interesting, and definitely not "fresh" or "unique" in any capacity. There were a few moments here and there that surprised me. For instance, having a dance track ("Oil") and burying Stevie Nix, of all people, in the mix. For instance, when "Skinny Ape" pops off unexpectedly and gratifyingly. For instance, Tame Impala reaching into a well-worn but welcome bag of tricks for "New Gold."

That's basically it, though. The best I can do to describe my ambivalence about all this is to talk about the Bad Bunny track, "Tormenta." I find it fucking hilarious that this Gorillaz track only "features" Bad Bunny and yet STILL has the overdone Bad Bunny dembow beat that I complained about all over my Bad Bunny review. It's funny because of Bad Bunny, but it's also sad because of Gorillaz. It's like they aren't their own entity anymore, ya know? They just take on whatever form their featured guest wants to take. Consider that I, a non-fan who was only familiar with the all-guests Strange Timez, hadn't heard a song that was just Gorillaz for years until I heard "The Tired Influencer," which is a fucking nothing of a song.

I think I found Strange Timez a little crowded at the time, but what it actually was was Gorillaz using features as a crutch. Without that crutch, they stumble, because that sense of identity is completely obliterated. What's the use?

GRADE: 2 pukes out of 5 (-1.5 from previous review)

First Two Pages of Frankenstein by the National

Released: April 28, 2023

Follow-up to: I Am Easy to Find, Week 18

If there's one thing I know, it's that I need some time to process a new National album. We all do, so I don't really quite understand why I saw so many hot takes a few weeks ago about how the National "suck" or whatever. C'mon, you gotta know the game by now. This shit takes time. These are growers. Everyone relax.

I've relaxed for long enough, and it's time to drop the big PoYB opinion about First Two Pages of Frankenstein, the follow up to the RC-covered National album I Am Easy to Find back in 2019. My opinion: really good! Of course. Of course. 

Any take that start with "well they haven't been good since High Violet" is automatically dismissed, seeing as Sleep Well Beast is maybe their best, if not my favorite, and that was only two albums (and one lifetime) ago. I Am Easy to Find is better than anyone says it is, and also a step down. First Two Pages is probably another step down from there, but still, this is one of the best bands on earth we're talking about. Two steps down from one of my favorite albums of all time is gonna be great.

True: the hits stand out, and the non-hits are still languishing a little bit. Any time they pump up the tempo, it's a hit, and if you've listened to this album at all or read a single other review, you know which ones I'm talking about—"Tropical Morning News," "Grease in Your Hair," "Eucalyptus." It's also a hit when they bring something new to the table. "New Order T-Shirt" feels new in a self-aware kind of way, like Berninger is purposefully fucking with critics' heads by writing "overly National-y" National lyrics, and yet it still works in an ironic sort of way. The something new in "The Alcott" is, well, the biggest pop star on the planet slumming it on my indie rock album, which is not the reason "The Alcott" is a great song (even though it is a great song), but is definitely the reason that I am flabbergasted at this album, still. Just take a step back and think about this. Think about how insane you'd sound if you said to someone at a 2007 Boxer-era tour that the biggest pop star in the galaxy is going to be on a National album eventually. It's just fucking bizarre. I also think it's kinda cool.

The slow ones are, well, a little slower to take hold. Something like "Once upon a Poolside" is almost there, and something like "Your Mind Is Not Your Friend" is so generic National that it might never get there. But all of it is pleasant in the meantime. Nothing is actively bad. Has the National ever had an actively bad song? I can't think of one off the top of my head (maybe something from their debut self-titled?). That they are continuing their streak of fine-to-great-to-possibly-life-changing songs here in their latest album is something to be celebrated, and not taken for granted.

The National have a thing that they do, and they do it well. If you get it, well then welcome aboard, we're gonna be here forever. If you don't get it, then I don't blame you. I also pity you, a little bit, because this is the good shit. I want you to experience it. So does the National, because they are still pumping this shit out ever half decade or so, and it still feels great. It doesn't match up to the old stuff because it doesn't have to. It's just comforting now.

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5 (a gentle -0.5 from previous review)


Alright, that's it for now. As far as I know, Fall Out Boy and Josh Ritter are the only RC alumni still waiting for their new albums to be reviewed in this space, though there is new Dave Matthews Band being released tomorrow, so maybe we can get Pt. 16 up and running in the next couple of weeks.