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...

 here they are: "God's Lonely Man" by Anna Calvi (featuring Iggy Pop):  As one might expect from a song that features the Godfather of Punk, there's a charging, swaggering vibe in this song! Even the opening drum riff sounds like "Howlin' for You" by The Black Keys (which itself apes the drum riff of "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter). Iggy actually opens this song! Anna only joins in later. This is not the Iggy of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" or "Lust for Life," though. The song instead seems to take on more of a post-punk flavor (I could easily see this song being done by a group like Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Metric), but it still has this streetwise strut that's unmistakably Iggy! He's one old dog that CAN learn new tricks, and he really does so in this song! "Hold On (Hourglass)" by Devon Gilfillian:  Is "country-soul" a thing?! If so, Devon Gilfillian pulls it off pretty well here! His latest song, ...

 Here they are: "Are You Gonna Run?" by Low Cut Connie: What little I've known so far from Low Cut Connie has been jazzy, soulful, and energetic. "Are You Gonna Run?" slows things down a little bit. There are blues-y guitar hooks in the song, but they don't take center stage. Instead, the piano and vocals take the front seat, and there's a reason for this. LCC's lead singer, Adam Weiner, was heavily affected by the death of Ronnie Spector, lead singer for the early 1960's girl group, The Ronettes. The Ronettes' front woman was highly innovative not just for pop and R & B, but even for alternative rock (The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey," for instance, imitates the opening percussion riff for The Ronettes' "Be My Baby"), so it's no wonder Adam was compelled to write a song in her honor. The song's sweet yet sensual vibe would have fit perfectly for The Ronettes! "Looking for Love" by ...