TRCK REVIEW: Any Name's Okay - Clouds
“The worst type of sweet is the one that doesn't leave a taste in the mouth”
Any Name's Okay is a five-piece alternative pop band that has developed a sizeable following, despite their lack of studio content. Coming off of their relatively recent performance in the Friday slot of UP Fair Cosmos is the release of their new single, “Clouds”.
A lackadaisical introduction, begotten from an unremarkable band and a song devoid of flavor and personality. Just as my body refuses to eat a cake molded solely out of icing, my ears can't help but refuse yet another iteration of saccharine indie rock. I've expressed love for sweet music in the past, but if and only if said music brings forward interesting ideas in its songwriting, and provides soul and substance. “Clouds” features none of the previous qualities mentioned.
Right at the start of the song, two things are made apparent: the band is competent at playing music, and they're not going to fully utilize it in writing music. Featuring stereotypical lyrics about infatuation, “Clouds” is structured and paced to fit the mold of a generic pop-rock song. Even with dual vocals being utilized in the second verse and chorus, the track makes no attempt at displaying a creative idea. The guitar solo is unengaging, and the short silence after it just serves to highlight how disjointed the song is. This song is something a marketing team’s focus group would write in a meeting for a campaign that would “appeal to the youth today.”
Songs like “Clouds” are the product of a lack of effort. It's easy to bite familiar melodies, to write shallow lyrics, and to appear as unthreatening and as sanitary as humanly possible. The ease of it all lies in the past: everyone has done the easygoing alternative music route before, the image is already prebuilt. In the sea of bands that look, act and sound alike, Any Name's Okay is as indistinguishable as the acronym of their name would describe.
Support the art & the artist: https://open.spotify.com/album/4F4yWBJ6hRMEmTIjX9aXgT