Teen Song Reviews: ACT
We tasked a group of Aussie teens to rifle through their record bins and pick a track they’ve been spinning lately. Meet the next gen of Australian Capital Territorian music reviewers and the killer songs soundtracking their lives from Issue #1 of Teen Spirit
Bell Biv Devoe - ‘Poison’
Poison (1990)
GEFFEN RECORDS
You’ve never heard a snare beat ricochet through your body and make it physically painful to resist quite like Bell Biv Devoe’s ‘Poison’. Kickstarting right into it, BBD quite literally hits you with that classic R&B inspired hip-hop beat that’s able to punch through any defence mercilessly. Layering vocals in classic soul fashion, the sound slithers into your veins and reverberates inside your skull like a bad addiction. This cautionary tale of infamous “fly girls” lures you in like a dog to a scent, catching you unprepared for its genius combination of pop and R&B. ‘Poison’ feels like a late-night drive, that blur of yellow street-lights on empty roads as you fly by, music loud and singing louder. Driving you straight out of your mind, I mean, “That’s why it’s hard for me to find.”
Sounds like: A bad addiction you can’t stop indulging in
Chloe E (16, ACT)
The 1975 - ‘The City’
The 1975 (2013)
DIRTY HIT
Awaken from a sleep-deprived coma, The 1975’s George Daniel’s drums in ‘The City’ are bound to shake the bones of any unsuspecting listener. A glistening radiance echoes off skyscrapers, encapsulated by a dreamscape of luminescent streetlamps. You find yourself drawn to the gritty synthesis of the bass line, as if the city is reeling you in, yet pulling you back in uncertainty at the same time. The funk influences in the guitar line romanticise lead singer Matty Healy’s nostalgia-driven lyrics that contradict and further intertwine its prose as a cacophony of teenage angst and freedom. A testament to The 1975's love of electronic music, ‘The City’ imagines the listener seeking love; pulsating amongst urbanisation, a mantra prevalent in the chorus “Yeah, you wanna find love, then you know where the city is.”
Sounds like: The passionate, driving aroma of the first night in a big city
Ruby J (16, ACT)