Review Summary: How many licks to lick your lemon drop / How many licks to lick your drop, drop
Supermarket by Logic is one of the stupidest albums I’ve ever lent my ears to. It’s the sound of a man trying to take his music in directions far beyond what he is capable of, a rapper writing indie pop/rock songs without having the slightest idea of what actually constitutes adequate songwriting in those genres. The instrumentals are lifeless, the vocals are pitchy at best, and the lyrics on this record strike a stunning balance between lack of substance and childish wordplay. It’s as if Mac DeMarco (who produces two cuts on this record, poor soul) and Kid Cudi had a love-child who was dropped on their head at birth.
It’s not the act of reinvention itself that is bothersome, mind. Oftentimes musicians are compelled to make changes in artistic direction because they believe that what they produce is Art and what they have to say is Important. The problem is: I have absolutely no idea what is so Important about what Logic is saying here. Themes of heartbreak and death are laced throughout the lyrics on the record (see also: every indie pop album ever made), but none of them are ever tied into each other in a way that seems even slightly coherent. I mean, the fellow wrote a novel that this album is supposed to act as a companion piece for, so obviously he sees something significant in there, but to say it is lost on the listener is an understatement.
It’s almost impossible to recommend this album to even the most forgiving Logic fan or the most open-minded indie pop listener. Apart from the aforementioned DeMarco production work on two tracks,
Supermarket doesn’t *** the bed so much as rancidly defile it. But hey, Logic says it’s an Important work of Art, so that must mean it’s great, right？
...right？
