itsROGO – Teenage Stars
Genre: Lo-fi Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative Rock
You may be cynical and say that being a pop star in 2024 doesn’t offer the same benefits it did back in, say, the 1970s. But it’s a job that involves less stress and fewer responsibilities. Pop stars back then, just like McDonalds’ employees, had to wear uniforms. Sure, those changed every few years and the clothes themselves were expensive. But, if they didn’t slip on the uniform, they wouldn’t be allowed to work.
Typical pop stars nowadays may have far less commercial reach than their predecessors, but many of them enjoy greater freedoms. In fact, some of them sound and look as if they’ve just woken up from a long mid-afternoon nap. They don’t sound or look like people would pass an audition to be part of the next producer-assembled pop group.
itsROGO’s “Teenage Stars” is a cute guitar-based pop-rock song. It also shows just how democratic pop music has become. This is music meant to appeal to regular pop music listeners, those who are not part of a tribe, those who don’t walk the streets dressed in any genre-designated uniform, and those who just like to hear a tune written by people like them. It’s nice to hear music from people who won’t be backing Dua Lipa on tour and won’t turn in a black-metal cover band any time soon, either.
closebye x Margaux – Pilates
We all want to get lost in the magic of pop songs, summer comedies, and advertisements that promise to make us healthier and better looking. Of course, we do. Thinking about how silly these things really are, or how cynical the people who offer them can get, would really drive us crazy. Everyone’s in on the take, and usually, we let them have what they need. This ain’t North Korea, after all.
It takes a rare breed of person to see the ridiculousness of it all, amuse themselves, and still carry on walking straight and smiling. And, most of these people are forming pop-rock groups. Their songs deconstruct reality in the Western world. The grooves sound like they were borrowed from 70s disco, minus the funky bass lines.
They’re here to chuckle their way onto radio stations’ playlists and, most of us, agree that this is not a terrible thing, or a bad idea. closebye x Margaux’s “Pilates” is one of those clever indie-pop songs delivered with a smirk and enough professionalism to suggest it could be a hit. These musicians see the world for what it is. But if they’re depressed about it, that’s not affecting their instincts of marrying memes, witty observations, and quirky pop-rock into songs. If we allowed Wet Leg to have hits, I don’t know why we would stop this!
