Beat logo

Live Reaction: Inhaler by Foals

Listening on: Phone, wired earphones, YouTube (link provided by requestor), and Spotify for subsequent listens. I’ve issued a challenge on Twitter called the #ShellyChallenge. Essentially, the gist of the challenge is that all I listen to is Machine Gun Kelly. This makes a lot of people mad (although it also makes a lot of my EST family very happy), so I thought, fine, challenge me. Give me your best shot to listen to something you love, and I’ll give it a fair shot and tell you what I think. In exchange, though, you have to let me recommend a Machine Gun Kelly song for you to listen to – and then you can just let me know what you think. It’s OK if you don’t like him, or his music – but I just ask you to listen with an open mind and to try to not having any pre-existing “social media” judgments about him; just listen with your heart – and it’s OK if it’s not for you. Turns out, so far most of the requests have been from MGK fans, but that’s OK, because they can let me know if the song I gave them seems like a good pairing for the song they gave me. So, if you are a Machine Gun Kelly fan – listen to them back to back and let me know if you think I did a good job. You can say that I didn’t – I don’t mind. This is more about exposing me to more music in exchange for other people listening to Machine Gun Kelly while I’m not. In addition, I’m going to write what I think as I listen to the song for the first time and then write out my thought process for why I made the MGK song choice that I did. That way, maybe other fans of the artist I’m checking out can check out MGK, too – I’ll figure out a way to post the person’s response from Twitter if at all possible! In the mean time – if you requested this, just picture yourself in the passenger seat of my car, windows down, sun roof open, the sun shining behind us as we fly down the highway (safely of course) jamming to your song. And then we’ll have a conversation. This is my side of that conversation. Don’t worry – I’m a very good driver. And if you didn't request it - listen to the song as you read along - you can ride along in the back seat - and see if you agree! The above paragraph will be in every live challenge reaction for the #ShellyChallenge. The reaction to Inhaler by Foals starts below:

By Shelly SladePublished 2 years ago 3 min read
Like
A challenge whereby either two open-minded people give a fair listen to a song they may not know and provide honest feedback, or one person (me) gives honest feedback and the other person either doesn't respond or isn't honest - but I'm hoping the first choice will be the vast majority.

I don’t know what to expect! Very kind of jazzy rhythmic introduction – longer instrumental opening than a lot of songs. Sorry, I paused and lost my train of thought when the lead singer started singing - instant connection to his voice startled me. I really like the slight echo on his voice and the tone of his voice. There’s a slight growl but it’s also a higher pitch . It’s cool. It’s heavier than I expected from the opening. Oh, I like the way it broke and changed tempos and rhythm (or are those the same thing? I don’t think so, although I think one is essential for the other maybe. Music experts can pitch in here. I love to learn).

I’m listening again because my phone jacked up and YouTube started playing a fingernail video. Whoops. Anyway, the introduction definitely made me think this was going to be softer, but I can hear the edginess in his voice. I am not following exactly what the lyrics are saying yet. I’d probably have to read them.

Listening for a third time. Does this song just cut off at the end maybe? Or maybe the video is broken. Anyway. Trying on Spotify this time. I’m definitely nodding along and really appreciating the flow of the melody. Moving my shoulders. When the guitars kick in, man, I love that. It sounds so great the way they just build up to another level and continue as he continues singing. Wow, that sounds very cool. And now it’s busting open – I can definitely see me listening to this in my car on a long drive. It puts me in mind of Radar Love by Golden Earring (I think) from the 1970s (I think) but I mean that in a very complimentary way – in terms of the same driving in the car kind of head banging vibe, it’s got a very rhythmic drive that just fits well with driving. Now the way it’s breaking down at the end – this is the first time I’ve heard the end since the video on YouTube was acting up and now it really reminds me of Radar Love – but a much more updated and funky version. Yes, I really do like this song. I’m going to put it on my playlist. I’m just vibing with my eyes closed at the end. I really like the longer intro/outro instrumentals. I don’t know anything about this band but I am interested to find out more, so thank you for recommending this song to me! I’m not going to evaluate the video because it’s too hard to look, listen and write – listening and writing is hard enough! This is a song I will need to listen to more to fully appreciate in terms of what the lyrics are saying, etc. But my first impression is very positive.

Now, for my recommendation for which MGK song. I was trying not to do the same song for different people, but I really want to recommend Rolling Stone from the Fuck It mixtape – the rhythm is different but it has also got the vibing rhythm, and then it has a fun outro so that’s my reasoning. I’m trying to think of a song I haven’t recommended just to give you some options since you’re a fan. And, my second pick (feel free to comment on either one – you don’t have to do both – I just like giving you options) – is can’t look back from TTMD Sold Out Deluxe. That’s just one of his heavier more recent songs and I just think it would fit if they were played back to back. I’ll test it out sometime! But definitely let me know what you think about one or both of these choices in relation to Inhaler. Again, I thank you for recommending it and I look forward to exploring more of their music over time. In addition to adding it to my ShellyGoodSongs playlist, this song will be on the Shelly Challenge - WINNERS playlist on Spotify. I’ll put the link in the Tweet with the link to this reaction. This is the first song on the WINNERS playlist! Congratulations!

#ShellyChallengeCompleted

song reviews
Like

About the Creator

Shelly Slade

Mother of two adult daughters, grandmother to Jackson, lover of music, especially Bruce Springsteen and Machine Gun Kelly. Avid concert-goer. Avid reader.

You can also find my work on Substack at: https://shellylovedealer.substack.com/

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.