Whatever you listen to is so cringe!

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Last year I fell back into a rabbit hole of comedy music. I sincerely think that a song that's both funny AND pleasant to listen to is a perfect mix. Only problem is, when came Spotify Wrapped season (or winter if you're a loser), my top 2 artists were Les Trois Accords and Ninja Sex Party. Cringe!
Even though I listened to those artists long enough that they became my favorites of the year accoding to statistics, I still chose to keep my musical review of the year private instead of sharing it with the world. What gives? I know for a fact I'm not the only one in this situation, so is there an explanation for these societal expectations? is there a cure? And most of all, can I just listen to Ninja Sex Party without being judged for it? Dear Zeus...

According to Dr Dean Burnett, neuroscientist and author of the book Emotional Ignorance: Lost and found in the science of emotion ;

[...] cringing is essentially a mechanism to deter us from behaving in ways that risk us losing status or gaining the negative judgement of others [...]

Basically, if monkey eat apple and not banana = monkey alone MAYBE, monkey not eat apple because monkey scared. How does this relate to music? Well, let's assume you're currently listening to a song that most people would say is terrible. Your brain, as a defense mechanism, is going to stop itself from liking this song by fear of being rejected by your social circle if you show any type of reaction that doesn't align with what others think. This kind of seems logical in theory, and works well enough when you're trying to find things in common with a small group of people to integrate yourself in the dynamic.

Problem is, in a media sphere when everything is built on hate, echochambers and separating people in categories built for comparison, it's becoming harder not to be cringe. Whatever you do, there's always gonna be some dingbat that disagrees and just has to let you know. After spending a good day reading reviews on Rate Your Music (kind of like Letterboxd for music nerds but without all the fun), a lot of albums i love have been classified as "cringe" for a plethora of reasons: too popular, too fringe, the artist is trying too much, the artist isn't trying enough, the instrumental is too cliché or too strange, the lyrics are soulless, take themselves too seriously or not seriously enough, or just because whoever is listening isn't identifying to the message and the values conveyed by the song/the album/the artist.

Unfortunately, this feeling that everything outside of our comfort zone is automaticaly cringey and shouldn't exist goes hand in hand with social media algorithms boosting extreme opinions, especialy when they're negative and/or create controversy, just because it gets more clicks, and gets users to engage.
The result? We're ashamed of liking certain artists. The joy of sharing a song we discovered has been swapped with the fear of having tastes that aren't accepted enough by our peers. For many people, choosing the soundtrack for a social gathering (choosing the music for a chilling for anyone who isn't a pretentious little fucker) becomes a real task that creates a sense of panic. And honestly? I'm starting to get fed up with being afraid of being cringe. So here are 5 songs I love, each falling into a category of songs considered cringey by some of my folks.

1. Country

Trampled by Turtles – Codeine

Honorable mention : The Dead South – In Hell I'll Be in Good Company
Alright, let's start by the most hated of all categories. Usually, when people say they don't like country, they're talking about corporate pop country that plays on the radio. To be fair, most songs people hate are the ones that play on the radio. However, in country's case, this disdain of the bad parts of the genre makes people block themselves completely from all the good country songs that exist in this world. Personally, I do love me some bluegrass, and I chose a song that represents what I like about the genre : guitars, banjo, some groove, men with damaged voices singing about interesting things, because when you don't stop yourself to whatever's playing on CHOM 97.7, you can find things that aren't just "beer trucks and white women".

2. Main character

Will Wood – The Main Character

Honorable mention : Pierre Lapointe - Au bar des suicidés
Ok let's make something very clear. I'm a theater kid. Shocking I know, who could have predicted this. All this to say that in my opinion, a song whose theatrical aspect is so exaggeratd that it almost becomes parody is 100% my jam. Plus, I love singing/lip syncing (mostly unconsciously), so a song that allows me to sing with all the melodrama that the performance artist in me dreams of? Umm yes please! I chose this song by Will Wood (for its name obviously), but anything off The Normal Album or Everything is a Lot is worth a listen if you like brass instruments that hit hard, weird voices, strange and complicated lyrics and jazz that was composed that clearly got bullied throughout their teenage years.

3. Cliché

Boywithuke – She Said No

Honorable mention : Faded Paper Figures – Not the End of the World (Even as We Know It)
You know what? It's okay to be cliché. There's no need to reinvent the wheel with each song. It's kind of like soup. You can make it as elaborate as you want, use flowers that only bloom during an equinox and serve it to me in a bowl made from a deer's antlers, and I'm probably gonna find it delicious! But you can also make me some chicken noodle soup, put it in the microwave and serve it in a cup that still has crust from the last soup on it and I'm probably gonna enjoy it just as much. What I'm trying to say is that clichés exist for a reason : It just works. So I took a kitsch breakup song, with a ukulele that plays classic chords with a capo and the voice of a teenager that just discovered the feeling of a first love. And Zeus damn it, I love this little song no matter how cheesy and overdone it may be.

4. Soulless

Sean Paul – Temperature

Honorable mention : Mixmania 2 – Chic Chick
Kind of in the same vein as the last one, but even more extreme. Sometimes, it's alright to write a song that says absolutely nothing of substance. Or to make a song just because you want a hit that moves every single ass on the planet. Is it artistically noble? Of course not. But if you tell me that there isn't a single Pitbull song that makes you groove a little, you're lying to yourself. It's not true that we create music just when we have something profound to say. And honestly, there are so many moments in life that need bland and uninteresting music. Could you imagine how sad the world would be if the grocery store radio was blasting Mount Eerie'sA Crow Looked At Me? The frozen goods section would be full of corpses. In any case, I say YES to groovy beats and lyrics no one cares about.

5. Irritating voice

Bright Eyes – Poison Oak

Honorable mention: The Matches – Salty Eyes
Ah, vocals. Truly the thing that makes or breaks a song, and one of the most important parts of a song in my opinion. However, I think any voice has the power to grow on you after a few listens. Let's take Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes' singer) as an example. On first listen, this was such a hard time to get through. He sounds like a teenager whose voice hasn't fully dropped in the middle of a nervous breakdown. His voice is in constant tremolo (something I hate with all my heart) and he sings only half of his notes, choosing to either speak or have voice cracks through the other ones. And yet, this is such a good album. It's touching, down-to-earth, and when you finally accept the rough edges of his voice, it adds so much realness to this experience. I've done a full 180° and I now love this gross little voice, it gives a special kind of charm to the album that wouldn't be there otherwise.

And with that, I've exposed the worst of my shame to whoever wants to read this. Honestly it's kind of liberating, and I realize while writing this that I'm proud of my music taste. But above all else, I'm proud of my abilitiy to sit my white ass down and listen to artists and genres that I find cringey at first, because in the end who fucking cares and no one can tell me what I can and can't listen to. Now if no one objects to it, I'm gonna go listen to Strawberries and Cream front-to-back once more. Kisses and hugs n stuff.

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