Songs Of The Week #38

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Bleached, Keaton Henson, The Lonely Wild, Andy Burrows, & Har Mar Superstar...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #38!

For those of you who are new to the column, here's the story: TCDroogsma likes to dork out about MP3's. We think he may have a problem. Each week we ask TCDroogsma to download the songs given away over the week by The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. After spending a few days with the songs we ask him to review the songs and give them a score of 1-5.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free music, people!

Alright, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Bleached – Dead In Your Head (from the album Ride Your Heart)

TCDroogsma:

     I didn't know anything about Bleached going into this week's songs.  Turns out Bleached is the work of sisters Jennifer & Jessie Clavin.  The name "Bleached" seems appropriate as the band is based out of L.A. and definitely sounds like a band from the 90's with some of the Seattle grunge burned away, leaving us with a hook-heavy, hearbroken pop song.

    
     As has been pretty well documented in these columns, I'm a fan of anything that leans 90's and anything that leans shoegaze.  "Dead In Your Head" has both in spades.  While the prospect of MPR giving away yet another "we broke up, I'm feeling things" song is about as exciting as another week of winter, Bleached manages just enough tricks to keep it interesting.

     Coming off like 808's era Kanye, the Clavin sisters start off lashing, claiming, "It's time to think about what you lost, because you know, baby, it's gonna hit you..."  Sadly, instead of an entire track of kiss-offs, the chorus is hinges the phrase, "I never wanted to lose the boy I love the most..."  Honestly, this back-and-forth between anger and regret has been beat to death in this "Song Of The Day" format.  In a different venue I probably would have likes this song more, but after spending a week with "Dead In Your Head," I'm left with the desire to sit down with the Clavin sisters and tell them each to get their shit together.  Nobody wants to hear somebody complain about something they had and lost when they're not even sure they wanted it in the first place.

Final Score: 2.5/5

02. Keaton Henson – You (from the album Birthdays)

 
TCDroogsma:

     According to, wel... the internet, Keaton Henson is the "bedroom troubadour" archetype personified.  Evidently, Mr. Henson has been so racked with anxiety since he was a child that he rarely ventures out to play live, instead staying in crafting fragile pop songs.  Frankly, I blame his parents.  Who names their kid Keaton?

     Well, "You" definitely sounds like the work of somebody who spends all day in a bedroom.  It's lushly produced, with strings that are beautifully executed and percussion that builds & drops the way anxiety would well up if you were stuck in your own head all day.  From an instrumental standpoint, this is clearly the work of somebody who hasn't left the house (and I mean that as a compliment).

    Lyrically, however, it also sounds like the work of somebody who hasn't left the house (and I don't mean that as a compliment).  "You" is filled with cliche & platitudes of a third-party telling somebody how to cope with life.  The fact that it's somebody who struggles to actually leave the house and live a life is readily apparent.  The lyric's revolve around "If... then..." statements.  "If you must leave," "If you must mourn," "If you must weep..."  The answer to all these questions a rote.  Honestly, the song sounds like an address from Henson to his own anxiety, questions answered with a mix of continued hibernation or calls to action, which leaves no right or wrong option.  Everything action or inaction justified.

    The song was definitely going to be a 2, but I'm bumping it up to a 3 for the line, "If you must die, sweetheart, die knowing your life was my life's best part..."  That is my early 2013 nomination for "Soul-Crushing Line Of The Year."

Final Score: 3/5

03. The Lonely Wild – Everything You Need (from the album The Sun As It Comes)

TCDroogsma:

     The Lonely Wild introduces "Everything You Need" with some upbeat-indie guitar and, unexpectedly, mariachi horns.  If the bastard child of The Helio Sequence & Calexico seems interesting, you should probably give The Lonely Wild a listen.

    
     Is this interesting to me?  Not especially.  "Everything You Need" is certainly well-executed and delivered with passion.  Sadly, The Lonely Wild seems to be counting on this indie-mash up sound to be their most compelling fact, rather than the actual content of the song.  Everything is so well-done and between the lines that even the moment of abandon (when the horns & rhythm vaguely abandon the songs structure around the 2:30 mark) seems a little too well coordinated.  "Everything You Need" is a welcome addition to the iPod Shuffle library, but I can't imagine listening to 50 minutes of this.

Final Score: 3/5

04. Andy Burrows – Keep On Moving On (from the album Company)

TCDroogsma:

     Andy Burrows is the former drummer for the band Razorlight.  Unless you're English (or an NME junkie), this may not mean much to you, but Razorlight was arena-show huge in England.  I'll explain why this is relevant in a bit.

     I'm sure he hates the fact that pretty much every article or review about him starts this way.  Honestly, until I googled his name I didn't know this fact.  The reason I googled his name, however, is because "Keep On Moving On" starts off like a hundred other indie rock songs.  The harmonies and hooks are big, but the song takes a real turn around the 1:00 mark when a big time guitar solo turns up.  Form that point on the song takes on an REO Speedwagon kind of vibe.  I mean that as a compliment.  So many of these Current songs are so far up their own ass that they can't see the light of day.

    What Burrows does with "Keep On Moving On" is incredibly refreshing.  He aims big with the second half of the song, something too many indie-bands undertake only with the knowing wink of, "here we go, right?!?"  Clearly, Burrows learned a lesson or two playing the big stages with Razorlight.  That lesson: Just fucking go for it once in a while.  If the songs above suffer for their venue (This "Song Of The Day" format), the Burrows benefits from it.  This song doesn't belong on MPR, it belongs on KQRS.

Final Score: 3.5/5

05. Har Mar Superstar – Lady, You Shot Me (from the album Bye Bye 17)

TCDroogsma:

     I've already written pretty extensively on "Lady, You Shot Me" right here on Newest Industry for their Singles Mixer column (click here to give it a read).  I'm not going to re-hash everything I said there, so in summation: this is a pretty great single.

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, folks. Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and filed away!

As always, please bear in mind that neither Newest Industry nor its contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a little too much time on our hands.

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