New songs for April 3rd, 2013

here they are:


"If I Loved You" by Delta Rae and Lindsey Buckingham: As was once said in the title of a Fleetwood Mac song, "Heroes Are Hard to Find". For contemporary folk-rock group, Delta Rae, the opposite is true, their hero was easy to find, and he just happened to be a Fleetwood Mac member as well! Delta Rae's second big song, "If I Loved You", lacks the Adele-meets-Odetta-ish intensity and depth of "Bottom of the River", but it is still worth listening to nonetheless. It is a much lighter affair than that, musically, and lyrically, it seems like an in-and-out-of-love song, in contrast to the hymn-gone-dark vibe of "Bottom of the River". "If I Loved You" could be easily dismissed as a light, fluffy song in Delta Rae's catalog, but I don't want to make judgments too soon on this one (after all, this is only the second song I've come to know by Delta Rae).


"If So" by Atlas Genius: It was only late spring/early summer of last year that Atlas Genius started making waves with their song, "Trojans", which was equal parts folk-rock and new wave. That being said, I'm surprised that their second major effort, "If So", is from an entirely different album of theirs that was only released about a month ago! Time sure does fly, doesn't it?! Anyway, "If So" is more a push towards new wave than folk-rock for Atlas Genius. There is not even a hint of strummed acoustic guitars in the background for "If So", but it still manages to have the catchy factor that "Trojans" did (in fact, it seems like the two songs could be in competition with each other at the moment!) With its thumping bass, high hat percussion, central synth sound, and pulsating, funky guitars, it's probably quite surprising to realize that, if you listen closely enough to the lyrics of "If So", that it's about the perks of being a nightclub "wallflower", as opposed to being nightclub superstars!


"Red Hands" by Walk Off the Earth: So, do the people behind the infamous YouTube cover of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" that featured five people playing one guitar (sometimes simultaneously) have what it takes to make good music of their own?! Well, honestly, I'm still trying to figure out if they do! Their first major original effort, "Red Hands", somehow manages to sound as fresh as it does generic! On one hand, the song attempts to be an alt-pop song centered around acoustic guitar, which I normally can't go wrong with, but on the other hand, both the instruments and the vocals of this song sound so studio produced that they seem like the audio equivalent of a typical fast food restaurant. The song never makes any significant deviations from its F, C, A minor, G chord progression either, which makes me wonder if Walk Off the Earth even planned this song to sound original, or if it was just a desperate attempt to win more fans than they already had. Perhaps this is one band that is better at covers than they are at originals. Not bad for a first try, though.


"Rumble And Sway" by Jamie N Commons: If you put the catchy, jazzy, retro rock of Brian Setzer, the world-weary country/blues-rock of John Hiatt, and the ghostly, haunting vibe of some of the darker Tom Waits songs, you'd probably have a good idea of how adult alt newcomer Jamie N Commons sounds! In a sultry, steamy melting pot of jazz, blues, country, and rock, Commons really knows how to make his song, "Rumble And Sway", live up to its name! It both sizzles and swivels, much like its title suggests it would! It seems like the kind of song that would probably be played during a bar scene in a movie or TV show, though it would work equally well as a fight song or an initial romance song. Some mean sax playin' on this song, too!


"Unpromised Land" by Bob Schneider: A hard rocking Bob Schneider song?! Sounds unlikely, coming from the guy who did such sentimental indie-pop songs like "40 Dogs (Like Romeo And Juliet)" and "Let the Light In". Well, it's not exactly "hard rock", but for Schneider, it's the closest he's gotten! He even swears twice in the second verse of the song, and not exactly with "light" swears either ("They can f**k right off", he angrily sings in one line - wow, Bob...just, wow!! How atypical of you!) This song, for Bob Schneider, is like what the crunchy, indie-hard-rock of "Hands Open" was for Snow Patrol. Perhaps deep down inside, though, what Bob Schneider wants is a bigger audience. An artist needs to experiment and take chances, right?! The beginning of this song sounds like it wants to be an Everclear song, but goes into more Wallflowers-ish territory with the roots-y organs added into the song later on. "Father of Mine" meets "One Headlight"?! Sounds like a weird combination at first, but it manages to work here. Also, can't go wrong with "Unpromised Land"'s '90s rock influenced sound!!


"Your Life, Your Call" by Junip: One might not expect a song from a band led by a man who was influenced by the stark, acoustic guitar based sound of musicians like Elliott Smith and Nick Drake to have a techno sound starting it off, but perhaps many aren't aware that post-punk musicians, Joy Division, are just as admired by Jose Gonzalez as Nick and Elliott are. In fact, two of Jose's best-known songs, "Heartbeats" and "Crosses", have techno connections; the former was a cover of a song by techno group, The Knife, and the latter was made into a "trip-hop" song shortly after its release. Jose even does a fine cover of Joy Division's most famous song, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (albeit with acoustic guitar only, and no electronic instruments, for his version). Anyway, Jose's love of techno and his love of folk music merge into one on his latest song with Junip, "Your Life, Your Call". Despite the clear use of synthesizers on "Your Life, Your Call", it still manages to be as soothing as most of Jose's material tends to be. Even the dry, detached manner in which he sings the chorus of the song ("It's your life, your call, stand up and enjoy your fall"), is closer to Ian Curtis than it is Nick Drake. Though I much prefer Jose's folk-ier side, his techno-pop side isn't that bad either.

new songs for Apr. 6th, 2011

here they are:

"Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event: It's funny that this song has been around since February of this year, yet it's taken adult alt stations until now to add this into their playlists. Well, better late than never. Or is it? "Changing" is not a bad song, but somehow something feels lacking in it in comparison to songs from their debut from three years ago like the Springsteen-esque "Wishing Well" and the U2-ish alt-rock epic "Sometime Around Midnight". "Changing" just seems more...well...ordinary. Even the chorus seems to suggest an ordinariness about it ("You always want to talk about changing, changing/Well guess what I am the same man, same man", a bad choice in rhyming, but the catchiness of the song, and perhaps the rest of it, compensates for this). "Changing" is an apt title for this song, but perhaps not for the better. At least it has a memorable hook, and for some reason I like it (perhaps because it's an Airborne Toxic Event song), so I would think that would count for something.

"In Every Direction" by Junip: Swedish indie-folk sensation Jose Gonzalez (yes, he IS Swedish, despite how his name sounds) continues to have success with a full band in this song. Like their previous "hit", "Always", "In Every Direction" is written in D minor. Despite its similarity to "Always", "In Every Direction" is distinguishable from that song because it is slower, and also Jose's backing band seems to have more importance in this song than they did in "Always", particularly the rather forceful, dynamic organ section. As an aside, I have no idea what this "magic feather" Jose keeps referring to in the song is, but it's probably the lyric in "In Every Direction" that stands out the most to me!

"Just Fine" by G. Love: After G. Love's previous success in the acoustic-blues-y, fiery "Fixin' to Die", my faith in his musical ability and talent have been somewhat renewed. "Just Fine" only continues to prove this, perhaps even more so, with its mellow but somewhat spicy sound, suggesting something between the "softer" material of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Blues Traveler song "Hook". I especially like how "Just Fine" mixes acoustic and electric guitar sounds, only to come out with a gritty, sublime sound as a result. Despite the optimistic sounding title, "Just Fine" does seem to have somewhat angst-ridden lyrics, with the chorus hinting more at a "life sucks, but I'm doing just fine" kind of attitude than a "everything is just fine, and I like it" sort of vibe. For G. Love, who seemed to take a musical dive in 2008 with songs like the lightweight "Peace, Love, and Happiness" and his even MORE mellow-minus-the-substance song "Beautiful", which he did with folk-pop musician Tristan Prettyman, the angst of "Just Fine", combined with its juicy flavor, is a GOOD thing!

"Options" by Gomez: Is it just me, or have the members of Gomez suddenly taken such a liking to Spoon's "The Underdog" that they wanted to make their own version of it?! This is basically what "Options" sounds like, especially in the beginning of it. It is a song written in G major with a bouncy beat suggestive of Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" - which is EXACTLY what "The Underdog" was! Gomez start to shake things up a bit as "Options" draws closer to the chorus, adding in chords that are sharp/flat chords instead of "regular" ones. As the chorus closes, they add a unique chord that even I had trouble figuring out. Aside from being a "copycat" song of "The Underdog", "Options" does have some things going for it. Like I mentioned before, the change in chord structure during the chorus is one thing, but for another, it shows just how eclectic Gomez truly are. How many other bands can simultaneously pull off having influences like Oasis ("Nothing Is Wrong"), your typical bluegrass song ("How We Operate"), folk-pop ("See the World"), a combination of blues and indie ("Hamoa Beach"), The Flaming Lips ("Airstream Driver"), and a folk-pop/indie combination ("Little Pieces")?! Not many that I can name off the top of my head, that's for sure!!

"Sorry" by The Smithereens: The SMITHEREENS?!? The SAME guys who had hits in the late '80s with catchy rock 'n' roll tunes like "A Girl Like You", "Only A Memory", and "Behind the Wall of Sleep"?!? Yep, that's right!! The SAME guys!! This is pretty unbelievable to me considering that its been about 20 years since these guys last had a hit, let alone released a record!! Perhaps their big comeback moment was worth the wait, though, as "Sorry" actually sounds even BETTER than the three songs I mentioned! It's a "Satisfaction"-esque rocker, with the tuning just a half-step down from that song, and, for a band who was already "retro" enough in the '80s, The Smithereens have somehow managed to sound even MORE "retro" on "Sorry"! The one question I have is this. "Sorry" for WHAT exactly?! That we didn't get to hear this song sooner?!? That's the only thing I can think of they should be "sorry" for, this song ROCKS!!

"You Are A Tourist" by Death Cab for Cutie: Wow!! It's pretty clear from how fast this song has been climbing the adult alt (and "regular" alt) charts that both sides of the alt-rock "spectrum" just can't get enough Death Cab!! And rightly so, considering how guitarist Chris Walla makes his transition from quiet indie/contemporary folk-rock guitarist to an almost The Edge (of U2 fame) -ish earnest but passionate and skilled rock guitarist! I've always suspected U2 were an influence on Death Cab, but never as much as they have been on "You Are A Tourist"! If this song does NOT end up being one of my Top 20 of 2011 come December 23rd, I'll be pretty shocked!!

new songs for Aug. 11th, 2010

here they are!

"Always" by Junip: Nick Drake and Damien Rice fans rejoice! Singer-songwriter extraordinaire José Gonzalez has a new band!! José has always had a knack for turning electro-pop tunes into heartbreaking folk-rock songs, such as The Knife's "Heartbeats", Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and Massive Attack's "Teardrop" (and in return, bands like Zero 7 have covered some of his own tunes, like "Crosses"). "Always" sounds like an attempt to mix José's signature neo-folk-rock sound with the electronic(a) acts he frequently seems to cover, with its mixture of acoustic guitars and its synthesizers backing it up. It's also the first José tune I've known to have a rhythm section (though perhaps I should have expected that, after all it is his BAND, not José by himself). Despite the newly added instruments, "Always" still manages to be as charmingly soothing as the typical José Gonzalez song!

"Dog Days Are Over" by Florence and The Machine: A bit of a late entry, considering this has been out since early 2010, but some major adult alt. stations, such as Sirius XM's the Spectrum and WRNR, have JUST started playing this, so I thought I'd review it now. Having just listened to this song, I get the impression that female indie-popsters like Cat Power and Feist might be accurate comparisons. "Dog Days" actually seems like the perfect candidate for some of the increasing amount of car commercials that feature indie songs (Phoenix's "1901" and Airborne Toxic Event's "Wishing Well", to name a few), because of its bright, bouncy melody and clap-along chorus. The mandolin-like instrument that seems to function as the central instrument of the song only adds to the cutesy-ness of it. With all that being said, Florence and The Machine have officially won my heart over with this song!