Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are: "Just a Bird" by Blind Pilot:  It's been almost a decade since Blind Pilot last released something! Their latest song, "Just a Bird," is a bit more upbeat and a bit more roots-y/country flavored than most of their more subdued, dreamy folk-rock was in their previous songs. The song's upbeat sound is balanced well by its deep lyrics. "Just a Bird" is a soul-searching, truth-seeking song, though it's anyone's guess as to what the title phrase ("sometimes a bird is just a bird") means.  "Real Good Love" by Pete Yorn:  "Real Good Love" finds Pete Yorn drifting further away from folk-rock and more towards a pure folk sound. The song even seems to use alternate tuning in a similar manner to performers like Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake, though I haven't heard the song enough times yet to really tell if it uses that. "Real good love is so hard to find," Yorn smoothly whispers during the so...

 Green Day and blink-182 are BOTH back?! Say WHAT?! Not every day this happens (and I barely even like blink to begin with, but their latest song changes my opinion of them)!! The '90s are back, baby! Four other songs worth listening to here, too. Enjoy! "American Dream is Killing Me" by Green Day:  Green Day became the Clash of latter-day rock music with the release of American Idiot  in 2004, which expanded the formerly bratty punk-pop-rockers both lyrically and musically. "American Dream is Killing Me," the latest from the first '90s punk-pop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, continues where American Idiot left off. In addition to having a similar title to that album, the song also has similar themes with its dissatisfaction of the American government and politics. The song has a similar riff and rhythm to their '04 song, "Holiday" (which itself seemed to borrow heavily from The Clash's "London Calling,"...