Review Summary: When you zig, I zag...I zigzag
When I first heard 'Church Outfit', I was very excited to see Poppy continuing down the path of dark, divergent pop. 2020's
I Disagree and 2021's
Flux were nothing novel in the grand scheme of things, but they nevertheless provided a breath of fresh air in a genre bogged down by far too many trend disciples and not nearly enough risk takers. Who doesn't want more pop artists who are willing to fuse their craft with metal and scream at the top of their lungs? Anyway, 'Church Outfit' seemed like a natural progression for the perpetually out of fucks artist, blurring her sound with a sinister industrial beat and more carefully selected screams. Unfortunately, things quickly derailed from there as
Zig continued its roll out of pre-release singles, each one less impressive than the one that preceded it.
Still, there was hope that the wildly unpredictable Poppy would have a few tricks up her sleeve. After all, songs as eclectic as 'Church Outfit', the Ariana Grande-esque 'Knockoff', and the sheer bubblegum pop of 'Motorbike' suggested that
Zig would, well, have a zag somewhere. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that there really isn't one to be found here. The majority of these songs toe the line between agreeable pop and anything that Poppy deems
just edgy enough, and often it comes at the sacrifice of anything resembling quality lyrics. The songs generally don't end up memorable enough to overcome their songwriting and lyrical obstacles, either: the string-underscored 'What It Becomes' aims for a slow-burning suspense that is never truly realized, 'Linger' comes across as basically 'Sick of the Sun' minus any of the melody or hooks, and 'Prove It' provides nothing in the way closure by espousing even more forgettable melodies/aimless percussive bursts that feel more like jump scares than anything with purposeful direction.
Even when
Zig carves out space in your brain, it's often in the worst way possible. The chorus of '1s + 0s' is low-key catchy, but it's marred by horrendous lyrics ("So many ones and zeroes...So many one, one, one, one, ones / Don't call me the onе, one, one, one, one") that when avoid repetition induce cringe instead ("Meet me in the only tense that is present"). The title track suffers a nearly identical fate, succumbing to the fatal flaw of a chorus that goes "when you zig, I zag, when you zig, I zag" ad nauseum. It's a tough pill to swallow considering that Poppy's
musical ideas and actual songwriting aren't all bad here. 'Flicker' drops some pretty gnarly beats, 'The Attic' swells to a gorgeous and well-earned cresendo, 'Church Outfit' is a proper banger through-and-through, and even the aforementioned 'Zig' captivates through its verses and the sheer energy of its synth/guitars/percussion. Unfortunately, all these moments feel wasted on an album so lacking in purpose or identity. These songs float around on their individual three-minute islands, and precious few are worth visiting if it means wading through all of the vapid space in between. In a strange way captured by
Zig's artwork, Poppy seems to be restrained here – as if something is holding her back from embracing her typically wild and unconventional whims. Next time, I hope she grabs that sword and cuts herself free of whatever led to this.
