W/e 31/07/26 - Charli XCX, Baby Queen, Cypress Hill, The Strokes, The Primatives

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Baby Queen take Album of the Week with an average of 7.02, ahead of Cypress Hill on 6.88 — a decent week overall, though The Strokes drag the mood down somewhat at the bottom on 5.80. Charli XCX sits in third on 6.53, a reasonable mid-table finish for what proved a divisive listen.

Tune of the Week: Wacha Trucha by Cypress Hill — no consensus emerged so we've gone with the judges' pick.

Matt claims the 😊 this week with a 7.62 average — a fine week for him across the board. Simon takes the ☹️ on 5.00, finding little to enjoy in any direction, which given the mixed nature of the selections is perhaps understandable.

Andy

Baby Queen - It would be easy to call her a Temu Charli XCX but being less obsessed with coked up celebrity and concentrating on solid pop works very much in her favour. Good one 7

Charli XCX - This feels like a mix of the entertainment of Brat and the experimentation of Wuthering Heights (2 album year for Charli!) It’s effective without blowing me away but enjoyable nonetheless. Also with David Cronenberg following John Cale as collaborators she’s touching Olivia for pop start most indulgent over older male legends (cf the cover) 7.5

Cypress Hill - Well, CH always had a Latin base but this really goes for it and it’s great, even if I don’t really know what they’re on about most of the time 7.5

The Strokes - Who’d have thought that in a week of Charli XCX and Baby Queen the worst vocal manipulation would be by The Strokes? There’s a bit of music to enjoy but the vocals just spoil it for everyone 5.5

TotW - Tongue-Tied by Baby Queen

Primitives - Good fun classic jingle jangle that stands up, which I knew having seen them at Readipop last year. Lovely indeed 7.5

Guy

Baby Queen – Another one of the great finds of this experience imho. This is pop but always with an edge. She’s a good lyricist with a distinctive voice and style. Much better than lots of the pop acts we listen to – 8

Charli XCX – When this started I thought it might be quite interesting. Had a rockier edge and felt a bit more in the Baby Queen space. But the quality of the songs just wasn’t there and it was a very mixed bag of decent and poor. Card Declined was a particular low point – 7

Cypress Hill – Good quality hip hop. I’m rather partial to a bit of Spanish language music, so this sat quite comfortably with me. Would be a good album to have playing in the background in a cool bar on holiday – 7.5

The Strokes – They’ve never hit the heights of the debut. There are one or two decent songs on here e.g. Going Shopping but there’s not that much to really get the engine revving. All a bit disappointing really. It was clearly a big error giving Julian a vocoder for Christmas too… - 6

TOTW – I Hope You Don’t Remember Me – Baby Queen

The Primatives – Classic 80s Indie Pop. Squarely in my wheelhouse. With so many songs on the album there are bound to be one or two fillers but there are also a ton of really top tunes too. Great stuff. – 8.1

Phil (New)

Baby Queen 7.1

Decent pop with a bit of attitude, carried by a lovely voice.

Charli XCX 7

Electronic pop with a dark, rock edge and slick production.

Cypress Hill 7.5

I already like this sound, and that familiarity works in its favour despite being almost entirely in Spanish.

The Strokes 5

The opening track is awful, and the vocal effect quickly becomes irritating whenever it appears which is far too often. Admitedly I haven't paid attention to the inbetween but this is far from the quality of their first album.

TOW: Cypress Hill - Wacha Trucha

The Primatives 7.5

Matt

Baby Queen - 7.9

Charli XCX - 7.5

Cypress Hill - 7.8

The Strokes - 7.3

TOTW - Baby Queen, I Hope You Don't Remember Me

The Primitives - 8.2

Jim

Baby Queen 7

Solid pop, little filler. Doesn’t quite hit previous heights but still very enjoyable.

Charlie XCX 6.5

I’m warming to her a little. Perhaps a little more interesting that previous. Would benifit from not jumping about with the styles so much

Cypress Hill 6

Normally love the more aggressive, in your face hip hop, but I need to have some clue what they are going going on about. And this drifted too close to R&B / Latino which I do not get on with.

The Strokes 5.5

Oh dear. I don’t think I fully get what is meant by auto tune and vocoders tbh. But I do recognise lame, lazy music and this was both of these . A couple of tracks were at best Ok. I’d have given you long odds I’d ever rate a CXCX album above a Strokes, but there you go..

TOTW - Baby Queen, Word Vomit

The Primitives 7

One track outshines the rest by some distance. But it is a true classic track.

Mark D

Baby Queen 7.75

Very strong pop offering. Reminds me of Dylan (courtesy of the kids). Songs well constructed w good touches throughout and great voice. Drops off a little towards end of the album.

Charli XCX 7.25

Industrial Metal meets pop? Respect for releasing a new and pretty original sound. My complaint is the songs being chopped short / lacking structure making it feel a bit unfinished.

Cypress Hill 7

It's a great blend of latin styles and production but I'm not a hip-hop fan and so it's fighting a bit of an uphill battle. Loved some of the rapping (No Tengo Miedo) but other tracks are background music for me..

The Strokes 6.5

There are good tunes here but some misses. Great rhythm section. Hard to ignore the painful auto-tuning. Why? Drags down the album. Liar's Remorse stood out.

TOTW - The Protagonist - Baby Queen

The Primitives 8

Great tight album with constant energy and upbeat groove. Little surprises across it. Loved Shadow.

Paul

Baby Queen (7.7)

Nice voice works well with gritty edged music and lyrics.

Charlie XCX (6.2)

Quite liked the rockier sound, but didn’t get on with the light vocals.

Cyprus Hill (8)

Love this style of Bass heavy hip hop and I think rapping in Spanish adds to the overall feel of the album. Works very well.

The Strokes (6.6)

A few decent tunes on here (Dine n Dash & Going Shopping). Not sure the vocal effects did them any favours at all, just found it really distracting/annoying, a shame really.

TOTW - Cyprus Hill, Watcha Trucha

The Primitives (7.7)

Only really heard Crash from these lot before, but it’s a decent collection of upbeat jangly indie tunes

Phil (OG)

Baby Queen 7

Enjoyable modern pop. Nothing earth-shattering but it’ll pass.

Charli XCX 6

After the intriguing strangeness of her Wuthering Heights album I was hoping for something equally interesting this time around. At least she hasn’t gone back to autotune but instead this is just dull.

Cypress Hill 7.5

Well I haven’t got a clue what they’re rapping about but the arrangements are plenty varied so it hardly matters. First rap album I’ve heard that featured accordion, plus what sounds like an oompah band on one track! The reggae tracks are pretty good too.

The Strokes 6

The opening track here is ruined by autotune. Then on the second track there’s a clue as to why Julian C felt the need of the device. His pitch is all over the place. Happily, there are a couple of decent tracks - Got to babble on and Liar’s remorse – but that’s not enough to lift the album.

TOTW – Cypress Hill – Rosas verdes

Classic

The Primitives 6

A bit thin and ordinary.

Sam

Baby Queen : not as good as her last one but still decent pop : 7.

Charlie XCX : parts were good but that ain’t rock music … 6.5

Cypress Hill : Me Gusta ! Enjoyed this . They are still very good at this. 7.5

The Strokes : the music is obviously good which is why I’m giving them this score . Shame the auto tune completely ruins the whole endeavour. Baffling . 3

TOTW not much stood out : I’ll go with Suenos ( dreams ) by Cypress Hill

The Primitives : great stuff , didn’t know they were from Coventry . Cracking bit of indie . 8

Simon

Baby Queen 4

Mostly bland and forgettable throwaway pop which sounds exactly like Pink Pantheress and about a million other identikit artists - listening to Bored Out of My Mind was ironically the only time I wasn't.

Charli XCX 5.5

More throwaway pop, although slightly more interesting than Baby Queen not least because of David Cronenberg's appearance - as with Brat though, still don't see what all the fuss is about.

Cypress Hill 6.5

Didn't know this lot were still going - decent enough but couldn't get particularly excited by it and won't be going back for more.

The Strokes 4

Their debut is obviously a classic but this is just a mess - awful autotuned vocals, weird production and songs that meander around without actually doing anything interesting.

TotW: none worth mentioning

The Primitives 7

A pleasing nostalgia trip to the heyday of late 80s indie - had written this lot off as 1/2 hit wonders but this would suggest they had a bit more to them than that.

Annette

Baby Queen: 7

Charli XCX: 6.5

Cypress Hill: 5 5

The Strokes: 6

TOTW: Permanently Obsessed by Baby Queen

Classic: The Primatives - 7

Justin

Baby Queen - No real view. Okay to listen to and no painful tracks but ultimately quite forgettable. 6

Charli XCX - I loved the grungier rockier sound mixed up with the synths. This was a real surpise listen. 7.5

Cypress Hill - Not for me. 5

The Strokes - I appreciate the autotune is not for everyone, but I have listened to this loads this week. It is the classic Strokes sound and whilst not any real departure from previous albums I found it all very comforting to listen to. 7.3

TOTW Charli XCX - No One Lasts Forever

The Primitives - I listened to this quite a lot at the time. It is a bit one dimensionable, but is still a fun album to listen to and Crash is an indie classic. 6.9

Erol

Baby Queen - a good pop album which was at the upper end of this genre. 7

Charli XCX - I don’t get her. She aims for attitude but it’s all just a bit too obvious and artificial. 5.7

Cypress Hill - some of this was great fun with a nice summery vibe. The rhymes kept my head bobbing throughout even though I didn’t understand a word! 7

The Strokes - very disappointing. The songs were limp, the vocals poor and the autotune (or whatever it’s called) ruined anything decent that may have been lurking underneath. 4

Cypress Hill - Campeones

Primitives - This was very ordinary and one dimensional. Sorry, not for me. 5.3

Carlo

Baby Queen – 6.9

It all played along easily, but by the end not much had really sunk in. A little too poppy for me, if I’m honest, but certainly not unpleasant.

Charli XCX – 6.3

I haven’t listened to much of her music before, and given her popularity, I was expecting more. It lacked the standout quality I was hoping for. Maybe I’m just not the target audience.

Cypress Hill – 7.5

Full of Latin energy with plenty of attitude. Not normally my sort of thing, but it had enough groove and character to keep me interested.

The Strokes – 5.8

I don’t mind a bit of Auto-Tune, but this was on another level! It felt a little more like self-indulgence than entertainment.

TOTW: Cypress Hill – Run

Classic – The Primitives – 6.5

I recognised a few of the songs, but had never really listened to the album as a whole. The opening track was a nice breath of fresh air after The Strokes. It probably lost me a little towards the end.

Adam

Baby Queen 6

Fairly run of the mill stuff.

Charli XCX 6

Heavier stuff but lacking the hooks and catchiness of brat

Cypress Hill 5

Had higher hopes for this. Love their early stuff but the Latino thing doesn’t float my boat.

The Strokes 6

Another decline for me. Auto-tune distortion high, enjoyment mid.

TOTW Charli XCX - 2007

Classic 8

Saved the week for me. Upbeat indie rocking. Good guitars and vocals.

Mark KE

Baby Queen - 7 - more terrific pop smarts from Baby Queen, she really should be up there as big as the Olivias and Sabrinas.

Charli XCX - 5 - no secret I find her intensely annoying, and this attempt to move into a more electro rock direction does little to really change my view.

Cypress Hill - 6.5 - unmistakably them from the first drumbeat and vocal, lots of interesting instrumentation and changes in pace, nice summery listen.

The Strokes - 7 - approached it a bit warily given the autotune, but after quite a few plays it's definitely growing on me. They've still got credit in the bank for all the iconic tunes from their early years, and although it doesn't add massive to their canon (and 9 tracks is a bit slender after such a long wait) I still love them.

TOTW - Going To Babble On, by The Strokes