(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)
Luke Temple, Lissie, Cass McCombs, Noah & The Whale, & Lizzo...
Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #65!
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story: TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. They're also both opinionated and have access to computers. Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column. Over a year later later and here we are.
As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!
To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page. The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.
As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting
So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?
01. Luke Temple - Florida (from the album Good Mood Fool)
TCDroogsma:
Spending the last week with "Florida" as the first song I heard was kind of a trip. The weather kept getting cooler while Luke Temple reaffirming my Upper Midwest moxy by reminding whoever Florida is that, "You won't do to good in the cold you know..." Yeah, Florida. You ain't built for this.
That first verse left me afraid that I'd be spending the week with some dreary folk music, but oh, that chorus. Temple comes of like Justin Vernon if he'd had grown up on Steely Dan records. I don't know what this Florida person is struggling with, but when Temple sings, "If it's a line you understand then cross it, baby, and move on..." sounds less like advice and more like reassurance. The strings & synths wrap the whole song up in a kind of warmth that makes the cold seem bearable.
MinneSarah:
I'd never heard of Luke Temple before this song - maybe I'm behind the curve. Instead of all this soul revival we've been hearing, why not encourage a soulful yet confidently relaxed answer to Jeff Buckley?
Maybe it's the age I'm at, but this sounds pretty darn good. Laid back bass, drums, and yes...bongo open "Florida", and it slips into a comfortable groove early on. Temple's vocals are on the high end of the range, but do give me that Buckley fix I've been searching high and low to find for years. The sentiment of the lyrics is bittersweet, but places make great stand ins for people or opportunities so I didn't read to far into them. I would certainly check out his other work based on this song.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
MinneSarah: 4/5
02. Lissie - Shameless (from the album Back To Forever)
TCDroogsma:
"Shameless" sounds like it came out of a time warp from the 90's. "I saw your magazine, the one with the beauty queen on the front, I see her look at me, I swear that it is bugging me, what the fuck?" What the fuck, indeed, Lissie.
Lissie paints "Shameless" as a call-to-arms against airbrushed beauty, but fails on multiple fronts. In the chorus she claims that, "I don't know what this game is, 'cause I'm not even playing it," which is obviously not true considering she's just crafted a whole song hating the game. She then plays one of the most tried-and-true pop star cards ever, claiming "I don't want to be famous, if I have to be shameless!" clumsily aiming for the sort of indifferent cool can only be achieved if you don't, y'know, actually mention it. When Lissie goes on the least threatening rant ever at the end of this song ("I read your magazine, I'd maybe change a couple of things!) I half expected her to yell, "Courtney Love & Marilyn Manson, your all fake run to your mansions! Come round here we'll kick your ass in!"
Which brings me to the real fault of "Shameless," which is timing. It's 2013! We live in an age where we, the consumer, control exactly what media we want to indulge in. Nothing is forced down our throats. Honestly, who the fuck even buys magazines anymore? In a world of Spotify, Twitter, YouTube, & Instagram the artist can control nearly every aspect of their own public presentation. Hell, just look at the way I discovered Lissie (right here, via this podcast). "Shameless" sounds far more like a play for the hearts, minds, and dollars of teenagers who feel insecure when they watch Katy Perry videos than an actual shot across the bow of the publicity machine.
MinneSarah:
This song can't be very new - it's emblazoned on my brain from the Current, which I haven't even listened to since the member drive. While most people turn their dials away from the incessant member drive, I mark my calendar and only listen during that wonderful time. The Current plays the best of the best music and gives the listener constant affirmation for being an intelligent elite for listening - the rest of the year sounds downright boring in comparison!
So I've established that this song is quite catchy as I remember it through the past couple months and that it was showcased during a time that the Current really wanted to keep you on the station. Well, "Shameless" is a catchy song. The singer's delivery is passionately enraged, and the lyrics channel a pay-per-view of Bust magazine vs. Elle magazine.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
MinneSarah: 4/5
03. Cass McCombs - There Can Only Be One (from the album Big Wheels And Others)
TCDroogsma:
When I saw that I'd be listening to a song from Cass McCombs titled "There Can Be Only One" my first thought was, "Yes! Finally somebody has written a prog-folk epic about The Highlander!" Sadly, my hopes were dashed almost immediately.
Honestly, I don't know what the fuck McCombs is talking about for a majority of this song. "Blackened master's baptism of fire, I know you have your ways, and two masters at once, no man can acquire, it set my heart ablaze..." Oh, for real? Nah, that sounds like an actual problem and not, y'know, hyper-literate lyrics for their own sake. I honestly have no idea if McCombs is struggling with two lovers or if the devil & god are raging inside of him. I do know that, after spending a week with "There Can Be Only One," I have no interest in ever hearing about it again.
MinneSarah:
I hereby name the bongo as the MVP of 2013 music. This instrument is prominently showcased in "There Can Be Only One," along with many of the other songs that have been part of this feature this year. How did music sound without bongos, and do we need to thank Matthew McConaughey? The temp of this song is sleepy, small town country-folk, and the lyrics are delivered very slowly as well. A small tangent - I can't keep these neo-country folk acts straight. I feel as confused as I was in high school when it was impossible to tell the difference between the boy bands - are you sure that's not NSYNC? I'll try and remember, Cass McCombs - the bongos...wait, that could be any of these songs.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2/5
MinneSarah: 2/5
04. Noah & The Whale - All Through The Night (from the album Heart Of The Night)
TCDroogsma:
It's appropriate that the subject matter of "All Through The Night" hinges on the idea of pretending to lives somebody else's life because your life is "only dead end." Noah And The Whale spend the entirety of "All Through The Night" trying on different indie rock hates. That opening guitar riff sounds like somebody trying to figure out how to play "Achin' To Be." The nonsensical chorus of "Oh, you didn't think so honey..." comes off like the worst Hamilton Leithauser impression ever, delivered far too kindly to carry any real bite. There's a hint of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in there. A dash of Nada Surf. Just a pinch of Alt-J (which is still more Alt-J than anybody needs)... Sadly, Noah & The Whale's Frankenstein experiment yields nothing more than a very, very average pop song.
MinneSarah:
The band members of Noah And The Whale must be young, I know this because they have the audacity to combine 80's guitar riffs with indie folk rock. Also, the lyrics are footloose and fancy free. While the past fifty years of decades are coming back in their own revival, I haven't heard anything that has so pulled from an after school special and then squarely landed in 2013. It's pretty amazing.
For being an indie folk band, this group relies heavily on electric guitars and is on the fringe of the genre - this may have been what Franz Ferdinand may have sounded like if it got its start in the late 2000's/early 2010's. "All Through the Night" sounds upbeat and familiar, and I give them credit for mixing it up with other elements they love.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2/5
MinneSarah: 3/5
05. Lizzo - Bus Passes And Happy Meals (from the album Lizzobangers)
TCDroogsma:
I've been trying to figure out what the hype surrounding Lizzo is all about for a minute now. I understood her role as the Left Eye to The Chalice's TLC. That role seemed to be wearing thin with Grrl Party's "Wegula." By the time she dropped "Batches And Cookies" (the brutal lead single from Lizzobangers), the buzz around Lizzo seemed inverse to the quality of work she was putting out.
Unfortunately, "Bus Passes And Happy Meals" leaves me no closer to an answer. Over an indifferent Lazerbeak beat Lizzo proceeds to drop couplets that range from cringe worthy ("I picketh thee off like a bug betwixt my shoe") to nonsensical ("Sudafed! Pop that. A hooligan! Step back") before spending the chorus letting us (them?) know that she's, "Burying ya'll alive." She even fires a few shots at "haters," despite the fact that, as far as I can tell, she has nearly universal support in the Twin Cities. Even her hypeman sounds bored by the proceedings.
Perhap Lizzo's rise to is due to being an outsized personality in a hip-hop scene that was built around rappers who prided themselves on being "everyman" (the punk rock model) or maybe she's just the product of a city who will support anybody who calls the Twin Cities home (the insecure, Minnesota Nice model). It's still kind of a mystery to me.
MinneSarah:
Lizzo seems to have a lot of fun making music and performing it. Her stage presence cannot be underestimated and that is clear in this song, even though we're just listening to it. The beats are outstanding - Laerbeak does a great job showcasing, but not overpowering Lizzo's vocals. "Bus Passes and Happy Meals" starts out with a spooky Western theremin which comes back for the chorus and the beats are steady throughout. Lizzo's lyrics aren't serious - the subjects vary widely during the two and half minute song and every once in a while you can nod your head in solidarity over a particular gem of a statement. As a newer introduction into the Twin Cities hip hop scene, Lizzo is making her place known - the rest of this new album will likely further cement her contribution to the hip hop scene.
Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1.5/5
MinneSarah: 3.5/5
Well there you have it, MP3 junkies! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!
As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.
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