I was in the minority when Italian rock band Måneskin set the world on fire a year ago with their cover of the Four Seasons song “Beggin.” For me, hearing that song come on the radio or stream meant an immediate channel change or song skip. I hated that immensely popular song and the group’s overall sound. But now I feel vindicated.
Måneskin has released a new album, and this Pitchfork review completely excoriates it. If you don’t feel like clicking the link for the full review, here are some choice highlights for you.
- And Rush!, their first album recorded mainly in English, is absolutely terrible at every conceivable level: vocally grating, lyrically unimaginative, and musically one-dimensional.
- It is a rock album that sounds worse the louder you play it.
- But this is the strange allure of Måneskin, a band so bad that you can’t listen to their music without thinking that, finally, as a culture, we’ve arrived at some inevitable mass Måneskin event.
I feel vindication and renewed confidence in my musical discernment. I was cool on Måneskin for a reason – their music is indeed terrible.
But one band that I felt deserved a Grammy (but did not win) is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, back from a 10 year recording hiatus with an excellent album. This song’s title describes just how hot it really is.
Whenever I hear that song (and I encourage repeat listens), I imagine Shirley Bassey singing it as a theme song for a James Bond movie like she similarly did almost 60 years ago. I hope you enjoy “Burning” as much as I do.
And as for Måneskin, do I really despise them? Yeah Yeah Yeah.
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 