New songs for March 4th, 2024

 here they are:


"Broken Man" by St. Vincent:  Like many St. Vincent songs, "Broken Man" is an invigorating, original composition that pushes musical boundaries! The song's minimalist two-note structure is both fear-inducing and alluring, and the song does add more notes towards the end, but not by much. The title alone of "Broken Man" should give you a hint of how it sounds. The sound is a bit less like the two Davids (Bowie and Byrne) that typically inspire St. Vincent's material and is more reminiscent of people like Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, albeit in a way that's not nearly as aggressive as his material is. Highly worth listening to!

"Good Together" by Lake Street Dive:  Neo-soul/blues-rock outfit Lake Street Dive have now been together for 10 years! Can you believe it?! So what are they doing to celebrate their success?! Releasing one of their most upbeat, happy songs yet! It's rare for Lake Street Dive not to have a fun song in their catalog, but "Good Together" seems even more happy than most of their material already is! The song combines the Memphis soul-influenced sound the group typically go for with a synth beating at its center. If anyone is wondering who the song's soulful male vocalist is backing Rachael Price, it's Akie Bermiss, whose vocal style channels that of Al Green's, much like the song itself does!


"Mustang" by Kings of Leon:  Perhaps the most heavily anticipated song of the last two weeks, "Mustang" is one of the most fun songs KOL have released in a long time! The song brings back the blues-rock influence the group had early on in their career! "Mustang"'s upbeat, gritty sound seems more like a Black Keys song than a KOL one. As the song's title implies, "Mustang" is a song about the joys of being on the road. This song really brings back a much needed element to rock that I feel has been missing for a while - fun!!


"Where the Road Goes" by Old 97's:  Much like many of their alt-country contemporaries such as Wilco, The Jayhawks, and Blue Rodeo, R.E.M. were a huge influence on Old 97's, who have been around for almost 30 years now (the 97's, that is, not R.E.M. - R.E.M. have been around for longer)!! No surprise, then, that R.E.M.'s guitarist, Peter Buck, guest starred on the 97's latest song. Buck seems to be a fave among the recent indie folk boom (he was also a guest on The Decemberists' very R.E.M.-ish "Calamity Song"). Though "Where the Road Goes" is more prototypical alt-country than the jangle-folk-rock of The Decemberists, it is still great to hear one of my fave guitarists on the 97's latest track. The "Road" in the case of the song's title is actually a metaphor for the highs and lows of of their career (it could very well have been a literal road since that's a typical subject for a country-rock group to sing about). Where does the road go?! No one knows, but with the 97's sticking around as long as they have, it's probably going to continuing winding in their direction! 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Break from Blog Hiatus Part 1 - November 20th, 2024 songs left over from two weeks ago

 Hi everyone! I'm so sorry if I left anyone behind these past three weeks! I was going through a lot and I just didn't feel up to doing new music blogs during that time. Luckily, I took the time to heal myself emotionally, and I feel better now! That being said, I missed out on a lot of new music during those weeks, but I'm finally ready to catch up. So here goes: "Afterlife" by Sharon Van Etten:  One of the more synth-heavy Sharon Van Etten songs, "Afterlife" has a rather strange but alluring appeal. Ordinarly, SVE has a sound closer to folk-rock and indie, but in the past few years, she's gotten a bit more of a techno influence. Sharon's ethereal, cathartic nature remains in this song, though. In a time of uncertainty in the world at large, her sentiments on "Afterlife" speak volumes! The entire song centers around uncertainty, and specifically spiritual and supernatural uncertainty. Sharon's eerie yet buoyant vibes, both instrume...
Read more

New songs for September 30th, 2024

 here they are: "Alone" by The Cure:  One of the best-known and best-loved goth rock bands of all time have released their first single in nearly 15 years! And how does it hold up?! Its lonesome, spacey atmosphere does make "Alone" sound like a classic Cure song circa 1989. Much like "Pictures of You," there are no words in the first few minutes of "Alone," setting up the song's melancholy mood before the lyrics even start! Speaking of which, the lyrics are also classic Cure. Robert Smith drearily yet dreamily about how isolated he feels from the world. The lyrics are a hallmark of what The Cure were best known for in their heyday. If you need a song of hopelessness and despair that also feels like a warm hug in the cold snow, "Alone" is your song! "Audacious" by Franz Ferdinand:  "The Strokes go ska" is probably a good description for Franz Ferdinand's latest song, "Audacious"! The fuzz guitars of ...
Read more

New songs for April 28th, 2025

 here they are: "Coyote" by Mt. Joy:  Not to be confused for the mellow, ethereal Joni Mitchell song of the same name, Mt. Joy's "Coyote" is a more bass-heavy, blues-rock-y song than the folk-rock song it shares a name with! Mt. Joy are normally pretty folk-rock-y themselves, though they do occasionally slip into slight shades of psychedelia with tracks like "Sheep," "Evergreen," and "Lemon Tree." "Coyote" is probably the hardest-rocking Mt. Joy I've heard so far!! (Though "Evergreen" is a close second) Not sure who or what the titular animal represents in this song, but the song itself seems to be about the joy of attending rock festivals, or drug trips...or maybe both?! Never thought Mt. Joy would jump onto the rock and roll bandwagon this much, but I'm glad they have! "Deadstick" by King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard:  ...and speaking of psychedelic garage rock, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wi...
Read more