Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are: "Angoon" by Portugal. The Man:  I don't know who or what "Angoon" is, but this piece is the angriest one I've heard yet from the normally calmer PTM!! Even reading the lyrics, I could tell it was a tense song. It uses a Pixies-ish method of swinging between calm verses and angry choruses, but the ire in this song is present throughout. With such dark lyrics as "when you dance with the devil, all I see I defend, no surrender in the shadow of drones," "No ICE no borders enforcer, no owners, no new world order," and "I'll be burning in water while we're drowning in fire," this is PTM at their most apocalyptic! Hard to believe these were the same guys who did "Feel it Still." The song's piercing guitar solo and eerie synth drone in the middle make it clear that John Gourley and co are not going to give up without a fight!! And the ending lyrics where John repeats the phrase, "Feeling that I...

 "Fool's Gold" by Buffalo Traffic Jam:  By now, a song like this might be considered a throwback song! A Mumford and Sons-ish galloping rhythm, a bluegrass-y vibe similar to Trampled by Turtles, and a voice like the lead singer of Caamp all combine into one bluegrass-rock tune on "Fool's Gold" by Buffalo Traffic Jam! The titular "fool's gold" seems to be numbing ways of distracting oneself from the difficulties of life, such as drugs. In other words, things like that are just a crutch. They may seem like "gold," but they're really just another way of saying "I'm OK" when you're really not. This song is like an Americanized Mumford and Sons going through a revelation that nothing in life is as it seems! "In Your Ocean" by Iron & Wine:  The sublime, alternately tuned folk-rock sound on IAW's latest song, "In Your Ocean," makes it sound like it was an outtake from an earlier album they di...

 here they are: "Arrow" by The Head and The Heart:  Although the sound of this song suggests the more synthetic (yet still authentically bittersweet) sound that The Head and The Heart went for on their later albums, the lyrics of their latest song, "Arrow," are sweet and sincere enough to win me back into their fanbase (not that I ever left it, but I digress...) For a group who have been around almost 15 years (believe it or not), there were bound to be bumps along the way for The Head and The Heart, but somehow, they've managed to muddle through, and that's what "Arrow" seems to be about. That is to say, it's about the band trying to find a clear sense of direction in an ever more confusing world of music and media. When Josiah Johnson sings he is "(his) own arrow," he means that he thinks he'll be the one to guide himself in a better direction in life. "Crying in the Night" by Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham:  Andre...

 here they are: "Baby Blue Movie" by Cigarettes After Sex:  A song like this one really emphasizes the "sex" part of "Cigarettes After Sex"! What, you may ask, is a "baby blue movie," and what does it have to do with sex? A "blue movie" is slang for...well...one of those kinds of movies. So a "baby" version would simply be a softer version, but still one where the intent is to produce lewd, lascivious, lustful, lurid longings in lads and ladies. The sweet, buoyant music goes right along with that theme...ummm...kind of. What I'd actually expect is more "wah-wah" sax-laden funk music, but I suppose something of a sweeter nature can also go along with it. CAS also make us wonder, just what is this "always4tuesdays" that Greg Gonzalez refers to in the song? As it turns out, that has varying definitions! The version Greg probably meant is the one that refers to someone viewed as the most beautiful person in...