Grade: C
Poppy is back with her new record Flux which continues her foray into rock and punk.
The start of this record is pretty basic. At first, I straight up hated the opening track “Flux.” I thought it was way too cliche and repetitive. The chorus was annoying and the production pretty basic. Then I went and played the album at full blast. Hearing it this way made me realize this would probably sound a lot better at a concert. It’s a song that’s meant to be bellowed to a live hyped up crowd. I’m not saying it makes any of the previous stuff I said untrue, it just made me think of it differently. The second track, “Lesson the Damage” is similar in this way. It borderline feels like a Paramore cover, but in a similar way as “Flux” this song is a little better on full blast.
Excluding the first two songs off of Flux the rest of this record is actually something cool to experience. A lot of Poppy’s music feels like she’s trying on different styles, like outfits. Everything ends up being filtered through her unique filter, creating something fresh and new.
“So Mean,” is a familiar track that we could have heard on a record like Dookie by Green Day, but with Poppy’s unique flavor of bubblegum acid. The contrast between her Barbie-esque vocals and the dark lyrics make the track interesting to listen to. “On the Level” feels like it’s inspired by 90’s indie rock of the Alanis Morissette flavor. I’m in love with “Hysteria.” It gives such post-punk vibes. It’s catchy, driven, glittering goodness. “Her” is another solid track. It’s less fusion than some of the other tracks, and feels more pure rock. It reminds me of something Cherry Glazerr could have made on Apocalyptic. “Bloom” gives me more 90’s indie vibes, almost like Beck. The song is held down by a really sick drum beat and switches to a trimmed down acoustic section for it’s chorus. It makes for a seamless switch and really mature songwriting from Poppy’s point.
Overall, Flux takes a cool step into rock but it still feels like Poppy could have pushed this record further. She has a brilliant talent for songwriting and structure that I’d love to see explored more within rock. I’m definitely not done looking out for music from Poppy.
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