What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (2020) - Album Review

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Dominic Fike

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

It is my mission to review albums from artists I’ve heard of, but never truly listened to. I thought about who I wanted my first album review to be. It was supposed to be Jamestown Revival’s time to shine as they have one of my favorite tracks ever made, “Who Hung the Moon?”, but after listening to the LP Young Man, I was merely disappointed. I scratched that review and didn’t put thought into anything music-review-related. My sister started to mention Euphoria quite often, so I decided to give it a watch. If I can’t do drugs, might as well watch a drama show about it. Before you ask, yes I binged watch 13 episodes in a span of 4 days. I don’t regret it.

After completing season 2 of Euphoria, Dominic Fike’s Elliot seemed to have a talent for guitar and “selling loops to buy drugs”. Well, turns out he’s a real musician. Then it hit me. He should be my first artist to review. In my first introduction of Fike’s artistry, I decided to take a listen to his debut album, “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” and it is a testament to the things that “could possibly go wrong.” I am a funny guy, I promise.

The first few tracks caught me by surprise. With the intro track, “Come Here”, Fike provides a punk sound that isn’t very convincing. Flirting with a 90’s indie sound, “Double Negative (Skeleton Milkshake)” is a vibe track that doesn’t take its lyrics too seriously. “Cancel Me” shows Fike’s rap skills, letting the listener know to not underestimate him. Noted, Dominic.

Right off the bat, I could connect Dominic Fike’s sound to the versatile Frank Ocean. Harmonies were prominent in this record and Dominic definitely has a talent for them. “10x Stronger,” the album’s interlude, has a coat of vocal layers and “Wurli” is carried by Dominic’s “oohs”. Another one of Fike’s influences seems to be the trendsetter Kanye West. “Joe Blazey” includes a voice note and a rap flow that sounds like West’s 2018 “ye.”

R&B is not dead, it’s just turning into something different. Tracks like “Good Game” flirt with instruments like an electric guitar, cymbals, and piano melodies that take me back to the Doo-wop era. “Vampire” is another track with a mesmerizing guitar, but falls a bit flat with the cheap instrumental. “Superstar Sh*t” is an effort towards lofi and he pulls it off. If I smoked, it’d want to smoke to this song. Someone pass the bong. Is that what people say?

Throughout the album, Fike fights to let the listener know he doesn’t know who he is. Not knowing who you are is the most relatable thing someone can experience. “Good Game” makes a bold statement that Fike doesn’t want to be like his father. In “Florida”, he states he is still the same as he was years ago. Although it’s a great effort at closing out the album, the track itself doesn’t do much.

Just because one has an identity crisis does not mean life should be taken too seriously. “Why” and “Chicken Tenders” had all the interesting elements a song should have. A catchy beat, a great message, that Fike songwriting. But somehow, both felt flat. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good songs and have a replay value; as the “starred” tracks, they didn’t do much for me.

I’m guessing Dominic was hungry writing this album with “Whats For Dinner?” … but it works. I don’t know if it’s your basic alternative track, but I was actually left wanting more. And that’s a huge compliment. That guitar at the end scratched the back of my brain gracefully.

Look no further, the star of the album is 100% “Politics and Violence”. It’s the song that brought me back to this album and made me like it even more. The first part of this track is ear-worming, but the second part is nostalgic. This is the track to play on a road trip with all your friends.

Let’s do it soon?

Full Ranking:

1. Politics and Violence

2. Good Game

3. Whats For Dinner?

4. Superstar Sh*t

5. 10x Stronger

6. Joe Blazey

7. Chicken Tenders

8. Vampire

9. Why

10. Florida

11. Wurli

12. Double Negative (Skeleton Milkshake)

13. Cancel Me

14. Come Here