We’ve all seen it. That is, Hillary Clinton‘s desperate and often embarrassing attempts to appeal to the youth voters of America.

It’s awkward, it’s cringe-worthy, and sometimes even borderline painful. Check out prime example number one, from Hillary’s Snapchat story:

If that wasn’t enough, here is prime example number two:

These social media outreaches are obviously pointed directly at millennial voters– after all, most folks above the age of 30 are befuddled by the quickly disappearing videos of Snapchat and “those tiny pictures the kids are using to send messages.” So, what’s the catch here? Why aren’t these focused appeals working on America’s youngsters?

Here are some reasons, Hilldawg.

My feelings towards the tremendous debt that I am going to be dragging behind me for potentially the next twenty years can’t be expressed with some little pictures. I don’t want to “chill” in Cedar Rapids with you; I want you to stop preaching justice for the middle class while taking millions of dollars from large corporations and banks on Wall Street to support your campaign.

There’s just something that Hillary doesn’t have that can be found in a few other candidates– integrity. It could potentially be this lack of integrity that turns the millennial voters away.

In our young lives full of photoshop, biased news, and backstabbing competition, something that we as millennials might value over anything else is the truth. Our generation is constantly searching for what’s right, what’s just, and what makes sense to us the most. Hillary represents the very opposite of this sought-after truth that many millennials are hoping to find in a presidential candidate.

Hillary stands for everything that we as young voters are against– she is the establishment, she supports the polarization of two party politics, and her campaign is one of the most carefully-orchestrated fronts in the world. Each move she makes is cautiously formulated — backed up by public polls and leagues of advisers. Her political opinions change with the times, and her main talking points shift more often than not to pander to the community she is visiting. How much of this is politics, and how much is desperation for the vote?

Many millennial voters are drawn to Hilldawg’s Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders. It’s easy to say that her shifting views look shady and shallow when compared to Sanders’.

Hillary has flip-flopped on the Iraq war, same-sex marriage, and immigration to just name a few issues. And while we can be glad that on some of these topics it seems like she’s come to her senses, how much is she actually an advocate for? If she is elected, how many polices will she actually work to enact?

Where Hillary’s important issue track record is sketchy at best, Bernie has been saying the same freaking thing for the last 30 years, or potentially even longer. Perhaps it is here, in this “democratic socialist” that millennial voters find the honesty and justice that we have all been searching for in the political system.

Disillusionment with American politics is running high, and Bernie Sanders represents a “political revolution.” In this dichotomy, Hillary is just the same old, same old.

Once again, it just comes down to the truth. Does Hillary tell it often? We don’t really have clue. Each word that she says is pre-fabricated and each tasteful pantsuit is probably picked out weeks before its appearance. Yes, she is a warrior of women, and of the impoverished, and of those who have been systematically oppressed, but it might just be a front. Or, it might not be.

So, who is the real Hillary? I guess that’s the problem– no one truly knows.

For more fun times, check out Hilldawg on Twitter.

Shut Up and Listen is a politically-based opinion column in which you, the reader, shut up and listen to what I have to say and then formulate opinions and come to your own conclusions. 

The post Shut Up and Listen: Why Hillary Can’t Catch My Millennial Vote appeared first on KRUI Radio.

As a debut album, Don’t You excels– Zutrau’s vocals are haunting and clear, each melody compliments the next, and each song acts as a moving part, yet can stand on its own. Don’t You demonstrates obvious thought towards blending and cohesion.

The record opens with “It’s All in Vain,” where we first get to experience the silky smooth vocals of Kelly Zutrau. After starting this track I was completely sold on everything Wet had to offer in this album. The song starts off with easy, flowing vocals, that move into a slightly more upbeat chorus. This song builds and builds until ending abruptly, but successfully with a final synth beat. “It’s All in Vain” is an excellent choice for an opening track.

“Deadwater” is the following number and carries the same easy vibes that “It’s All in Vain” brought to the album. It seems impossible that a person could become more obsessed with Zutrau’s voice after listening to the previous track, but I stand corrected. The astonishing female vocals are complemented nicely by male vocals near the height of the song, adding to the mellow tone of the track.

The third song on the album is entitled “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” and begins with a slightly quicker pace than the previous tracks. Zutrau sings “I don’t wanna be your girl no more, no,” and honestly, she has me convinced. I don’t wanna be whoever’s girl no more either. The ending of the track is a little off, but the flowing nature of the majority of the song makes up for this hiccup.

“Weak” shows up in the fourth slot on the record. This track gets a little angrier, which is a nice change of tone from the mellow, calm pieces that the album begins with. By no means does “Weak” get aggressive, but it seems a little more riled up, with a little more passion than what we’ve seen thus far.

“Island” is up next and has such an interesting opening sequence. Kelly Zutrau’s voice floats like a mother-freakin’ bird. There’s more experimentation with base here– it adds some depth to previously soprano- and alto-based melodies and harmonies. This track does get a bit repetitive towards the end, which takes away from the originality of the beginning.

The sixth track, “All the Ways,” feels similar in tone to “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” but with a picked-up tempo. The soothing vocals once again carry this track through moments of tension and peace. While “Island” did some tricky base stuff, “All the Ways” plays around with voice synthesizers– perhaps not the best technique to try out on an otherwise cohesive song.

“Small and Silver” is yet another experimentation track that messes with some syncopation near the center, this time successfully. The vocals and supporting instrumental chords are still on par, making this track a standard Don’t You example– complete, interwoven, and smooth.

“You’re the Best” is the eighth track on Don’t You, and one of the best. It opens with a really inventive clapping rhythm, mixed with some base variations. This song also plays with some a cappella, which is just plain cool in light of all the other things that are going on throughout the track. “You’re the Best” has some truly depressing/creepy(?) lyrics to go with all the intrigue: “All I know is/when you hold me/are you thinking Rosalie/or is she in me?/and all the rest.”

“Move Me” follows “You’re the Best” and is lackluster in comparison. Perhaps if the song had been placed elsewhere on the album, it might have shined, but with its similar vibe it feels like a repetition. This is not to mention that the lyrics themselves are very repetitive.

“Body” is the tenth track on Don’t You and can be marked as a tapering off from the succession of peppier songs we’ve just previously encountered. “Body” is almost reminiscent of the smooth, calming tracks we felt at the beginning of the record. It adds some of the experimental elements like clapping and varying base of the median tracks to Zutrau’s easy vocals in the opening section. It’s a relatively mediocre track, but successful in its own right.

“These Days” closes Don’t You and is such an incredibly mournful track. Kelly Zutrau absolutely shines once again here– she goes into an almost painfully high soprano, but it works so well because “These Days” is painfully sad. Sad, in a good way. Sad in a way that makes you want to have a really good cry and yell at whoever hurt her. It’s such a beautiful song to end the album on, and really rounds up all of the talent that Wet has shown throughout.

Wet has created a cohesive, interesting album with Don’t You. Each song holds its own territory, trying out new techniques and styles within, but also acts as a matching piece of a larger work of art.

What have we learned here? I think we’ve learned that Kelly Zutrau’s voice is magic. Also, we might have learned that we need to be looking out for the next album from Wet.

Check out Wet on Facebook and Twitter.

Album Rating: A

The post Album Review: “Don’t You” by Wet appeared first on KRUI Radio.