Pop Song Review: "Loser" by Tame Impala

POP SONG REVIEW - "LOSER"

Tame Impala has always eluded me. I've only really known the one song of his ("The Less I Know The Better") until last year, when "Dracula" became a charting hit, marking his first. That song ended up being an honorable mention on my best list, an opinion I still stand by, although the remix with Jennie might be a different story. With that song, it's been charting all of this year and has pretty much clinched a spot on the Year-End Hot 100. He didn't really have another song doing that until the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which featured "Loser" in the soundtrack. That's the song we'll be talking about today.

Unlike with Stella Lefty's "Boston", this review is mostly going to be about the song itself. Stella had a whole lot of baggage surrounding her. "Loser" has almost nothing. This song isn't controversial in any way, other than amongst fans of Tame Impala. A lot of the fans didn't really like this song when the album came out. As someone without a huge opinion on Tame Impala, I think it'll be interesting to see how my opinion of the song matches up with theirs.

So, what do I think of "Loser"? That's a good question. Before I say that, though, I think I need to explain why I'm reviewing this song specifically. I had a few options, but I wasn't sure what to pick, so I let a few people I know vote for which song. They picked this one, so it involves a pretty interesting discussion on that basis. Even though the hype for this song from the movie has faded a bit since the movie has been out a while, there's still a lot of love for this song. 

I'll begin my discussion with the sound of the song. It opens with a pretty cool guitar riff that immediately lets you know what the song's going to be. It's going to be entirely based on that riff. The "DUNNNN- dunununun" immediately pops and gives the song a unique identity. Other than that, though, I don't think it offers much. I don't like how Tame Impala's voice is so high to the point where it overshadows the whole thing, especially on the bridge. It's honeslty distracting. 

The song still has its moments, though. I like the chorus. Especially the lyric "I'm a tragedy, don't you want to tear my heart out". The song's sarcastic message of being a mess-up while saying "I tried to warn you" is honestly funny. While I don't think it's near Tame's best lyrically, I do think it's got something to it. 

This isn't the type of song that's going to make my best list, but it's also not nearly bad enough to make my worst list. I feel like it fits the theme of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, especially with the themes of loss and being an outcast. I do like it, though. It's a good song. Maybe with Tame Impala's rise to the charts we can make "The Less I Know The Better" a charting hit this year. Just a thought? Maybe?