A two-part blog for this week since I feel like I've missed out on the opportunity to review quite a few new songs. Here's part 1 of 2:
"Big Bear Mountain" by Jr. Jr.: The sweet, breezy piano vibe of this song harkens back to when Jr. Jr. were known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and debuted with the light, quirky folk-pop song, "Simple Girl". A lot of Jr. Jr.'s other material seems to take somewhat of a techno slant, but this one does not. It probably wouldn't sound out of place on a Beatles record, actually, and it even contains a Lennon-esque guitar midway through the song, as well as a brief solo reminiscent of George Harrison. Nice to see Jr. Jr. getting back to their roots, even if they no longer bear their namesake in their moniker.
"They Own This Town" by Flora Cash: It seems like it'd be a bit hard for Swedish indie-pop duo, Flora Cash, to outdo their 2018 hit, "You're Somebody Else". The bittersweetness and blunt honesty of "You're Somebody Else" permeated alt and adult alt airwaves throughout the second half of 2018! This time, instead of opting for light, melancholy acoustic guitar like they did the first time around, "They Own This Town" bases its sound around piano instead. However, it still retains the poignancy that their previous hit did. Although there are more pop beats that surround "They Own This Town" than there are guitars, the message and vibe of the song still get across the way they should.
"UFOF" by Big Thief: You-eff-oaf?! Oo-foaf?! It's actually each letter pronounced individually, "You-eff-oh-eff", which stands for "UFO Friend". The song sounds like a folk-rock song from outer space, fittingly, with its ethereal aura surrounding its sweet and tender melody. "UFOF" is basically an ode to a "lover" the singer imagines she met in outer space. There's nothing scary about this song, though. In fact I'd say it's rather precious!
