ok so here's some elaboration cuz it seems like there were some things missing from the listen here: 1. underscores isn't a band. it's literally one girl and she produced basically everything herself (the "good luck" through the entire album is a producer tag) 2. there's a narrative running through the whole album about 3 girls (s*nny, mara, & old money bitch) and how they interact with each other in their small evangelical conservative town. this isn't hidden lore btw, the story of each track is literally in the descriptions somewhere. there was even an arg with a shitton of music videos, websites, and even entire secret songs. it really enhances the experience if you understand the album as a narrative 3. not important to understand the album, but i wanna note it anyways because it's wildly interesting. when the album came out, people making the genius annotations tied everything (and i mean. EVERYTHING) to being trans/the trans experience. this is mostly because every featuring artist on the album (including underscores herself) is some flavor of trans. i'm trans myself, and while i picked up on ambiguous queer allegories in a few songs (namely "johnny johnny johnny" & "geez louise"), they're incredibly small and overshadowed by larger topics. the album didn't set out to detail the trans experience. the annotations were written by people with 0 media literacy who don't understand that trans people don't HAVE to write music about being trans lol p.s: this is my aoty so far if you couldn't tell lmfao
@@ilavain agreed, and april actually confirmed this, but that's not the main point of the songs narrated by her. i heard people making stretches as far as the antibiotics from "duhhh" being code for estradiol "anti-boy-otics." which. ughhhh
@@ilavain yeah this is confirmed by underscores, there are only a few songs where people on genius were seriously misinterpreting the lyrics and the whole problem is being way overblown tbh
for me "you don't even know who i am" is one of the most potent and hard hitting songs I've heard this year and it felt like with that song and with "duhhh" you resigned yourself to disliking them immediately after hearing the repetitive parts all love tho
I agree, duhhh is one of my favorite songs off of the album because of the continuity the sample creates into an explosive finale. I found that the sample also fills the space between each verse with ear candy I find interesting and not annoying.
for me, it makes sense within the context of the perspectives each song is trying to portray. the loop in Duhhhhhh is like that thought stuck in the back of your head, a dark cloud looming over everything you do, say, think, and feel. and considering the song is about S*nny's new diagnosis of Sunny's Disease and her feelings towards God about giving her the illness... yeah that'll give you some anxiety lol. which is just beautifully illustrated in the lyrics. every instance of "dear God" is literal, asking him to be more subtle in his messaging and earthly punishments. the loop represents anxiety, depression, a lack of understanding, and a lack of closure. and the fact that it's the word "duh" is almost like S*nny's intrusive thoughts taunting her, like "i should've seen the signs, i should've known better, everyone else knew but me" etc. You don't even know who I am is just absolutely deranged. the loop here reads to me like something similar to paranoid schizophrenia. Mara, the stalker fan whose perspective this song is from, obviously has some trouble processing boundaries and the meanings behind other people's words. you have to to feel comfortable breaking into someone's house and pretending to be them. and i think the loop gets that across perfectly. it's the words of other people echoing in her mind, they're trying to help her but she's so beyond help that she can't make heads or tails of these simple phrases, and they become equally meaningless to the listener by the end. this is further illustrated by just how corporate and generic the phrases are to begin with. to me, the things that make both songs great are the things that Brad immediately singled out and resigned to being bad qualities. but if those weren't part of their respective songs, they'd be much more boring and generic. i also think that knowing at least the broad strokes of the lore helps IMMENSELY with the enjoyment of this album, which i suppose could be seen as either good or bad depending on why you like music. but i think Brad should take some time to uncover some of the lore (not too unlike what he did with Trench) and give Wallsocket another chance
brad saying "theres something there that wasnt fully realized that shouldve been" about ydekwia is crazy. april has tried for so long to make that song work and has made so many versions and this is like the most evolved version of the vision she originally had.
Man, I was really hoping you’d be more into this, but i get your perspective and this was still a really entertaining watch. I hope the underscores fans will respond well to this
This is one of those albums where already being familiar with the artist helps with fully understanding it. Nothing to dunk on about Brad's criticisms of the music itself at all but I feel like not even knowing that underscores is one person, not to mention the album's fictional story kinda harmed his overall experience with it.
yeah i especially felt this when he got to the end moment on that Jane Remover track. it lost ALL of the power it could’ve had because he entered the album without the perspective of underscores tying all the way back to fishmonger, “kinkos field trip 2006” if im not mistaken
@@unblorbosyourshows9635 Yeah generally. For this one I think I’d disagree though. the experience that underscores intended seems to be learning the story through the music videos and ARG she did alongside the music? A good comparison would be BTI, since it’s really hard to follow the emotional core of narrative without the script & complimentary pieces. Did you see all the companion stuff to this?
@@cosmo.g1543 I don't really look for stuff outside the albums themselves. Like, if that information was important enough it should have been put in the album as songs
In my opinion this could be called the first post-Hyperpop album. It does have a distinctly Hyperpop tinge, but it explores concepts and sounds that are way outside of that while still keeping its Hyperpop energy. This did the same thing to Hyperpop that Low/Heroes did to punk
@@no_not_that_one oh absolutely do so. The mix is a complete mess but Jane Remover’s distinctive sound on frailty has yet to be recreated, even by Jane Remover herself.
@@tylermaddux5209 I’ve listened to 10,000 Gecs and yeah, it was definitely innovative but nowhere near as much as this album… I’d say 10,000 Gecs is still Hyperpop, but just very different and innovative Hyperpop, I wouldn’t call it post-hyperpop
Honestly, on first listen, I hated sitting through the slower sections of this album (especially the one in Geez Louise -- I'd always skip the whole song every single time I got to it). I gave the entirety of Geez Louise a (hesitant) re-listen a few days ago just because, this time with the lyrics pulled up and everything. Not even kidding, when I found out the slow verse was about queer youth (specifically trans youth) and its conflicting ideals with religion, I basically started tearing up. I think it might've also been about assimilation (because of the "mother tongue" lyric and the one about skin being adorned in accidental patterns), which made it hit even closer to home tbh. I ended up re-listening to the ENTIRE album with this newfound context, and I couldn't help but relate to nearly every aspect of S*nny's story, especially as a religious Filipino struggling with their gender identity. I found that the songs I disliked the most (most notably Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) ended up being my all-time favorites this year. I dunno. I'm just yapping. But reading into these songs, and thereby relating to a couple of them, gave me a better appreciation of the album as a whole. It's definitely grown on me.
The fact that Brad calls underscores a band gives off the same vibes as "Did you know Tame Impala is just one guy?" Anyways, besides that, this album is really damn good, I really like the variety of sounds and nice lyrics that tells a pretty dark narrative. also, that second to last track had me ascending it's definitely a 10 for me (but I thought Rock Your Body by Black Eyed Peas was good so agree to disagree on many things)
I thought the character in Old Money Bitch was just pretending to be poor. She likes the aesthetic, but is fake because she has that ridiculous safety net to fall back on, leaving her unable to understand the perspective or struggle of it at all. Gotta listen to this album again but first impression is definitely higher than 6/10
@@whoopzdayz44 I feel like theres a lot of similarities in the pop/rock fusions and in their vocal styles. But Underscores has much more hyperpop influences while Olivia's has more 90's/2000's influence
I'm glad you gave a listen to this album! It's my favorite album of the year. A lot of the lyrics here are about 3 girls (characters in the album) and it's that perspective. Hope you like it more in the future. It's a dense album in some things. Respect your opinion, btw!
The slow downs did kind of disappoint me at first (I was expecting it all to be heavy on the explosive energy) but once I kind of accepted what she was going for and settled into the instrumentals and storytelling I got invested in those as well. I wouldn’t say you are missing the mark here entirely, but definitely think it would have been beneficial for you to look into the artist before going into it. Not to say you have to research everything before listening, but in this case the context is pretty important.
I want to mention that the explosive intros going straight into duh actually narratively has a purpose, thats why it exists, and this isnt to comment on your opinion of how it sounds thats entirely out of my element but think narratively of the first 2 songs as nothing more than simply a prologue
tbh i think that the album's story is mostly just out of order. the first two tracks still can be viewed as a prologue regardless, but i think there isn't necessarily a reason that the tracks are ordered the way they are. unless they are and i just don't know lmao. i know like 70% (ha) of the story but not all, so it's likely there's a small piece of context from the ARG that i'm just totally missing out on lol
Im so happy April is getting the recognition and praise outside of the hyperpop/similar communities. She has so many solid projects and enamoring production.
your reaction to You Don't Even Know Who I am hurt my soul. Its the best song off the album by far. The repetition is 100% intentional. One of the first time I have to say I think you are just flat out wrong Brad, you checked out at the start of the track and didn't even give it a chance. Idk its like saying Wake Up by Clipping is bad because of the alarm sample, the sample makes the song and the off putting feeling is intentional. it might just be me, but as a trans girl who hasnt had the most support at times and found it in online places that werent healthy or real, this song speaks to me on a deeply personal level. Gotta be honest your reaction kinda put me off this review, I know thats a me problem. still love you Brad.
here before the video gets dislike bombed as someone who really likes the over-the-top nature and variety of this album, your opinion is completely valid and it's okay to feel the way you feel about the record. you have records that appeal to your ears and that's also valid :3 hope you're having a good ass day bradley
I'm kidding btw, it was just funny hearing some of your opinions and going "oh he doesn't know" or "oh man he doesn't get it at all." Can't wait for your next video!
idk what it is but it feels like this whole video Brad was very conservative with wanting to like what was going on. Every time there was a more positive score, he spoke about it as if he didn't like it very much, and whenever he gave something a lower score it seemed like he wanted to like it but was held back somehow. Just seems like a lot of these opinions were reserved on the positive side while he tried to latch onto negatives, even if the final song scores dont reflect that.
your assessment of geez louise's slower section had me malding so hard. to me, this album feels like everything was placed at the right time to get its narrative across and to flesh out the world of wallsocket. i think if you knew more about underscores and the rollout of this album, it would help put things into perspective a bit more. definitely was a little annoyed watching this and the way you described certain songs, but i respect the fact that it's obviously not going to be for everyone either
i get what you mean, but if an album can't be enjoyed by a listener that doesn't have prior context about it, then it's really not that solid of an album. good music should be good regardless of contextual knowledge. obviously there's no objectivity in art and im not saying it's a bad album, but your argument for why it's good doesn't really work. just because an artistic choice works within the narrative, doesn't mean it works musically. quite a few choices in this album seemed to be prioritizing narrative over music, and i think that's a valid complaint. we're judging music here, not a novel. the story is secondary. like you could write a song about driving a car and have horns honking constantly throughout the song to symbolize road rage, but whether or not that's a tasteful musical decision is another story lol.
@@cornbone i agree with your first point, but i still think there is a lot to be gleaned from this on a first time listen too. it's not really hard to pick up on the narratives and themes of the this album regardless. and to your second point, i still think that almost all of the album works very solidly as a piece of music over a piece of storytelling. as far as the geez louise example goes, i think it's one of the smoothest and more natural ways the song could have went and while the noise section after the slow part was predictable, it doesn't make it bad or any less cathartic and great
Brad whenever the song is slow: >:( Brad when the song is upbeat: :) >:( Like genuinely the production is so enthralling on the slow parts. Some of the best parts.
Heartbreaking to hear that you disliked it. Given that I've probably worn out "10,000 Gecs," Underscores was a revelation. Love what she's doing with this album and every decision builds a surreal picture of a town full of desperation and loners. One of my favorites of the year.
this song is slow, I don't like it. this song is upbeat, I like it. while completely missing the point on almost every song and the overall nature of the album is wild, saying that you don't even know who I am is abstract lyricism is absolutely absurd. L
i had the same opinion on songs like "duhhh" or "you dont even know who i am" on first listen, but with some relistens i was able to hear a lot of the small details and artistry in those slower songs. it feels like you went into this album expecting it to be all "cops and robbers" or "locals" but she took it in a different direction and you didn't expect it. sure, i did want more songs like the first two, but i think the sound she went for after that is great in its own way.
Me when I have bad takes. I don't understand your take on shoot to kill being "ham fisted" with messaging but you never even say what it is? I just don't think you probably took a well intentioned meaning especially if you were confused with old money which was more straightforward
Please stick to reviewing the music and stop making obnoxious DJ Khaled producer tags in the middle as a joke, honestly made me hate this review along with your bad takes. And a lot of the takes you had for the slower songs was complaining it was a slow song...
Brad listen to hypochondriac by brakence. Maybe youll get tired of it too as its more glitchpop /hyperpop but its genuinely one of the best produced projects ive ever heard.
You shouldn’t need to understand the background of an album to like it the music should be the only thing that’s enjoyable and you don’t need to know where the person grew up and who they are identity wise to decide wether a song is good or not. Idk why people have a problem when people they like on the internet don’t enjoy the same stuff to a T.
I just hate that he didnt like ANY of the slow parts because those were my favorite parts. Like I get that some people might not like her as a vocalist but I love her voice and on top of that the lyrics during some of those slow parts get me so emotional. Like the chorus in good luck final girl or “I once had peace and quiet, now I can’t turn the damn thing off, but I don’t wanna die yet, I haven’t finished what I’m working on” in uncanny long arms. I wasn’t in love with the album on my first listen but after a few listens I just feel like the passion that april grey poured into these lyrics resonated so much with me.
the slower songs wound up being what defined wallsocket for me. they carry the most narrative weight and have some really incredible, poignant moments. that's why it pisses me off that he's so dismissive of them. it's like... borderline anti-intellectual.
I normally get his points even when I disagree, but just listening to the lyrics of YDEKWIA is the thing he says is missing imo. It just feels like he didn’t give it a chance bc it’s slow lol
All love brad but this album listen felt pretty dismissive, really think these type of concept album listens would benefit from a little bit of research beforehand😅 Not saying you need to know every piece of lore going into it but thinking underscores is a band was painful
Too bad you didn't like the Jane one, that was my fav but I might be a might biased considering I'm a Jane fan. Overall I'm glad you checked this out, her first album was way better imo, but i do like that she is slowly moving away from the main 'hyperpop' sound, while still maintaining aggressiveness in the sound design
i really respect your opinion on this im glad someone isnt afraid to speak their true feelings about music, as it really is all down to personal preference. whats funny is that you were pretty generous with this and theres still a bunch of people pissed in the comments 😂
This is the first video of yours where I agree with your takes and accept them as valid criticism but it doesn’t detriment my personal opinion of the album overall. Unsubscribed
there’s a narrative here, involving characters and their interactions. but i feel like there are many many albums with deep narratives that do a better job. just because it makes sense for the story the music shouldn’t be compromised. an outsider, not knowing of the narrative should be able to appreciate the music without knowing everything there is to know about the lore. i am biased though, as the music/lore didn’t really capture my attention (so maybe for others it does exactly what i just described) but the point still stands for me personally.
I thought this album was a huge step up from fishmonger. I’ve been following underscores since the SoundCloud Mario remix days. I was meh on some of the ones here but the really good ones made up for it.
