OOPS! 50 of 2024 / #35-31: School, A Watch and XCX Twice

Here we go…still checking out some OOPS! tracks from 2024. We have a bunch of new artists to my yearly lists and one huge artist I can’t believe I missed, so she gets to be on the list twice. This is a fun block though with some great women artists and a pretty good mix.

35. The Staves: After School

I have been a fan of the Staves for a few years now, but they fell off my radar. I was listening to an older Staves record and checked to see if there was anything new. Well, to my joy there is a new record. This track has a fuller sound and more pop than previous work, but the Staves have excelled vocally and that is still the case. Excellent range and powerful / fun harmonies run throughout this track about hanging out after school acting cool.

34. MJ Lenderman: Wristwatch

The track opens with some crunchy indie rock riffs backed by horns, which gives off a Neutral Milk Hotel vibe, which is always good. From there MJ brings it back to some subtle slide guitar and snare, which gives it an alt country vibe. His indie country twang belts out lyrics describing the toxic combination of materialism, loneliness and disconnection. This is a very timely track with the rise of alpha masculine podcasts and videos espousing a “win at all cost” mentality. MJ’s critique of modern life doesn’t hit you over the head, but it is expertly delivered in a well written and well performed track.

33. Charli XCX ft. Lorde: Girl so Confusing

Charli XCX featuring Lorde and I missed it?! What was I doing? This clubby trippy electro pop track is pure Charli XCX, but the track is far more than that. For years Charli XCX and Lorde have been compared to each other, which was both destructive to each woman’s self-image and underlines the misogyny in the music industry. In most genres there is the anointed “girl artist” that is the hot thing and all other women need to be brought down in order to keep the status quo…you can have…heaven forbid…more than one successful woman. This track is about how that misogyny became internalised hatred and self-loathing in the two women involved. However, they didn’t let the patriarchy win and spoke their truth in this track and shed a new light on this gross side of the music industry.

32. Geordie Greep: Holy Holy

First off, this is a fun funky, rocky, late 70s throwback tune with tons of energy. The vocal is a bit more spoken word and at times is incongruent with the music surrounding it. This is more of a performance than a song. However, the OOPS! is all about weird stuff to check out and have fun with. The construction of such a complex track and have it all come off is an amazing feat. This is a song that demands to be listened to and experienced.

31. Charli XCX: Von Dutch

I don’t know how I missed this track, because I loved it and it was a brat summer. This is a beautifully caustic heart pounding club track about opulence and excess…and I love it. The beat is addictive and Charli’s stoic and slightly tripped out vocal delivery is amazing. She is the woman who is too cool at the party, but in a way that puts everyone under her spell. I love this song and it should have been top 10 on the Top 50. Sorry Charli…I’ll be better next time.