{"id":502,"date":"2025-03-25T18:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/frog-paints-a-loser-portrait-on-1000-variations-on-the-same-song\/"},"modified":"2025-03-25T18:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:00:24","slug":"frog-paints-a-loser-portrait-on-1000-variations-on-the-same-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/03\/25\/frog-paints-a-loser-portrait-on-1000-variations-on-the-same-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Frog paints a loser portrait on \u20181000 Variations on the Same Song\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Loser music isn\u2019t new. Dudes have been writing about being losers since biblical times. There\u2019s a pipeline from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew%205%3A3&amp;version=NIV\">Blessed are the poor in spirit<\/a>\u201d to \u201cI\u2019m a creep, I\u2019m a weirdo\u201d \u2014 and it\u2019s losers.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, we need an album that\u2019s about being a bit pathetic. We need some warm and fuzzy self-deprecation to keep us humble. And we can\u2019t just keep listening to Stephen Malkmus\u2019 entire discography. Enter NYC duo Frog\u2019s latest record: <em>1000 Variations on the Same Song.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The title of <em>1000 Variations <\/em>is an ironic yet brazen admission of insecurity \u2014 you have to listen to see if it\u2019s a cop-out or not. After all, you can\u2019t tell me that my album is derivative and unoriginal if I named it <em>Unoriginal Derivative Album<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The first track (and the only non-variation), \u201cSTILLWELL THEME,\u201d sums things up for us. Driven by a minimalist four-chord piano riff and vocalist Daniel Bateman\u2019s falsetto, it tells the story of an unemployed, shit-talking, alcoholic member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees doing an ad-read for a now-defunct furniture store on Long Island. The track ends with an audio clip from \u201cThe Wire,\u201d Marlo Stanfield repeating \u201cYou want it to be one way. But it\u2019s the other way.\u201d It\u2019s the sort of simple line that digs its dirty fingernail right into the thesis of <em>1000 Variations <\/em>\u2014 being stuck, inept and frustrated about it. So, basically, feeling like a loser.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Instrumentally, <em>1000 Variations <\/em>is minimalist. Contained to hearty drums, woody folk-ish guitars, some punchy piano and at one point a banjo (!),<em> <\/em>the star of the mix is Bateman\u2019s vocals and, by proxy, his storytelling. Oftentimes we hear a straining, layered falsetto in the foreground while a chorus of mini-Batemans croon and echo further back. His lyrics are assembled in a similar way, both slapdash and thoughtful.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the first listen, Bateman\u2019s narration is almost silly \u2014 I was reminded of the first time I played \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cAwyYUhdOgQ\">Cinco De Mayo Shit Show<\/a>\u201d by Marietta for my ex. She asked, about Evan Lescallette\u2019s poor singing, \u201cIs he, like, serious?\u201d Frog\u2019s answer is, \u201cWell, kind of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bateman\u2019s writing uses absurdity to deliver sour truths, and his uncanny falsetto is the only correct mode of transport. Take \u201cHOUSEBROKEN VAR. IV,\u201d where our drunken narrator is blatantly talking out of his ass to impress his uninterested date. In his slurring high-pitched twang, Bateman blathers, \u201cFucking up the track like my name J Dilla \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/34554591\/Frog-housebroken-var-iv\/Topped-michael-jackson-i-outsold-thriller-no-cap-just-facts-man-a-stone-cold-killer\">Topped Michael Jackson I outsold \u2018Thriller\u2019 \/ No cap, just facts man, a stone-cold kill\u0435r<\/a>,\u201d and it\u2019s downright funny<em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>He goes on nonsensically, until his final-line confession: \u201cIt sounded clever to regale her \u2019front of all her friends \/ But you looked over and she hadn\u2019t eaten anything.\u201d The track suddenly sobers, punctuated by one echoing guitar chord and ten seconds of self-loathing silence. You can picture this sweaty-foreheaded dude sitting in a stinky little bar, rambling on while his too-pretty date stares at the metaphorical clock on the wall behind him. Though I\u2019m biased \u2014 I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for losers \u2014 you can\u2019t help but feel bad for this bumbling idiot. He sucks, clearly, but he also knows that he sucks; you can\u2019t deny the quiet tragedy in that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In each of Frog\u2019s <em>1000 Variations<\/em>,<em> <\/em>at least one element harkens back to this sense of \u201closerhood\u201d that hasn\u2019t been so palpable since the Midwest emo revival of the mid-2010s. To give a brief highlight reel:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cBLAMING IT ALL ON THE LIFESTYLE VAR. V\u201d is a lament sung by a man blaming his poor behavior on a stereotypical rockstar lifestyle that he doesn\u2019t even have. Lines of sincere insecurity (\u201cIf I had the balls \/ I\u2019d marry you\u201d) are sandwiched between weird humble brags\u00a0 (\u201cGucci socks, Gucci sweater\u201d) painting a portrait of a guy whose only way of being is pretending. \u201cDID SANTA COME VAR. IX\u201d is the disgruntled-adult-coming-home-for-Christmas song we\u2019ve all been waiting for; our narrator hits his vape and asks his mom to carry him home in the same line, followed by the hopeful chorus refrain, \u201cDid Santa come?\u201d \u201cARTHUR MCBRIDE ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE VAR. X\u201d is an NYC twist on the Irish folk song in which the narrator and his cousin, the aforementioned Arthur, take a trip to Harlem to buy drugs and end up watching their dealer get run over by an Isuzu Van. While all of these concepts are inherently funny, Bateman\u2019s storytelling is so earnest that it becomes utterly believable. Herein lies the disgruntled charm of <em>1000 Variations.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While there\u2019s an abundance of loser music, most of it isn\u2019t done correctly. It makes us cringe, listening to some guy clumsily whine through a 40-minute album. The miracle of <em>1000 Variations <\/em>lies in its ability to broadcast fault without begging for sympathy. There\u2019s no character growth, just plain honesty, and sometimes that\u2019s all we need to hear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Long live losers!<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Arts Writer Siena Beres can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/music\/long-live-loser-music-frogs-1000-variations-on-the-same-song\/mailto:sberes@umich.edu\">sberes@umich.edu<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Loser music isn\u2019t new. Dudes have been writing about being losers since biblical times. There\u2019s a pipeline from \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit\u201d to \u201cI\u2019m a creep, I\u2019m a weirdo\u201d \u2014 and it\u2019s losers. Sometimes, we need an album that\u2019s about being a bit pathetic. We need some warm and fuzzy self-deprecation to keep [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[478,480,479,481,483,482],"class_list":{"0":"post-502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-frog","9":"tag-loser","10":"tag-paints","11":"tag-portrait","12":"tag-song","13":"tag-variations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}