Warning: turning the volume way up on your headphones may result in the music sounding way better.
Pickwick – The Round
Genre: indie soulrock
Feeling: “Shitload of white boys with soul” – YouTube commenter T Stanton, 2017
Sometimes you have a lot to say about a song. Sometimes a random internet commenter sums it up better in six words than you ever could in several paragraphs. You win this round, T Stanton, whoever you are.
If you liked “The Round” check out the bopping “Hacienda Motel” and the church organ interlude “Myths” off Pickwick’s 2014 debut Can’t Talk Medicine.
The Black Keys – You’re the One
Genre: deindustrialized barroom rock
Feeling: spending money on the jukebox (or Touchtunes, these days) and subjecting fellow bar patrons to your music tastes
The other kid(s) from Akron, the Black Keys have been around for a minute, bringing garage and blues rock to the masses while still producing quality sounds. In honor of them releasing a single off their upcoming album–the first since 2014’s Turn Blue–I thought I’d dig a deep cut out of the sizable Keys crate.
Also, check out this live version of “You’re the One”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR6ZcDtLTOU
Lyric Sample:
“When I was thirteen,
My mom said “Son,
You’re the one I adore,”
Now I’m old and wise,
When I see your eyes,
You’re the one I adore”
Strong Skynyrd vibes coming from this one (from “Simple Man”: “Mama told me when I was young…”)
BROS – Watch Who You’re Talking To
Genre: mowing-the-lawn rock
Feeling: your beard growing as you listen
When I first came across BROS, I almost passed them by, thinking this was just some siren-and-womp EDM garbage played at a festival where dudes are wearing neon tank tops that say “PARTY” and “SEX” and “SEXPARTY,” and the girls are wearing tutus but also fishnets.
Thankfully, BROS is the opposite of that. BROS is the side project of two Canadian brothers, Ewan and Shamus Currie, frontmen of The Sheepdogs. Where the Sheepdogs revived the southern classic rock of Alabama and Georgia (as only Canadians could), BROS dives deep into bluesy grooves, moving closer to New Orleans–even, carefully, adding some brass.
Both incarnation of the rockers from America’s Hat feature many voiced-harmonies, clean instrumentals, and a double-shot of Ron Swanson-style manliness.
Lyric Sample:
“People watchin, people watchin…”
Aurora covers Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”
Genre: trip hop
Feeling: impending doom, but, like, the good kind
If you’ve never heard Massive Attack’s classic “Teardrop,” check it out. It’s a weird song, with a fittingly weird music video of a singing fetus. But if you like it, it’s one of those songs you never forget. It will surface in your mind every now and then, the heartbeat-like bass, the circling chord progression, and the angelic vocals providing background music to your stroll on a windy, rainy day through town.
Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora does the imposing track justice. “Teardrop” already has a sort of ominous, Nordic feel to it, so Aurora is a natural fit. Her supporting band provides a minimalist but all the more chilling rhythm for her to make “Teardrop” her own.
Lyric sample:
“Water is my eye
Most faithful mirror”
Built to Spill – Liar
Genre: indie rock
Feeling: losing your religion
Closing things off tonight is Boise, Idaho’s Built to Spill. BtS has been around the indie scene for what seems like forever–the were heavy influences on Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock–and are a stalwart of the Pacific Northwest’s venerable alternative rock legacy.
“Liar” is a head nodding, catchy tune, and comes with some cool, abstract album art.
Happy Monday.