Poppy is one of YouTube’s strangest, posting soft-palette videos of innocent tasks shrouded with overtones of darkness. But her third album, I DISAGREE, is a raging temper tantrum from the start, clashing rambunctious guitar work and her childlike speech. It’s like taking a box of apple juice and spiking it with Bacardi. “Concrete” zig-zags back and forth between metal and pop, something Poppy herself described as “post-genre.” The track’s also got the first of many teeth references- it wouldn’t be Poppy if there weren’t pastel punk vampires. She even references her disdain for the sun on “Sick of the Sun,” a melancholy cut evidently centered around depression- but you know she had the classic heliophobic vampire trope in mind.
All of these songs are just begging to be anime openings. The balloony, feminine voice paired with the industrial soundtrack is the kind of music playing in a Claire’s and Hot Topic crossover store. There’s plenty of juicy production to sink your teeth into. The title track is a nu-metal fantasy with a killer bassline. You’ll need to dig deep to find another song as ferocious as “BLOODMONEY.” Even “Sit / Stay” has techno instrumentals that’d feel out of place on a metal-pop concoction if they weren’t so infectious.
The noise is the LP’s blood, however, because the lyrics don’t try hard enough to reflect the idiosyncrasies of Moriah Pereira’s alter ego. Poppy is an enigmatic character who’s scored 23 million views by saying “I’m Poppy” for 10 minutes straight, launched a YouTube Red series on her robotic persona, and even started a religion. It’s a shame none of her oddities find a home in the writing. The only signs of her storytelling footprints appear on “Anything Like Me,” a farewell to longtime collaborator (and former lover) Titanic Sinclair and their lawsuit with fellow musician Mars Argo.
Albums bloom when an artist’s brand and quirks are reflected in it, so when the figure of someone like Poppy isn’t played up to its potential, it’s a missed opportunity that’s been common in the 25-year-old’s music. “BLOODMONEY” invigorates by presenting views on religious hypocrisy, but neither it nor any of the other songs are as enticingly bizarre as her interview with this plant. Regardless, music that bangs is still great music, and almost every song on here earns its place through a terrific hook or spicy riff. Not everything needs to have worldview-altering poetry. We’re sure to have plenty of excellent LPs that rip better than they speak this decade. I DISAGREE is one of them.
