Honestly the reason you will immediately like Mars Argo way better than Poppy is because the entire Poppy project is hollow and disingenuous. It’s tryhard pseudo-deep garbage that centers itself around a problem (teen idols manufactured by committee) without actually saying ANYTHING.
Sinclair is so caught up with his own mythos and “genius” that he and Moriah don’t feel the need to even explore the larger implications of the false picture perfect Hollywood ideals. And how long can you pretend to be something without actually just becoming it? Their music isn’t even sardonic. Its just empty pop music. There isn’t a message there. They are making money (from teenagers no less) off of this recycled bubblegum pop. What makes them any different from the artists they are so clearly trying to criticize?
The Mars Argo project had something to say. Her songs sound bright and fun but the lyrics hit you like bricks. You can tell the content above all else was based in creativity. It didn’t carry that bad energy that Poppy does. You know the vibe I’m talking about. Somehow trying so hard to be impressive and confounding while also insisting that they don’t care if you understand, because if you don’t you’re just stupid or lame. There’s such an arrogant L.A. energy to it, like they don’t recognize the fact that those “dull minded” Midwesterners are the ones who are buying their merch and showing up to their concerts.
Mars Argo also has a distinct female touch to it, that is clearly missing in Poppy. Britanny’s music seems to be a response to growing up with manufactured teen idols. What will a girl become when she watched plastic people on T.V. for her entire youth? You can feel her melancholy in the lyrics, you can sense her intense desire to salvage some humanity for herself in a world of “dumb pop stars” and empty beauty.
Poppy on the other hand is entirely Sinclair’s commentary on this subject matter. On the surface it seems female. He uses pastels, dresses his willing doll in funky garb, and does all he can to keep the kawaii aesthetic in place. But he has nothing to say and it shows through every single lyric and repeated nonsense line in Poppy videos. He wants so badly to chime in that he never considered the fact that this subject matter doesn’t affect him, he’s just clogging the airwaves.
At the end of the day Poppy was made to mock the very kind of people who now support Sinclair’s and Moriah’s ‘art.’ Whereas Mars Argo was made to call out to others who felt the same way, a sarcastic conversation between friends about a subject that scares the shit out of you both.
