By Kendall Gibson
Columnist

‘Girl’  – Pharrell Williams

Some celebrities pretend to be cool; however, if you pretend to be something then you are by definition not that thing. Pharrell does not pretend to be cool; he is cool personified. Just look at the cover, nobody can even touch the bathrobe-sunglasses-“ménage à quatre” look except for Pharrell. Featured on this album is “Happy,” which you should recognize from the soundtrack of Despicable Me. What’s that? Too cool to watch Despicable Me? Well, you’re wrong. Pharrell is in that movie, nobody is too cool to watch it because that would be scientifically impossible. Go watch that movie, poser.

If You Like: Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, Bruno Mars.

‘10,000 Towns’ – Eli Young Band

In my review of Close to the Glass last week, I said that lyrics are bad when they are too literal. I now find myself in the awkward position of being completely and utterly wrong. In the context of Country music, and specifically on this album, literal lyrics can be phenomenal. “Drunk Last Night” is poetry that speaks to the hungover. If you wake up one day to a myriad of forgotten drunk texts, just listen to that song. “Drunk Last Night” and “Your Last Broken Heart” are great examples of how this band eloquently puts unnoticed facets of the human condition into words. Their work deserves to be appreciated.

If You Like: Joe Pug, Josh Abbot Band, Mumford & Sons.

‘Boy’ – Carla Bozulich

You can barely call this an album. Branding yourself as an “experimentalist” is cheating, because it basically means you can do anything. Observe: I am now an “experimental reviewer.” You unfortunately cannot read the rest of this review, because I wrote it on a coffee cup and threw it into the ocean. Bam, art.

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