OOPS! 2023 / #5 – 1: One of the Biggest Concept Records Ever, Old School Country and A Cobra

Here we are…the last 5 tracks in the OOPS! list. We have had quite a journey from Aussie hip hop, to punk, to tracks from music icons to some really weird compelling tracks. This is a very eclectic OOPS! list and one that has been a blast to put together. So, let’s end with a bang!

5. Jon Batiste: Butterfly

Jon Batiste is an artist I seem to have a blind spot for. Each year I miss him on the top 50 and come back to him on the OOPS! series. His vocal is amazing and Butterfly is a beautiful and fragile song constructed around the piano and his vocal. This is an intimate track about identity, freedom, truth and self-actualisation. You feel like you are in the studio with him as he records the track and I would not be surprised if this is a one take track. Just an incredible track by an artist who continues to grow and produce beautiful art.

4. Megan the Stallion: Cobra

How could I miss a new Megan the Stallion record? The cover looks like some trashy 80s Conan the Barbarian rip off and the track has an 80s B Movie vibe with some crunchy guitar, trap beats and synth flute. Megan gets into talking about sex, but this is mixed with bars about depression, suicidal ideation and hitting rock bottom. This is a different side of Stallion where she lets the sex/power facade down enough to see vulnerabilities and anxieties. This record is an interesting direction for her and I am excited to see what she follows it up with.

3. Kurt Vile: Another Good Year for the Roses

I love Kurt Vile. This was a record that I kept telling myself I would get to, but never got around to it until now. All the classic Vile is here…easy grooving guitar, effortless vocals, that lo-fi one take vibe and excellent storytelling. He leans a bit more into his alt-country style and leaves the heavy rock guitar at home and replaces it with piano and some alt country slide. This Kurt Vile record is more of a vibe and embracing the beauty of the everyday than his other releases. This is a great drive with the top down record with the wind in your hair.

2. Paramore: The News

Paramore is more than a rock band and often bends the genre to suit its whims. In The News they can go from a late 70s / Riot Grrrl – esque chorus to some psychedelic shoegaze bridge in a matter of seconds. The track itself is about the non-stop deluge to information, suffering and toxic partisan spewed through the news. This is not a new theme and dates back to early punk of the early 80s, but the energy and genre twists gives it a modern day urgency.

1 Zach Bryan ft. The War and Treaty: Hey Driver

If I would have listened to this record before I prepped for the Grammy show it probably would have been #3 or #2 on the top 50. This is some no nonsense straight up country about regret, sorrow, suffering and wanting to escape the world. Bryan’s vocals with The War and Treaty are soulful, raw, painful and inspiring. This track is my biggest surprise of 2023 and listening to it is a spiritual experience.