Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 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 ...

 here they are: "Billboard Heart" by Deep Sea Diver:  The first (and so far, only) Deep Sea Diver song I knew about before this one was "Impossible Weight," which was largely a Sharon Van Etten song in addition to being a Deep Sea Diver one. "Billboard Heart" marks the first time I've heard Deep Sea Diver by themselves. Lead singer Jessica Dobson does have a similar voice and musical style to Sharon Van Etten, albeit more electronica-influenced in "Billboard Heart," while still maintaining an overall indie-pop/rock aesthetic. I'm not sure what Dobson means by the title, "Billboard Heart," (apparently her significant other has one, according to the song), but the rest of the song indicates that it has yearning lyrics, much like its yearning sound, centering around wanting things you can't have and the desire to be free. "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish:  Though less guitar-centric than Billie's previous eff...

 here they are: "Call Me (Whatever You Like)" by Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats:  Why wasn't this  the first single from Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats' newest album?! I mean "Heartless" wasn't a bad choice, but my fave Nathaniel songs are the ones where he lets out his inner soul man, and his latest song, "Call Me (Whatever You Like)," ranks among them! The song starts with a gritty, country-rock acoustic guitar strum before launching into a tune that imitates vintage soul music, complete with a kickin' horn section! This is definitely not the forlorn song "Heartless" was. There even a few choice swear words in this song to serve as a way for Nathaniel to tell us just how ticked off he feels! There's even an electric guitar solo in this song, a rarity for NRATNS!! If the title alone wasn't enough of an indicator that Nathaniel means business in this song, I dunno what is!  "Driver" by Soccer Mo...

 here they are: "Glory" by The Airborne Toxic Event:  It feels like I've waited over a decade for these guys to come out with something new again, and now they finally have! Was it worth the wait?! Absolutely!! Instead of trying to hop onto new-ish alt/indie trends like they did for their last couple of records, they have gotten back to the U2/Springsteen-ish sound of their original album! So much so that I thought I was legit listening to Springsteen when I first listened to this one (though it does contain a few choice words that Springsteen rarely, if ever, uses in his music). The vocals sound remarkably Bruce-esque, though, and the music does, too! At 5 and a half glorious minutes, "Glory" certainly lives up to its title! This song is a tidal wave of emotion just waiting to wash you over! "Happy" by Something Corporate (featuring Andrew McMahon):  An interesting collaboration here! I was never that thrilled with Andrew McMahon's work, and as fo...

 here they are: "Field of Vision" by King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard:  Rock and roll is not dead, it's just sleeping! There are still bands out there like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard who keep the spirit of classic rock alive into the modern age! Sounding like an amalgam of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and ZZ Top fused into a single song, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard's "Field of Vision" is an atypical entry into a format focused mostly on the calmer side of rock and alt, but once in a while, even soft rockers need their hard rock juice, and this song provides plenty of it! The lyrics don't seem to follow a specific narrative, and repeating the phrase "silly billy" at the end of the song doesn't exactly scream "talented songwriter," but who cares about that?! To paraphrase Jack Black's character in School of Rock , this music will test your head, your mind, and your brain, so sit back and enjoy the magic of ...