Truth be told, I’m a bit shocked that the music press is rather indifferent to New York glam rockers Morningwood. I know they’re not the best band New York’s given the world, but their blend of punchy guitars, perky beats and that force of nature named Chantal Claret at the microphone strike some primal chord in me. Maybe it’s a reminder what what rock bands used to sound like, before they worried about whether they were cool enough, or if they were attracting the “right” fans. What a joke, really. Do you think Cheap Trick ever gave a fuck who was listening to their records, as long as people were buying them? Hell, no.
That’s why people refer to the music business these days as junior high school with money. Sadly, the same peer pressure rules apply to the people who write about bands. They want to be seen as cool, too (probably more so than the musicians they write about), so once a band has the perception of not being hip, the writers tend to fall in line. Case in point: a very well-known blogger told me at Lollapalooza in 2007 that they were surprised at how much they liked Silverchair’s performance, yet they the band down in their column. Oh, the price some pay for hipster credibility.
But not me. I gave that ghost up years ago, and I can’t tell you how much easier things are since I did. Of course, this might make bands reluctant to receive my stamp of approval, since it comes with a giant asterisk – Shit! He’s uncool! Wait, unless it’s cool to not care about being cool. Damn, this is hard – but I’m not high enough on the food chain yet for that to matter. Anyway…
Personally, I’ll take a band like Morningwood and a song like “Best of Me” over the more popular Paramore any day of the week. It’s brief (just a hair over three minutes), it’s catchy, it’s confident without bragging, and best of all, it’s all major keys, so there’s no unnecessary melodrama. It reminds me of Pat Benatar in her ass-kicking days (i.e. before she started her family). And you can have it for free. Dig in. And as an appetizer, here’s the video, which contains a nice callback to the band’s hilarious clip for “Sugarbaby,” which is one of my singles of the year.
The problem with a band reaching the upper reaches of the rock star food chain is that inferior bands begin to imitate them. And the band that has inspired the largest number of shitty copycats of late, sadly, is one of this writer’s favorites.
Yep, Muse.
The thing about Muse is that their approach is a lot simpler than it appears. The song, by and large, comes first, whereas the band’s copycats see the flashy solos, the lightning-fast drum fills, and the busy bass lines and instantly forget about writing and concentrate on playing. Big, big mistake. Without a tune, that stuff is just masturbation.
Which brings us to Gazpacho, which seems an odd name for a group of Norwegians, but then again we suppose that everything is served cold there. (This moment of cultural insensitivity brought to you by Jack Daniel’s.) This is the first Muse-y band we’ve heard since “Knights of Cydonia” that seems to understand the order of things. They can play, and they make sure that you know they can play, but it’s not their endgame. And, in the case of “Winter Is Never,” the haunting ballad that closes their new album Tick Tock, the song comes first, second and third. David Gray is probably gnashing his teeth over this one, as this could pass for a White Ladder outtake, with a few Buckley-isms from lead singer Jan Henrik Ohme in the second chorus. Gorgeous stuff, and best of all, it’s free! The download link is below.
In the meantime, those who felt a tad disappointed by Muse’s new album The Resistance would be wise to check out Tick Tock. It won’t make anyone burn their copies of Black Holes and Revelations, but for a mere $6.23 to download, it’s a steal. Dig in.
Somewhere in California, Beck is throwing stuff across the room, pissed that he didn’t come up with this first.
The project of French expatriate Hervé “RV” Salters, General Elektriks is minimalist blue-eyed funk filtered through a microphone and a bevy of vintage synthesizers. RV seems particularly fond of the Clavinet (think “Superstition,” “Trampled Underfoot”), which makes sense considering it’s arguably the funkiest instrument ever created. Adding the horns for the last verse is a nice touch, too.
Wow, look at that shirt and tie combo. All right, so the guy might be color blind. But when it comes to music, color blindness is never a bad thing. It-it’s time to get, it-it’s time to get funky, kids.
Posted by Alexzandra Hackford (05/04/2009 @ 7:42 pm)
The other day I heard the Fray’s cover of Kanye West’s “Heartless” on the radio. It’s amazing. Not only is there a completely different rock element to the song, but Issac’s voice is brilliant. With the new, piano-driven arrangement, there’s much more depth, especially when listening to the lyrics.
The track was originally recorded as par of The Fray Live, which is available on iTunes, and was released to radio April 21. While the Fray may have committed a cardinal sin and covered a song that’s currently on the charts, they’ve managed to do so magnificently. There’s not another band I can think of who could have attempted the switch without faltering. It just goes to show that the Fray aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Make sure to check out the new single on iTunes, or you can listen to the song for free on YouTube.
This news will make our friend Heidi happy: Metric are about to release Fantasies, the band’s fourth album, and if the first single, “Help, I’m Alive,” is any indication, these guys are about to make the jump into the big leagues. Nice combination of electronic flourishes and acoustic instruments, and a Velcro hook in that “Beating like a hammer” line. Check it out.
And for you Metric fans who want more more more, the band is also giving away an acoustic version of “Help, I’m Alive,” for the low, low price of…your email address.
Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, and Brain join forces with producer multi-instrumentalist Greg Hampton to release the man/robot Orwellian-themed, musically eclectic Living on Another Frequency. As bizarre as the combination sounds, it really isn’t unique. Brain and Buckethead worked together on The Big Eyeball in the Sky, joining Bernie Worrell (who guests on this record), and Les Claypool in the one-off Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains. Buckethead has worked with Collins before in Praxis. The X factor, and ultimately the weakness of the record, are the whiskey-soaked, cigarette-stained and underwhelming vocals of Greg Hampton who provides the lead voice on the majority of the record. It’s a shame because musically, it is as sophisticated as it is bizarre. It has much more structure than a Praxis project, but still roams all around a futuristic funk rock sound to tantalize the listener. The best tracks are the trippy instrumental based tracks which have weird vocal samples (and no Hampton singing like “Sci-Fax Theme” and “Famous”) or “Life-IS IN-Deliver,” featuring a spacey, Hendrix-influenced vocal by Collins, or a guest spot by the distinct Chuck D on “What It Is.” It’s adventurous and interesting, especially on paper, but much like the 2008 Chicago Cubs, being good on paper doesn’t guarantee success. (Mascot Records)
As if Keane wasn’t wearing their I Love the ’80s influences on their sleeves for their newest album, Perfect Symmetry, remix troupe CSS plays that angle up even further on their remix to the album’s second single, “The Lovers Are Losing.” Man, check out that fat keyboard sound. Is that from a DeBarge track, or the song that Lambda Lambda Lambda performs during Greek Week in “Revenge of the Nerds”? Either way, it’s a side to Keane that we have not seen before. We were beginning to wonder how long the band could churn out those devastating ballads before the urge to dance set in.
Ah, but don’t just take our word for it; Keane has offered us this song for you, dear reader, to download for free. So take it out for a spin, and shake that bootay.
