Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the last Random Weekend selection on Meet Me in Montauk. Starting next week, I will introduce a new series titled Throwback Weekends.
Suggested by daily commenter Dana (I’ve decided to retire the “frequent commenter” label for Dana to better acknowledge his contributions here), this series will look back at the top hits of decades past on the same weekend through history.
When today’s SOTD popped up as the random selection, I was certain I had featured it before. But it turns out I’ve given Fountains of Wayne’s 1999 album Utopia Parkway less attention than I thought.
I posted two songs from the album more than a decade ago, plus two more on Random Weekends over the years. But none of those was ‘Denise,’ the first Fountains of Wayne song I ever heard.
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 16: ‘Tack Truck x VB’
On an album filled with lyrical and musical references to her past work, it’s only appropriate that Del Rey wraps things up with an extended, grunged-up sample of one of her most beloved and iconic songs, ‘Venice Bitch.’ That’s what the “VB” stands for in the title of this track, and it comes as quite a giddy surprise halfway through the album’s final song.
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 15: ‘Peppers’
On an album obsessed with death and memory, Del Rey waited until track 15 to just kick back and have some fun. That’s the best explanation for this oddball song, which borrows its Angelina Jolie-referencing chorus from Canadian “underground rap queen” Tommy Genesis.
‘Peppers’ finds Del Rey throwing caution to the wind, dancing naked in front of an open window and kissing her COVID-infected boyfriend while listening to fellow Californians The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s as if the soul searching and heart baring of the previous 14 songs shed her of all that emotional baggage and led her to this surf rap oasis.
Continuing my track-by-track appreciation of Lana Del Rey’s newest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd…
Track 14: ‘Fishtail’
After two rather earnest love songs, ‘Fishtail’ describes a souring relationship, one in which Del Rey’s eyes have been opened to the fact that her partner doesn’t have her best interests in mind.
This song has the trippiest production on the album, and the first digital beats since fourth track ‘A&W.’ I love the modern sound of this one in contrast to the classicism of most of the album.
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