here they are:
"The One That Got Away" by The Civil Wars: The second album from The Civil Wars, a folk-rock duo comprised of one guy and one girl, is finally out. Its first single, "The One That Got Away", sticks to a lot of the bluegrass and folk influences that The Civil Wars have had for a while now, but it has a considerably "darker" sound. "The One That Got Away" could be considered the first Civil Wars song that is truly "folk-rock" for its use of both acoustic and electric guitars (and drums, another instrument previously unheard of in a lot of their material). The song's instrumentation, along with its rather brooding sound, remind me more of an acoustic Led Zeppelin song ("The Battle of Evermore" and "Gallows Pole" both come to mind here) than they do of The Civil Wars. Not a bad direction for the band to go in, though, and who knows, it must just set the template for the next Mumford & Sons or Lumineers album!!
"You Can't Be Told" by Valerie June: The typically folk-y Valerie June doesn't sound so folk-y here, which is ironic, considering that this is the first song that's gotten significant attention from her. There's a reason for "You Can't Be Told"'s blues-y snarl, though, and that is because of how The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach produced it. The particular blues-rock sound used on "You Can't Be Told" brings to mind a lot of bands from the '60s and early '70s who used that same sound, such as The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Allman Brothers Band (The Allmans' cover of "Trouble No More", especially, since it has the same rhythm and distortion as this song does). Though the song only lasts a little over three minutes, it still delivers a powerful, spicy sound. As with most blues-rock songs, "You Can't Be Told" is more about the instrumentation, rhythm, and raw vocal quality, than it is about the lyrics of the song, but that should be enough to get people to like it. It worked for me!
