It's the last year of the 2010's!! Can you believe it?! Here are 6 songs to get us started on the right track. All are left over from 2018, though I'm sure by next week there will be a few that are brand new for this year. Here goes:
“Funny Business” by Alice Merton: “I don’t play cards, I don’t do funny business”, alt-pop sass queen Alice Merton proclaims in her latest song, “Funny Business”. You’d better believe she means it! Alice’s songs tend to be full of both cleverness and insults set to a sound that’s half alternative and half pop music, not unlike what Lily Allen was doing midway through the 2000’s. So far, it appears as though the last year of the 2010’s is gonna go out with a bang! But let’s see what else is in store for the first month of the new year…
“Hey Larocco” by Rayland Baxter: The normally folk-y Rayland Baxter surprised us all with his psych-pop tinged “Casanova” in late spring/early summer of last year. “Hey Larocco” marks a return to Rayland’s folk-rock roots, to the point of which it could be considered a “sequel song” to his breakthrough single, “Yellow Eyes”. It’s even in the same key as that one is. Unlike the wistful romanticism of “Yellow Eyes”, “Hey Larocco” is about a predicament that Rayland finds himself in trying to apologize to his friend, whose name is Larocco (a name as unusual as his own, might I add).
“Now That You’re Gone” – The Raconteurs: It’s been about a decade since we last heard from Jack White’s side project, The Raconteurs. So Jack, Brendan, and the gang have decided to treat us to not one, but TWO new songs within a single month! The first of these is “Now That You’re Gone”, the crunchier and blues-ier of the two tracks. The song has all the makings of a trademark Jack White tune, such as squealing guitars, husky vocals, and chunky power chords. Adding to the blues-rock vibe of the song are its lovelorn lyrics, pontificating on the loss of a love life repeatedly in just two short verses.
“Shelter” by Broken Bells: It’s been four years since The Shins’ James Mercer and record producer Brian Burton (better known as “Danger Mouse”) last released an album. “Shelter” has many of the things you might expect from a Broken Bells song. Indie-pop melodies combine with techno instrumentation (with the occasional guitar playing in the background). The song revolves around the uncertainty of falling in love. A far cry, lyrically, from the more optimistic sounding “The High Road”, but a good one nonetheless.
“Sunday Driver” by The Raconteurs: And now we come to The Raconteurs OTHER song for the decade’s final year. “Sunday Driver” is a bit slower paced and roots-y than “Now That You’re Gone”, but it is not without its fair share of excitement. This one also has some blues-y lyrics, but more in the vein of the “travelin’ down the road” variety than of the “my love has done me wrong” sort. Not sure whose decision it was to make The Racs have two songs on the adult alt charts simultaneously (things like that don’t usually happen), but I have a feeling it’s gonna pay off big time for ‘em!
“Traveling On” by The Decemberists: For those who were disappointed by “Severed” from last year around this month, “Traveling On” might just be your antidote! “Traveling On” contains no synths or post-punk influenced sounds, and is instead a return to the familiar for Decemberists fans: a bittersweet folk-rock song, like most of the material they’ve become known for. There’s also a somewhat roots-y vibe to “Traveling On” with its weary traveler centered lyrics. You could easily picture a “long and lonesome highway” in your head as you listen to this one!
