New songs for January 16th 2019

What a whopper lineup of new songs we have today!! 8 fresh new ones! Here they are:


"Fast Talk" by Houses: Just when you thought indie pop covered everything it needed to cover, along come Houses, a band who might just be trendsetters for the 2020's. Jazz and vocal standards meet electronic music and folk music with just a dash of rock in Houses' debut song, "Fast Talk". The song is a nostalgic look back at the life that Dexter Tortoriello (who, himself, is Houses - a one man band) during his late adolescent years hanging out with his friends and trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted to do with his life. It's also about facing the likely prospect of how once you get older, the people you knew aren't who they used to be, and so you often face disconnection from them as a result. A track that calms you down AND makes you think?! Not often you come across one of those, is it?!


"Friend Better" by Joe Jackson: Like fellow new wave elder statesman, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson has managed to stick around longer than most from his era. Where Elvis has continued to reinvent himself at every turn, Joe Jackson...well...only does that sometimes. Joe's latest song, "Friend Better", is a throwback sort of a tune that sounds like it could have been on Steely Dan's "Aja". Both its ersatz smooth jazz sound and its clever, scathing lyrics wouldn't be out of place in the Dan catalog. The central point of the song seems to be about how complicated love can be. In just four simple words, "Lover good, friend better", Joe conveys a situation many of us are familiar with that frustrates us nonetheless. Sometimes it's nice to know that you're not the only one who goes through the struggles that you do!


"Hard Case" by The Tedeschi-Trucks Band: For their fourth and final album of the 2010's, Susan and Derek have released a song that showcases what they do best. "Hard Case" is yet another example of the catchy blues-rock The Tedeschi-Trucks Band have been known for, with some roots-y country-rock and New Orleans jazz type influences thrown in there for good measure as well. During the chorus of the song, Tedeschi and Trucks sing to each other that they are a "hard case to refuse". If they're trying to say that they love each other in the chorus, that's an interesting way to do so, but it seems pretty clear to me that it's the sentiment they are trying to express in this high spirited, freewheeling, shuffle of a song!


"Landslide" by Beirut: No, this is not a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song of the same name, in case you were wondering. In spite of the lack of guitars on most of this track, Beirut's "Landslide" could still be said to be the closest that Beirut has come to prog-rock with its soaring, epic organs evoking imagery of grandeur that could fit easily into a Yes or Emerson, Lake, & Palmer song. Perhaps this was intentional on their part, as "Landslide"'s prog-rock sound is every bit as geeky as its video (in a good way, I promise). The accompanying video for the song brings together two nerdy favorites, "Monty Python" and "Game of Thrones", into a single territory. Expect mysterious, mythical beings to join the Ministry of Silly Walks after you watch this music video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCVB5zjwdzE


"Longshot" by Catfish and The Bottlemen: With garage rock ravers like "Kathleen" and the almost Foo Fighters-esque "Soundcheck", the Welsh quartet, Catfish and The Bottlemen, have graced us with some of the most rockin' tracks of the 2010's so far. So how do they plan to exit the decade?! Well, by rockin' out, but in more of an indie-pop fashion than their fans might be used to. Their latest song, "Longshot", seems to lack the fiery passion that their previous two adult alt radio hits had, but it still manages to sound like a rock anthem nonetheless. Another thing "Longshot" seems to lack that CATB's previous songs had is angst. This factor is replaced in the song with a never-give-up, can-do spirit to keep chugging along through tough times. As the state of the world becomes increasingly more chaotic, I guess that's all we can do sometimes!


"Overexcited" by Guster: Overexcited is exactly what adult alt stations have become for Guster's latest song! It's been hard for me to find a copy of this much anticipated song. I only just found one today! I honestly thought Guster would have called it quits with their 2014 song, "Simple Machine", since it didn't seem near as well received as most of their songs from before that, but instead, the now nearly three-decade old indie-pop quintet from Boston has kept on chuggin' along with their goofiest song yet! Guster have always been pretty quirky, but "Overexcited" turns the quirky factor up to 11! From its "Yo Gabba Gabba"-ish energetic kid friendly sound to its odd choice of instrumentation and silly lyrics ("We had a dog once, we all just called it 'Cat'"), "Overexcited" is a song that will have you feeling...well...overexcited!!


"Seventeen" by Sharon Van Etten: 17 is a coming of age number for many well known musicians in rock and pop. Be it Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" or Janis Ian's "At Seventeen", they all seem to tell a poignant story of bittersweet realization. Sharon Van Etten's "Seventeen" follows in the footsteps of Stevie and Janis as Sharon weaves a tale about how life just hasn't been the same since she's grown up. She looks back wistfully on her mid teens while lamenting who she's become. In spite of the major key this song is in, it still manages to be just as sad. Perhaps she learned a thing or two from Janis Ian, whose "At Seventeen" was also a sad song in a major key.


"This Land" by Gary Clark Jr.: Last, but certainly not least, blues rocker Gary Clark Jr. delivers one of the most potent protest songs of the decade! Fusing reggae, jazz, rock, and blues into a furious gumbo, his song "This Land" is the sort of song that could be a Rage Against the Machine song if a few notches were turned up on the amp, though it still manages to be righteously loud enough with Gary performing it. As you might have guessed by the title of the song, "This Land" is a political song about how it feels to be an African American citizen in what is currently a racist nation. The song even name checks Donald Trump, and is the first Gary Clark Jr. song (to my knowledge) to use the phrase "p*ssed off", and rightfully so, might I add! Though I am not of the same racial background as Gary, I do feel his pain and sympathize with it. Just about anyone who thinks that judging someone simply because of their ethnic background is wrong would probably identify with this song too!

New songs for September 23rd, 2015

here they are:


"A Little Smile" by Joe Jackson: "A little smile" is just what you're gonna get if you're a fan of this eclectic, Elvis Costello-esque musician who is best known for the new wave era classic, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Unlike Elvis Costello, who has consistently released songs and albums throughout his career, Joe Jackson tends to be a bit more selective about when he'll release something new. The last I heard from him was the brilliant piano-pop piece, "Invisible Man", which came out in 2008. I don't know what Joe has been doing during the 7 years since that song was released, but whatever it was must have paid off, because "A Little Smile" was certainly worth the wait! The song comes off a little bit like what a Bruce Hornsby cover of a Ben Folds song might sound like, though I can't help but be won over by the wistfulness and charm of the song. Also, I LOVE the bridge parts of the song. They sound so preciously bittersweet!


"Bad Blood" by Ryan Adams: Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift?! (An entire ALBUM of her material, at that.) For a man who hated his name being mistaken for '80s pop-rock musician Bryan Adams, this sure does come as a surprise!! Well, to quote a popular Taylor Swift song, "the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate" on Ryan Adams, but luckily he still has the support of people like me who allow him creative freedom, even if that means doing versions of songs by musicians whom I haven't become a fan of. Here, Ryan turns Swift's techno-pop-y Christina Aguilera-ish song "Bad Blood" into something that sounds like it would be more at home on Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" album than it would on the current Top 40 charts. Ryan's goal here seems to be turning popular media into something more akin to pop art, almost like what Andy Warhol famously did to Campbell's soup cans many years ago, and he does a surprisingly good job at it, too! The lyrics of what I previously viewed as an ordinary song suddenly become more personal and emotional. This is truly an example of musical poetry at its finest!


"Lover Come Back" by City and Colour: Dallas "City and Colour" Green started off as a folk musician and then turned up his rock 'n' roll quotient on the two albums that followed his debut. In his latest song, "Lover Come Back", he comes full circle and makes those two worlds collide. It is a pleasantly folk-y song with rock 'n' roll instruments being used in the background. Perhaps collaborating with pop sensation Pink (a.k.a. "P!nk", whatever that's supposed to mean) in folk-rock duo You + Me made Dallas want to return to folk music. Whatever the case, "Lover Come Back" is a lovely, bittersweet song, and it's one that I've waited for him to do since back when he debuted in 2009! Some may think that Dallas is letting his sappy side come out here, but I think he's just being sentimental, and I also think there's absolutely nothing wrong with being sentimental.