Foreword

Alright, blog followers!  The time has come!  I’ve posted my very first review (and deep dive) of a musical release.  I suggest that if you haven’t yet listened to this particular release, then you should probably just stick to reading my Initial Thoughts and Final Thoughts at this time.  I really get into the content of each song in the Track by Track Thoughts, so it could be confusing to just read them without actually listening to the songs they cover first.  I have included song/video links above my thoughts on each track though, so feel free to alternate between listening to/watching a song and reading my thoughts on it in that section if you’d like.  Whatever gets you into the release!  Hope you enjoy it regardless.  On with the review (and deep dive)!

Initial Thoughts

I stumbled upon the official music video for Poppy’s “Concrete” recently, during my now almost daily ritual of sampling music on YouTube. (Yeah… I’m obsessed; hence, the domain name.)  It had appeared in my suggestions list there and I decided to check it out.  The song I listened to was a gothic metal/pop hybrid of sorts featuring a young, elaborately-dressed female singer with a slightly off presence.  One that eventually sang, to my surprise, bright and cheesy lyrics similar to those I’d heard in songs within Japan’s pop (J-pop) musical genre.  Was Poppy of the same musical genre as Babymetal, the only female-fronted metal/J-pop act I had heard of? (Don’t worry.  I’ve discovered other acts like these while writing this review?!)  If so, I was surprised to be enjoying it.  I had never really gotten into Babymetal, or, other than rare exceptions like Dream, any of the other numerous Japanese idol (J-idol) manufactured girl groups popular within the J-pop world.  “Concrete” did NOT have a group of talent-questionable, pre-teen J-idol girls in cute outfits singing and dancing though.  Perhaps Babymetal’s ‘kawaii metal‘ had evolved enough for me to finally get into it courtesy of Poppy.  With that wishful thinking, I added “Concrete” and the rest of Poppy’s I Disagree studio album to my ‘revisit later’ music list before I moved on to sample some other YouTube suggestions.

When I did finally dive into “Concrete” again more recently, the first song on I Disagree, I had all but forgotten my initial discovery of it.  So I dove ‘earsfirst’ into what I thought would be an album filled with mainstream pop.  The artist did call herself Poppy after all.  Instead of feeling the familiar pop-induced splash of melody I’d expected though, I felt the breaking of my musical genre discriminating ears as they smashed into a ‘concrete’ example of eclectic musical innovation.  A prelude with gothic whispers accompanied by sirens and high-pitched electric guitar shrieking?  An intro with speed metal riffing reminiscent of DragonForce?  Followed by a bubblegum pop chorus with sappy J-pop-like lyrics and Beach Boys-influenced psychedelic pop harmonizing from background singers?  In my excited state, my previous Babymetal comparison came back to me; although, it didn’t end up staying for long.  I realized what I was experiencing in “Concrete” was something very different.  The lyrics in the song were all sung in well-pronounced English by a lone female singer, not a group of girls, and the song itself experimented with many different other musical genres than those featured in ‘kawaii metal’. (Fun fact: ‘kawaii’ is Japanese for ‘cute’.)  The song also emphasized tongue-in-cheek creepiness as opposed to dance party cuteness.  What was going on?  Who in the world of music was this Poppy and why hadn’t I heard of her?  I HAD to know?!

An internet search quickly revealed Poppy to be not only a musical artist with a recent penchant for not preferring one musical genre over another in her songs but also a YouTube personality whose abstract videos gained her a cult (or maybe I should say religious) following.  According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, in addition to being a musical artist, an actress, a writer, and a fashion model, Poppy became a satirical religious leader after she established an invite-only online social community in 2018 at the now-closed poppy.church. (Which makes any new ‘disciples’ like myself reliant on her other works for salvation I guess.)  This wouldn’t be my only ‘revelation’ about her though.  I found out that Poppy’s stage name (her birth name is Moriah Rose Pereira) was originally just a friend’s nickname for her (Fun fact: her band, according to a Revolver interview, is called the Icky Babies.) and that her biological birthplace is Boston (which I think is nowhere near Japan last I checked).  Still, it was clear from my listening that Japan and its music had a big influence on some of her songs. (Wikipedia even mentioned that she had finished her previous studio album there.)  And based on my watching of some of her music videos, I had no doubt that her fashion modeling had influenced her music video wardrobe choices (and the plethora of wardrobe changes that she makes in each one).  So who Poppy was, depended on what personal project she was working on.  And my ignorance of her could be chalked up to my not being quite as big a ‘YouTuber’ as I thought.  Then again, this wasn’t the first time something from YouTube had slipped past me.  It took me a while to find out about and then actually watch YouTube’s excellent Cobra Kai TV series as well.  Sigh.  Maybe once I am a respected blogging icon, I’ll dare reach out to YouTube to see if they can improve the targeted advertising being used on my account.  I’d definitely like to get ads about original shows and music personalities instead of the product ads they usually give me?!

Anyways… here’s the rest of my thoughts on “Concrete” and the remaining songs on I Disagree (after quite a few listens).

Skip to Final Thoughts

Track by Track Thoughts (Deep Dive)

1. “Concrete”

https://youtu.be/WwoGhpYdebQ

“Concrete”, Poppy’s first single from I Disagree, is one of my favorite songs on the album.  It’s really well constructed, has lyrics that are both humorous and inspired, and has a pretty cool music video.  While the choice to simply alternate between the lyrics:

Bury me six feet deep
Cover me in concrete
Turn me into a street

(a satirical cry for help to stop her dark deeds?)

and the lyrics:

Chewy chewy
Yummy yummy yummy
...

(a disturbingly happy desire to feast on tasty young blood?)

doesn’t exactly push the musical structure envelope, it keeps the song’s overall sound mainstream and ideally illustrates the conflict of personalities represented by each set of lyrics (if my parenthetical musings above have any basis).  Poppy has made known that she has not been happy with her own artistic portrayals or with her private life’s decisions prior to developing I Disagree.  So the personalities themselves are likely based on her past and current selves, with her current self wishing to bury the bloodthirsty monster she feels her past self was.

What DOES actually push the musical structure envelope is the subtle composition variances included during each lyrical repeat and the musical genre changes that happen whenever the lyrics alternate.  The “Chewy chewy…” lyrics only appear twice and use the same bubblegum/psychedelic pop execution each time.  On repeat, they run a little longer though and are a bit more embellished.  The “Bury me…” lyrics; on the other hand, are experienced first as gothic whispering with sound effects and percussion, then as shorter overlapping clean vocals and death growls during a metalcore-stylized breakdown, and finally as a longer and slower-paced, cleanly sung psychedelic pop serenade functioning as the song’s finale.  There’s also a lovely bridge after the first “Bury me…” lyrics repeat that reminds me of The Turtles‘ psychedelic pop classic “Happy Together”, featuring lyrics in a twisted yet humorous defense of the song’s “Chewy Chewy”-represented personality.  And last, but not least, there are some excellent arena rock guitar flourishes in the same vein as Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (often featuring an audience chanting “Poppy!  Poppy!”), which bring all the song’s distinctive parts satisfyingly together.

Rating: 5/5

2. “I Disagree”

https://youtu.be/6gmswmbosYo

“I Disagree”, Poppy’s second single from the album, is a very interesting, but not quite as captivating, follow-up to “Concrete”.  It’s still very memorable though and has a lot going for it.  Like “Concrete”, it too alternates between two distinct sets of lyrics.  But this time, it does so using a verse of “I disagree…”-prefixed lines and a chorus of eight (technically four sung twice) mostly “burn” and “down”-referencing lines.  Unlike “Concrete”, both lyric sets never deviate from their originally introduced musical genres trap (a musical subgenre of hip hop I am not very familiar with) and gothic/horror-infused nu metal (Lacuna Coil‘s more recent flavor of nu metal) respectively.  What really makes this song stand out though is the decision to sing both the first and final song verses using the Japanese equivalent lyrics: “Watashi wa anata ni dōi shimasen”.  It’s a bold decision that both simulates the inclusion of a third musical genre in the song and brings the song closer to “Concrete” in terms of creativity.

Each “I disagree…” verse line sung in English mentions something troubling that the song’s main character passionately disagrees with. (There are only two lines exactly the same.  Can you spot them?)  Most of these also begin with the phrase “I disagree with the way you…” to indicate being directed at a target.  Considering the music video for I Disagree has Poppy in a record label office board room full of suited individuals mostly ignoring her, it’s probably a good guess that the song’s main character is Poppy herself and that the target is Poppy’s previous record label partner, Mad Decent.  Oh, snap!  Each verse line sung in Japanese; on the other hand, always uses the same wording and roughly translates to “I disagree with you”.

The chorus lyrics are a bit more straightforward:

Down, let it all burn down
Burn it to the ground
We'll be safe and sound
When it all burns down.

If Poppy was indeed upset about/felt unsafe in her partnership with Mad Decent, then letting it expire/”burn down” provides the opportunity for a more satisfying/safer partnership elsewhere. (She would eventually partner with Sumerian Records for I Disagree)  In the song’s music video, Poppy even goes as far as flooding its board room setting with knockout gas (while wearing a spiked gas mask.  NICE!); pouring gasoline on the resulting unconscious bodies, and letting a fire literally burn them down.  That’s music videos for ya. ?

There’s also a bridge performed after the first repeat of the chorus, whose lyrics mention that we can all (maybe) live in harmony if people could see the world the way she (still assuming Poppy) does.  The musical genre unfortunately never changes from nu metal as the bridge is performed, but the psychedelic pop harmonizing from “Concrete” returns for a bit, which is nice.  The ‘bridge lover’ in me can’t help but want more here, but the rest of me realizes not all songs can be “Concrete”. ?

Rating: 4.8/5

3. “BLOODMONEY”

https://youtu.be/fJlDyRbUtxI

“BLOODMONEY” (Yes, the all caps are completely necessary!), Poppy’s third single from the album, really varies its decibel levels and challenges the casual listener a bit in the process.  It also calls out those masquerading as Christians (not actual Christians mind you, which are great folks!) on their un-Christian-like actions (LOUDLY) and challenges them to take a closer look at their beliefs (in harmony).  Personally, I have some mixed feelings about the song.  No, not about its subject matter.  And no, definitely not about its music video. (You gotta love angelic jumpsuits, martial arts, and a red cross-shaped neon sign.  Right?)  Those are great. ?  I’m talking about the (new to me and rarely used) musical fusion genre noise-hop being used throughout the song.

Upon first listen, the verse lyrics:

Keep telling yourself that you've been playing nice
And go beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ

that alternate with the chorus lyrics “What do you believe…” beginning the song’s first two-thirds, made me cheer due to their not having the phrase “Jesus Christ” in them.  Christ is NOT his last name people!  It’s a title. ?  The noise-hop instrumentation during these lyrics generally comes off as noisier, muddier, and somewhat less enjoyable than the trap featured in “I Disagree” though.  Fortunately, this is varied a bit on repeat.  Later, just before these repeat again, there’s a shift to the musical genre EDM, as bridge lyrics with Poppy realizing how soul loss and death feels like are spoken.  Interestingly, this shift doesn’t actually stop when the verse is sung again but becomes intermingled with the previous noise-hop instrumentation; making it slightly more enjoyable.  The verse lyrics end up changing too here as they mention “sin”, “the devil”, “man”, and “grabbing hands”.  Makes sense. ?  Ultimately these are reset back to original noise-hop instrumentation and the original verse lyrics again on their last repeat, but at least it changed in between to mix things up in the first place.

The “What do you believe…” chorus lyrics provide a stark contrast to the verse lyrics.  The two times they are sung, they have either no instrumentation or they build up the noise-hop beat for the song’s other parts.  This allows Poppy to showcase her voice and create a nice harmony.  Which is good, since there are actually two solos between these and the verse lyrics, which feature even noisier and even muddier industrial sounds.  These feel borderline unpleasant to my ears and simply overpower everything else (at least when listening at ‘close proximity’ with headphones/earbuds).  They may have been composed purely for Poppy’s martial arts fights in the music video though, so they could have been hastily added and not thoroughly checked.

Now you are probably wondering why the song is still rated so high even if I had some problems with instrumentation in the song’s first two-thirds.  The answer is that the song’s last third is really enjoyable.  It begins with a solo (What?!  A song with three solos?!) that is dominated by industrial metal guitar riffs.  One that is long enough and complex enough to be well worth the wait.  Then, after it finishes, the “What do you believe…” chorus lyrics repeat one final time as the song’s finale.  But this time, as a beautiful piano serenade that pairs very well with Poppy singing dreamy vocals.  While the song’s last third doesn’t completely negate the difficulties I faced with its first two-thirds, it does make me want to listen to it again and again.  And similarly to the Star Wars prequels, I can appreciate the intention even if the end result wasn’t as enjoyable as it could have been.

Rating: 4.3/5

4. “Anything Like Me”

https://youtu.be/qmMm1TwYYns

In Poppy’s fifth single from the album, “Anything Like Me”, Poppy is determined to let everyone know that she is a totally different person than she once was.  If that means she has to expose how she feels about her past self and expose her struggles to separate its influence from her current self, then so be it.  Whether this song is also meant to be a response to claims made against her during a persona copyright lawsuit in April 2018 (as some internet sites like to suggest) is up for debate.  What isn’t, is that the song’s music video (which she ended up co-directing) was the first she’d done that was not directed by her former collaborator/romantic partner Titanic Sinclair. (Who had originally helped launch her career and brand, but who had also, according to Poppy, controlled and emotionally abused her for a long time)

The song itself uses a more traditional structure than the album’s previous songs.  It features no-nonsense, snappily delivered verses meant to both silence Poppy’s doubters and to empower Poppy herself.  While the ominously sung (often together with darker male and/or screechy Poppy vocals) “You shouldn’t be anything like me” chorus lines warn others against emulating the person she regrets she used to be.  There is also an intro (and bridge later) where Poppy confesses “I feel her heart beating in me” and pleads “Get her out of me”; revealing that her past self is still a part of her present self even though she wishes otherwise.  All of these lyrics together succeed in being both haunting and inspiring at the same time.

The instrumentation side of “Anything Like Me” manages to fit its lyrics very well.  The song’s introspective intro provides a short but sweet soft pop ballad.  The verses feature an electronic keyboard beat with an electric guitar crash ending every few lines for dramatic effect.  The chorus makes things more sinister by replacing the keyboard beat with an electric guitar and placing the electric guitar crashes at the of every line.  Later after the chorus repeats itself, there’s also a frightening scream followed by an electric guitar solo that reminds me of the horror-themed industrial (or shock) rock/metal that Rob Zombie uses in his songs.  And if that weren’t enough, there’s a bridge that begins like the song’s intro but culminates into a dreamy psychedelic pop solo with harmonizing male background vocals providing the only lyrics.  Interestingly, when this solo appears in the (black and white) music video, Poppy is frantically clawing at something only she is seeing in front of her face (possibly the aura of her past self?).  Eerie.

Putting all these things together creates a tortured but moving song.  One that features Poppy cutting loose both artistically and emotionally, and clearly defining the core themes of I Disagree: self-empowerment, self-realization, and self-worth.  It’s also one I enjoy quite a bit.

Rating: 4.7/5

5. “Fill the Crown”

https://youtu.be/fiH9YPSPNlA

“Fill the Crown”, Poppy’s fourth single from the album (making the album’s single release order nearly match the album’s track order), is another one of my favorite songs on the album.  My other favorite so far, “Concrete”, set itself apart with its well constructed ‘buffet’ of musical subgenres.  “Fill the Crown”; on the other hand, does so with its ‘gourmet’ execution of two historically electronic musical genres/subgenres.  Its beautifully melodic, Lady Gaga-ish synthpop (complete with vocoder vocals) and its headbanging gothic industrial metal (sung together with Marilyn Manson-like vocals), both complement and contrast each other like a musical yin-yang.  While a synthpop bridge/pre-finale featuring additional harmonizing background vocals emboldens an already great song and tips the scales in its narrative.

The song’s narrative follows someone trying to talk themself out of the cult mentality that they are currently subscribed to.  They have hope though that they could become something so much more:

You can be anyone you want to be
...
We can be free, just come with me

if they would just answer the call to lead themselves:

Fill the crown, let them know we're fed
...
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fi-fi-fi-fill

as opposed to following a mentality blinded by hatred and seeking retribution:

Poison the children
...
The leader is blind
...
Forfeit your life

Despite the mentality being very persuasive, the follower tries to empower themselves to eventually be free of it.  They are able to not only do so in the song’s verses but also in its bridge/pre-finale; to finally be free to discover their true potential:

If you're wanting somebody
Just call my name (Just come with me)

The song’s music video enhances this narrative.  It shows Poppy waking up from suspended animation in a space-age environment and lamenting the presence of an identifying tattoo on her arm.  It also shows her being led on a quest through medieval landscapes in the company of a dark-cloaked, white-masked figure.  Ultimately she manages to set herself free though.  Her quest ends up leading her back to the space-age environment but without the aforementioned tattoo on her arm.  The narrative could be a reflection of Poppy’s own struggle to break free from the psychological abuse she claimed experiencing with Titanic Sinclair.  But with fewer clues present than there were in “Anything Like Me”, I’ll leave that be. ?

Rating: 5/5

6. “Nothing I Need”

https://youtu.be/SSsBO6UIyDc

“Nothing I Need” is the first song on the album that wasn’t released as a single or as a music video.  It’s also the first to feature just one primary musical genre, ambient pop.  This distinction isn’t the only reason “Nothing I Need” is my least favorite song on the album, but it definitely is one that has a noticeable impact throughout the song.  The song has quality instrumentation and vocals but doesn’t go anywhere especially entertaining with either.  The style of ambient pop being performed lacks consistent energy and drags a bit at times.  If not for it being enhanced a bit with an R&B-style beat during its verses and an electronic/bell melody during its chorus (with added guitar distortions during the finale), it would be hard to recognize as a song made for I Disagree.  Maybe it’s based on Poppy’s previous style?  Wikipedia does mention that she released an experimental ambient album called 3:36 (Music to Sleep To). ?

The slower vocals, while sweet as honey (and enhanced once again with harmonizing male background vocals), are ultimately relegated to singing lyrics that aren’t very memorable.  They either speak of no longer caring about things once wanted, through verses with lyrics like:

All I ever wanted, it was nothing I need
...
It doesn't matter to me

or speak of continuing onward without mentioning a destination, through choruses that repeat the lyrics:

Take the ride, take the ride

over and over.  It’s a shame.  The ideas aren’t bad, just not nearly as catchy as those in other songs on the album.

Overall, the song feels like driving a quality car on a brand new road during a clear day, but the road goes through mostly unattended farmland; you don’t have much entertainment, and you can’t break the speed limit.  Sure, this could be a nice change of pace between your starting point and your destination, but not something you’d do just because you love your car and have quality conditions.  So yeah, I don’t hate the song.  I just don’t see myself listening to it very attentively outside of a full album listen.  It makes a better album interlude or background song while doing other things than a song to randomly listen to.  And fortunately, it’s also the second shortest song on the album so you can move on to more fun stuff quickly. ?

Rating: 3.75/5

7. “Sit/Stay”

https://youtu.be/D0CJdg-1-KY

With “Sit/Stay”, Poppy brings musical innovation back to I Disagree.  It wasn’t released as a single (five is probably enough for most musical acts), but received a music video anyways, directed by Poppy herself.  Just like “Fill the Crown”, this song’s narrative centers on someone both feeling a lack of freedom and trying to shake the influence causing it.  Unlike that song though, the influence isn’t one that is meant to corrupt the person, but one meant to dominate them by telling them what they can and cannot do, through distortedly sung verses with lyrics like:

Sit and stay, lie on the ground
...
Hide your face, don't talk back

And while confined in this situation, the person makes observations and issues warnings to prevent others from suffering the same fate, through tranquil sung choruses with lyrics like:

Godspeed to the radio star
...
Welcome to the new starting line

The chorus appears to make reference to The Buggles‘ “Video Killed the Radio Star” to indicate that physical appearance plays a role here.  That song, despite raising concerns about changes to the music industry, was still the first to be played in music video form on MTV in 1981.  This started a shift from listeners judging non-touring musical acts purely based on how they sounded; to judge them based on how they both sounded and looked.  This combined with lyrics like “Hide your face” gives special significance in Poppy’s case as modeling and recording videos on YouTube has so much to do with looks and showing one’s face.

In “Sit/Stay”‘s music video, Poppy is portrayed as a naked, completely hairless, barely-living mannequin confined in a white padded room with only a mirror and dark, sometimes psychedelic visions to keep her company.  This presents Poppy and the world she is confined in as generic, disposable, and unappealing, but also as show’s Poppy being encouraged to see herself this way; causing her to experience psychological trauma.  This would certainly hit especially close to home for Poppy based on what she has shared about her pre-I Disagree music career in interviews.  Poppy claimed that Titanic Sinclair created an environment that caused her emotional trauma by frequently insulting her makeup-less appearance and treating her like she was nothing special.  She also claimed that he told her how to act and perform; robbing her of showing her true self and her world to her audience.

The instrumentation really shines in “Sit/Stay” too, as it consists entirely of electronic musical genres or electronic-influenced musical genres; allowing each part of the song to naturally flow into one another (while also being very danceable!).  There’s a really cool psychedelic trance intro (that sounds like it could have been lifted from the Mortal Kombat films’ soundtracks) that transitions to the first of the song’s industrial metal-fueled verses.  After each verse, the song shifts into the tribal house musical subgenre with Poppy harmonizing beautifully; leading into the chorus.  Later, during the final chorus, Poppy’s harmonizing actually becomes interspersed with the lyrics for an even more rich sound.  The song then begins its conclusion by overlapping the intro’s psychedelic trance with an industrial metal finale (that reminds me of the theme song to the Batman Beyond cartoon).  This eventually leads to Poppy letting out a series of tortured screams that keep getting more and more faded until the song itself halts.

Even though neither the song nor music video indicates a happy ending, Poppy’s eventual leaving of her allegedly toxic partnership/relationship with Titanic Sinclair would allow her to go a different musical direction with I Disagree.  One that she controlled and that was true to herself.  Inspiring.

Rating: 4.7/5

8. “Bite Your Teeth”

https://youtu.be/FE6_Cay9EPY

“Bite Your Teeth” feels like “Concrete”‘s 1-upping cousin, managing to do a lot of the things “Concrete” did well while being the shortest song on the album as well.  It features a lot of the same musical genres as “Concrete”, but the metal ones are generally played heavier or with more aggression to get their point across.  This, combined with omitting “Concrete”‘s arena rock aesthetic and having a less defined lyrical narrative, keeps the adrenaline flowing (and mosh pits moshing!) pretty steadily throughout most of the song.  And I loved every moment of it!

Forgoing any kind of intro (take that “Concrete”!), “Bite Your Teeth” starts by beating the listener into submission with intense nu metal drumming and spring-loaded sound effects that give off a Slipknot vibe.  While lyrics repeatedly demand you “Bite Your Own Teeth” and “Don’t cry” doing so throughout this instrumentation.  Eventually, the drums are toned down to make room more traditional nu metal fair, but the lyrical demands continue by repeating “Don’t cry, keep on tryin'” themed lines.  Ending these with a scream, the song detours itself with a brief poppy jingle centered around the original “Bite Your Own Teeth” lyrics.  A jingle with simple electric guitar mirroring and (jingle) bells in fact, which is followed up with another repeat of the nu metal parts that came before.  At this point, instead of going into a jingle again though, a chomping sound effect flips the song on its head using a psychedelic pop bridge, with the lyrics:

Creeps are creepin'
Teeth are sinkin'
Into my teeth

that are dreamily sung to effectively end the first half of the song.

The second half of the song is completely instrumental as if the idea of lyrics was beneath it.  It proceeds with a longer metalcore breakdown accompanied by guttural death growls and ending with Poppy’s casual uttering of “Go”.  And as if that weren’t enough, it follows with an even more brutal deathcore breakdown complete with screams and the electric guitar equivalent of trying to start an almost-dead engine.  When this ends up ‘breaking down’, the song’s synth-infused finale seeps out and gives a heartfelt farewell to the song (and possibly a memorial to a dead engine ?).

With so much instrumental creativity going on here, it’s impossible for me to not view this song as a work of art. (Its title is even artistic; being based on a quote from British writer Alan Watts: “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth”.)  “Concrete” and “Fill the Crown” may feel like more complete songs due to having clearer narratives and more mainstream aspirations.  “Bite Your Own Teeth”‘s blatant disregard of these; however, is a wildly entertaining ride; making the song itself among the finest on the album.

Rating: 4.9/5

9. “Sick of the Sun”

https://youtu.be/CmxLAnBaizY

“Sick of the Sun” feels like what “Nothing I Need” could have been.  Despite it also being slow and reflective in nature, it manages to avoid dragging its feet with unflattering lyrics.  It also manages to generate sympathy for its main character’s suffering with these lyrics by describing the depression being felt with natural symbolism.  One that gives off more of a ‘that’s how life is sometimes’ feeling than a ‘Woe is me’/’I’m a victim’ feeling.  It does this by using immersive dream pop as its only musical genre; belting out soaring vocals, and incorporating some pop vocal effects during its lyrics.  Speaking of lyrics, they actually consist mostly of just repeating the reverb and choral effects-laden chorus:

I'm sick of the sun.
...
I want it to go away
I just wanna float away

Good thing it’s catchy!  To even things out though, there is also a single contemporary verse about having the lights turned down/out and needing to find the right sound about a third of the way through.  This is the only point in the song where things get uninteresting to me, which lowered the rating a little.  This is followed by the chorus again, but with an added drum beat to up the ante.  The song’s lyricless bridge follows this about two-thirds of the way through with a bunch of ‘oohs’ and Poppy whispering things to herself, as the sound of running water joins in.  When the chorus returns again for the song’s finale, it is chocked full of beautiful vocal ornamentation and concluded with a harmonized outro full of not just ‘oohs’, but ‘ahhs’ too. ?  To be honest, the album could just end on this note and be pretty satisfying.  I am glad it didn’t though, as the next song ends the album even more satisfyingly.

Rating: 4.3/5

10. “Don’t Go Outside”

https://youtu.be/yeRuFdgrwuY

“Don’t Go Outside” is the longest and in my opinion, the most interesting song on I Disagree. It may start out as a less dreamy pseudo-continuation of “Sick of the Sun”, but it ends up moving forward as a healing music jam session, and concluding as an empowering musical retrospective.  The song’s title and the spirit of some of its narrative certainly take on special meaning in light of the COVID-19 pandemic the world currently faces, but this only proves to make the rest of the song’s message that much more powerful and comforting.

The song kicks off very bare-bones with an acoustic, yet slightly dream pop-infused guitar providing the only melody.  This is eventually joined by a softly sung lullaby-like verse beginning with the lyrics: “Now is not the time to go outside”, and continuing with lyrics advising precautionary actions to take: crawl back into bed, lock the doors, etc.  Then shortly after the verse concludes, it is followed by a chorus with lyrics describing dire/apocalyptic events (TV reports that the end is near, etc.) and reiterating “Don’t go outside”.  After a transition comprised of melodic ‘oohing’, another narratively concerning verse and chorus are sung, but this time adding more vocal flourishes, brass work, and a subdued noise-hop beat to the mix.  Another transition of melodic ‘oohing’ (What? The apocalypse can’t be melodic? ?) then ensues to conclude this portion of the song. 

A shift to some spacey progressive rock, featuring an enjoyable guitar solo, starts off the song’s middle section in style.  After the solo ends, the song backtracks to a more streamlined version of its prior instrumentation, with no horns and sporting a standard drumbeat.  The mood becomes more hopeful though due to the bridge lyrics, “Everything will be okay”, being reassuringly sung a number of times.  Guess prog rock is the best medicine?!  A second set of these lyrics follows with added ambient ornamentation to mix things up.  Then after a few more melodic ‘oohs’, the progressive rock returns, but this time with a guitar solo bringing absolutely epic riffage!  Major props to guitarist Chris Greatti (who co-wrote and co-produced all songs on I Disagree as well) on his performance here.  It definitely bears similarity to late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Rhandy Rhoads (as a few YouTube user comments I read pointed out).

After such a finale level performance, now would normally be the time in the song (at least based on the album’s other tracks) when it would wind down.  It’s the last song on the album though and Poppy has a little more up her sleeve.  So as the electric guitar fades, an acoustic guitar and bell performance begins, along with some unexpected lyrics.  To my excitement, Poppy starts singing the chorus lyrics from “I Disagree”!  That’s not all though.  As the chorus goes on to its second four-line set, it’s harmonized with some of “Anything Like Me”‘s psychedelic pop and male background vocals!  The same chorus repeats itself two additional times for good measure, but not without even more surprises.  On the first repeat, the instrumentation intensifies into pop with a noise-hop beat and replacement of “I Disagree”‘s lyrics:

We'll be safe and sound
When it all burns down

with the lyric from “Fill the Crown”‘s chorus:

You can be anyone you want to be

Nice!  And if that weren’t enough, on the final repeat, the first few lines get into a duet/round with “Concrete”‘s lyrics:

Bury me six feet deep 
And just cover me in concrete, please

Genius!  The song then ends with the noise-hop beat being held and a few repeats of “Anything Like Me”‘s harmonizing, but not before a single triangle ‘ding’ replaces everything.  It’s as if Poppy’s I Disagree was an eclectic dish that had been cooking in a musical oven this whole time and its timer just indicated it’s ready.  I guess it’s time to eat, err listen, to it again… after concluding this review?!

The choice to include song cameos in harmony together at the end of “Don’t Go Outside” is one that’s especially exciting to me (if you couldn’t tell?!), due to it being pretty rare in my non-soundtrack listening.  I only recall coming across two other examples of this: Fall Out Boy‘s “What a Catch, Donnie” from their Folie à Deux studio album and Emilie Autumn‘s “Goodnight, Sweet Ladies” from her Fight Like a Girl studio album.  I’m not counting the Beatles singing the chorus of “She Loves You” at the end of their “All You Need Is Love” single, due to it being a singular song cameo.  I will concede though that it probably inspired more song cameo inclusions among other musical act’s future releases, it’s the Beatles.  They inspire everything?!  “Don’t Go Outside” has my favorite use of song cameos from amongst those I listed though.  In fact, it makes an already fantastic song into one of the most impressive musical artist-introducing album finales that I’ve listened to.  So of course, it will join “Concrete” and “Fill the Crown” as one of my favorite tracks on the album as well.

Rating: 5/5

Final Thoughts

So that’s the album!  It may feel on the short side, but it’s absolutely packed to the brim with great songs; giving it an unofficial slogan of ‘Repeat often for optimal effect’ in my book.  It’s actually interesting timing that I would discover it and Poppy now.  I was just recently made aware of another musical act whose songs tend to shift musical genres on a whim, experimental rock/metal band Mr. Bungle from the 1990s.  Had I realized how great Poppy was when YouTube first suggested “Concrete” to me; it’s possible I’d not have listened through any of Mr. Bungle’s studio albums before listening through I Disagree.  The timing was that close.  Then again, neither of these musical acts can lay claim to being my first exposure to multi-genre structured songs. That would go to another experimental metal band (most likely inspired by Mr. Bungle) called Candiria, whose 300 Percent Density studio album I purchased a decade ago (and later donated due to their not being Coheed and Cambria.  Yeah…I was just getting into metal ? *Update 4/17/2021: Nevermind…I found it recently in a box of CDs that was in storage.  Woot!).

To conclude, even though Poppy’s certainly not the first to experiment with multiple musical genres within songs (Babymetal with their two musical genre songs is even listed as an experimental metal band on Wikipedia), she is certainly unique in how she is going about it.  Unlike the other musical acts I listed, she does not really come up with songs that experiment around underground rock/metal sensibilities.  She comes up with ones that experiment around more mainstream pop/dance sensibilities (on I Disagree at least).  In a recent interview with NME, she even recognized this about I Disagree when she said, “Some are calling it metal, but I’m calling it post-genre.”.  Will this ‘post-genre’ term truly catch on though?  Will Poppy choose to continue making music with this unique approach in the future?  And will it ultimately lead her to mainstream success? (Something that eluded even Mr. Bungle, despite their influence on experimental metal still being felt today.)  I sure hope so.  For now though, I’m just happy that I discovered Poppy when and how I did.  I Disagree is the first musical work she considers to be reflective of who she truly is.  Her personal struggles leading up to its release also paint an inspiring picture of her that was most likely not present in her previous work.  As a bonus, I’ll have a good chance to get tickets to see her live in her prime too! (Mr. Bungle’s remaining members don’t go on tour much anymore and are in their fifties)  And who knows?  This review (and deep dive) might even get some of my friends/family to come with?!

Favorite Songs

• “Concrete”
  • “I Disagree”
• “Fill the Crown”
• “Don’t Go Outside”
  • “Bite Your Teeth”

Overall Rating: 4.6/5

Similar Artists / Bands

• Kate Bush
• Emilie Autumn
• Meg Myers

Link Index

Artists / Bands

• Babymetal Wikipedia
• ​(Female-fronted Japanese metal bands) Invisible Oranges – “J-Power: Will Americans Accept Aldious?”
• ​Dream Generasia
• ​DragonForce Wikipedia
• ​The Beach Boys Wikipedia
• Poppy Wikipedia
• ​The Turtles Wikipedia
• Queen Wikipedia
• Lacuna Coil Wikipedia
• Rob Zombie Wikipedia
• ​Lady Gaga Wikipedia
• ​Marilyn Manson Wikipedia
• ​The Buggles Wikipedia
• ​Slipknot Wikipedia
• ​Fall Out Boy Wikipedia
• ​Emilie Autumn Wikipedia
• ​The Beatles Wikipedia
• ​Mr. Bungle Wikipedia
• ​Candiria Wikipedia
• ​Coheed and Cambria Wikipedia

News

• Meet Poppy, the 22-year-old YouTube star who has already inspired her own religion Business Insider
• Poppy and NXT Superstar Io Shirai Talk Heavy Music, Wrestling and Scary Masks Revolver
• ​The tragic, real-life story of Poppy Nicki Swift
• Poppy’s legal-battle woes are years in the making Polygon
• ​Poppy parts ways with Titanic Sinclair, accuses him of ‘manipulative patterns’ NME
• ​Twitter Has Canceled Titanic Sinclair Because of What He Did to Poppy Distractify
• Poppy: Inside the Shape-Shifting, Metal-Embracing World of ‘Your Internet Girl’ Revolver
• Poppy on meeting Marilyn Manson and her new album: ‘I have decided that it would be nice to light things on fire’ NME

Reference

• J-pop Wikipedia
• Japanese idol Wikipedia
• ​Kawaii metal Wikipedia
• Cobra Kai Wikipedia
• ​Breakdown Wikipedia
• Trap Wikipedia
• ​Noise-hop Vice – “The Twisting and Industrial Evolution of… Noise-Hop”
• 3:36 (Music to Sleep To) Wikipedia
• Mortal Kombat (film series) Wikipedia
• Batman Beyond Wikipedia
• Chris Greatti Fandom
• ​Randy Rhoads Wikipedia
• ​List of Avant-Guard Metal Artists Wikipedia

Sites

• poppy.church

Videos

• Chris Greatti shreds his solo from Poppy’s ‘Don’t Go Outside’ YouTube