New songs for April 29th, 2024

 here they are:

"Evolve" by Phish:  The Grateful Dead's biggest piscine fans are back with a fun, upbeat, blissful song. "Evolve" is also one of the most poetic songs so far in the Phish catalog. It is a meditation about both nature and appreciating the little things in life. Phish have been around for over 30 years, and they still maintain an aura of wisdom about them. Perhaps there's some truth behind that whole "older and wiser" thing!

"Flowers" by Real Estate:  "Flowers" continues where Real Estate's previous single, "Water Underground," left off. They're both songs in the key of A major capoed at the 2nd fret with a blissfully jangly sound. Not a whole lot of difference between the two songs, which is unusual for a Real Estate song, since most of their material is distinguishable from one another. Supposedly, this song is the band's attempt at doing a country-pop song in the manner of musicians like Shania Twain (My first celeb crush! Haha). Did they succeed? Well, kind of. This is still the same kind of spacey folk-rock that Real Estate normally does, but the song's use of acoustic guitar as backing instrument does lend itself to country influence. Hardly in the Twain-ian way, though, and more like something off of a latter-day Byrds album.

"Gaslight" by Travis:  When I think of Travis' music, they're basically like a gloomier Scottish version of Coldplay. Their latest song, "Gaslight," defies the expectations I normally have for Travis. The song comes off more like an upbeat Elton John or Ben Folds tune! As if that was enough of a subversive move for Travis, the song's true meaning is not at all what you'd expect from such a happy tune! As its title implies, "Gaslight" is about...well...people who gaslight you. It's about the feeling you get when people gaslight you, more specifically, almost like a mind control sorta thing. The song's screechy yet fun guitar solo seems even more out of place with Travis' typical material, but after 10 albums, they probably wanted to try something new, and it works here!

"Starburster" by Fontaines D.C.: A static, electro-pop song that vacillates between D major and D sharp major almost throughout, "Starburster," the latest song from Fontaines D.C., is a paranoid yet perky piece of pop-y post-post-punk. The song's claustrophobic vibe is not without reason either, as it came from lead singer Grian Chatten's experiences having a panic attack at a British train station. From there, the fear implicit within the song continues to take hold and doesn't let go until momentarily during its suspended, percussion-less F major bridge. During the last minute, though, the grip of fear comes back and stays 'til the end!

"Talk is Cheap" by Dr. Dog:  "Talk is Cheap" is not that unusual, music-wise, for Dr. Dog. It's a buoyant, somewhat quirky slice of post-psychedelic pop/rock like they usually do. However, it is notable in terms of its subject matter. Apparently, it's the closest Dr. Dog have come to a love song! The song is about the lead singer's wife. I do know a lot of Dr. Dog songs at this point in my life, but a lot of them (if any) haven't been love songs! The lyrics to their music are often a bit abstract, and this song is no exception, so it's interesting to hear their take on what they view a love song as!

"Wreckage" by Pearl Jam:  After the ramshackle, gut-punching feeling of "Dark Matter" from earlier this year, I think a lot of Pearl Jam fans needed a sigh of relief afterwards, and we got one with the forlorn combo of country-rock and jangle-pop that is "Wreckage"! One of the more poignant PJ songs, "Wreckage" almost seems like the aftermath of "Dark Matter." Where "Dark Matter" was an urgent warning of things that could go wrong in the world, "Wreckage" is more of an acknowledgement that the world is already in dire straits (no, not the band Dire Straits) and that there might not be anything we can do to change it. "Dark Matter" was denial and anger, but "Wreckage" is grief and the eventual acceptance we all need to come to terms with whenever we face a bad situation. A bittersweet reminder to all of the world we've likely left behind for future generations to deal with!