(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)
Cheatahs, Jenny O., Pillowfight, Broncho, & Usonia...
Well hello again, MP3 junkies!
Welcome to Songs Of The Week #28!
For those of you who don't know
quite what you're looking at, here's the deal: Each week we ask two
of our regular contributors to to download the free songs given away
via The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. After spending some time
with them they write up a review and give them a score of 1-5.
As always, we highly encourage you
to head over to The Current's website and subscribe to the podcast
yourself. Playing along at home is fun for the whole family!
To that end, we've posted a poll to
the right-hand side of the page. Please take a second to vote for
whichever of this week's songs was your favorite. At the end of the
voting period, the winning artist will receive the validation of
winning an anonymous internet vote against a bunch of their fellow
artists.
Unfortunately, as has been the case
for the past few installments, we've been unable to find a second
person to review the week's songs. Not surprisingly, though,
TCDroogsma was still readily available to fly solo this week.
So, Droogsy... thoughts?
01. Cheatahs – The
Swan (from the album Extended Plays)
TCDroogsma:
I'll be honest, it took me about 20 seconds of “The Swan” to make
up my mind about Cheatahs. This kicks ass. Maybe it's just the fact
that The Current has set my expectations so low for these songs that
even the first hint of an electric guitar is all it takes to get my
pulse going, but I don't think that's the case.
Cheatahs aren't reinventing the wheel by any means. In fact, if I
was The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart I'd be drawing up a copyright
lawsuit as we speak, but that doesn't really matter. The combination
of late 90's emo-pop guitars (more Jawbreaker than Braid) and
shoegazing vocals aims right for the sweet spot of my 31 year old
brain. I've listened to "The Swan half a dozen times now and I still
have no idea what the song is about (I'm guessing not a swan). Regardless, it's been better
each time I've listened to it.
Final Score: 4/5
02. Jenny O. - Good
Love (from the album Automechanic)
TCDroogsma:
“Good Love” starts off with a bit of a space-country-funk vibe
that suggests Phantogram drinking moonshine. Unfortunately,
that energy quickly gives way to a rather mundane alt-pop song the
leans a little too heavily on its country side and abandons its
space-out side. Which is a shame.
On its surface, it seems like there is a lot of stuff going on in
“Good Love.” After a few listens, however, the indie
affectations are revealed to be just that, affectations give a bit of color to a rather black & white song..
Final Score: 2/5
03. Pillowfight –
In The Afternoon (from the album Pillowfight)
TCDroogsma:
I'm sure this gets brought up in every review of Pillowfight (Dan The Automator & Emily Wells), so I
hate to bring it up, but here goes: Ever since Amy Winehouse &
Mark Ronson cracked the code of sultry-soul & hip-hop drums there
have been no shortage of artists ready to take a shot at the throne.
The most obvious comparison to Pillowfight is that Bitter:Sweet album
from a couple years ago. I enjoyed that record much like I enjoy “In
The Afternoon.”
Sadly, what sinks Automator & Wells here (and what sank Bitter:Sweet)
is the one thing that nobody wants to acknowledge about Winehouse:
Namely that a large chunk of her success was based on a cult of
personality that is nearly impossible to replicate. Admittedly,
there is something thrilling about the sensual moans that dot the
chorus of “In The Afternoon.” However, that chorus consists of
the lines, “In the afternoon I get sentimental, I know that ain't
right, the fun we have should be criminal...” Which, when you
think about it, just sounds like your insane girlfriend going through
mood swings in the middle of the day.
Final Score: 2.5/5
04. Broncho – Try
Me Out Sometime (from the album Can't Get Past The Lips)
TCDroogsma:
“Try Me Out Sometime” lives in the same space that the Parquet
Courts song from a couple weeks back inhabits. It's fuzzed out
vocals and stuttering, adrenaline-fuled guitar work comes squarely
from post-punk/no-wave forefathers like Minutemen & Husker Du.
Is that a band thing? Not at all. In fact, it's refreshing to see
the pendulum of indie rock swing back away from polished (i..e.
Grizzly Bear, TV On The Radio) and back toward the scrappy.
To that end, “Try Me Out Sometime” is fighting the same fight
lyrically and musically. The music isn't the most instantly
memorable (or most easily digestible). Lyrics like, “look me over
when you're done,” and “gotten straighten me up, gotta get me
straight..” may be directed toward a potential lover, but can just
as easily be a plea to take 10 minutes and give Broncho a good
listen. Take them up on the offer, it's well worth the effort.
Final Score: 3.5/5
05. Usonia – How
Does It Feel (from the album What's Fresh)
TCDroogsma:
Oh damn! This makes me want to dance! And almost nothing makes me
want to dance! Let's be honest, all it takes is 8 bars of that
keyboard to know exactly where this song is going to go. They're the
anti-Broncho in that regard. But that's kind of the point
Looking at the title of this song (and the title of the album), one
thing is immediately apparent: Usonia hates question marks.
Listening to “How Does It Feel” drives that home. This is not
music designed to be listened to while sitting in your bedroom,
headphones on, parsing the tracks for meaning. This is music
designed to make your girlfriend grab your hand and drag you to the
dancefloor before the first verse has even begun.
(And super props to Usonia's bass player. Somewhere Alex James is
smiling.)
Final Score: 4/5
So there you
have it, everybody. Another week's worth of songs downloaded,
reviewed, and filed away.
As always,
please remember that neither Newest Industry nor its contributors is
in any way affiliated with the artists reviewed, The Current, or
Minnesota Public Radio. We're just music fans with laptops and a
little bit too much time on our hands.
For more
TCDroogsma, be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).
He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our weekly
podcast Flatbasset Radio.
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