The Click by AJR Review
By David Feigelson
We have been blessed with a lot of wonderful music in the past few years. So much, in fact, that in my many articles, I have only written about songs or albums that I love. However, now is the time to break away from this tendency and talk about one of the worst albums that has come out in some time: The Click by AJR. Full of millennial clichés and vomit inducing vocal effects, The Click is an untasteful mashup of every radio pop trend that has surfaced in the past five years. If there is a rock bottom for music, brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan (AJR) have found it.
But before I tear the New York City based trio to shreds, let me preface this review with a few statements. While I find this album absolutely repulsive, everyone has their own taste. So, if this somehow appeals to you, that’s great. To each his own. But you might not want to read the rest of this review. If you have never heard this band before, do so at your own risk. However I cannot recommend you any songs, because many of their singles before The Click were even worse (if that’s possible). The song Thirsty features a rhythmic yodle, and I am not lying when I say it is the single worst sound I’ve ever heard that tried to pass itself off as music. If you derive pleasure from torture, maybe it’s for you (watch the video too if you want even more pain). But all things considered, AJR (and specifically The Click) is just copying other artists in the worst way possible, and I will point out who those better artists may be throughout this review.
I am reviewing this album because I had listened to a few songs and couldn’t believe that people actually liked them. Morbid curiosity got the better of me, and I listened through it. I did it once so you don’t have to. It is a painful forty eight minutes. The album cover is a pretty good indicator for how the album sounds, so check that out. But enough rambling. Let’s talk about what makes The Click as terrible as I claim it is.
First let’s go over some general issues that plague this entire project, and then we will go through a painful trip track by track. One of the biggest issues that I have with The Click is that none of it feels even remotely genuine. The more “serious” songs try to be relatable as a marketing move. The description of other tracks as more “tongue and cheek” just feels like an excuse for making bad songs. A mentality along the lines of, “‘it’s ok that this sounds bad because we are having fun’ and ‘don’t take us too seriously.’” The instrumentals are all over polished and sanitized, and anyone would be hard pressed to find an ounce of personality in them. They pretty much fall into two categories. Half of the songs have terribly sequenced electronics, pitched vocals, and dubstep drops that are so washed up at this point, whereas the other half contain cheesy pianos and horns that could be from literally any sitcom. Not only are all of the instrumentals bad, but there is NO BASS. This is a basic musical element that turns up on this album so rarely that it’s laughable. With no flow between any songs and a lead singer who can’t rhyme for his life (but believe me he tries), The Click is quite insufferable, but we can get through it together.
The Click starts off with the simple click of a metronome; a very subtle reference. The song, Overture, is a mashup of sorts, though there is little flow between the featured tracks. It introduces what could be described as the album’s loose concept, with the line, “Should I go for more clicks this year or should I follow the click in my ear?” This is a terribly corny metaphor about following what’s in ones hearts instead of what’s popular. Ironically, they seemingly and unashamedly hop from trend to trend both on this song and the entire album. Overture contains cheesy “ohs” sung in the background, as well as terrible auto tune and high pitched synths that make the song barely unbearable. But don’t worry- the trendy “ohs” and terrible synth tone choices are just getting started; the following song, The Good Part, continues these trends with a chorus that is basically just “ahs” in the background. The song also features yet another trend of terrible pitch shifted vocals. Ironically, there is no “good part” in this song.
Weak and Sober Up, the next two songs, are both singles from the project. We get the first serious problem with disingenuous in Weak. Here, lead singer Jack complains that he is weak because he gives in so easily to “one hit, one sip, one kiss.” There is no real substance to the lyrics, as AJR sacrifices any hint of their own experiences, replacing them with relatable phrases such as “my habits, they hold me like a grudge.” Sober Up continues to desperately try to be one of these relatable trends. Jack sings that he is just a poor kid who needs to sober up. He states that “all the big kids they got drunk and [he] want[s] to feel something again.” Like most of the lyrics, this is incredibly cliché and it is sung with no feeling behind it. The lack of substance behind this millennial pandering is demonstrated by nonsensical phrases such as “my favorite color is you.” But the lyrics aren’t bad enough. Weak features terrible synths and pitch shifted vocals once again, while it also incorporates dubstep in the background. The vocals actually hurt your ears and the dubstep makes you feel like you’re having a seizure. Keep in mind that I don’t dislike dubstep or pitch shifting, but here, they are done so tastelessly it hurts. Weak concludes with a cliché key change that you can see from a mile away, capping of probably the worst instrumental on the album. Though the instrumentals on Sober Up are not as blatantly garbage, there is an unavoidable problem: it is a lesser Jon Bellion. If you are not familiar with Bellion, he is a talented electronic singer and producer. Sober Up is the first of many songs that clearly rip him off without adding anything new to the table. If you like AJR, you will definitely like Jon Bellion as he does everything they do but better (oh and his music has bass).
Continuing the trend of copying other artists, AJR completely rips off twenty one pilots on the next song Drama. The band is still trying to be relatable but somehow does it in an even worse way on this song. On the verses, Adam sings, “recently he said that she said that we said some shit that you wouldn’t believe.” This is such cringy middle schooler talk that I can’t help but question Adam’s age. After lines like this, it is hard to imagine the song getting worse, but it certainly does, with Adam squealing over a trap beat that he is caught up in drama. He later sings, “the drama is dangerous but it’s so exciting to us.” If that line doesn’t make your ears hurt, the pitched vocals that turn up again here will: they are so high it feels like the song is trying to pierce your them.
The next two songs, Turning Out and No Grass Today, mostly take a break from trendy instrumentals. However, that does not make these songs good. Though Turning Out features a somewhat epic sounding instrumental, the terrible lyrics completely ruin any hint of what could be a good song. The band complains about growing up yet with lines like, “I grew up on Disney but this don’t feel like Disney.” Adam whines about not being done “turning out” in such a cringy way that he is impossible to take seriously. No Grass Today is even worse. The song is about not smoking pot, and it’s as bad as it sounds. It features great lyrics such as “I didn’t smoke no grass today, but that’s because I like to play” which is followed by “but who am I to take away what makes you feel great?” The answer to the second lyric is you can’t make others stop smoking pot regardless of whether you want to. Backed by a painfully corny stop-clap piano beat, No Grass Today feels like it was written in a boardroom full of fifty year olds trying to write to teenagers. It is so processed and ingenuine, and if that isn’t enough, these pitch shifted vocals suck. They suck. Have you gotten tired of me saying that? Imagine listening to them in every single song.
The next song, Three-Thirty, has a terrible trendy beat that probably makes it the worst song musically on the album. The whole song is just complaining about having to write a song that is three minutes and thirty seconds. Adam complains, “Skip it if it’s wordy, but fit the whole song in three-thirty.” This is so annoying because you can make a song as long or short as you want. They clearly want to make songs that will become famous, but two songs later, after a cringy interlude titled Call My Dad, AJR completely contradicts this mentality with Not Famous. This single features Adam talking about how it is okay to not be famous (because we can all relate to that). He sings, “Where my haters? Where my haters? I don’t got ’em. I’m not famous.” The chorus is kind of catchy, but who wants to sing along to “I’m not famous and I don’t hate it?” This is a prime example of the band trying to be funny as well as “tongue and cheek”, but it just feels like a cop out for writing good lyrics. Of course, the song is rounded off with pitch shifted vocals and a stomp-clap beat.
The next song, Netflix Trip, had the potential to be a compelling song. The concept behind it is basically connecting all of the band’s big life moments to moments in The Office. I love The Office, so I really wanted to like this song. It is a good idea… However, rather than telling a cohesive story, Adam just throws out random references to The Office left and right that don’t form any real picture of his life. This song could have been so much better. It is followed by Bud Like You, which is like the messed up cousin of No Grass Today. It is a playful song about friendship that is so shallow and has no emotional power. AJR talks about “hating all the same things” and state, “while everybody is getting high, boy it’s good to know I got a bud like you.” The pun is bad but the instrumental is worse. The song starts with a bad acousting singalong sound but then has an even worse beat drop that leads into a terrible EDM beat. This song, like No Grass Today, is one of the worst of the worst.
Finally, we are at the end. Come Hang Out is the closing song on the album, and honestly, this is probably the best and most catchy one. But then I think, why am I listening to this when I can be listening to Jon Bellion? And being the catchiest song on the album does not come close to meaning Come Hang Out is good. It still has cringy lyrics like, “I skipped on prom for Elvis Duran in the morning,” and there is still no bass. The song finally ties the album up in a bow by repeating the opening lyric, “should I go for more clicks this year or should I follow the click in my ear?” After listening to this album, it is clear that AJR have gone for the former option. The Click is filled with commercial trends and is void of all substance and emotion. It’s just bad. Seriously, please listen to Jon Bellion.
