POP SONG REVIEW: "Astronaut in the Ocean"

As an aside it's fun when Todd's opinion on a song lines up closely with mine, like with this one. I always like his vids but there's an extra satisfying feeling when a youtuber you like says stuff you've been thinking in the back of your mind for weeks.

Sarah, the Creator

Why does "right right round" sound like a reference to Dope - You spin me round? The g.o.d/t.h.o.t part is a classic religious dichotomy of either staying up late and closing bars & strip clubs, or going to bed early to get up for church. There's no middle ground allowed, the way my parents taught it. And I have to wonder how many other parents taught the same toxic lack of options.

Stephen Gillie

VimeOwned!

Stephen Gillie

Like Todd, I absolutely love that hook/ beat/drop, but dislike the verses (especially that G-O-D / T-H-O-T line yikes). But I will at least defend the chorus. It’s weird that, in one listen, I knew that the chorus was about struggling as an introvert. “Mental freeze” and “people talk too much” sounds exactly what social anxiety feels like. And I quickly got that “Astronaut in the Ocean” meant feeling out of place at a party or something.

Franco del Rosario

Yeah, lots of rappers mention God. --But then again, from the lyrics Todd showed, Masked Wolf does it twice...

Jon Heiman

Between this and the last OHW I'm getting a little bored of the emerging pattern of Todd: This song is kinda good Singer: *is Christian* Todd: >:^(

Chris Renwick

I'm Australian. Can confirm that it isn't local slang, just bad writing.

Genesis Owusu is an Aussie? Hey, nice to see a good Aussie artist get some attention in the USA.

Grace

lol im a Melon-head so honestly i need your input or i would go through life having never heard the majority of the songs you talk about. lol its a whole other side to music. also this song is fascinating at how much it makes me cringe. at least red hot chili peppers lyrics have some poetry to it. its evocative. this shit sounds like soooo forced, rhyming dict, and his goofy ass flow only hurts him. not into lyrical miracle rappers but at least they try to say something coherent with their words this is gibberish and not even in a fun avant-garde DaDa way like

Creamer

Hi Todd. Extremely minor — you introduce the artist twice. 2:22: "By a new artist called Masked Wolf." And then at 3:29: "It's from a guy named Masked Wolf."

Nick DeCicco

This song has a pretty decent beat and hook, but Masked Wolf starts the song with the absolute worst bars of the year so you know not to take him too seriously!

Sarah, the Creator

Your entertaining in the sad clown way, and people like sad clowns, but not just to laugh at them, but because people subconsciously relate to their misery.

Having bad taste makes you a better music critic actually, because it means you can't really sort anything into catagories of objectively good or bad. Like music is art and it's a kind of art that is often likeable or not based on things you can't really explain, and which way you skew is often personal taste. Like you can't really objectively judge if music is good or bad, and your reviews are very openly "this is just My Opinion" and leaving people to judge for themselves. The format is good because there's enough of the songs that if I disagree I will know and then I'll go buy the song. If the song is terrible it's broken up enough to prevent suffering and then you enjoy the roasting. Sometimes you enjoy the roasting even when you like it because your taste is also shit, and it's true.

Katastrophe

If you're looking for good Australian hip-hop, might I recommend the Hilltop Hoods.

Jon Heiman

The flow is alright but the punchlines are either corny or nonsense.

Juan Nunez

He probably could have hooked into the depression theme by saying this is a song about mania instead given the randomness of the lyrics and the speed of their delivery and the energy of the song underneath, but I have no idea how accurate that would be either

Pietro Gagliardi

Glad to know Todd's YouTube recommendations also include Drew Gooden and Scott the Woz. A true man of culture.

waywardlaser

If it helps you feel less out of touch, I actually thought that "thot" was some way to spell "thought" and still keep within the song's meter. What, a 47 year old white guy has fallen behind on the latest slang? That's unpossible!

Kristopher Bluth

Space Oddity by Bowie

Flux Casey

Kind of a bad year for Australian rappers with random retrograde misogynistic lines in hit songs.

MJS

As an Australian, I find Masked Wolf to be very confusing. He recieved no real press leading up to the song, and the first I hear of him, he's headling a major festival (online festival, thanks covid)! He even has a major record deal, which confused me greater, as it seems he's bypassed the local labels and has gone straight to the US (Elektra). Personally, I would've thought the Sydney drill collective ONEFOUR to crack the foreign market before anyone else (even The Kid Laroi), considering the popularity of artists like Pop Smoke, however they have had lots of trouble with law enforcement (some warranted, some definitely not), and it just hasn't popped like they should've. You should check out Genesis Owusu when you can, he's left of field but he has the hooks and aesthetic to back it up, and is my current bet on the next Australian artist (who doesn't sound like the alternative radio-schlock scene over here) to make it big.

Alex Vorstermans

Eminem (current-day), Hopsin, and Joyner Lucas are not meant to appeal to old heads, old heads just listen to old music. Those artists (and Astronaut in the Ocean) appeal to old heads in the same manner that Greta Van Fleet appeals to old heads. If anything, those artists appeal to kids who are getting into music and somewhat familiar with the classics.

DL

i'm not even sure if his voice/flow improve the song at all, he sounds like a country artist vocally

Lennon Riley

What’s the credit song? It’s on the tip of my tongue

Jordan Ney

I also had a similar response, I should like this song bc the beat and hook sound great but there was something off for me about the lyrics. Thanks for putting it into words. Esp talking about faith but then bragging about treating women poorly, puts me off

ZZZSSS

Ooh, that outro song is gonna kick this video's ass on Youtube.

Flux Casey

hell yeah, my opinions about this are mostly the same. if you ignore the lyrics you can let the beat and flow and vibe carry the song, but if you pay attention to the lyrics it collapses just about instantly

boringcactus

“Todd, please sleep” I say as I watch the new TITS at 3:22 AM

Christina Kelley