Final blog of the year part 1 - new songs for December 9th, 2020

 Can you believe it, folks?! We've reached the final blog of the year! But before we get started, please note that this is a two-part blog: one for new songs for this week, and another to count down the 20 most played songs that came out in (or around) 2020. Enjoy!

"Family Farm" by The Hold Steady: We start this week with the only song that is not currently a crossover hit between the alt and adult alt radio charts. The Hold Steady's latest is Triple-A exclusive, it seems, like most of their material, but that does not mean it's not worth listening to! As a matter of fact, it might be the most prolific and well-written song on today's list! The Hold Steady have been Bruce Springsteen fans ever since their debut in the late 2000's, but nowhere has this been more apparent so far than on their newest effort, "Family Farm." Filled to the brim with exciting Roy Bittan-styled piano riffs and Clarence Clemons influenced sax playing, "Family Farm" is the best song the Boss never wrote! Lyrically, the song serves as an unintentional predictor of the present day. Written before the pandemic hit, but not released until well into the thick of it, "Family Farm" deals with trying to survive in an increasingly difficult world, and it also mentions Van Halen's "Eruption" in the lyrics, which is yet another eerie coincidence since Eddie Van Halen made the ascent into guitar hero heaven two months ago. 

"Mariposa" by Peach Tree Rascals: Peach Tree Rascals might sound like a typical contemporary indie-pop band, but what you might not know just from listening is that their lead singer happens to be Filipino. In fact, many of the members are racially diverse. Perhaps, then, it might make sense to you that they hail from the racially diverse (and all around awesome) town of Los Angeles, California! The influences of Peach Tree Rascals are also very eclectic, mixing the sweet, buoyant '60s pop/rock of The Beatles and The Beach Boys with more modern-day urban pop influences like Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean in their breakthrough hit, "Mariposa" (which is Spanish for "butterfly"). And how did this sweet yet funky little song capture the hearts of millions towards the end of this year?! Through TikTok, that app that everyone keeps talking about that I still have yet to find out more about. Go figure, eh?!

"No Other Way" by Shaed: Electro-pop trio, Shaed, took the alt and adult charts by storm last year with the sweet, dreamy, "Trampoline." Come late into the next year, Shaed are at it again with "No Other Way." The song has a similarly breezy electro-pop flavor to "Trampoline," though it is also noticeably more upbeat than that song was. Like many indie-pop songs that have come out in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, "No Other Way" acknowledges what a wild and dangerous year it's been, but still manages to send a positive message. "We could have died a million ways," lead singer Chelsea Lee sings during the chorus, following up the line with, "but we're alive another day." So count your blessings, folks, and count Shaed among them!

"Sofia" by Clairo: Just a mere matter of weeks ago, I reviewed "Are You Bored Yet?" by Wallows, on which indie-pop singer Clairo is featured on backing vocals. On "Sofia," Clairo strikes out on her own and gives us a taste of what her music sounds like without another band taking over it. Like "Mariposa" earlier in this blog, "Sofia" is yet another song that has gained popularity through TikTok (I feel so old saying that without knowing fully what it is, haha). "Sofia" is also named after an actual Sofia...two of them, actually. Uber-attractive Latina actress, Sofia Vergara, was one of the Sofias Clairo had in mind when doing this song, and the other was Sofia Coppola, daughter of famed director Francis Ford Coppola. The song is about Clairo's recurrent crushes on older women, told through a mix of techno-pop synths and fuzzy yet rhythmic guitars. 

New songs for the day before Thanksgiving 2020

 here they are:


"Basement Tapes" by Semisonic: Semisonic surprised us all in summer of this year with the ultra-catchy "You're Not Alone," a major hit on adult alt radio stations and perhaps the catchiest they've had since "Closing Time" almost two decades ago! Can Semisonic outdo the one-hit wonder curse once again this time of year?! Who knows?! Their next single, "Basement Tapes," tells us that may be so! In a song that sounds like a cross between Third Eye Blind and The Killers, Dan Wilson and co weave a tale about what Semisonic themselves have become for many people: nostalgia. Only this particular nostalgia goes before the '90s and back to the early '70s with an excellent lyrical reference to Big Star, the patron saints of power pop. The song also seems to be about living the rock and roll lifestyle, with the opening lyrics discussing the prospect of getting "loaded" in a van, and later lyrics pointing out various destinations in the U.S. where they've traveled to. 

"Chinatown" by Bleachers (featuring Bruce Springsteen): And speaking of the rock star lifestyle, who better to embody that than Bruce Springsteen?! The Boss has more in common with Bleachers' Jack Antonoff than one might think. In addition to both being musicians, they're also both New Jersey natives! In "Chinatown," a contemporary Jersey boy meets his legendary Jersey hero and gets the opportunity to sing with him! Influence from The Boss was evident on a few Bleachers songs, particularly the '80s Bruce vibes of Bleachers' "Rollercoaster," but it comes out even more here! "Chinatown" romanticizes city life like a typical Bruce song from the early days...except Bruce didn't write it! He must be awfully proud of the people he has influenced!

"Figure It Out" by Blu DeTiger: As much as I try to avoid apps like TikTok, there are some times I can't help but be dragged into it, despite not even having an account on the site. Such is the case with our next song, Blu DeTiger's "Figure It Out." It is yet another song to gain popularity from the app, as many have this year. With its seamless blend of funk and contemporary pop, "Figure It Out" appears to be about a relationship in limbo, in which the object of Blu's affections doesn't know whether he wants to be with her or not. 

"Let Me Love You Like A Woman" by Lana Del Rey: Can you believe it's been almost a decade that Lana Del Rey has had a career as a musician by now?! Within nearly ten years, Lana has gone from curious newcomer flirting with the rock star lifestyle to world weary musician wanting to retreat into a world of her own insecurities. Each LDR song and album seems to be more personal than the other (with the possible exception of her cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time," since it isn't actually hers.) There was something quite haunting and vaguely Leonard Cohen-esque about her last single, "Mariner's Apartment Complex." In "Let Me Love You Like A Woman," she bares her soul like never before. Here, she invites the listener to take a vacation from the glitz and glamour of L.A. and into a world of fragile, introverted love. Sometimes I want to escape into a very similar world to that which I hear being presented within the song, so I feel like I can relate to this one!

A very special day: 10th Blog-i-versary AND my mom's 64th birthday!!

Can you believe it?! I've been doing this blog for 10 years now!! And it's my mom's birthday!! So what are we gonna do to celebrate?! Review 9 brand new songs, that's what! The first three, coincidentally, begin with the letter B...as in "birthday" (and "blog-i-versary"). So here goes:


"Back to Me" by Grace Potter (featuring Lucius): This song combines the humble country-rock sound Grace Potter started with with the more slinky, sexy sound she cultivated later on. As soon as indie-pop/rockers, Lucius, drop in during the chorus, the song turns a bit more soulful. Grace really flaunts the temptation factor on this song! She fools the listener into thinking she's in love with someone, only for them to find out that Grace is actually trying to break up with that same person. If you're looking for love, don't look to this song for answers. But if you're looking for a sensual auditory experience with deceptive lyrics, you've come to the right place!


"Be Afraid" by Jason Isbell: A sense of urgency has probably come over you just reading the title of this song. If so, you'd be right to feel that way! That desperate feeling churns out right from the beginning of this song, which has a sort of "R.E.M. goes Southern rock" kind of sound. Isbell has fought against politics with his music for quite awhile now, and he shows no signs of letting up just yet with his latest song, "Be Afraid". The fear in this song seems to come from all sorts of topics, ranging from political to sexual, and even in fears surrounding the state of being a musician in and of itself! "Be afraid, be very afraid", Isbell urges his listeners, before adding in, "but do it anyway". It's time for us to face our fears. In spite of the title of this song, Jason Isbell is clearly anything BUT afraid here!


"By And By" by Caamp: Caamp's surprise summer smash, "Peach Fuzz", which was popular enough to make my Top 20 of 2019, was a pleasantly quirky song that was a rock song on the surface, but a bluegrass song underneath. "By And By" has more of a pure bluegrass sound than its predecessor, enough to be mistaken for a band like Trampled by Turtles. No electric guitars to be found here, just sweet, mellow, banjo driven bluegrass. The opening lyrics, "driving through West Virginia", even give it a "lonesome traveler on the highway" kind of feel. During the chorus of the song, Caamp's lead singer muses about his girlfriend and wonders if she's a "life force". Not exactly sure what that entails, but "By And By" is still an easy, breezy song to listen to.


"Dissolve" by Absofacto: Every once in awhile, we come across songs that immediately get associated with commercial products. Absofacto's "Dissolve" is one such case. It has actually been in existence for two years now, but it has received massive attention within the past two weeks for being used on advertisement for video sharing platform, Tik Tok. Apps like Tik Tok are a bit sketchy to me, but it's not that surprising that a song like "Dissolve" has been used to promote Tik Tok. The song is sleek and trendy, combining elements of hip-hop and electronica into a smooth yet fashionable flavor.


"Forever Nevermore" by Sea Wolf: Probably one of the few bands I've blogged about and met members of in person, Sea Wolf are an L.A. band who deftly mixes folk guitars with a post-punk atmosphere. Their latest song, "Forever Nevermore", seems to be about not knowing what to want in a relationship. The title, "Forever Nevermore", is a clever way of expressing this, juxtaposing the idealism of "forever" and the pessimism of "never". The opening lyrics, "Stepped out, cool dirt under feet/And the fog in the air and the crack of the snare bittersweet", give the song a hazy, wintry aura to set the mood for the rest of the song. An icy song on the outside, but with a warm heart underneath it all.


"Honeybee" by The Head and The Heart: The third song to become a single from The Head and The Heart's latest album, "Honeybee" is a song that continues on the more-pop-than-rock indie slant that The Head and The Heart have taken on roughly since the mid 2010's. However, what makes this song special is what band member Charity Rose Thielen, who sings harmony on this track, thinks of it. Her comment is the first one on the "visualizer" video for "Honeybee" on YouTube, and it states that the song is about taking those you trust the most for granted, and therefore holding back on telling them how you really feel until it's too late. The title of the song, "Honeybee", as you could probably imagine, is not much more than a cutesy nickname in the context of the song, but the song itself has a very delicate, fragile meaning that urges you to look beyond the surface of it.


"I Wanna Be the One" by Pete Yorn: Pete's 2019 adult alt radio hit, "Calm Down", hearkened back so much to the "old" Pete Yorn sound that I instantly fell in love with. His second single from his 2019 album, the song "I Wanna Be the One", doesn't quite have the same vibe. In some parts, it sounds like it wants to be atmospheric like a Smiths or Cure song, yet in other parts it sounds more like a folk-rock-y Pete Yorn song. The song is obviously a love song if its title is anything to go by. It's a sweet song, but it's missing that Pete Yorn magic that I crave every time I hear one of his songs.


"Need Your Love" by Tennis: Known for blending Brill Building "girl group" influenced sounds with post-psychedelic pop topped with the honey-sweet harmonic vocals of Alaina Moore, Tennis are an indie-pop band who pretty much always sound "retro". Their latest song, "Need Your Love", is no exception to this. What distinguishes "Need Your Love" from their other songs, however, is how the rhythm of the song becomes slower during the chorus than it is during the verses. Just when you get caught up in the catchy beat of the verses, the song slows down enough to make you feel less elevated than when you started listening to it, which begs the question: Do Tennis really "Need Our Love", or are they just playing with our hearts?!


"Shangri-La" by EOB (Ed O'Brien from Radiohead): Radiohead's Thom Yorke has gone solo a few times, and we got pretty much what we expected out of him: jaded yet pretty slices of music that melded post-punk with post-psychedelia. So what does Radiohead's guitarist, Ed O'Brien, have to offer us? The result is in his debut solo song, "Shangri-La", a song that manages to be even weirder than Thom Yorke's music, albeit in an intriguing manner. Where Thom highlights what make Radiohead such a great "alternative" band, Ed highlights the more prog-rock influenced side of the band that really shone during songs like "Paranoid Android". Pink Floyd, U2, Beck, and Nine Inch Nails are all accurate comparisons for this truly unique, hypnotic song!