Week of 9/29: Hovvdy, Mazzy Star, Remble
Eric gets won over by Hovvdy, Eli digs back into Mazzy Star, and Michael spotlights the latest Remble track.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him), Eric Bennett (they/them), Michael Brooks (he/him) and Miranda Reinert (she/her). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. On Substack, we’re also a weekly roundup of songs. Our format is simple: each of our four hosts picks a song they love and writes about it. There will be one free post every week, and more at the end of every month for paid subscribers. For the sake of your wallet, don’t start a paid subscription on Substack. Instead, sign up at the 2$ tier or higher on Patreon and we will gift you a subscription.
Hovvdy - “Blindsided”
Eric Bennett:
“Me neither, but this one is different, you’ll like it,” said my friend of the upcoming Hovvdy record, True Love. I had just given him my usual spiel. While I am not the most opposed to them amongst this show’s hosts, I’ve never really gotten the appeal of Hovvdy. They’ve certainly spent the last few years in the same circles as artists I adore, and until recently were signed to one of my favorite record labels, Double Double Whammy. I just found them a little too sleepy, and frustratingly diffident. Then I heard True Love, and knew what my friend meant. The Texas indie duo has outdone themselves and finally committed fully to integrate country music into their sound. It’s a record that sounds like when your friend stops pretending, and feels comfortable to be themselves. The results are compelling, fun, and have stayed rolling around in my head since I first heard them.
The loudest among them, and the one I’ve returned to most, comes late in the tracklist. “Blindsided” feels like a new artistic height for the band. It exists somewhere unique, with one foot planted in radio country and the other in stately balladry. Every note of piano floats like stars in the sky over the story the lyrics paint. We’re told a tale of a love that almost was, with vivid details of Fresh Air on the radio, the shade of the porch, “Everlong” acting as a piece of art joining our protagonists. Hovvdy is curating a specific feeling here, and it’s never one of bitterness. Unrequited or unrealized love is so often mentioned with regret, and here it gets to be embraced for what it is. I think that, besides being very catchy and something you can sing along to, is why this one hasn’t left me.
Mazzy Star - “Blue Light”
Eli Enis:
Lately, I’ve been having a lot of fun going back to classic indie albums and listening to them while sipping my morning coffee, as I’m closing my eyes in bed at night, and on various road trips I’ve been taking. Frequent readers of this newsletter know I recently did this for Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but I’ve also hit various records by Broken Social Scene, Grandaddy, Low, and now Mazzy Star. I always liked the California dream-pop icons when I heard them, but I decided to properly absorb their 1993 classic, So Tonight That I Might See, which I certainly didn’t have the ears to fully appreciate whenever I last heard it many years ago.
“Fade Into You” is a perfect song, and this is one of those records where I pretty much want every other track to sound like that. They have a very specific sound that they do incredibly well — plodding, stark balladry of the early 60’s variety doused with a glow of reverb that recalls a clear desert night’s worth of stars — and I could listen to it for hours on end when I’m in the mood. A track that became an instant favorite of mine on here is “Blue Light,” which is such a brilliant example of taking a well-worn songwriting blueprint and tweaking it in such a way that it sounds entirely fresh. The weary vibrato on the guitar lick directly channels mid-20th century country music, but the light film of effects and sustained notes hanging in the background — not to mention Hope Sandoval’s mesmerizing coo — give it a light, psychedelic twist. It’s one of those songs I’d gladly live in.
Remble - “Rocc Climbing (Feat. Lil Yachty)”
Michael Brooks:
Los Angeles rapper Remble enunciates every single word like he’s trying to get a job at Duolingo as a side hustle. Songs like “Untouchable” and “Golden Ramsay Freestyle” both became hits on TikTok earlier this year and it’s not hard to see why. Armed with an unorthodox flow and unmistakable voice, he makes the kind of music that’s impossible to forget, regardless of whether or not you actually like it. On “Rocc Climbing,” his latest featuring Lil Yachty, Remble delivers some of his funniest bars to date.
He starts things off by telling the listener “I'm happy with my girl but I want Blac Chyna” only to pop back in a couple lines later with, “I hope you really don't believe that I want Blac Chyna.” It’s such a simple line but it cracks me up every time that I hear it. Even with some uninspired raps from Lil Yachty, “Rocc Climbing” is more than worth your time. Even if it doesn’t go viral like some of his other songs, it’s proof that his success wasn’t just some fluke.