Media Writer & Collector

Magazine Collages - Mondays

* Full page scans are tagged by the magazine name, year, and who is featured

Album Reviews - Wednesdays

Single Reviews - Fridays

Lost Media - Listening Stats - My Playlists

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Song Review of the Week: Superbus - Ça Mousse (2008)

I love this song from Superbus! It has a dark yet whimsical sound with a hypnotic melody resulting in a moderately chill track. The bouncy repetitive keyboard throughout adds to that whimsical hypnosis and the guitar riff a minute in has a really nice tone as well.

Album Review of the Week: Robbie Williams - Britpop (2026)

I have never been very aware of Robbie Williams' life and career, except for a couple singles that appeared on compilations I came across that I really enjoyed like Rock DJ and Kids with Kylie Minogue. But when I saw this album in the new releases list, I gravitated to it and I'm glad I did because this is a really enjoyable album!

The cover is striking, featuring a photo of him actively being vandalized. The album's concept is that this is the album he wanted to make after leaving the band Take That in 1995, but the label prevailed and it didn't quite pan out that way. Taking over a year of writing and recording in multiple different studios, I think this project turned out perfectly! It feels fresh yet rooted in that late 90s sound to make it a real love letter to the era. The tracks are largely very energetic and brash with some great songwriting. His vocals are also very good and strong throughout, which is admirable considering his age and what I know of his past with drug use.

The album opens with Rocket featuring Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. It comes in hard with a lightning fast verse and anthemic chorus. The beginning of the chorus always makes me think of the :50 mark of this Spice World scene with the "I just wanna..." The bridge is really fun as well! Every turn of melody in this song is energetic and infectious. A great opening track to let us know he is not messing around with this one!

Spies slows things down a little bit with a dramatic shift. This one is a bit forgettable for me but it's still great in a more generic way, his low deliberate vocals add a lot to it.

Pretty Face is one that especially sounds reminiscent of the late 90s to me. It has a great guitar instrumental to add some grit to an optimistic melody in the chorus and lyrics in general. It also has a little shout out to Nirvana with its "hello, hello, hello, how low" towards the end.

Bite Your Tongue is the most explicit song about the label struggles. I absolutely love the opening line, I've accepted your cookies and I'll accept no more. And, if I'm really really good they'll let me sing what I like. I absolutely love the laughing bit before the second chorus. It is obnoxiously middle-school-boy but in the context of the song it really adds to the hilarity of it all. It also just has great energy overall.

Some of the songwriting doesn't make sense to me, the first example being Cocky with the chorus of you get to talk to Jesus, when I get to talk to God. Not really sure what that means, but the verses imply that this is another pointed song to any past record labels. It looks like this release, while we're on the subject, was released independently. I love that artists are able to make that leap more often these days!

All My Life has some great lyrics right out of the gate with my life is based on a true story / one of dreams, chaos and audacity. The chorus has a great vocal tone and layering that gives it an anthemic feel.

Human is my least favorite track for sure, too slow for me and the feature of Jesse & Joy doesn't do much for me either.

Morrissey, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. This is another one that makes no sense to me lyrically but I love the pulsating beat and the chorus is really fun for some reason. I love the end where he goes come here let me hold you, let me hold you for the rest of your life. It just has a really nice quickening in the melody.

The energy is back up a little bit with You, with the return of the brash vocals and F-Bombs! The pre-chorus is really gritty and great. The 2nd verse has some really great lyrics: are people just pixels or are pixels just people / I keep reading my lyrics and they keep making me paranoid / I don't sound very well at all kind of sound like I'm well annoyed.

It's OK Until the Drugs Stop Working almost has a Beatles feel with its carnival-like melody at times. His vocals also sound especially great at the lower moments, they go really well with the instrumental.

The standard tracklist ends with Pocket Rocket, it is a slower string version of the opening track. It sounds really nice, the strings are truly lovely and his calmer vocal is a good contrast to what has been going on so far. I don't typically like when people tack on acoustic versions, but somehow this one makes sense!

Selfish Disco gets us started with the deluxe tracks. I really like the lyrics and concept of having your own dance party, I do that all the time! I do wish it was more upbeat seeing as it is completely about dancing yet the verses are quite a ballad. The chorus, while still slow but more midtempo, does have a funky bassline come through which adds some fun and energy.

G.E.M.B. is a good classic rock tune! Has a great pulsating guitar rhythm and strong vocals.

Comment Section is a favorite of the bonus tracks. I like the lower, darker vocals and how the melody moves quickly and deliberately. Some fun lyrics regarding social media use! Around the 2 minute mark, the tempo changes for a minute so that adds some nice texture.

F*king Amazing has a great bassline but otherwise it's a bit slow for me. Although the lyrics are quite vulnerable and romantic, so he definitely gets credit for that!

100% Beau has a great little drumline for the intro and more brash vocals and guitar riffs. The chanting of "100%" in the background adds some fun texture to what might otherwise be a "wall of sound".

The album closes with Desire which was simply tacked on as it was a FIFA anthem in 2025. It is not very energetic for a sports song!