So Much Light
Oh, Yuck
The full-length debut from Damien Verrett was born in a suburban bedroom in Sacramento, and as such, is heavily influenced by themes that are likely commonplace in a suburban bedroom in a predominantly “blue state.” Verrett covers a lot of ground lyrically and thematically, including the perception of “other” in urban environments, the hysteria surrounding the recent political election, guilt and introspection over ‘male gaze’ objectification of others, and other socially conscious ideas. He also covers significant landscape musically blending touchstones of modern R&B, indie rock, and electronic music.
While I’m prone to give him props for his direction, and at the risk of being overly critical, the album feels like it should resonate on a larger level. Oh, Yuck is an album that dashes briefly through the playbooks of Jack Antonoff, Drake, and Lorde and bears some slight similarities to the stellar new record from Cigarettes After Sex. But, for some reason, it just never fully lands with any lasting impact for me. This could be for a lot of reasons that aren’t Verrett’s fault; I’m a 40-year-old dad, and a liberal living in a Midwestern ‘red state,’ who has had 20 years to reconcile my early adulthood mistakes and misconceptions about the world around me.
While this album isn’t necessarily for me, I think it is probably an imaginative and uniquely conscious take for a groovy pop record. (Anti-)