Week Two, but I guarantee you this is no sophomore slump. It's just too good.
With my search for new music, the past two weeks have been pretty good to me, which makes this spot pretty competitive. After The Strokes' "Comedown Machine," Tyler, the Creator's "Wolf" and Cold War Kids' "Dear Miss Lonelyhearts," there was plenty to choose from.
But OneRepublic's "Native" takes the crown. It's 14 tracks of pure anthem. It may annoy the hipsters because of how mainstream it is, but nobody can deny a catchy track, let alone a catchy album.
You may have heard the two incredibly addicting singles off the album: "If I Lose Myself" and "Feel Again." But if you listen to the entire album, you get 12 more bobbers (my term for any song that just naturally gets you to bob your head). Plus, OneRepublic has always done a mesmerizing job with using strings.
The album kicks off with some incredible opening lines from my favorite track: "Counting Stars." But it doesn't diminish from there. It's top-notch through and through, straight until the end. Meanwhile, "Preacher" and "Burning Bridges" do the opposite of meat-of-the-order tracks are supposed to do: gets the people going.
The album covers it all, from airy to ardent and alternative to rock. And with that, the group has gone from the band that did "Apologize" or "Good Life" to an overall solid band with a track record to prove it. With three fantastic albums, it's music that just sounds good.
That's all that we can ask for, and that's all OneRepublic gives us.
