Ugly Is Beautiful＜限定盤/Clear Vinyl＞

The major-label full-length debut from Californias Oliver Tree, 2020s Ugly Is Beautiful proves another showcase for the ironic bowl-cut and JNCO jean-wearing singers bombastically hooky brand of pop. The album arrives on the heels of several buzzed-about EPs and Ugly Is Beautiful builds nicely upon those albums, juxtaposing catchy, 90s-style pop arrangements with vocals that seem at once cheeky and sincere. Mixing blown-out keyboards with distorted guitars, heavy basslines, and pounding beats, Tree has crafted a distinctively zoomer aesthetic, mixing a hot stew of influences from Nirvana and the Strokes to Eminem, Pixies, and sundry SoundCloud rap touchstones. Its a style that remains remarkably consistent even as he shifts gears, from the driving post-punk of Me Myself & I and the Beck-esque acoustic grunge of Cash Machine to the moody, synth-heavy club jam 1993. As Tree sings on Alien Boy, I fell down to Earth from a hundred miles away/And somehow I still make it work. ~ Matt Collar