Review Summary: Poppy's latest EP is inoffensive yet unremarkable. Considering her past tendencies to push the envelope with each new release, Stagger is ultimately a disappointment.
Poppy has been one of the most captivating artists on my radar for the last handful of years. It has been fascinating to watch her musically transform with each release. She's done bubblegum pop, pop/metal fusion, industrial, and even dabbled in Dillinger Escape Plan-esque hardcore. Her last LP, Flux, saw her experimenting with a safer, albeit still interesting, 90's alternative sound. With how often she changes things up, it's a slight disappointment that Stagger feels like a short extension to Flux, and doesn't really experiment with anything new. That's not to say that the EP couldn't have still been great, because as long as the songs themselves are worth listening to, then all is good, right?
Unfortunately, the songs don't hold up very well to her past work, and ultimately wind up feeling like Flux B-sides that would've been better off left on the cutting room floor.
"FYB" starts the EP off with a ton of energy, but is incredibly repetitive even for its sub two minute runtime. The slower break in between the punky choruses is easily the best aspect of the track, but it's still quite a jarring tone shift to go back from this to "FYB's" fast paced, profanity-laden choruses. The following song, "Pocket," is easily the highlight of the whole EP, and it feels like it could've fit in anywhere on Flux's track-list and possibly improved the record. Admittedly though, the song isn't perfect - as the instrumentals during the verses come off bland compared to the rest of the song, and the electronic beat in the opening of the track goes on a bit too long.
"Shapes" is probably the most frustrating song to be found here - it has the potential to be the best song on the EP but the "ooo's" that repeat throughout the song, particularly in the chorus, are particularly grating and make the song feel like it was written for one of those mid-2000's iPod commercials with the dancing silhouettes. Lastly, the EP's title track ends the EP with a whimper, rather than a bang. It's the token slow song of the EP, but unfortunately doesn't do anything to stand out from any other slow song Poppy has ever done. The chorus feels particularly lazy, with Poppy repeating the line "stagger through life backwards" in a few different ways.
All in all, Stagger is a blemish on Poppy's otherwise stellar discography. It doesn't do anything unique, and there's really only 2 songs max that are worth coming back to. Considering her track record of musical releases, I'm sure she'll put out something new in the next 12-18 months and Stagger will likely be forgotten with time. If you're a fan of Poppy, then give this a shot. Otherwise, this probably won't leave any real impression - good or bad - on you.
