here they are:
"Do You Love Me?" by Guster: Not to be confused with the early '60s R & B song by The Contours of the same name, but still a great song! It's Guster, after all, and I was pretty jazzed to hear that they were releasing a new album after FOUR YEARS!! They still have that charmingly folk-rock-y sound they started with a little over a decade ago in "Do You Love Me?", which is built around a C major chord with the third fret played on the thinner E string (see also Foo Fighters' "Big Me" and The Beatles' "Getting Better"). Guster seem to have a reputation for sunny, summery melodies, but this song seems to take the cake more than their previous works for it! I am already in love with this song, and it seems adult alt. radio is too, with its rocketing up the Triple-A charts from down in the 100's all the way up to the 30's within ONE DAY!! Here's to wishing nothing but the best for Guster in 2010!
"High In the Morning" by Tom Petty: It only seems fitting for Petty, a huge fan of both Bob Dylan and blues-ier rock like The Rolling Stones, to have a song that combines the general vibes of both artists. Specifically, the Dylan that he evokes on "High In the Morning" is similar to that of "Highway 61 Revisited" with its bluesy instrumentation coming from both electric guitars and organs. With the smoky flavor of this song and the Led Zeppelin-y stomp of "I Should Have Known It", it's no wonder Tom Petty chose to call his latest album "Mojo" (as in "Got My Mojo Workin'", a classic Muddy Waters blues tune). Rock on, Petty!
"Let Go" by Everest: The comparisons I have found to Everest tend to be to roots-rock influenced indie rockers such as Blitzen Trapper and Wilco. With "Let Go" being the first song I've heard from Everest, I don't understand these comparisons, as its sound seems to be much closer to Modest Mouse, with a slightly more neo-psychedelic bent than MM typically have. The chord structure in this song reminds me a lot of Modest Mouse's "Float On", even though that song was built around C sharp major, and "Let Go" seems to veer between E major and G sharp minor. Though "Let Go" might not be the most original indie rock song of 2010, it's certainly worth listening to!
