"Childish Gambino - Bando Stone and The New World" Just Listen to Lithonia

 

    My thoughts on Donald Glover are very simple. I loved him in Community as Troy, and I like Awaken, My Love!, and everything else is super dicey. I remember Because the Internet being supremely underwhelming for me, and pretty much the same could be said for any other project he's done. However, in spite of all that, when Lithonia dropped, I was actually excited for what Glover had to offer. Instantly, I could tell it was a great song, and something I'd actually be interested in listening to. Especially after how underwhelming Atavista was to me, I was hoping that Glover would be able to recreate some of that magic he found in Awaken, My Love!. So I've already listened to this album before, but I still think it's worth giving it another listen to see if my opinion of it being fairly spotty changes. I may have had a couple drinks beforehand. My friend CJ said the fact that I haven't reviewed this album wants to make him retire so without further ado my track-by-track review.

Bando Stone and The New World - Childish Gambino

H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥ - 10/100 I think the high pitched rapping at the beginning of this song is absolutely awful. I don't think the beat is doing it any favours either. I love how if you try to search up what Amaarae says it just says "unintelligible". I think that basically summarizes how I feel about this song, like it exists? I suppose it's a song but it's pretty bad, just start with Lithonia which is in my opinion the best song off of this album. I don't know if there's a part of it I actually enjoyed.

Lithonia - 90/100 Maybe Donald Glover just needs to pick up a guitar and start a rock band. I just think that it ends up being his most interesting work. Whether it be the distorted guitars, the choir-like harmonies in the background, the bridge or the general tune. l, this song just works. It's kind of amazing, and just proof that even if the Childish Gambino moniker is being retired, musically Gambino still has more to offer if he wants to.

Survive  (feat. Chlöe) - 70/100 I don't remember this song having a Bluey reference in it when I first listened to it. This song is decent, and I think that Gambino did a decent job of making sure it sounds like an actual song unlike the first track. I kind of dig the saxophone at the end. My only real complaint is that Chlöe is technically a featured artist but I feel like she could have easily done more than just background vocals in this song. I think I would have enjoyed it better if she had played a larger part in this song.

Steps Beach - 60/100 A fine, slow, chill enough song. for a song that's almost 4 minutes long my only complaint is that I probably wish it was a little more dynamic, but hey, I think slow songs are usually pretty hit or miss depending on the person. I think if it built up to something it would have been better.

Talk My Shit - 20/100 I don't think I have ever heard Flo Milli until now and I think it would have been better off if it stayed that way. I really get absolutely nothing from her chorus. It's not catchy, I don't think it really brings anything different to what Glover brings. Frankly, the only compliment I could say is that it's less insane than Amaarae's verse, which is hilariously, annoying. What the hell is up with that outro?

Got To Be -  30/100 You see I heard the intro to this song and thought it might actually be good or something but as soon as that wrapped up I've been disturbed by the rest of this song. The faster it ends the happier I'll be.

Real Love - 75/100 This song gives me strong Flo Rida vibes, in the sense that it reminds me of his early 2000's era dance-pop tracks, in a good way. It's a solid song, albeit a little short in my opinion, but considering how abysmal the past couple of tracks were I consider this song I pretty considerable upgrade. On a side note, despite being an hour long I've somehow listened to 7 tracks off this album already and it feels like I've listened to 3.

In The Night - 55/100 The nicest thing I can say about this song is that it is significantly better than the rest of the tracks that I found to be awful on this album. For a song that isn't even four minutes it sure felt awfully long I'll tell you that much.

Yoshinoya - 50/100 You could pretty much copy and paste my thoughts for the last track and put it for this track as well.

Can You Feel Me - 40/100 It's cool that Donald Glover included his own child on a song, but also it would have been even better if he included him on a song that was actually interesting musically instead of one where people just chant the alphabet in the background.

No Excuses - 60/100 I kind of like parts of this song, particularly the instrumental. But it's also seven minutes long and I had already assumed that I had gone through like three different songs while listening to just this one song, so I can't exactly give it a high score.

Crusin' - 60/100 Woah this song almost reeled me back into this album. Which isn't saying much because while there are some real songs in this album I adore, I have to say most of it is just rubbish I could care less about that I had to wade through to find. I cannot say much about the Yeat feature other than it's not as bad as I thought it'd be?

We Are God - 50/100 Congratualations Mr. Glover, you made a song that I don't particularly like, but I don't particularly hate, which is pretty much most of the songs on this album actually.

Running Around - 77/100 I think Glover singing about t60he weekend is kind of goofy on this song, but it's catchy enough that I'll let it slide. Especially considering how sleepy the rest of this album is, having this song is like a breath of fresh air. I don't mind the Fousheé verse either I kind of enjoy it. This is just proof that Gambino should just use a guitar full time.

Dadvocate - 80/100 Two good songs in a row on this album? It's almost a miracle. It's a pretty simple track but I think it's still effective, and what I think really helps pull it all together is the delivery of the chorus especially in tandem with the acoustic guitar. It just all sort of fits into place.

Happy Survival - 50/100 You see I keep on complaining about certain tracks like No Excuses but then I remember that this album is indeed actually supposed to be the accompanying soundtrack to an actual film, and so if tracks like this feel out of place that's kind of the point. It definitely does feel like a background track though so I'm just going to give it a 50 for the sake of it basically being just an instrumental.

A Place Where Love Goes - 60/100 I don't particularly care about the "we don't care about the party" part of the album but I do think that the beat/chorus Gambino sings is fairly solid. Definitely not my favourite tune that Gambino's had on this album but it at the very least is more interesting of a track than a lot of the other songs Gambino's had on this album.

Final Score: 55/100

    I averaged out all of the scores and it came out to be 55, which is honestly higher than I thought, but what I'd consider a pretty accurate score for this album. While I haven't watched the film that's meant to accompany this project, if I had to describe this album it would basically be Lithonia, and the rest. I mean sure there are some poppy, short tracks that I like, but they are just so few and far in-between, especially for an album that totals 17 tracks and is an hour in length. Sadly, my verdict for this album is pretty much the same for the rest of Gambino's work. If it's not Awaken, My Love! it's frankly just not that worth visiting unless you're really insistent on trying out his discography. Don't get me wrong I don't think Glover isn't interesting as an artist, I just think his best work is overwhelmingly when he uses a guitar so when he basically does anything else it just pales in comparison. So, in the end, I ask what's really new with him? Good on him for dropping the Gambino title I suppose, and congratulations on Lithonia which really is a killer track, but if that was all that he released from this cycle, I don't think people would really be missing much.