New songs for February 10th 2021

 Here they are:


"Break My Baby" by Kaleo: There are two sides to Kaleo's music. There's the sweet folk/soul/rock combo that has made them popular among millennials, and then there's the more blues-y side that can sometimes get so intense that it slides into Led Zeppelin territory. "Break My Baby" falls into the latter category. No Zeppelin-esque stuff here, but it does manage to capture the blues-rock influence of bands like The Black Keys, albeit in somewhat softer form. Sort of a cross between The Black Keys and Hozier here, really. Lyrically, it's an interesting song as well. Underneath its surface as a possible breakup song, "Break My Baby" might also be about the music biz! When lead singer JJ Julius Son spouts lines like, "They'll take you in and spit you out. You're only worth how much you sell," his lyrics are pretty representative of his venom towards the industry! Perhaps the "baby" in the song is the very group of people who produced it!

"C'Est La Vie" by The Killers: Breaking from the "epic" sound of "Caution" and "My Own Soul's Warning," "C'Est La Vie," the latest single from The Killers, is noticeably different from most of their stuff. First of all, there isn't near as much guitar in the song (if any) as most of their material. Instead, "C'Est La Vie" is keyboard dominated. It also has a happy, quirky sound to it. It's not aiming to be a "crowd pleaser" the way most of their songs do. Even the lyrics are somewhat quirky, especially the line about frogs falling from the sky! 

"Faith Healer" by Julien Baker: My closest online friend actually recommended Julien to me awhile back. A few years later, and now I'm reviewing her music on my blog! How 'bout that? Anyway, onto the song, which is a very bittersweet and meaningful one. The titular "faith healer" Julien is hoping for is one who can help her fight her addiction to drugs. She talks candidly about how she misses the buzz drugs gave her, while at the same time acknowledging how harmful they have been in her life. Anyone struggling with anything, be it mental or physical, could benefit from hearing this song!

"Hold Yourself" by tUnE-YaRdS: Even among "indie" bands, tUnE-YaRdS hAvE AlWaYs bEen on the wEirdEr sIDe of the inDie rOcK spEcTRum! (SeE wHat I dId tHeRe?!) The surreal video of their latest song, "Hold Yourself," employs techniques like cutout animation and features a muscular lookalike of Benson from "Regular Show." Ummm...WHAT?! As for the song, it starts out as sort of a synth-pop ballad, but halfway through, it quickly devolves into what appears to be a badly orchestrated trumpet section. Once again...WHAT?! About the only way this song might make even remote sense is in the lyrical department. It seems to be about how, just because one has parents, doesn't mean they're always mature people who know what they're doing. I get the feeling tUnE-YaRdS don't quite know what they're doing either! (Here is the song's bizarre music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcG6UgTHiU

"Pendulum" by Jealous of the Birds: 22-year-old Northern Irish musician, Naomi Hamilton, is Jealous of the Birds. I'm not saying she's actually jealous of any particular group of birds, or any anything, for that matter. "Jealous of the Birds" is simply what she has chosen to call herself on stage. Why?! Ummm...darned if I know! Anyway, it was none other than my dad who recommended this musician to me merely a few days ago, and I can see why! "Pendulum," the song currently poised to be her breakthrough hit, is a sweetly hypnotic song that bears similarity to other innovative female musicians of the past 10-ish years, such as St. Vincent, and Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine. The title comes from how Naomi views relationships as a constant back-and-forth, as though swinging on a pendulum. I hear ya, Naomi. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I feel like I've been swinging from a pendulum all week!

"Say" by Moon Taxi: After the bittersweet folk-rock of Moon Taxi's previous single, "Hometown Heroes," "Say" continues more in the anthemic indie/alt-pop direction Moon Taxi have become known for. Sound-wise, it's almost like Queen's "We Will Rock You" with keyboards and drum machines instead of guitars and hand claps. The message of the song is simple but powerful: "If you wanna say something, say it!" Not much more to say (no pun intended) about this song, but sometimes songs can say (no pun intended, I swear!) so much even though they seem to be conveying so little!

"The Divine Chord" by The Avalanches (featuring Johnny Marr from The Smiths, and MGMT): I don't know The Avalanches very well yet, but I do know Johnny Marr and I do know MGMT. Of the three acts featured here, this seems to be mostly in MGMT's ballpark. The combo of keyboard and a faint hint of guitar swirling into a pleasantly psychedelic flavor has become MGMT's trademark sound, though they didn't start out that way. The recurring line, "the stars are rearranging, my love," seems very fitting for a song as billowy and fluffy as this one is. There's also an aura of mystery in this song, though, since what "the divine chord" is is never mentioned in the song (and nor is the phrase itself). 

New songs for January 29th, 2020

here they are:


"Dance of the Clairvoyants" by Pearl Jam: You may find yourself...listening to a song by Pearl Jam. And you may ask yourself, "Why doesn't this sound like Pearl Jam?" And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful Pearl Jam!" This seems to be the reaction many have had to Pearl Jam's latest effort, the surprisingly quirky, "Dance of the Clairvoyants". After nearly 30 years of existence, perhaps Eddie and the boys thought it was time to expand their horizons a bit...and did they ever! The cosmic, almost psychedelic lyrics seem a bit out of place for Pearl Jam as well, and to top that off, it's the first Pearl Jam song I've ever heard with synthesizers! "Dance of the Clairvoyants" clearly dances to the beat of a different drummer!


"Everything Has Changed" by Best Coast: Do you know who loves rock and roll? Bethany Cosentino, that's who! I would not have expected Best Coast to adapt an early '80s hard rock sound a la Joan Jett, but that's exactly what she does here in Best Coast's latest song, "Everything Has Changed". I guess everything HAS changed, although the song is in the key of G major, like most Best Coast songs tend to be. In the song, Bethany recalls what a mess she used to be, and how glad she is that things have taken a turn for the better. I liked Best Coast better when they had a sweeter sound and a more lo-fi approach to their music, so hopefully musical direction is not what Bethany means by "change"!


"I Want More" by Kaleo: Kaleo were truly one of the most eclectic groups of the 2010's. They had taken on folk-rock ("All the Pretty Girls"), Hozier-ish indie-pop with some soul ("Way Down We Go", their biggest hit so far), and even Led Zeppelin-esque hard rock ("No Good"). "I Want More" marks Kaleo's return to folk-rock. It is a sweet, pleasant song. The whistling in the beginning and middle of the song only adds to the cutesy vibe the song has. "I Want More" describes exactly what I want from Kaleo. I want more songs like this one!


"Unreal City" by M. Ward: M. Ward has a lot of the spirit of the '60s in his music, typically either folk-rock or a light form of blues-rock. "Unreal City" touches on that aspect that everyone associates with the '60s that Ward hasn't touched upon yet: psychedelic rock, albeit with more synthesizers than guitars, in this case. This is probably the first M. Ward song I've heard in which he doesn't use guitar as the central instrument. I must say, it's a little disappointing to hear more and more musicians turning away from the guitar, since that's the instrument I like best, but on the plus side, this song does have an adventurous, meandering sound that M. Ward's other songs don't have, so it adds a bit more dimension to his catalog. Oh, and thankfully, a guitar solo does come in the middle of the song, but it's only on during that part.

New songs for November 4th 2015

here they are:


"Bros" by Wolf Alice: The name "Alice" is in the band's name and their lead singer happens to be female, yet the title of their first big song is the decidedly male-sounding "Bros". Icy yet melodic sounding songs done by women are nothing new (last year around this time, Banks' "Begging For Thread" was a good example of this), but given how the aforementioned combination doesn't come around that often, it's always good to hear songs like this one when they come out. Take the main riff of Silversun Pickups' "Lazy Eye" (which itself is basically a slight variation on the riff of Smashing Pumpkins' "1979"), add in shimmering guitar riffs and distortion vaguely similar to The Cure, and detached vocals a la Shirley Manson in Garbage's "Stupid Girl", and you've basically got "Bros" in a nutshell. Nowhere is the term "bros" (or even "brothers") mentioned in the song. More than likely, it gets its title from how the song is an ode to childhood memories and having friends you were attached to like siblings (hence, "bros").


"Mess Around" by Cage the Elephant: "Mess around" is one thing this song doesn't do! It gets straight to the point, and how! This song stands as a stark contrast to the breezy "Sgt. Pepper"-esque psychedelia of the songs from CTE's previous album, "Melophobia", and gets back to the garage rock-y roots the band had back when they debuted in 2009. The combination of garage rock and surf music influences in this song may remind some of The Black Keys. The simple lyrics, catchy hook, and short length of "Mess Around" are all essential to the garage rock vibe the song has to offer. The next time you feel like dancin' in front of the mirror when no one else is around, put this song on. You won't be sorry!


"The Song" by Trey Anastasio: What's the name of that song?! Just "The Song", you say?! Interesting name! With Trey Anastasio, whether he's by himself or performing with his band, Phish, you never know if you're gonna get a roots-y folk-rock ballad or a guitar noodlin' jam session. "The Song" is the former of the two categories, albeit with a brief, decent guitar solo towards the end. Along with the obvious Grateful Dead influence that dominates Trey's work musically, the lyrics to "The Song" are rather philosophical and Dead-like as well, with the ending of the chorus stating, "in the end, all that's left is the song". Groovy, man, groovy! I can dig it!


"Way Down We Go" by Kaleo: Kaleo's first big song, "All the Pretty Girls", sounded an awful lot like Vance Joy. "Way Down We Go", which looks like it'll be Kaleo's second big song, sounds a lot like Hozier, from the minor key pseudo-gospel instrumentation to the deep soulful vocals. I guess this means Kaleo are out to imitate every major indie-pop act of the 2010's! The electric guitar solo in the middle of "Way Down We Go" definitely differentiates it from Hozier's material, though. The lamenting lyrics, "we get what we deserve", also sound rather Hozier-esque. Good song, but hopefully Kaleo's third big song will sound more original than their other material has.

New songs for April 22nd, 2015

here they are:


"Alive Tonight" by Grace Potter: Anthemic dance-pop may not work for everyone, but for Grace Potter, it seems to do the trick, making a musician who started out with calm country-rock music into a sassy powerhouse! This song also marks the first time Grace has performed without her longtime backing group, The Nocturnals. Whoever her backing group is now, though, is doing a good job at maintaining the energy Grace reserves for her more uptempo numbers. The rousing chorus of "we are, we are, we are alive tonight!" is easy to get stuck in your head! On top of that, the song even contains a guitar solo in the middle!


"All the Pretty Girls" by Kaleo: Mumford and Sons imitators have been everywhere during the 2010's. So where does that leave fans of pre-Mumford indie-folk, like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes?! Well, it pretty much leaves them with Kaleo, whose song "All the Pretty Girls" sounds like a cross between Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" and Vance Joy's "Riptide". Kaleo are also the only other indie-folk band (so far) besides Of Monsters and Men to hail from Iceland. Unlike OMAM, however, the lead singer's accent does not sound Irish. Instead it sounds like a cross between Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Vance Joy. Seems like this song is taking bits and pieces from other indie-folk songs and bands. Perhaps it could be said to be indie-folk's Frankenstein in that regard! I like it anyway, though.


"Mama Knows" by Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds: Arleigh "Sister Sparrow" Kincheloe is blessed with having the looks of "Portlandia"'s Carrie Brownstein and the voice and musical stylings of Susan Tedeschi. A winning combination if you ask me! Even better, perhaps, is how the "mama" in the title of the song refers not to herself but to her own mother! The song was inspired by Arleigh seeing some of her mother's concerts and how much admiration she felt for her. The central message of the song lies in the chorus, where Kincheloe sings, "If you ain't got lovin', you ain't got nothin'". With Mother's Day close on the horizon, it seems like the perfect song to be released for this time of year!