New songs for March 31st, 2025

 here they are:


"Bang Bang Bang" by Sports Team:  There's a good reason this song sounds like a spaghetti western in the beginning! Fitting with its title, which consists entirely of gun-related onomatopoeia, "Bang Bang Bang" is not a song that celebrates fun (even though it's a very upbeat song), but rather one that condemns gun violence! The song is presented in such a way that it seems like a great one to play at parties, but much like "Pumped Up Kicks" before it, it's actually a song about shooting disguised as a fun pop/rock song. "Bang Bang Bang" came out of a real experience Sports Team had being robbed at gunpoint. Wowzer! I guess one way to get over your fears is to write a song about a fearful experience you had! Whatever works!

"Nothing I Need" by Lord Huron:  After the surprisingly neo-psychedelic and hard rocking sound of their last single, "Who Laughs Last?" it's refreshing to see Lord Huron turn back to indie-folk. I personally think it suits them better. "Nothing I Need" is a sweet and wistful song with a yearning sound driven by acoustic guitar. Make no mistake, though. There's still plenty of veiled anger beneath this song's sweet sound! The title, "Nothing I Need," is not one that suggests there's nothing else Ben Schneider needs besides peace, or anything like that. It's actually that Ben has "everything he wants and nothing he needs." In other words, things he wished for earlier in his life that ended up being a waste of time later on are what he's ended up with in his life. It's basically a song that laments bad karma (and bad relationships), but you'd never know that from listening to the music and not the lyrics!

"Picture Window" by Japanese Breakfast:  Japanese Breakfast's previous single, "Orlando in Love," was one of the loveliest songs I had heard in a long time, driven by acoustic guitar instead of the electronic instruments that Japanese Breakfast usually use! Their followup single, "Picture Window," ranks somewhere in between, using a vaguely country-rock influenced sound backed by electronic beats and synths. The titular phrase, "Picture Window," is only mentioned once, leading one to wonder why Michelle Zauner wanted to call her song this. The recurring phrase in the song is "All my ghosts are real." It's anyone's guess as to what she means by this, but it's hinted at, perhaps, midway through the song when she says, "Do you not conceive of my death at every minute while your life just passes you by?" Sounds to me like she wants her listeners to reflect on just how precious and fleeting life can be!

"Saturn" by Nick Phoenix:  This song has earned various comparisons to bands who combine alt-rock with prog-rock, including Muse, Radiohead, and Smashing Pumpkins. With "Saturn's" vaguely psychedelic, sprawling sound, it's not hard to see why! Even the title seems like something a prog-rock band would come up with! The song's lyrics are basically an adventure in outer space! The sweeping rock orchestration and illustrious chord changes really lure you in to want to explore outer space with Nick. David Bowie would have been so proud!