Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are!! "Archbishop Harold Holmes" by Jack White:  This is a song that encapsulates rock music of the '70s in so many ways! The main riff of the song resembles Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz," it sounds like a Led Zeppelin song in its overall presentation, and any number of other bands from the era could easily be compared to it! What sells this song, perhaps, even more than its music, is the hammy vocals Jack White pulls off on it! He sounds like a deranged preacher trying to sell what he believes in as passionately as he can to his audience! The title of the song also brings preachers to mind, so perhaps that's what Jack White was going for there! "Carousel Horses" by Christian Lee Hutson: Nothing says "indie" like Phoebe Bridgers and Maya Hawke guesting on your song, right?! Well, that's exactly what you should expect to hear on Christian Lee Hutson's "Carousel Horses," which starts out with a propulsive indie r...

 "Cool About It" by boygenius: boygenius' third song to gain attention this year, "Cool About It," is not only a lovely mellow folk-rock tune, but it's a powerful one! Through three verses, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker each discuss about the complications and suffering they've faced through relationships they've had. It is never made clear whether the relationships they've discussed have ended or if they're still going on, but it's clear that unlike what the title suggests, they are not "cool about" what they've had to go through. They each seem to have to live with someone who has been unfaithful, uncommitted, or otherwise putting them in less than ideal situations. The aching sadness of this song will really strike a chord with anyone who has not gotten what they've wanted out of a relationship. "Dancing With Your Shadows" by Phillip Phillips: Let's move on to something more upbeat, shall...

 here they are: "Amnesia" by M83: Techno-influenced indie-pop group, M83, has been responsible for one major hit so far in the ever-expanding alt-rock pantheon, and that song is "Midnight City," which starts off with a rather eerie synth before morphing into a catchy pop song. "Midnight City" was a bit too synth-y for me to get into at the time it came out, which was a little over a decade ago, but with "Amnesia," I feel a bit more ready to dive into M83's music. It is mostly synth-dominated, like "Midnight City" was, but "Amnesia" has a bit more guitar backing it up, earning the song more than a few comparisons so far to groups like New Order. "Amnesia"'s shimmery guitar line does bear more than a passing resemblance to Bernard Sumner's guitar work. The song's ability to switch between a standard-sounding C major song and its more exotic descent into E flat major during the chorus parts is another no...