This week it seems that I'll be covering nothing but tracks that I think have very strong hooks. Earworm tracks if you will. I'm not sure if it's just a symptom of being single, lonely, and anguished that makes me more appreciative of music and more willing to write about it (rut, where you be?) but I'm pretty sure every song I'll be covering this week should get stuck in your head.

We're starting with what I think is the strongest riff-based hook out of the group. Battles' "Ice Cream" is just a deliciously weird song driven entirely by this insane keyboard riff (or is it a guitar? The magic of Battles is that you never fucking know for sure) that sounds like it's probably unplayable by humans. Hilarious enough if you were hoping that the music video would shed some light on how they play it, the keyboardist just smirks crazily, creepily open-mouthed at the camera while randomly slapping the pads. Maybe that is how it's played. Maybe I just don't know.

If the song wasn't already completely amazing, the video makes it more so. It's like a collection of everything cool in the world. The opening bits of kung fu, more of which is used later in the video. The strange visual opposites, like the incredibly awesome upside down heart glasses. There's plain-faced hot looking chicks throughout the entire video. Vocalist-producer Matias Aguayo's bounce and swagger matches his incredible mostly-gibberish vocal turning him into someone I want to be and not just enjoy watching. Hot women fainting! I bet if I was 13 I would totally try to masturbate to this video, but they gotta go and mess with it. There's so many hot women in the final shots, but you can never get a clear view of any of them! 13 year old me is squinting and pausing strategically.

The sections of chicks licking dirty everyday objects is kind of a turn off. But 13 year old me would just skip it.

The rest of the album is pretty good too, but I've been distracted by "Ice Cream". If you like Battles, I bet you'll like this album. If you sort of liked Battles before, you might like them more now, since there is more of the bounce and a bit more of the swagger on this album. It's like they took one step toward Holy Fuck in feel. Gary Numan guests on one track that sounds like it was inspired by The Dark Knight or something, very cinematic, kind of strange but also awesome. However, there is no earworm on the album quite like this one.

If I was to complain it's mainly that the song doesn't need to be four and a half minutes long. For the music video it makes more sense, but I think the album version could get away with being half a minute to a minute shorter. Good songs leave you wanting more. "Ice Cream" can make you feel a little tired of it before the end. Ideally the song should be a perpetual tease, making you want to play it again, haunting you with the memory of that delicious hook. Luckily for Battles, the hook is so strong here it doesn't matter if you're tired of it by the end of the song, you've got it stuck in your head forever.