New songs for February 3rd 2025

 here they are:


"Give it Time" by Goose:  Post-millennial jam band, Goose, had a surprise hit on adult alt radio two years ago with "Hungersite"! It's a miracle when a song that's nearly 7 minutes long gets that much attention, and it's about to happen again with Goose's latest, "Give it Time." The song has a similar aesthetic to "Hungersite," although it's not as fast as that one was. The song seems to mostly have a contemporary soft rock sound with its true guitar playing chops hidden underneath. The guitar playing starts to shine through at around the 3-minute mark. Coincidentally, this is also when the song starts to speed up! Goose are truly something else! They're sort of like if a group like The Fray somehow became prog-rock! Unlike "Hungersite," which became a bit of a meandering jam band song after the 5-minute mark, "Give it Time" remains both vocally and instrumentally appealing throughout its nearly 7 minutes!

"Here We Go Crazy" by Bob Mould:  Husker Du's Bob Mould has inspired many '90s alt-rock groups, many of whom eclipsed Husker Du in popularity. One such group was Foo Fighters. Nowhere has Bob himself sounded more Foo-ish than on his latest effort, "Here We Go Crazy"! Echoes of FF songs like "My Hero" and "Walking After You" are evident in this song, though it is not as heavy as the former or as soft as the latter. I'm not exactly sure what "Here We Go Crazy" is supposed to mean as a lyric and song title, but the song overall is an anthemic, poetic masterpiece that Bob urges us to "feel in our souls"!

"I Want You (Fever)" by Momma:  As you might expect from a group called "Momma," most members of this band are female. But this is probably not your "momma"'s music as much as it is your hip older sister's. Echoing the crunchy, grungy sound of many female-led '90s alt-rock groups such as Garbage, The Breeders, and Hole, Momma are as defiant as they are melodic! Their breakthrough song, "I Want You (Fever)" seems to be about wanting a relationship you can't quite have. Highly recommended to anyone who liked the "riot grrl" movement!

"It's a Mirror" by Perfume Genius:  With the only other song I know from Perfume Genius so far being their funky, disco-y "On the Floor," I was surprised to hear what I heard in their latest song, "It's a Mirror"! "It's a Mirror" is equal parts folk-rock, psychedelic rock, and even slight hints of post-grunge. Though Mike Hadreas never makes it clear what "it" is in the title of the song, there's something deliciously angst-y about this track that makes me think that whatever this "mirror" is that he's describing, there's a good chance it's a strange metaphor for dissatisfaction with life! 

"Lonesome Drifter" by Charley Crockett:  Though I typically prefer Crockett's forays into blues and soul than I do his straight-up country songs, "Lonesome Drifter" is an exception, maybe because it's one of those rare songs that is both blues-y AND country! The song even has a soulful backing band like the one he had in "I'm Just a Clown" and "Trinity River." Is "Lonesome Drifter" a juicy country-rock song that makes you wanna dance, or is it a soul song with outlaw country vibes?! It's both! And that's what makes this song such a unique listen! Even the title of "Lonesome Drifter" gives off Johnny Cash vibes. Charley Crockett manages to really make us think in this song, not just with the music, but with the lyrical themes as well! Is he proud to be a "lonesome drifter," or is he a brooding loner who wants more out of life than he's getting? The world may never know!

"People of Substance" by Craig Finn:  This song seems to be a who's who of indie-folk and alt-country! In addition to the Hold Steady frontman singing this song, The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel produced it, and alt-country-rocker Kathleen Edwards provides backing vocals on it! "People of Substance" is definitely Granduciel material with its neo-Springsteen/U2-ish sound, but it's not near as synth-y as most of his stuff is. The title of this song, "People of Substance," is also somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as Craig talks about people without substance during the song's chorus. We don't know who "Dana" is that Craig is addressing in the song, but given how many words start with the letter "D" in the four opening lines (a total of 7), it's probably just an excuse for him to be amazing awesomely astonishingly artistically alliterative. (For all we know, though, there could be a real Dana that Craig knows). 

"Say I Love You" by Anderson East:  Much like Charley Crockett, whom I reviewed earlier in this week's list, Anderson East is a musician who walks the line between country and soul and is usually best when he does soul music. "Say I Love You" fits into the latter category, and it has both a strong soulful backbeat and juicy guitar riffs to top its sweetly sublime soulful sound! Just in time for Valentine's Day, Anderson makes a bold declaration of love guaranteed both to melt hearts and inspire lovemaking sessions! The horns towards the end of the song just wrap this song's lovely present of perfection into a neat little bow!

"Who Laughs Last" by Lord Huron (featuring Kristen Stewart):  Yes. This song features THAT Kristen Stewart. The one who gained fame by playing Twilight's Bella. But I don't think that's how Kristen would like to be remembered. She'd probably prefer to be remembered as the actress who portrayed Joan Jett, or the one who was in the lighthearted indie flick, Adventureland. It is Kristen who starts this song off, too, with spoken word vocals, almost to give this song brooding, poetic vibes akin to Patti Smith, although the song itself sounds a bit more like Garbage...if they were in some sort of spy movie! I know, sounds weird, doesn't it?! But it's cooler than it seems from written description! This is probably the most psychedelic and hard-rocking I've heard the normally calm, atmospheric, folk-rock-y Lord Huron, and Kristen Stewart is not the first non-music person I'd think of to associate their music with, but it works here!