New songs for August 25th, 2025

 here they are:


"Everybody Scream" by Florence and The Machine:  Your attention, please! For the first time ever on this music blog, the following review will be presented to you in...Scream-O-Vision! That means we prompt you when to scream! Ready? Let's try it! OK...Freakazoid references aside, this song IS a good one! If "Scream-O-Vision" actually worked for this song, it would probably happen every time Florence said the word "scream," or perhaps on any line here where she "sung-spoke," which she does during the chorus. Unusually dark for a FATM tune, "Everybody Scream" seems like it came out about a month too early, but for someone like Florence, I suppose it's not too early for Halloween! The song is a slow-building tune with a steady beat in B minor. The lyrics seem like they're celebrating Halloween while at the same time lamenting the loss of a former lover. Perhaps the most Halloween-y line, aside from the title, comes towards the end when Florence says, "So witchcraft, the medicine, the spells and the injections/The harvest, the needle, protect me from evil/The magic and the misery/Madness and the mystery/Oh, what has it done to me?" I think I know which song I'll have handy for the ghosts and ghouls THIS year! Muahahahaha!! 

"The Rope" by Wunderhorse:  This song almost plays out like an R.E.M.-style cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper." Not as farfetched as it may sound, considering Blue Oyster Cult were themselves influenced by The Byrds, just as R.E.M. typically are, on "...Reaper." Wunderhorse revive this vintage jangle-rock-with-attitude sound to great effect on their latest song, "The Rope." Comparisons of this song to mid- and late '70s rock acts ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Tom Petty to The Clash have run rampant in the comment section, with many championing how the song mixes yearning with gutsiness! Other less favorable comparisons suggest that "The Rope" sounds too much like Wunderhorse's previous single, "Midas." It DOES sound like that, given the A minor, F, G structure both songs use, but the gusto that Wunderhorse put into this song makes it stand out!