here they are:
"Bad Liar" by Imagine Dragons: What a song for the day before Valentine's Day! This is a song that reflects on those moments where you want to confess your love for someone (or lack thereof) but your instincts tell you to do the opposite. Sound-wise, this is one of the most pop sounding Imagine Dragons songs yet, but lyrically it goes pretty deep. The depth of the lyrics is especially relevant when Dan Reynolds claims in the first verse that he has "three fears: integrity, faith, and crocodile tears". In other words, he's afraid of the good things (integrity and faith) as much as he is of bad things (crocodile tears - a slang term for false sadness). A bit like the part in David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" where Bowie says, "I've never done good things. I've never done bad things." I guess there's really no comparison to an immortal like Bowie when discussing relative newbies like Imagine Dragons, but hey, at least they're trying!
"Feels Alright" by The Nude Party: There's probably a good reason these guys decided to call themselves "The Nude Party". After all, this is pretty much party music that might make you wanna run around naked due to all the wild, uninhibited freedom it gives off! Their debut song, "Feels Alright", is pretty much glam rock for the 21st century! With a sound that combines T. Rex's "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" and Mott the Hoople's "All the Way From Memphis", "Feels Alright" does just that. It feels alright. Well, no, MORE than alright! THIS is a song that will unleash your inner frat boy or sorority girl! Wham, bam, thank ya, mam!
"GotItBad" by St. Paul and The Broken Bones: Much like St. Paul and The Broken Bones' adult alt summer smash, "Apollo", "GotItBad" is yet another song that moves Paul "St. Paul" Janeway and the gang from '60s soul to '70s funk. There's even a bit of a disco element to "GotItBad" with its backing orchestra adding a sublime flavor to its funky bass and chunky keyboards. Lyrically, this song puts the "St." in "St. Paul". You probably wouldn't expect lyrics about preachers, God, and Jesus beneath the smokin' hot sound of "GotItBad", but that is what lurks beneath this fine tune. "GotItBad" is basically a Catholic confession turned into a funk soul session!
"I Get No Joy" by Jade Bird: I stand by the comparison I made during the time I reviewed Jade Bird's "Uh Huh", during which I said that she is pretty much the 21st century Alanis Morissette. Like Alanis, Jade takes folk-rock, filters it through an "alternative" lens, and adds angst-y lyrics to it, with an equally angst ridden delivery. Jade gets especially feisty and wordy during the chorus of the song, shouting the song's title with jaded (no pun intended) frustration, and speaking the rest of the words of the chorus faster than the speed of light! The song can also be viewed as a calmer parallel to Courtney Barnett's "Pedestrian At Best", as both songs make use of clever wordplay with near-rhyming words in succession during some of the verses to describe an alienating situation. Jade, your lack of joy gives us an excess of it!
"Sisyphus" by Andrew Bird: After attempting to get "edgy" on songs like "Eyeoneye" and "Capsized", Andrew Bird (no relation to Jade Bird) returns to his roots combining folk-rock with orchestral arrangements on "Sisyphus". The song takes its name from a character in Greek mythology who tried to outwit the Greek gods and cheat death. Of course, this didn't work in Sisyphus' favor, and this is exactly what Andrew Bird is trying to illustrate in this song. It is about becoming addicted to one's own pain, and the consequences it can lead to. Perhaps this is yet another song from 2019 that serves as a metaphor for the downfall of contemporary Western society.
"Song For Winners" by Nick Waterhouse: Nick's trademark merging of surf and rockabilly is still intact on his latest song, "Song For Winners". However, there is something noticeably different about it in comparison to his other material. It is not only done in a minor key, but its lyrics are somewhat melancholy as well. "Your strange innocence has ended", he says of his former lover, preceded by, "I hear no fearlessness, only fear". What kind of "winners" was this song intended for anyhow?! The song seems more like it's about losers than it is about winners!
Showing posts with label Nick Waterhouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Waterhouse. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
New songs for November 2nd, 2015
here they are:
"Katchi" by Nick Waterhouse and Leon Bridges: What happens when a critically acclaimed surf-rock revivalist gets together with a critically acclaimed revivalist of '60s soul music?! You get one heck of a jazzy song, that's what! The "retro" flavor of "Katchi" is further enforced by its vocalized "doo-wop-a-doo-wop, dooby dooby doo-wop" opening. With its rhythmically choppy chords and blazin' hot sax, "Katchi" is pure retro-rockin' bliss! Just one question. What IS "Katchi"?! Nick Waterhouse says that his girl "gives him Katchi all night long" during the chorus but never explains what "Katchi" is. I guess I'll just leave that up to my imagination!!
"Rhythm and Blues" by The Head and The Heart: Since the more-successful-than-usual airplay The Head and The Heart had from their pop-iest song yet, "All We Ever Knew", I was curious nonetheless to find out what other songs on their newest album sounded like. "Library Magic" and "Colors" would not have been bad choices for the second single, but instead its "Rhythm and Blues", which is anything BUT a rhythm and blues song. As a matter of fact, it sounds almost as pop-y as "All We Ever Knew" did, except during its out-of-nowhere electric guitar solo. The song contains the lyrics "stepped on my blue suede shoes, you made Elvis go crazy", except it doesn't sound a THING like Elvis (Costello or Presley). The group's heart may be in the right place, but their head isn't. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad, right?
"S.O.S. (Overboard)" by Joseph: The all-girl indie-folk trio Joseph send an S.O.S. to the world in their second single (and apparently it goes overboard). Much like "Message In A Bottle" from decades before, "S.O.S." is a song that uses nautical metaphors to describe isolation from a loved one. While nowhere near as catchy (or literary) as The Police, Joseph's "S.O.S." is a fun song in its own right. The seaworthy metaphors in Joseph's song show up mostly in the chorus, with lyrics like "screaming underwater" and "alone and overboard".
"Katchi" by Nick Waterhouse and Leon Bridges: What happens when a critically acclaimed surf-rock revivalist gets together with a critically acclaimed revivalist of '60s soul music?! You get one heck of a jazzy song, that's what! The "retro" flavor of "Katchi" is further enforced by its vocalized "doo-wop-a-doo-wop, dooby dooby doo-wop" opening. With its rhythmically choppy chords and blazin' hot sax, "Katchi" is pure retro-rockin' bliss! Just one question. What IS "Katchi"?! Nick Waterhouse says that his girl "gives him Katchi all night long" during the chorus but never explains what "Katchi" is. I guess I'll just leave that up to my imagination!!
"Rhythm and Blues" by The Head and The Heart: Since the more-successful-than-usual airplay The Head and The Heart had from their pop-iest song yet, "All We Ever Knew", I was curious nonetheless to find out what other songs on their newest album sounded like. "Library Magic" and "Colors" would not have been bad choices for the second single, but instead its "Rhythm and Blues", which is anything BUT a rhythm and blues song. As a matter of fact, it sounds almost as pop-y as "All We Ever Knew" did, except during its out-of-nowhere electric guitar solo. The song contains the lyrics "stepped on my blue suede shoes, you made Elvis go crazy", except it doesn't sound a THING like Elvis (Costello or Presley). The group's heart may be in the right place, but their head isn't. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad, right?
"S.O.S. (Overboard)" by Joseph: The all-girl indie-folk trio Joseph send an S.O.S. to the world in their second single (and apparently it goes overboard). Much like "Message In A Bottle" from decades before, "S.O.S." is a song that uses nautical metaphors to describe isolation from a loved one. While nowhere near as catchy (or literary) as The Police, Joseph's "S.O.S." is a fun song in its own right. The seaworthy metaphors in Joseph's song show up mostly in the chorus, with lyrics like "screaming underwater" and "alone and overboard".
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
New songs for the last day of April
here they are:
"Glory And Gore" by Lorde: Having already had two successful singles in just her mid-teens, New Zealand alt-pop sensation Lorde now has a third song up for grabs on the radio. As if that wasn't enough, this song in particular has gained popularity from being on the "Hunger Games" soundtrack (a surefire way for success, it seems!) "Glory And Gore" sounds like Madonna would if she were more of the "ice queen" type. With a pulsating, catchy beat playing over accessibly droning, frigid synthesizers in F minor, "Glory And Gore" lives up to its title. Its dark pride on the outside is glorious, yet its darker undercurrent could be said to be "gory" (metaphorically, at least).
"Higher And Higher" by Galactic (featuring JJ Grey): JJ Grey is already a blues-rock powerhouse by himself!! That being said, he must have had a really good time jammin' with funk/jazz/blues/rock combo, Galactic! And what a powerful jam "Higher And Higher" is!! Crunchy Hendrix-ian hard rock guitars and space-funk rhythms and horns a la Sly and The Family Stone combine forces in this free-flowing retro anthem! You'll swear someone set the calendars back to 1971 after hearing this one. Chances are, though, you'll never wanna come back to the present!
"Holly" by Nick Waterhouse: Nick Waterhouse, meanwhile, is stuck in an even further time warp when "James Bond" and surf music ruled the world, and his song "Holly" manages to be a catchy blend of blues, rock, jazz, and funk just like the last song I reviewed this week! "Holly" is not the name of a girl in this song (even though it's about a girl), but rather "holly", the Christmas decoration, as in "holly lights" (the only two words in the chorus of this song). Like many songs from the late '50s/early '60s, which seems to be the era Nick is trying to evoke, "Holly" clocks in at only a little over two and a half minutes, but it also manages to be a super fun song. Highly recommended for fans of other "retro" '50s rockabilly styled acts of the 2010's, like Imelda May and JD McPherson.
"I Know It's Wrong (But That's Alright)" by Hurray for the Riff Raff: Try saying the name of the band AND the song in one breath!! Probably about as much of a tongue twister as "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around", so maybe I'll just refer to the song as "I Know It's Wrong..." from this point on, and the band by its initials, HFTRR. This one goes even FURTHER back in the musical time machine, as it has sort of a honky-tonk sound that you might be likely to hear in an old Western movie. Lead singer Alynda Lee Segarra has husky but sweet vocals that wouldn't seem out of place for a cowgirl. Thing is, Alynda is NOT a cowgirl. She grew up in the Bronx, and is of Puerto Rican descent!! Not surprising that they're currently touring with fellow country-rock contemporaries, Shovels & Rope, is it?! Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope even has similar vocals to Alynda, although as a South Carolinian, Cary Ann actually COULD qualify as a cowgirl!
"Lazaretto" by Jack White: Did anyone else here think that "High Ball Stepper" was a bit TOO experimental, even for Jack White?! Well, I guess a lot of people thought so, since the song just came and went in two weeks. In its place is "Lazaretto", a raucously catchy rock 'n' roll song typical of Jack White's material. Thankfully, unlike "High Ball Stepper", "Lazaretto" has lyrics! "Lazaretto" also gets into rather experimental territory towards the middle of the song, but maintains a consistent pattern for the most part. Jack's "sing-speak" vocals are aggressive and powerful enough to be compared to Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, yet they seem to have an undercurrent of humor to them, unlike most of Zack's material.
"Stomp And Holler" by Hard Working Americans: Hard Working Americans contains many musicians who have had marginal success in such recent rock groups as The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Widespread Panic, and The Derek Trucks Band, all of whom could be classified as "jam bands", in the style of The Grateful Dead or The Allman Brothers Band. Hard Working Americans' breakthrough song was a quaint country-rock tune called "Down to the Well". Given all the blues-y rock musicians that went into the making of this supergroup, though, I should have known that Hard Working Americans also had some rock 'n' roll tunes up their sleeve, of which "Stomp And Holler" is one such song. An archetypal but catchy rock song, using the same rhythm as Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" and Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself", "Stomp And Holler" is a song that makes you wanna do just that - "stomp and holler"!! This song is a definite crowd pleaser, and probably how HWA typically either open their shows, or close 'em!!
"You Go Down Smooth" by Lake Street Dive: There's great rock 'n' roll all over this blog today!! The last one for the week comes from Lake Street Dive, who graced us earlier this year with the smooth folk-jazz-rock tune, "Bad Self Portraits". "You Go Down Smooth" proves that Lake Street Dive have a more upbeat side to their catalog! This one apes the same basic guitar riff in songs like Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" and Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?", only it has a bit more of a jazz influence than those two songs do. This song is so danceable, it kinda makes you forget that the song is actually about getting drunk!! Sorry if I spoiled anything for ya there, heheh.
"Glory And Gore" by Lorde: Having already had two successful singles in just her mid-teens, New Zealand alt-pop sensation Lorde now has a third song up for grabs on the radio. As if that wasn't enough, this song in particular has gained popularity from being on the "Hunger Games" soundtrack (a surefire way for success, it seems!) "Glory And Gore" sounds like Madonna would if she were more of the "ice queen" type. With a pulsating, catchy beat playing over accessibly droning, frigid synthesizers in F minor, "Glory And Gore" lives up to its title. Its dark pride on the outside is glorious, yet its darker undercurrent could be said to be "gory" (metaphorically, at least).
"Higher And Higher" by Galactic (featuring JJ Grey): JJ Grey is already a blues-rock powerhouse by himself!! That being said, he must have had a really good time jammin' with funk/jazz/blues/rock combo, Galactic! And what a powerful jam "Higher And Higher" is!! Crunchy Hendrix-ian hard rock guitars and space-funk rhythms and horns a la Sly and The Family Stone combine forces in this free-flowing retro anthem! You'll swear someone set the calendars back to 1971 after hearing this one. Chances are, though, you'll never wanna come back to the present!
"Holly" by Nick Waterhouse: Nick Waterhouse, meanwhile, is stuck in an even further time warp when "James Bond" and surf music ruled the world, and his song "Holly" manages to be a catchy blend of blues, rock, jazz, and funk just like the last song I reviewed this week! "Holly" is not the name of a girl in this song (even though it's about a girl), but rather "holly", the Christmas decoration, as in "holly lights" (the only two words in the chorus of this song). Like many songs from the late '50s/early '60s, which seems to be the era Nick is trying to evoke, "Holly" clocks in at only a little over two and a half minutes, but it also manages to be a super fun song. Highly recommended for fans of other "retro" '50s rockabilly styled acts of the 2010's, like Imelda May and JD McPherson.
"I Know It's Wrong (But That's Alright)" by Hurray for the Riff Raff: Try saying the name of the band AND the song in one breath!! Probably about as much of a tongue twister as "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around", so maybe I'll just refer to the song as "I Know It's Wrong..." from this point on, and the band by its initials, HFTRR. This one goes even FURTHER back in the musical time machine, as it has sort of a honky-tonk sound that you might be likely to hear in an old Western movie. Lead singer Alynda Lee Segarra has husky but sweet vocals that wouldn't seem out of place for a cowgirl. Thing is, Alynda is NOT a cowgirl. She grew up in the Bronx, and is of Puerto Rican descent!! Not surprising that they're currently touring with fellow country-rock contemporaries, Shovels & Rope, is it?! Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope even has similar vocals to Alynda, although as a South Carolinian, Cary Ann actually COULD qualify as a cowgirl!
"Lazaretto" by Jack White: Did anyone else here think that "High Ball Stepper" was a bit TOO experimental, even for Jack White?! Well, I guess a lot of people thought so, since the song just came and went in two weeks. In its place is "Lazaretto", a raucously catchy rock 'n' roll song typical of Jack White's material. Thankfully, unlike "High Ball Stepper", "Lazaretto" has lyrics! "Lazaretto" also gets into rather experimental territory towards the middle of the song, but maintains a consistent pattern for the most part. Jack's "sing-speak" vocals are aggressive and powerful enough to be compared to Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, yet they seem to have an undercurrent of humor to them, unlike most of Zack's material.
"Stomp And Holler" by Hard Working Americans: Hard Working Americans contains many musicians who have had marginal success in such recent rock groups as The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Widespread Panic, and The Derek Trucks Band, all of whom could be classified as "jam bands", in the style of The Grateful Dead or The Allman Brothers Band. Hard Working Americans' breakthrough song was a quaint country-rock tune called "Down to the Well". Given all the blues-y rock musicians that went into the making of this supergroup, though, I should have known that Hard Working Americans also had some rock 'n' roll tunes up their sleeve, of which "Stomp And Holler" is one such song. An archetypal but catchy rock song, using the same rhythm as Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" and Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself", "Stomp And Holler" is a song that makes you wanna do just that - "stomp and holler"!! This song is a definite crowd pleaser, and probably how HWA typically either open their shows, or close 'em!!
"You Go Down Smooth" by Lake Street Dive: There's great rock 'n' roll all over this blog today!! The last one for the week comes from Lake Street Dive, who graced us earlier this year with the smooth folk-jazz-rock tune, "Bad Self Portraits". "You Go Down Smooth" proves that Lake Street Dive have a more upbeat side to their catalog! This one apes the same basic guitar riff in songs like Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" and Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?", only it has a bit more of a jazz influence than those two songs do. This song is so danceable, it kinda makes you forget that the song is actually about getting drunk!! Sorry if I spoiled anything for ya there, heheh.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
New songs for January 22nd, 2014
here they are:
"Blue Moon" by Beck: As the title alone indicates, "Blue Moon" is a sad song. Beck has been quite the busy man as of the past couple years, having had one single each (so far) between 2012 and 2014. All three of those songs were melancholy, and Beck's pining vocals, doleful lyrics, and swaying acoustic guitars definitely make "Blue Moon" a tearjerker. Over the past 20 years, he's proven he's far more than just a guy with a penchant for rap-rock hybrid songs with lyrical nonsense in their content. His worth as a more fragile musician seems to have come full circle with "Blue Moon", and there will probably be more to come in the near future for the '90s greatest musical chameleon!
"Coming of Age" by Foster the People: Foster the People are yet another band who never seemed to follow trends, yet wound up making big hits anyway! During the height of the success of their biggest hit to date, "Pumped Up Kicks", most alt-pop songs used guitars, and Foster the People used mostly synths (until the last minute and a half of the song). Now, it seems as though the tables have been turned for FTP. Many alt-pop songs now tend to rely more on synths than guitars, so Foster the People now have a "guitar song" on their hands with "Coming of Age". From its spacey David Bowie-ish intro to its INXS-ish guitar hooks, "Coming of Age" seems to gather its musical influences from many of the finest classic alternative-rock-meets-dance-pop musicians. "Coming of Age" also seems like it has a more consistent blend of deep in thought lyrics and progressive sound, unlike "Pumped Up Kicks", whose bouncy melody belied dark lyrics.
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams: Many of the best movies to have a song or two from their soundtrack hit the adult alt airwaves are usually ones like "Juno", "Garden State", or "Into the Wild". They aren't usually from feel-good family movies like "Despicable Me 2", which Pharrell Williams' "Happy" just happens to be from! Why this song was released to radio a little over 6 months after its initial release, I have no idea, but at least it IS getting airplay. The song "Happy" accompanies one of the most memorable scenes in "Despicable Me 2", during which the main character, Gru, has just admitted that he is head over heels in love with feisty, quirky redhead, Lucy Wilde. Naturally, this makes him, well, "happy", and the mood of the song itself is just irresistible!! You won't be able to get this song out of your head! Perhaps that's a good thing, though, considering what emotion it is intended to bring out in people!
"This Is A Game" by Nick Waterhouse: Ummmm...why is Chubby Checker spilling out of my radio all of a sudden?! And why is he playing surf guitars that sound like they might fit in well with the 1960's "Batman" theme song?! Well, I don't know, but man, I sure like this song!! It almost reminds me of the "Mermaidman And Barnacle Boy" theme song from "Spongebob Squarepants" (which itself is supposed to be a spoof of the "Batman" theme). The manic energy of this song wraps up in a matter of merely three minutes with a jazzed up howl!! Now why isn't it surfin' weather yet?! This song sure makes me wanna do something like that!!
"We're All In This Together" by Sam Roberts: The guitars seem kinda Black Keys-ish, but the piano here is in Sam's own style! In his native Canada, Sam is incredibly well known, but here in the U.S., he remains an "underground" artist. Are us Americans afraid of a little variety?! I can't really see any other reason Sam Roberts isn't a well known musician in the States, personally. None of his songs sound quite like the other, but a lot of them are pretty catchy nonetheless. He really seems to let out his inner rocker in this song. This song has apparently been compared to that of many legendary rockers, ranging from The Who to Jane's Addiction!
"Blue Moon" by Beck: As the title alone indicates, "Blue Moon" is a sad song. Beck has been quite the busy man as of the past couple years, having had one single each (so far) between 2012 and 2014. All three of those songs were melancholy, and Beck's pining vocals, doleful lyrics, and swaying acoustic guitars definitely make "Blue Moon" a tearjerker. Over the past 20 years, he's proven he's far more than just a guy with a penchant for rap-rock hybrid songs with lyrical nonsense in their content. His worth as a more fragile musician seems to have come full circle with "Blue Moon", and there will probably be more to come in the near future for the '90s greatest musical chameleon!
"Coming of Age" by Foster the People: Foster the People are yet another band who never seemed to follow trends, yet wound up making big hits anyway! During the height of the success of their biggest hit to date, "Pumped Up Kicks", most alt-pop songs used guitars, and Foster the People used mostly synths (until the last minute and a half of the song). Now, it seems as though the tables have been turned for FTP. Many alt-pop songs now tend to rely more on synths than guitars, so Foster the People now have a "guitar song" on their hands with "Coming of Age". From its spacey David Bowie-ish intro to its INXS-ish guitar hooks, "Coming of Age" seems to gather its musical influences from many of the finest classic alternative-rock-meets-dance-pop musicians. "Coming of Age" also seems like it has a more consistent blend of deep in thought lyrics and progressive sound, unlike "Pumped Up Kicks", whose bouncy melody belied dark lyrics.
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams: Many of the best movies to have a song or two from their soundtrack hit the adult alt airwaves are usually ones like "Juno", "Garden State", or "Into the Wild". They aren't usually from feel-good family movies like "Despicable Me 2", which Pharrell Williams' "Happy" just happens to be from! Why this song was released to radio a little over 6 months after its initial release, I have no idea, but at least it IS getting airplay. The song "Happy" accompanies one of the most memorable scenes in "Despicable Me 2", during which the main character, Gru, has just admitted that he is head over heels in love with feisty, quirky redhead, Lucy Wilde. Naturally, this makes him, well, "happy", and the mood of the song itself is just irresistible!! You won't be able to get this song out of your head! Perhaps that's a good thing, though, considering what emotion it is intended to bring out in people!
"This Is A Game" by Nick Waterhouse: Ummmm...why is Chubby Checker spilling out of my radio all of a sudden?! And why is he playing surf guitars that sound like they might fit in well with the 1960's "Batman" theme song?! Well, I don't know, but man, I sure like this song!! It almost reminds me of the "Mermaidman And Barnacle Boy" theme song from "Spongebob Squarepants" (which itself is supposed to be a spoof of the "Batman" theme). The manic energy of this song wraps up in a matter of merely three minutes with a jazzed up howl!! Now why isn't it surfin' weather yet?! This song sure makes me wanna do something like that!!
"We're All In This Together" by Sam Roberts: The guitars seem kinda Black Keys-ish, but the piano here is in Sam's own style! In his native Canada, Sam is incredibly well known, but here in the U.S., he remains an "underground" artist. Are us Americans afraid of a little variety?! I can't really see any other reason Sam Roberts isn't a well known musician in the States, personally. None of his songs sound quite like the other, but a lot of them are pretty catchy nonetheless. He really seems to let out his inner rocker in this song. This song has apparently been compared to that of many legendary rockers, ranging from The Who to Jane's Addiction!
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