Top 10 Countdown: April 30, 2022

10. Machine Gun Kelly Ft. Blackbear - Make Up Sex
Last week: NEW!

9. Avril Lavigne Ft. Blackbear - Love It When You Hate Me
Last week: 10.

8. Hot Milk - Bad Influence
Last week: 9.

7. Machine Gun Kelly Ft. Bring Me The Horizon - Maybe
Last week: NEW!

6. Mod Sun - Rich Kids Ruin Everything
Last week: 7.

5. LEC x Against The Current - Wildfire
Last week: 1.

4. Stand Atlantic - Hair Out
Last week: 5.

3. State Champs Ft. Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) - Everybody But You
Last week: 4.

2. Silverstein - Ultraviolet
Last week: 3.

1. Simple Plan Ft. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) - Ruin My Life
Last week: 2.

First Listen Thoughts: Belmont - Aftermath

1. Fully Sent: Lots of riff salad parts in this but the melody is very strong and the rap/scream style suits Belmont very well. I know I'm gonna be in for some painful to listen songs later on due to the prog influences but this was a strong start.

2. Parasitic: Yeah, I've listened to this one a lot. I expect it to get into my top 100 songs of 2022 currently as it gets stronger with every listen. The heaviest of the singles we got will make all the hardcore kids happy.

3. Bowser's Castle: This came out last year as part of the "Bowser's Castle Mixtape" that I didn't get to but I did enjoy this song quite a bit and just missed out on my top songs of 2021. 

4. Pain Now: The Breakdown is solid and the rap verse leading into it is fun but there's a little too much chaos happening here with the tones changing from word to word especially during the chorus and we don't need a soft 40 second reprise as an outro, thanks.

5. In My Skin: More 808's than the opening track but other than that both songs are very similar. Not much variety there but enjoyable and I know there's more variety to come...

6. Country Girl: Speak of the devil! This is a fun enough song to freak out your friends by saying "I like country now" (bonus points if they like country). But I don't expect there to be much staying power for me but if you want to see someone gush over this song and video check out The Punk Rock MBA's video on it. Personally I enjoy the bridge and the twang added isn't awful but the traditional country musicianship just isn't for me and I like joke songs but this is just full of innuendos and it gets to be a lot especially when it's low hanging fruit like "She smiles biggest when she rides my tractor".

7. Top Gun (From The Top): As soon as this song started I thought "Ugh more prog chaos" the chorus was okay but definitely not for me. Sorry Belmont. Y'all are talented as hell but I can't do it.

8. 4am//Disappear: This is a midtempo banger with a lot of 808's but it works so well with the singer's voice tone. This definitely should've been a single. 

9. Never Found: This seems to be the most like an old Belmont song but it's still a ways away from where they started. This is probably the strongest drum work on the album (or better mixed) which is a huge compliment here.

10. Guilt Trip: The first 20 seconds or so was the best part of this song easily. It went riff heavy and I basically tuned out. Such a shame cause I was super pumped for that intro.

11. What I Lack: Probably the best melody on the album but that could be because I spent more time with this than most other tracks. This was also a much needed break from the riff salad.

12. Advanced Darkness: Okay this is most like old Belmont and I like it a lot. Definitely the deep cut of the album (how does this have the least amount of streams!?) Was the screaming bridge was a little long? Yeah. but the musical interlude and the call back to it was cool but again. Should've cut it down by 10 seconds at least on each side. 

Top 10 Countdown: April 23, 2022

10. Avril Lavigne Ft. Blackbear - Love It When You Hate Me
Last week: NEW!

9. Hot Milk - Bad Influence

Last week: 10.

8. Rain City Drive - Dreams
Last week: 8.

7. Mod Sun - Rich Kids Ruin Everything
Last week: 9.

6. Stand Atlantic Ft. Royal & The Serpent - Pity Party
Last week: 1.

5. Stand Atlantic - Hair Out
Last week: 7.

4. State Champs Ft. Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) - Everybody But You
Last week: 5.

3. Silverstein - Ultraviolet 
Last week: 4.

2. Simple Plan Ft. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) - Ruin My Life
Last week: 3.

1. LEC x Against The Current - Wildfire
Last week: 2.

First Listen Thoughts: Machine Gun Kelly - Mainstream Sellout

1. Born With Horns: Starts off strong but when it slows down and MGK hums it's a little annoying. Thankfully it picks back up. Not quite the start Tickets To My Downfall had but it's a good enough song. 

2. God Save Me: This is a pretty catchy bop. So far I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of the first 2 tracks given the very mixed reaction to the singles.

3. Maybe: This was by far my favourite single I heard before the album released and I hope one day it can take over the top streamed song from Emo Girl. Bring Me's feauture is excellent and worth all the hype.

4. Drug Dealer: Musically it's very similar to God Save Me just 200 times more Cringe. Also not a Lil Wayne fan though I appreciate him putting melody into his feature. 

5. Wall Of Fame: God damn interludes. At least Pete is funnier in this one than his appearance on Tickets To My Downfall which was downright cringe.

6. Mainstream Sellout: This is a banger. MGK just seems to know how to tackle the self-titled tracks on his albums. It's fast paced and energetic. Probably the deep cut of the album since the rest of this album is singles heavy but I'll happily be wrong.

7. Makeup Sex: Blackbear's feature is the best part of this song and although it's not as high intensity as some of the other tracks I might enjoy this one musically the most... But those lyrics. Oh boy! We'll see what happens with this song having more time at this rate it's a borderline on my year end top 100.

8. Emo Girl: I don't mind Willow's feature and although the music is more upbeat than the other singles I didn't like this one just might be too cringe to get behind and also MGK wrote this about Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body? Trap music wasn't even a thing. I can't get past that line.

9. 5150: This appears to be people's favourite MGK solo deep cut from this album given it has the most streams and I know I praised the title track earlier but 5150 is definitely better and I'm basically 100% certain nothing will be better.

10. Papercuts: What a boring song to kick off this new era with. Thankfully thus far nothing has sounded close to this musically.

11. WW4: Maybe a little too close to current events but it's the fast punk rock song clocking in around a minute in length. MGK did one of these on the last release and I enjoy it when it comes up but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it so read into that what you will and this one seems weaker after 1 listen.

12. Ay!: This is an easy pass. This seems like it would fit closer on MGK's promised rap album coming out later this year but he liked it so he wanted it out earlier. It's a no from me though Dawg.

13. Fake Love Don't Last: The chorus of this song is really solid. I wish the verses were as strong, Iann Dior's feature is also forgettable like his feature on his last song with MGK, it's not bad just doesn't add anything to the song that could use some help.

14. Die In California: The 808 beat is a little too high in the mix and given it's the only instrumentation it just loops and overpowers the vocal parts. although some of these features are bad so I don't mind it at some points but the chorus is the highpoint. 

15. Sid & Nancy: They really buried this gem huh? This is a much better "love" song than Emo Girl.

16: Twin Flame: Like Emo Girl, I get why he made this song, I really do. But that doesn't make it good. The slow songs I've heard he is able to sound emotive but this one just sounds flat.

Overall thoughts: This album could've been better simply cutting down the tracklist. Put Ay! and Die In California on the upcoming rap album. Ditch Twin Flame and move Drug Dealer, Makeup Sex or Emo Girl down to the final track to break up the cringe in the middle. Do all that and I think this holds up as a worthy successor to Tickets To My Downfall. Unfortunately this does not hit those highs but also not nearly as bad as I thought given the singles so that's a plus. 

Top 10 Countdown: April 16, 2022

10. Hot Milk - Bad Influence
Last week: NEW!

9. Mod Sun - Rich Kids Ruin Everything
Last week: 10.

8. Rain City Drive - Dreams
Last week: 9.

7. Stand Atlantic - Hair Out
Last week: 8.

6. The Maine Ft. Taking Back Sunday & Charlotte Sands - Loved You A Little
Last week: 3.

5. State Champs Ft. Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) - Everybody But You
Last week: 7.

4. Silverstein - Ultraviolet
Last week: 5.

3. Simple Plan Ft. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) - Ruin My Life
Last week: 4.

2. LEC x Against The Current - Wildfire
Last week: 2.

1. Stand Atlantic Ft. Royal & The Serpent - Pity Party
Last week: 1.

First Listen Thoughts: PUP - The Unravelling Of PUPTHEBAND

1. Four Chords: Solid enough intro track to the album. Makes perfect sense to lead into the following track but not sure it has much value if not immediately followed by...

2. Totally Fine: The most recent single they released is the most "classic PUP" we seen among singles with their chaotic pop punk sensibilities backed by some heavy guitar tones and the classic emo lyrics we expect from the Toronto four piece.

3. Robot Writes A Love Song: PUP's last full length was called "Morbid Stuff" and on this record that transcends to machines as this track is a dark comedic piece about a machine learning human emotion and wants to die now. Like above this was not a first listen given that they released it as a single earlier this year but if I'm honest it's probably my least favourite of the three singles we got in 2022 from this album.

4. Matilda: The final of the three singles we got this year off this album. Matilda is about a guitar vocalist Stefan got as a gift and played until his band convinced him it was not good enough to be on recorded material. He has moved on but busted Matilda out for this track. It's a boppy tune that is very polished, maybe cause of the guitar used it needed extra care, with a fun sing along chorus.

5. Relentless: I believe this was released near the end of last year but with no video so I didn't check it out. I definitely should've earlier as this is some of the finest lyrics on the album so far which is saying a lot as PUP has high standards lyrically.

6. Four Chords Pt. II: Five Chords: I hate interludes, I'm sure given the part 2 nature it's part of an overarching story but I'll need more listens through to capture to see if this adds anything but I'm guessing we can do without.

7. Waiting: This was released last year and appears to have the most streams as of this writing on Spotify and I can see why. It's heavy, it's all over the place but this is PUP so the chorus is strong and poppy. The hard cuts are super fun as well and add a whole new layer of interest to the song. This may be my personal favourite deep cut thus far, and yes I realize the song with the most streams can't be a deep cut. Shut up.

8. Habits: This song was fun enough but my main complaint is the guitar tone that trails off for the last 30 seconds and fads out before the end of the song so it's not like it was building to the next track. That may keep it from having replayability for me personally outside of the album experience.

9. Cutting Off The Corners: I prefer Transit's "Cutting Corners" personally. This appears to be the required ballad off the album. It does pick up near the end and there is a guitar solo for the bridge that is probably the highlight of the song. I feel this song was the least enjoyable on first listen but could eventually become my favourite track. Time will tell.

10. Grim Reaping: Finally we reached PUP's final form! They end the song with a killer riff and group vocals. This might push Waiting for favourite right now but I think I'll still give it to Waiting.

11. Four Chords Pt. III: Diminishing Returns: UGHHHHHH another interlude. I just figured the last track had a little intro but no this is a 9 second stand alone.

12. PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing For Bankruptcy: As we expected PUP saved the chaotic crescendo for the last track on the album. I don't love the mixing on this track but I love the chaotic energy it brings and I'm sure I'll just start to appreciate it more over time.

Overall: PUP's last full length was my introduction to the band and it ended up making my albums of the year list and if I were to redo it today something tells me it would jump up the ranks. I expect with time this record will be a serious top 10 contender come the end of the year.

Top 10 Countdown: April 9, 2022

10. Mod Sun - Rich Kids Ruin Everything
Last week: NEW!

9. Rain City Drive - Dreams
Last week: 10.

8. Stand Atlantic - Hair Out
Last week: 9.

7. State Champs Ft. Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) - Everybody But You
Last week: 8.

6. The Summer Set - Back Together
Last week: 1.

5. Silverstein - Ultraviolet
Last week: 7.

4. Simple Plan Ft. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) - Ruin My Life
Last week: 5.

3. The Maine Ft. Taking Back Sunday & Charlotte Sands - Loved You A Little
Last week: 3.

2. LEC x Against The Current - Wildfire
Last week: 4.

1. Stand Atlantic Ft. Royal & The Serpent - Pity Party
Last week: 2.

Special: Blog Update and First Listen Thoughts

Howdy partners! First off we'll get to the part everyone wants to know so that those that came to see who won the TV Show poll... Congratulations goes to: The Boys! This was my expected winner but they had a couple close matches I didn't expect including in the Finals where Invincible earned 40% of the vote.

Now with that out of the way I want to announce that with the exception of the rare "Special" such as this one this will be a music blog going forward. Did you like my mini movie reviews? Fear not. They are staying but in a new format. Head on over to the DonnyFTW Presents Youtube channel where I will be doing a One & Done Review every Friday. In One & Done, I will review a movie in 1 minute. So Subscribe and check out the current videos on The Batman, Fresh, Turning Red, The Adam Project and The Lost City right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV3cVW6FvnsOf7pW3NNxYEQ

Finally, with that out of the way First Listen Thoughts will most likely be a main Sunday component here going forward. So in saying that, the format of that will change. Instead of just giving a quick broad overview of the album with some favourites and some least favourites, I will be going track by track. To show you what I mean, let's run through the new EP by First And Forever entitled "'Til Death To Us Part"

1. 'Til Death Do Us Part: This was released as a single before the release of the EP so I've spent quite a bit of time with it and I enjoy it quite a bit. The lyrics are strong and I enjoy the way the music changes melody quite often. It's a contender for the Top 10 Countdown and a dark horse for the Top 100 of the year.

2. You Would Never: Surprised to see a mid-tempo song this high in the tracklist. It's a pretty solid track they must have released as a single as it has a lot streams and constantly had me bopping my head the whole way through.

3. The Harder We Fall: The middle track on this 5 song EP has a haunting beginning that I didn't really love but after about 40 seconds it picks up to be a pretty great mid-tempo banger. This one has the least amount of streams thus far but it might be my favourite on this EP.

4. If There's Smoke, There's A Fire: Okay so this is kind of mid-tempo too! It's very strange as the instrumentation is very heavy but the melody is not and the bridge is a breakdown with scream. I'd akin this to something that sounds like Rain City Drive or Caskets. Maybe that's just who this band is now and I'm all for it.

5. Sick Little Games: This is yet another track that isn't my first listen as it was a single in 2021 and I quite enjoy it. Certainly the darkest sounding and loudest track on the EP, this track just missed my top 100 of last year.

Overall: The last EP made my top EP's of the year list and I expect this to do the same. It's a lot of fun and has me wanting to revisit it immediately.

Top 10 Countdown: April 2, 2022

10. Rain City Drive - Dreams
Last week: NEW!

9. Stand Atlantic - Hair Out
Last week: NEW!

8. State Champs Ft. Ben Barlow (Neck Deep) - Everybody But You
Last week: 9.

7. Silverstein - Ultraviolet
Last week: 8.

6. Hot Milk - The Good Life
Last week: 1.

5. Simple Plan Ft. Deryck Whibley (Sum 41) - Ruin My Life
Last week: 7.

4. LEC x Against The Current - Wildfire
Last week: 5.

3. The Maine Ft. Taking Back Sunday & Charlotte Sands - Love You A Little
Last week: 4.

2. Stand Atlantic Ft. Royal & The Serpent - Pity Party
Last week: 3.

1. The Summer Set - Back Together
Last week: 2.