here they are:
"Every Morning" by J. Mascis (from Dinosaur Jr.): With a past full of sardonic, grungy rock songs, it's a bit of a surprise to me that J. Mascis, the lead singer of noise-rock pioneers, Dinosaur Jr., has mellowed out in recent years! I didn't believe I'd hear anything even remotely acoustic from him until I heard him cover Edie Brickell's "Circle". Mascis' latest solo effort, "Every Morning", is a folk-rock song. The song is not without his fuzzy yet spastic trademark electric guitar solos, but those are not the defining features of "Every Morning" by a long shot! Mascis' dry attitude is still there in both the lyrics ("every morning makes it hard on me") and in the way they're delivered. It seems as though he has been quite the busy man this year, having also provided the guitar solos on "Goshen '97" by up-and-coming indie rock group, Strand of Oaks.
"Family Tree" by Kings of Leon: Kings of Leon have done plenty of odes to classic rock, but so far, none of those songs quite capture the spirit of the vintage 1970's electric guitar sound like "Family Tree". It is by far the most upbeat song from KOL's latest album, "Mechanical Bull", and quite possibly their most upbeat song in general! The chorus of the song is memorable, though it does have some awkward rhyming ("I am your family tree, I know your A to Z, this is a secret proposition, lay your hands on me"). It seems as though the whole song centers around the subject of the song trying to make it with the girl of his dreams, but that is rather typical subject matter for a 1970's rock song, so the Followill brothers once again manage to capture the essence of the glory days of rock 'n' roll!
"Rise Up Singing" by Trigger Hippy: You know that a band with the word "hippy" in the name is probably going to sound like something from the past, and it does, but in a rather fresh, soulful way! Trigger Hippy are a supergroup that comprise of various members of The Black Crowes (including newer member, Jackie Greene), and alt-rocker turned soul mistress, Joan Osborne. Not surprisingly, Trigger Hippy sounds like a group whose music got stuck in the early '70s, combining elements of rock, folk, and soul all in the same sound. The message of the song is simple, but quite joyful and exuberant.
Showing posts with label rock supergroup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock supergroup. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
new songs for July 20th, 2011
here they are:
"Junk of the Heart (Happy)" by The Kooks: I love how happy, free-spirited, and melodic The Kooks are!! That being said, when I heard they released a new song, I was pretty excited! The best part?! "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" sounds even BETTER than I expected it to sound!! In addition to the Beatles/Kinks-ish bouncy Britpop sound The Kooks typically have, there are also some Burt Bacharach-esque major 7th chords in this song that set it apart from The Kooks' other material. It's only fitting that lead singer Luke Pritchard's refrain in this song consists of the words "I wanna make you happy", because he does exactly that, and quite successfully, too!!
"Miracle Worker" by Super Heavy: What do Mick Jagger, Bob Marley's son Damian, neo-soul songstress Joss Stone, and The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart all have in common?! Well, aside from being rock 'n' roll royalty, they're also part of the aptly named supergroup, Super Heavy! Their first big song, "Miracle Worker" (which, in case any of you are wondering, is NOT about the biographical Helen Keller film of the same name), seems like it is clearly Damian's song, with its reggae beat and pulsating, syncopated guitars. Damian, Joss, and Mick all share vocals on the song, though (albeit, at different parts of it). With all that being said, this song ultimately comes out being a three-star song, despite the big names involved in it. Something just seems missing in this song! Perhaps it's that Damian just doesn't have the forceful, dynamic delivery his dad typically did, or that Mick doesn't seem to be maintaining the same amount of energy and fervor he typically had in The Stones. Well, nevertheless, "Miracle Worker" isn't a bad song, and the four people involved in its performance all seem like they tried giving it their best efforts.
"Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" by Fountains of Wayne: I still find it fascinating how Fountains of Wayne's best known song has become the Cars-esque "Stacy's Mom". It really isn't that representative of their typical sound, which is more like The Beatles or The Kinks (see also The Kooks' "Junk of the Heart", reviewed earlier in this article). "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" continues in the direction of The Fountains' typical sound, which I really like! Nothing particularly special about this one, musically, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for songs with a great melody and a catchy beat, and Fountains of Wayne seem to be experts at that! Perhaps another thing they're good at is just being quirky, as evidenced by the fact that the opening lyrics to this song are, "Staring at the sun with no pants on". Makes me wonder if the pants-less one they're referring to is Adam Schlesinger (the lead singer) himself or a girl he really likes.
"The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" by Red Hot Chili Peppers: Before I get into the song itself, let me just state that I LOVE the title to this song!! It sounds like the name of a comic book series of some sort! Well, now, on with the song! The title is really better than the song itself, which seems vaguely similar to one of those half-disco/half-rock type songs The Rolling Stones did in the late '70s/early '80s. It IS a catchy song, in typical Chili Peppers fashion, but I personally think they've done better material than this one. One advantage "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" has is its seemingly random, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. I can't quite figure out what this song is about, but it almost seems like that's the point of it!
"Walk" by Foo Fighters: Of the two songs released of The Foos' latest CD, "Wasting Light", "Walk" seems like the better song so far! "Rope" just seemed too full of anger and intensity for me to fully appreciate it. "Walk", however, leans more towards the melodic side of their catalog! It's still a rocker, but more in the even-keeled, steady manner of "Learn to Fly" and "Times Like These" than the frenzied, frantic one of "All My Life" and "I'll Stick Around". The echo-y, jangly guitars in the beginning of "Walk" already indicate a more positive theme in the song. And lyrically, "learning to walk again" sound like words that can lead in a more positive direction than the more desperate, disconnected delivery of "gimme some rope I'm coming loose" (from "Rope", released earlier this year). My one complaint about this song is that sometimes Dave Grohl sounds like he's a bit TOO enthusiastic, as though he's about to scream his head off (mostly in the middle of the song), but other than that, I think this one's a winner!
"Junk of the Heart (Happy)" by The Kooks: I love how happy, free-spirited, and melodic The Kooks are!! That being said, when I heard they released a new song, I was pretty excited! The best part?! "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" sounds even BETTER than I expected it to sound!! In addition to the Beatles/Kinks-ish bouncy Britpop sound The Kooks typically have, there are also some Burt Bacharach-esque major 7th chords in this song that set it apart from The Kooks' other material. It's only fitting that lead singer Luke Pritchard's refrain in this song consists of the words "I wanna make you happy", because he does exactly that, and quite successfully, too!!
"Miracle Worker" by Super Heavy: What do Mick Jagger, Bob Marley's son Damian, neo-soul songstress Joss Stone, and The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart all have in common?! Well, aside from being rock 'n' roll royalty, they're also part of the aptly named supergroup, Super Heavy! Their first big song, "Miracle Worker" (which, in case any of you are wondering, is NOT about the biographical Helen Keller film of the same name), seems like it is clearly Damian's song, with its reggae beat and pulsating, syncopated guitars. Damian, Joss, and Mick all share vocals on the song, though (albeit, at different parts of it). With all that being said, this song ultimately comes out being a three-star song, despite the big names involved in it. Something just seems missing in this song! Perhaps it's that Damian just doesn't have the forceful, dynamic delivery his dad typically did, or that Mick doesn't seem to be maintaining the same amount of energy and fervor he typically had in The Stones. Well, nevertheless, "Miracle Worker" isn't a bad song, and the four people involved in its performance all seem like they tried giving it their best efforts.
"Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" by Fountains of Wayne: I still find it fascinating how Fountains of Wayne's best known song has become the Cars-esque "Stacy's Mom". It really isn't that representative of their typical sound, which is more like The Beatles or The Kinks (see also The Kooks' "Junk of the Heart", reviewed earlier in this article). "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" continues in the direction of The Fountains' typical sound, which I really like! Nothing particularly special about this one, musically, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for songs with a great melody and a catchy beat, and Fountains of Wayne seem to be experts at that! Perhaps another thing they're good at is just being quirky, as evidenced by the fact that the opening lyrics to this song are, "Staring at the sun with no pants on". Makes me wonder if the pants-less one they're referring to is Adam Schlesinger (the lead singer) himself or a girl he really likes.
"The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" by Red Hot Chili Peppers: Before I get into the song itself, let me just state that I LOVE the title to this song!! It sounds like the name of a comic book series of some sort! Well, now, on with the song! The title is really better than the song itself, which seems vaguely similar to one of those half-disco/half-rock type songs The Rolling Stones did in the late '70s/early '80s. It IS a catchy song, in typical Chili Peppers fashion, but I personally think they've done better material than this one. One advantage "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" has is its seemingly random, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. I can't quite figure out what this song is about, but it almost seems like that's the point of it!
"Walk" by Foo Fighters: Of the two songs released of The Foos' latest CD, "Wasting Light", "Walk" seems like the better song so far! "Rope" just seemed too full of anger and intensity for me to fully appreciate it. "Walk", however, leans more towards the melodic side of their catalog! It's still a rocker, but more in the even-keeled, steady manner of "Learn to Fly" and "Times Like These" than the frenzied, frantic one of "All My Life" and "I'll Stick Around". The echo-y, jangly guitars in the beginning of "Walk" already indicate a more positive theme in the song. And lyrically, "learning to walk again" sound like words that can lead in a more positive direction than the more desperate, disconnected delivery of "gimme some rope I'm coming loose" (from "Rope", released earlier this year). My one complaint about this song is that sometimes Dave Grohl sounds like he's a bit TOO enthusiastic, as though he's about to scream his head off (mostly in the middle of the song), but other than that, I think this one's a winner!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)