In a weird way, I think this was both an improvement on previous album Tickets To My Downfall AND somehow worse than its predecessor.

If nothing else, Mainstream Sellout shows that MGK is committing to the bit: this is an unashamed pop-punk album, and continues feature hip-hop stars in guest spots (Lil Wayne and Young Thug are probably the biggest names to show up here). And musically, I think this is a marked improvement on Tickets – the songs are a little more clever in their composition, still based around the sharp distortion and fast-paced drums that made Blink-182 so popular.

Lyrically, it is utterly banal. There is nothing profound here, and you’d be wasting your time to even hope there would be. But its hard to make that a knock on the album since it has never been MGK’s approach to lyricism. And it is a pop album, after all. Its not like the biggest names in the genre are singing about much more than falling in love, feeling sad and disillusioned, getting back at their ex.

I enjoyed this one. It isn’t the album of the year. But it is upbeat, it sounds like somebody having a good time, and it features a killer verse from Willow.

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CLTM (Chris Listens To Music) is my attempt to listen to a new album every day; you can follow my efforts on Instagram here (and send recommendations), and if you like what I’m doing, support my efforts by shouting me a cuppa at Buy Me A Coffee.