NY band release a very NY music video. A short sharp hit from the bands second album released, this track has all the great guitar sounds that I could want in a rock song. The video shows members of the band and others recreating some of the annoying people and situations that we see and hope to not be a part of whilst riding the subway or similar. My most relate-able gripe is sitting next to someone who feels the need to stretch their legs apart as far as possible, for ?comfort? or whatever reason, its plain annoying. Great tune and great video Worriers. Enjoy!
I have been waiting for the next SCS to roll around so that I can tell people about this track. It is the latest track on the bands SoundCloud in 2 years and boy it was worth the wait. A short and extremely catchy track coming in at just under 2 minutes. It may finish quickly but that just means that it will be faster for you to hit that replay button. I'm just hoping for more great tracks soon. Enjoy!
Shannon and the Clams new music! Its like I have been waiting for this to come along without even realising it consciously. Nice basic/chugging beat almost like a steam train coming along its rails and working its way into your head like the ear worm that it is. I also like the creative, cross dressing, (sometimes bad) karaoke style of the video. More please SATC!!. Enjoy! (I must be in a !! mood)
July has been another great mixed bag of album releases. So much so that I have chosen 3 favourites for this month.
Veruca Salt - Ghost Notes
First is the 5th album from the Chicago band Veruca Salt. I enjoyed listening to this because after 5 albums in, they have kept a punk sound without sounding like they are rehashing the same old sound. From song to song there is a diversity that keeps things feeling fresh and exciting and loud.
Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
Again this is another 5th release from the artist. A bit of a different sound compared to the last one. The whole album has a gentle and non abrasive feel whilst singing heart felt and passionate songs. My personal stand out tracks are How To Forget and Children of Children. These seem to be the most emotional and sung with underlining feeling. Luckily they are paired back to back.
White Reaper - White Reaper Does It Again
My final favourite is the first full length from White Reaper. These guys know how to make a first impact. Straight out of the gate they pack a punch that lasts throughout the whole album. They pack 12 great rock songs into 33 Minutes. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have and will do in the future.
Another busy couple of days moving from a single room to a studio flat kind of location. The biggest problem being that the internet man hasn't been and done his job in giving us wifi so me and Keturah are living off of basic BT random connectivity which loves to move at a snails pace. Due to this, my YouTube video watching has gone down in quantity somewhat but one video that I did manage to watch and enjoy is the latest track from The Front Bottoms. This song will be on their 5th studio album and the first released on Fueled By Ramen which is the YouTube channel that I heard them on. Despite the slightly childish name, they make good music, especially this track. Enjoy!
This is my second SCS on Thursday because thanks to the music heads and the new music albums release being moved to Fridays this means that there is one more load of releases that I want to take into consideration before sharing my favourites this month.
So this week I have chosen a track from Natural Child which is a year or two old but on my first listen I thought it sounded a lot older, like from a previous decade. It has a nice bouncy, springtime like feel whilst including the country and rock and roll tinge. It could almost be a theme tune to a 90's teen sitcom. Enjoy!
Last weekend was a bit of a concert feast. On Saturday night I went to see Jake Evans play at The Deaf Institute and on Sunday night I went to Phil Busbys album release gig at The Castle Hotel. Both gigs were great for many varied reasons such as talent and guitar skills, and one of the best songs played was the one in the video below. Jake played it as one of his closing tracks to finish off the night and with the whole room singing along, it really was quite a spectacular moment to be a part of. I am looking forward to hearing more from Jake in the near future with his new album release etc. Enjoy!
Wavves are a band that I band that I have heard of in articles etc. but haven't heard their music. That was up until someone reposted this track which popped up on my SoundCloud feed. The song is a lot more pop rock than I was expecting, because for some reason I had it in my head that they were like more of an experimental electronic band which I am not too keen on listening to. Way Too Much is the latest release from the groups 5th album aptly titled "V" which comes out on the 2nd of October, so only 10 weeks to go. That should give me enough time to go through their 4 old albums. Enjoy!
So last Saturday I went to The Castle Hotel to see Evans The Death, not knowing much about them or the other bands that were playing alongside them. I was happy to find out that the other bands that supported were full of energy and great musical talent. The Orielles being one of the support bands alongside Gorgeous Bully and Sudden Sodner. The Orielles were probably the youngest band on the line up, but age really didn't have anything to do with the amount of musical skill they had. They sounded as good if not more skilled then some of the other guys. The video below is one of their tracks but I don't think it really does the band full justice. Live they sound a lot more raucous and aggressive with ripping guitar solos which was definitely one of my highlights. So if you get the chance to see them live, please do. Enjoy!
Today would normally be a Design Of The Month post but there was no design that inspired me to post about it so I have decided to do a general post about Manchester venues.
I have been living here in Manchester for a week and a half now and I am starting to plan some gigs to go to in the near future. After reading a local free music mag, I was pleasantly surprised at the quantity and variety of cheap concerts that take place around Manchester on a daily basis. Also the amount of venues is really impressive (pictured below) with places like: Gullivers, RNCM Concert Hall, Castle Hotel, The Deaf Institute, Sound Control, Night & Day and The Soup Kitchen to name but a few. I am pumped full of energy to visit these places and hopefully experience good music along the way.
Ezra Furmans album is one that I have been digging lately. He has a truly unique sound that keeps me guessing throughout the album. Restless Year is the first track on the album and kicks it off with a bang. One of the major things that I enjoy about his songs is how he uses the human voice to create sounds so that it isn't all just musical instruments. It may sound out there but it is some of the most catchy/creative music around. Enjoy!
Its back to the Swinging Sixties via 1999 with this track from The Resonars. It may be a couple of decades old but it is still a great pop tune and holds up well. I am glad that Burger Records are reposting all of these previously released tracks on their SoundCloud. There are some real gems on their page that I would not have heard about if it wasn't for them. If you don't follow them already go do it now if you like music like this.
This is one band that I am 100% going to go through their back catalogue. Fantastic groovy tunes.
This week has a lot of new changes for me with my job transfer and new living quarters up in Manchester so to go alongside this I have chosen the new single from Bad//Dreems. Hiding To Nothing is the latest single from their up coming August album release. They are a band from Adelaide, Australia and so far have just released an EP way back in 2013. They have hints of The Gaslight Anthem if they were to come from down under. They produce straight up honest rock and roll that captures their surroundings and captures the heart of the listener. Enjoy!
During this pretty busy part of my life with the ending of University life and my relocating to Manchester in a few days time, Billy Currington has helped keep my spirits up with his latest album Summer Forever. Other albums that I have enjoyed come from Kid Wave, Girlpool, Pins, Wolf Alice and many more.
Summer Forever has a definite chirpy country sound to it and this is a major part of why I like it, but what makes it special to me is that it is not just a standard country album that can be boring with 12 stereotypical songs all the way through. It has some of the tracks where I think he switches it up and has more of a John Mayer Bluesy vibe and others with more of a straight up Americana kind of feel that wouldn't sound out of place on a Springsteen modern album. Below is one of the singles from the album which isn't much of a surprise seeing as it has a good hook but the whole album is this and much more. Enjoy!
This week I wanted to post a bit of a classic song from Beck. Girl is a track from his album Guero which is coming up on its 10 year birthday in a month. I heard this song earlier today on the radio and it reminded me of when I last heard it all those years ago and I look back with fond memories. I like the catchy elements of the lyrics and the fact that he has brought in Mexican and Country music elements to the song and make it sound fresh even in this day and age. Enjoy!
Yet another exciting young band that would be great to listen to in the sunshine at a festival. This time they come from Louisville, USA. The 4 tracks below are a nice little teaser for their upcoming album to be released in a few weeks on the 17th of July. I think they share similar musical qualities with another punky band I love: Fidlar, in terms of the grungy guitar and the sometimes silly lyrics. They also manage to pack more hooks into each tune which makes for a more light hearted listen as a whole. If this is about a quarter of the album, I cant wait to hear the thing as a whole. Super pumped for more of this music.
NPR have pulled another brilliant session out of the bag inviting Strand Of Oaks to play for their Tiny Desk Concert feature. I watch most of the Tiny Desks that they release and there has been good ones fairly regularly but nothing has been as good as this session in a long time.
Through the session he plays 3 tracks: Goshen 97, Plymouth and JM. Starting with Goshen 97, it shows the vocal capabilities of Timothy Showalter and I was pleasantly surprised at the range he could produce. With Plymouth he moved from a Telecaster to play what looks like a Fender Telecoustic (funny little instrument) with a gorgeous effect added through a pedal that I have rarely if never heard before in such a stand alone way and I am so envious his guitar playing. JM is the 7 minute belter that closes the set and it is one of a select few tracks that doesn't have me reaching for my phone by half way through, he just has a way of keeping me captivated throughout. Extremely talented guy. Enjoy!
To add even more buzz for their début album, Wolf Alice have released Freazy about a day ago. It is less rocky and has more of a pop element compared to the other tracks they have released so it should make for a nice mixed selection of tracks on an expectedly great first album. From their ever growing fan base on both sides of the pond, I think Wolf Alice are going to be a big big act and seeing as it is festival season they are going to rise and rise up that line up bill. Perfect sound for summer time sunshine. Hopefully their album holds up against the hype. Enjoy!
This track came to me out of the blue when I was listening to KSMT radio this morning, for like 5 random minutes the vocals really caught my attention. Mona Lisa is the Dead Saras latest released single from their third album and it has edges of rockier tones but after listening to some of their previous releases, I was pleased to hear they have heavier tones and even more powerful vocals. I hope you all agree that these guys are an exciting band and I look forward to listening to their albums over and over again. Enjoy!
I finally got around to watching Montage Of Heck yesterday which is a movie that has been on my must watch list for too long now. Alongside telling the story of Kurt Cobains life from start to end, the thing that really made impressed was the use of animation to tell certain parts of the story when video couldn't have been or wasn't used. The animator is Stefan Nadelman, an American Film Director/Animator who has been working in the industry for well over a decade now and you can tell by the quality of his art (pictured below). It had a way of expressing his life in a realistic but emotional way that was breathtaking to me.
Other parts of the movie I enjoyed were the interview clips with Kurts mother, father, step mother and ex-girlfriend. These were all people I have never heard anything from in the past and found the things they talked about really enlightening. Great movie and definitely worthy of your time.
