Declaration time: I'm a Charli XCX fan. I enjoy her music and I think she has become one of the best artists of the last 15 years. When I heard her proclaim that "the dance floor is dead, so we're making rock music" I was ready for it.
Now that "Rock Music" is here I have to say that I'm sadly a little disappointed. The track is only 1:55 and doesn't really go anywhere. My hope here is that this is a teaser of sorts for a bigger and more experimental — dare I say — "rock" project.
Let's dive into the song. At first i thought I was listening to an LCD Soundsystem track. That quickly changed and went into almost a pop/punk guitar that, alongside Charli's vocals, was a fun switch-up. When the drums come in it feels like they're begging to be BIGGER. In rock the drums are a huge part of the song, just like in club music with the 808. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the mixing of the drums here hurts the track.
The lyrics are classic Charli XCX. We have the weird line about "incestuous vibes," the continuous blipping of the word "rock," the theme of going out and partying but being too cool so already on to the next thing, and then the introspective line that seems to come out of nowhere. This time, it's "I'm really hurting my neck / The nerve damage is real / But it's the only way to feel something / Hurt yourself."
As Charli says "I'm really bangin' my head" I have to wonder if this line is her feeling frustration by being backed into the club/dance scene she's been so much a part of. It could also just be her making a joke about head banging — only Charli knows.
Does she fear alienating her fans by switching up genres? I've always felt that an artist who is as big as Charli XCX has a rare platform to introduce millions of listeners to a sound or genre they otherwise wouldn't experience or care about. She's is a scene setter, and holds a rare taste-broadening power that only the biggest pop stars have available to them, and only a few of them have successfully capitalized on (think Beyonce with COWBOY CARTER).
At the end of the track I wanted more, but not from what I just heard. I'm still looking forward to hear what comes next, and I really think of this track as the teaser/intro. If Charli XCX goes all-in on rock it's bound to be the hottest thing discussed on the internet, let's just hope there's more meat on the bones.
