New Alt-J and Fleet Foxes? Don’t mind the double track review; some things in life are just necessary. In this case, only one day after hearing that Alt-J have a new single and an album titled Relaxer coming out June 9, Fleet Foxes said “all in” and revealed a new track of their own to accompany the announcement of Crack Up – their first album in six years due out June 16. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of all things indie. Here, we’ll review each track individually and see what, if anything, they can reveal about the upcoming LPs from whence they came.
We’ll begin with the Alt-J track “3WW” because it came out first. “3WW” is an absolutely captivating piece of lo-fi indie rock. Commencing with a thumping backbeat, gentle guitar plucks, and handclaps, it feels mysterious and warmly inviting all at the same time. One thing that both tracks on this feature have in common is that they both pick up where each respective artist left off. “3WW” easily could have been dropped in the middle of This Is All Yours and nobody would have blinked, aside from the fact that it’s stunning aesthetically and would have marked yet another highlight. Joe…
Lorde is back, and she is following up on a four year wait with one of her most triumphant-sounding tracks yet – the bitterly scorned, irrefutably confident “Green Light.” The track was unveiled yesterday alongside the announcement of her sophomore record Melodrama, set to be released this summer. If the album is anything like the lead single, then we can expect a pretty stark change in Lorde’s approach. Whereas the whole of Pure Heroine possessed a rhythmic, downbeat atmosphere, “Green Light” has an elated chorus while the music video shows her dancing and writhing around the streets and nightclubs of a major city. It might not be the most well-advised comparison to make, but it actually reminds me a lot of Florence & The Machine’s “Shake It Out” (the video too), as darker themes bubbling under the surface are almost exorcised like some sort of ritualistic expulsion of all the demons that try to keep us weighed down in a pit of demise and self-loathing. While “Green Light” may draw from embattled emotions, it sounds as upbeat and inspiring as anything she’s written to date.
The lyrical content revolves around an apparent breakup, featuring lines like “she…
Disclaimer: I’m no Depeche Mode expert. My experience with them is pretty much limited to the famed Violator, as well as a few singles here and there. That didn’t stop the band’s latest single, “Where’s The Revolution”, from capturing my interest immediately though. It’s tough not to notice when a band comes out of nowhere to capture the essence of everything that’s been going on in the world, effortlessly, as if it’s just one sentence out of an entire novel that they’re ready to heave our way this March . But my God, what a statement this is.
If Bob Dylan scored our parents’ anti-war sentiments of the 60s during Vietnam, and Green Day’s American Idiot reigned in a whole new generation of political punks during the post-9/11 hysteria, then there is certainly a musical void to be filled with regards to the chaos going on right now in America and across the world. I can’t know beyond a shadow of a doubt what this song’s intentions are – much less what the entire album will dictate – but there’s no way in hell that Depeche Mode wasn’t aware enough of their surroundings to know how this song would be perceived. So if it aims to capture the essence of the confusion, anger, and fear of Trump’s America, then it succeeds in every imaginable way.
I’m not aiming to take a political stance here either, because whatever side of the spectrum you…
If you keep up with sultry, emotive, French-Canadian singer songwriters, then surely you grabbed Big Boy, the debut EP from Montreal’s Charlotte Cardin, back in July when it came out. I’m sure that adding her to our humble database just, like, slipped your mind — so busy, right!! Such a busy time right now (and also since July, when you probably planned to do it)… Busy with work and like… yeah, so busy!! [please don’t tell Jom]
Anyway, on Big Boy, the model-turned-musician wraps her outstanding voice around some minimalist soul vibes to put together a handful of low-key gorgeous pop tracks. Here’s a recent live performance of one of them:
Seven years. That’s how long it has been since Brand New has released a full length LP, and diehard fans are starting to lose patience with the band’s constant game of cat and mouse, teasing us with a single here or there before completely falling off the face of the Earth for another 365 days. It’s been a tiring wait, but it appears as if our collective patience is finally going to be rewarded. According to a Procrastinate! Music Traitors information report, the band is confirmed for a 2016 physical release of some kind, although it does not specify whether the format will be an LP or EP. Speaking from experience with the band, though, they’ve never been very big on extended plays – with the last release of this type coming via 2003’s The Holiday. If I were a betting man, I’d say we can expect to be listening to Brand New’s fifth full-length album before the year draws to an end, and that’s an exciting prospect considering the mythical status that the long awaited LP has garnered.
2015 saw the release of “Mene”, a punchy pop-rock number that harkened back to the days of Your Favorite Weapon and, even more so, Deja Entendu. The directional switch up seemed to catch more than a few of the group’s disciples off guard, which is altogether both surprising and not really surprising at all. The band’s most recent albums, The Devil…
Ariana Grande seems to be heating up just in time for summer. Everything she’s done leading up to the May 20th release of her third full-length LP, Dangerous Woman, sounds sleeker, bolder, and sexier than anything she has released to this point. It feels like a natural evolution for the pop starlet who has enjoyed vast success early in her career without ever quite breaking into the stratosphere of contemporary pop, or at least not to the ridiculously celebrated extent that icons such as Taylor Swift or Adele have pulled off. To a point, Ariana has thus far demonstrated what it means to define the pop status quo, bringing forth radiowave-riding ear candy that is enjoyable for a hot minute before fading away just as quickly as it arrived. Consistency has also been a point of derision, as we’ve yet to see an album that explores Grande’s vocal arsenal and artistic palette in full depth. It has always consisted of hit singles padded by lighter ballads and the occasional guest rapper thrown in for good measure – once again, not all that dissimilar from what is going on anywhere else in the modern pop scene. But is all of that about to change? From the sound of it, Ariana has as firm of a grip as ever on her musical direction, and she’s about to totally dominate the summer of 2016. Bolstered by “Dangerous Woman”, “Be Alright”, and now “Into You”,…
“Burn The Witch” feels like a cut right from the center of Radiohead’s prime – it’s eerie, compelling, and beautiful.
It’s not just any band that can drop a single and immediately earn a shout out from Time Magazine. Radiohead is one of the largest cultural phenomena in modern music. They’re as much generational icons as they are musicians, and much in the same way that music used to be able to shape the world (think civil rights and war protests during the 1960s / early 1970s), this is our very own paranoid bunch of 2000s cynics. That’s why when they release new material to the masses, it’s like a world leader making an important speech. Everyone just sort of listens.
It’s clear that Radiohead has a lot to say on “Burn The Witch.” Frontman Thom Yorke has never been one to state things plainly, as conspiracy theories and prophetic visions have become staples of the band’s lyrical content (If you haven’t researched the parallels between Kid A and the terrorist attacks of 9/11, then I highly recommend a quick google search for a very intriguing – if far fetched – read.) Yorke’s unyielding disillusionment with political/economic greed, consumerist societies, and the exploitation of technology have shown through in spades over the years, and there’s been nary an album to forego some type of political or cultural subtext worth investigating. In the midst of a particularly…
This will certainly be the last time I post a song that is usually associated with legendary saxophonist and noted punchline Kenny Rogers (who didn’t write it – that would be country-pop songwriter/trivia question Mickey Newbury), but “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” is such a late ’60s anachronism – a sexy, dirty acid-rock ditty that failed miserably in its anti-drug warning by making it sound too damn cool – that I couldn’t ignore its most recent incarnation. Austin blues-rock group White Denim funk up the proceedings here considerably, lathering on a thick coat of sleaze to go with that irresistibly bouncy melody and swooning lyrics. Recorded for the season two soundtrack of FX’s superb Fargo, which was released just last month, it fits that show’s (and the scene it’s expertly placed in) aesthetic smoothly, capturing the cracking facade of a country hollowed out by the toll of the Vietnam War and painted over with a mindless groove and lyrics that convey control starting to slip inexorably away.
It’s well within the wheelhouse for White Denim, who have graduated from their origins as a ramshackle garage rock group with a penchant for face melting live performances to psychedelic rock veterans with a penchant for face melting live performances. Stiff, their seventh, heavily soul-influenced LP, was released earlier this…
Track: “Green Like the G Train, Green Like Sea Foam”
We’re still nearly a month away from the official release of Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties’ Bittersweet, and yet we’ve already received an adrenaline boost with the passionate bookends of the three-song EP. Not unlike the previously released ’67 Cherry Red’, The Wonder Years’ frontman unleashes his inner turmoil over flamboyant horns and subtle folk influences on ‘Green Like the G Train, Green Like Sea Foam.’ It’s a song rich with emotion and imagery as Dan Campbell reveals his more poetic side with a sense of conviction – On a calendar long enough, all my grief starts to decay / Staring off at the skyline over shorebreak, and remembering that this same ocean almost killed me. For a fictional character, Aaron West feels more like a personal outlet for Dan Campbell’s passions, doubts, and struggles. The colorful visuals throughout the latest single hint at much more than lyrical storytelling, feeling more like raw and poignant reflections drawn from real experience. With his delivery as abrasive but refined as ever, Campbell holds nothing back as he brings his lyricism to life with a vibrant energy. Fictional character or not, the latest chapter in Aaron West’s story feels compellingly genuine, and it’s hard not to feel a sense of connection with the song’s vivid and relatable lyrics.
Kevin Morby’s latest solo offering, Singing Saw, has been described as “written simply and realized orchestrally.” This statement makes perfect sense within the context of the album – none of the songs feel overly complex in nature, but the delicate addition of instruments like horns and pianos breathe life into Kevin Morby’s authentic songwriting. A shining example would be the invigorating ‘Dorothy’, which urges you to tap your feet alongside what could perhaps be Morby’s most exuberant performance on the album. Yes, he sounds similar to Bob Dylan at times, but he also harbors enough of his own unique style to stand out as different in the modern folk scene. Behind his somewhat familiar croon, ‘Dorothy’ steadily swells into a bombastic number with heavily layered instrumentation. The song is simply brimming with energy, and one can’t help but feel alive and refreshed by its optimistic mood. Armed with a guitar, a knack for storytelling, and unique orchestral touches, the former Woods bassist seems to be realizing his full potential on Singing Saw, and ‘Dorothy’ stands tall and proud as the peak of his accomplishments.
I should be less surprised that All Human’s sophomore release has consistently been one of my favorite releases of 2016. Though Teenagers, You Don’t Have to Die! is my first exposure to the brainchild of Adam Fisher (Fear Before, Orbs) and Brian Ferrara (Trophy Scars), I should know by now that anything Adam Fisher has a creative voice in is going to stick with me. The man has one of the cleverest pens in modern music and a gift for slinging words together in the kind of rhyme schemes that should be studied in academic English classes, after all. But he also has a knack for composing and arranging music that just resonates with the same off-beat his lyrics hit. Or maybe the music just has to revolve around that lyrical beat. It beats me, but the point is, it always works.
It’s hard to single out a track on Teenagers to highlight since it’s an album full of high points stitched together with impeccable flow. But if we’re going to start, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
“And So Peter Dances” kicks off with a nice little spoken word bit about how much working sucks, which is particularly enjoyable whilst sitting in your cubicle. The music paints a dark and snowy street corner while Fisher’s lyrics complete the scene by adding in the lonely man freezing on that…
Whereas King Crimson seems to corner the market when it comes to being the pioneers of prog, there was actually a band that King Crimson’s producer, Tony Clark, worked with years before In The Court Of The Crimson King was even conceived. The name of that band? Well, The Moody Blues of course! And it was for no other album than their crowning achievement Days Of Future Passed. The album is famous among casual classic rock fans for the beautiful, eerie hit “Nights In White Satin” – but any prog enthusiast who has investigated the album further knows that it is brilliant from beginning to end. Fully orchestrated and dream-like, it’s almost impossible to select one song worth highlighting.
Although I wholeheartedly recommend giving the entire record a dedicated listen, today’s Throwback Thursday installment will focus on one snippet of what the gorgeous experience entails. “The Morning”, is a single track that exudes the raw beauty of the orchestra fueling Days Of Future Passed‘s creativity. Gliding in on waves of awe-inspiring strings, subtle piano, and magisterial horns, it progresses to a rhythmic and undeniably catchy verse before culminating in a forlorn, wise-sounding chorus: “time seems to stand quite still…in a child’s world it always will.” The way the song weaves between pop sensibility and orchestral ambition is a thing of beauty, and it manages to be all at once familiar, progressive, and aurally stunning.…
I don’t think very many bands could make something like the overuse of amphetamines seem so harmless and enjoyable, but then again not every band is Direct Hit! Following in the footsteps of 2013’s satirical Brainless God, the Milwaukee pop-punkers seem to be picking up right where they left off with their latest energetic single. ‘Forced to Sleep’ wastes no time, as huge vocal hooks are intertwined with drug-induced lyrics and crunchy guitars. As usual, it’s the band’s bitingly sarcastic delivery and lyricism that keeps them ahead of the game. Beneath the sugary-pop vibe, ‘Forced to Sleep’ is a raucous recollection of living a fast-paced life, and eventually being worn down by a steady intake of substances. It’s nothing new we haven’t heard from Direct Hit! before, but it’s a familiar and fitting way to kick off their upcoming LP, Wasted Mind. Not only that, it’s reassuring that despite a three year absence, they sound as scathingly sardonic and humorous as ever.
Wasted Mind will be released on June 24th through Fat Wreck Chords
I remember when I first started getting into music and it felt like every song I heard was speaking directly to me. It was a great era in my life because everything seemed to carry unprecedented weight, as if the artists were sitting down at a table with me and hashing out my emotions on paper. As the years progressed that feeling obviously fell by the wayside – I mean you can only be awestruck by everything you hear for so long, right? Music soon became more about the technical aspects – did that bridge really work?would this song have been better if they amped up the guitars and pushed the vocals back in the mix a little? There’s something to be said for any level of music appreciation, but the older I got, the more everything started to sound like an imitation of something I’d already heard. For lack of a better description, music’s meaning in my life just hollowed out a little bit.
Enter Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack. Now, I haven’t even finished listening to this album yet but I can already tell you that there are certain songs on here capable of totally wrecking me at any given moment. I know this because it’s been forever since I’ve felt my eyes getting misty upon first listen of a track, or felt a lump in…
I’m going to cut straight to the chase – Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters of War’ is one of the best songs he’s ever penned throughout his illustrious and weathered career. Not because of musical innovation, but because it contains perhaps the most profound and venomous lyrics he’s ever conjured up. We all know Dylan could write great lyrics in his sleep during his prime, but the heavy subject matter that permeates ‘Masters of War’ is nearly unmatched by anything else he’s put to paper. Musically, it’s one of the most simplistic songs on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, but behind the repetitive strumming of the guitars, Dylan unleashes a poignant performance that honestly examines both war and greed. He doesn’t just examine these harsh themes, however, he calls out the offenders with a sarcastic delivery –you ain’t worth the blood that runs in your veins/even Jesus would never forgive what you do. It only gets better from there, as he belts out more powerful lines – is your money that good, will it buy you forgiveness, do you think that it could/I think you will find when you death takes its toll, all the money you made will never buy back your soul. Finally, he viciously damns the lovers of war and money — I hope that you die, and your death will come soon, I follow your casket by the pale afternoon/I’ll watch…
Seven years. That’s how long it has been since Brand New has released a full length LP, and diehard fans are starting to lose patience with the band’s constant game of cat and mouse, teasing us with a single here or there before completely falling off the face of the Earth for another 365 days. It’s been a tiring wait, but it appears as if our collective patience is finally going to be rewarded. According to a 
