#960-#956

 #960. Odd Mob - Is It A Banger? (#70, 2014)

96th of 2014

I went into this list thinking that I would on occasion dig into certain relevant pieces of media in order to better fill out some entries. I still intend to do that, but it's more important that I actually show some sign of ever finishing this list. With that in mind, I did not watch all 126 episodes of Parks and Recreation for this, but I did jump straight to the middle of Season 6 just to watch the episode that is sampled in this song. I quite like the show when I have seen it, but that's a heck of a lot of work for "Is It A Banger?"

If you need the context for this, all of the spoken word in this song is from Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford, in a brief aside where he elaborates on his scientific method for finding the best songs to listen to. This is all for the purpose of DJing a high school prom which blows up in his face when he realises that he's out of touch with the kids who would prefer to listen to alternative rock instead of trap & southern hip-hop. It ends with a quick acceptance of the fact that adults have better things to do than keep in touch with youth culture. I'm older than Aziz was when this episode came out and the irony isn't lost on me.

There are quite a lot of musical references in the episode that make me feel like the writers know what they're talking about. While he's delivering this monologue, you can see a chart of various songs being graded as potential bangers and it's an interesting time capsule. A certain Atlanta trio who had just barely cracked the mainstream thus far gets the nod of approval, several years before they'd make it onto this list, and there's the interesting distinction that Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O." is not a banger, but the remix with Rick Ross's infamous lyric is. The main dig though is at Mumford & Sons' "I Will Wait", that of course fails the test due to its acoustic instruments. I admire that he's out there giving it a try even though it's clearly out of his wheelhouse.

It does start to get a little bit off when we get to the prom though, as the buzz kill song he's playing is "We Own It" by Wiz Khalifa and another rapper who will eventually appear in this list. Admittedly it wasn't nearly as big a hit in America as it was in Australia, but it's strange to hear kids who will eventually jam out to "Song 2" by Blur complaining that this song from 6 months ago is too old. It feels like an underdeveloped way to signal being out of touch, although if the show was secretly set 10 years in the future, it's perfect.

Now that's out of the way, I'll dispense the important facts: Odd Mob was originally a duo but since 2017 is just one person, and there is a question mark in the title but not on the artwork. Though this was his one viral turn, he's remained active and this track is only his 25th most popular song right now according to last.fm. It's a cute novelty but doesn't really hold up to return listens. Then again, a few years ago I intentionally downloaded a Lumineers song so you might want to discard my opinion on this sort of thing.

#959. Thelma Plum - These Days (#92, 2020)

97th of 2020

I don't approach this list with the purpose of dumping all over beloved classic songs outside of the aforementioned time window. Fate sometimes forces my hand though. I liked "These Days" by Powderfinger a lot more when I was a teenager. I think it had some fun note charts that were within my range on SingStar. I don't have any real emotional connection to it though, so it can't help but feel a little bit turgid to me.

There is a modicum of enjoyment and excitement to be had from it though, which is more than I can say for this cover version. This time it's not actually a Like A Version, but the song choice and vibe are all still there. The best I can say about it is that it's considerably shorter, and doesn't adhere to all the same musical choices of the original. Thelma Plum has accumulated quite a handful of entries over the years now, and it's probably not a surprise at this point that the cover is the one I'm least fond of.

#958. Doja Cat (feat The Weeknd) - You Right (#83, 2021)

96th of 2021

There's an alternate universe where Doja Cat briefly holds the record for most Hottest 100 entries in a single year. She ended up with an impressive 5 entries in 2021, but the reality is that it's all she was practically allowed. She had nothing else on the voting list to choose from. If triple j were feeling generous, they could've allowed votes for "Ain't Shit" which could have possibly gotten over the line. It could also have siphoned votes from this and left her at a different set of 5 but we'll never really know.

Despite her very in-your-face attitude, Doja Cat also frequently deals in some of the more restrained songs to have made the pop charts in recent years. A lot of them really depend on my mood as to how I'll respond, because they can just hit the spot right. This one I don't think ever really gets there. It doesn't even have to be the last time I say this, but Dr. Luke just does not do well producing trap music. The drums sound flat and a little too high in the mix. She mined a similar sounding hit in "Agora Hills" from her next album and I think that one finds the balance a bit better.

In general it's just not an especially interesting song. Most notable for the headline grabbing feature, which means I can finally talk about The Weeknd. Except he's a pretty perfunctory presence on this song so I won't bother getting into much detail. He's got way more to show on his own. If not for several of the songs in close proximity to it in 2021's list, I'd say this would be guaranteed to flatten the BBQ listening party vibes, whatever they sound like.

#957. DOPE LEMON - Hey You (#84, 2019)

95th of 2019

I might keep saying this but it's always been very important to me that I treat every entry separately. A lot of people will pigeon-hole artists into a single box and only occasionally deviate. The kinds of folk who might say 'They only have one good song'. Ignoring the fact that there's probably no artist with a big enough catalogue that I'd willingly listen to all of with such a poor hit rate, it's just not a very interesting criticism. I'm not saying this applies to DOPE LEMON anyway. He's got two more songs to come after this one that could potentially be filed under 'Good' if such a line exists, and that's just within the Hottest 100 canon anyway.

The reason I say all of this is because not only is it hard to say much about this song, but it is one I'm guilty of filing away in a lazy manner. This song doesn't really sound like "Marinade", but it gives off a fairly similar, sluggish vibe that doesn't offer a whole lot. It's low enough in the 2019 list that you're still probably thinking to yourself about how 'We got stuck with this while something great probably just missed out'. It's not all that bad but hardly something to deliberately seek out.

#956. Steve Lacy - Static (#72, 2022)

98th of 2022

I've been listening to The Internet since 2015. That's not a flex, they just had a triple j Feature Album in that year and I liked what I was hearing. That album is "Ego Death" and it's their first release since Steve Lacy joined the group. He'd also only just turned 17. In saying that I didn't really know who Steve Lacy was for a little while yet. He'd start popping up elsewhere, and of course on The Internet's 2018 song "Come Over", Syd kindly says 'Steve' before his guitar solo. Eventually, Steve Lacy would find belated success with his song "Dark Red", just in time for him to release a new single that would soar him to bizarre heights...but that's a story for another blurb.

Steve Lacy made sure to certainly not be a Hottest 100 one hit wonder though because he had enough good will to also collect this second entry. Unfortunately it's not really one I can get behind. It doesn't really feel like a finished track. I know that it's a common complaint to say TikTok songs are undercooked, but I think two and a half minutes is plenty of time to get everything done. This just doesn't get there. I can only ruin it further by saying that it's probably the only Hottest 100 entry to ever include the lyric 'uWuWuWuWu'.

ALSO: As previously mentioned, tonight (at around 12pm UK time), I'll be playing through Banjo-Kazooie on my Twitch channel. To 100% the game you need to collect 100 jigsaw pieces, and so every time I do, I'll move through triple j's 2023 Hottest 100 from #100 to #1, talking about those songs with rough thoughts that don't give me the above leisure I have to look things up. There'll be a display on screen to keep up with what I'm talking about to. Should it go alright, I'll post a VOD on here later.