2-25-12 - "Downtown Sugar" ~ The Long Time Darlings

Pittsburgh rockers The Long Time Darlings have been on the fringe of my consciousness for a while now, though I've yet to catch a show.  I picked up a freebie track ("Baby Doll") a while back and it comes up on the ol' iPod from time to time, and I enjoy it every time.  Then, I found out from my boss that guitarist Brian Sproul and his folks are long time* family friends of he and his wife.  Said boss forwarded me the link to this video, and you know what?  It's a pretty great song and a pretty great video.


* - totally unintentional, I swear.


You have to love a band whose info page on facebook includes such gems as "Record Label: Ha-ha! That's hilarious!" and "Band Interests: Beer, vinyl, hockey, whiskey, sex."  Rock bands just wanna have fun, you know.  And hockey is just plain awesome, eh?


So on to the video:

[per Brian, it's "a little risqué".  But only a little. Consider yourselves forewarned.]

"Don't bet against yourself, darling…

push your way to the front."

And you can get both Downtown Sugar and Baby Doll on Bandcamp for FREE.  So yeah, do that.  And  if you like these two tracks, then go buy their album, so they can afford to record more rockin' rock songs.  (Okay, that one was intentional, and I apologize.)

1-4-12 - "Into The Sun" ~ The Parlor Mob

I'm going to admit that I found out about this band/song from a commercial.  But in my defense, it's a Pittsburgh Penguins commercial, and they're pretty awesome, so I feel like whatever hipster cred I may have had remains intact.  They're not an obscure indie band, anyway... they're a quickly-becoming-less-obscure rock band.


The Parlor Mob is named after a New York City gang which was one of many famous gangs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - I give them points for a sweet historical nod there.  The song itself is blistering rock and speaks of clawing and fighting to make one's way in a challenging world.  

"Out of the darkness

and into the light of love

though for now it seems this struggle has only begun

I'm still believing

our day is gonna come

when we step out of the shadows and into the sun…"

12-11-11 - "Roosevelt Room" ~ Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band

Do you ever get fed up and frustrated with the world?  Happens to me on a fairly regular basis, and it's probably no surprise that it often happens at this time of year.  November means elections, and then Thanksgiving, and then of course comes Christmas (although given that the TV commercials and department stores start on Christmas in October these days, maybe I have the order wrong.)  These annual events bring to a focus the things that make me sick to my stomach - corruption in politics, gluttonous consumerism, and the disparity between the American populace and that of numerous other countries.


This year, Occupy Wall Street has added fuel to that fire.  Do I agree 100% with the OWS movement?  Probably not, although to be honest I haven't read up enough to know all the details.  But do they have a point that the government and big corporations have been pulling a fast one on the "99%"...?  Conversely, if you take the American "99%" and compare their wealth to that of the rest of the world's population... who's the 1% now?  I'm not going into more detail because this blog is ultimately about the music, but these are things that grind my gears, when I let my mind ponder them.


This song is pretty clearly the result of Conor Oberst ruminating on the state of the world today.  Again - I'm not trying to promote any political views, and I probably don't agree with everything Oberst thinks about the government, but clearly there are things broken in the system and if people don't stand for their beliefs, nothing's going to change.


You'll certainly feel the emotion behind the lyrics and the angry guitar riffs in the song, and hopefully it will inspire you to evaluate your life and the world around you, decide what's important, and make sure you're fighting for it.


Live at Battery Park, Manhattan, Independence Day 2009:

Studio Recording:

"You give death as a consolation

you know only hate and rage

you paid a dowry for your child's rights

now she's living like a slave..."

11-13-11 - "Good Day" ~ Angels & Airwaves

What happens when a raucous punk band grows up?  Well, sometimes, some of the members form a new band and start writing music like this.  And sometimes, they get back together with the original crew after a decade, when they're all closer to forty than thirty, and we all know what happens then (actually, I haven't heard any of the new Blink 182 stuff yet...)


But yeah, Angels And Airwaves are what happens when a guy like Tom DeLonge decides to write slightly more mature music than "What's My Age Again?" and "The Party Song", and I kinda like it.  DeLonge has one of those voices that can grate on you if you're not in the mood, but it actually works most of the time in this context.  Here's a song which could have several meanings on numerous levels, but seeing as I had a pretty good day, the surface interpretation implies that this is appropriate for tonight...

"Oh I need you now
the earth fell fast asleep

this room is safe and sound

will you lay here with me and feel it...?"

8-12-11 - "C'mon, C'mon" ~ The Von Bondies

This is one of those songs that caught my ear with the first measures, and never let go.  It's insanely catchy, with a vicious guitar lick and a beat that is perfect for a drive or an athletic warm up mix tape.  The lyrics are actually quite depressing, about a breakup from an abusive relationship, but on the surface it's a real toe-tapper.  Kind of like "Pumped Up Kicks" in that regard...

For those so inclined, the actual music video is here (I still haven't figured out why Blogger sometimes won't embed certain youtube videos...)

Live on Letterman:

 

"And on this day these deepened wounds
don't heal so fast, can't hear me croon
of a million lies that speak no truth
of a time gone by that now is through..."

6-1-11 - "Hurt" ~ Nine Inch Nails

I'm not a huge NIN fan, in fact I can't say I've ever actively listened to most of their works.  However, this song is pretty powerful and gripping.  Some say it's about Trent Reznor's addiction to drugs, others say it's about suicide, others still have differing opinions... guess it shows that art is in the eye of the beholder.  No matter how it was originally written, we can all relate to the self-destructive tendencies expressed in the song.  We all make choices in life that we regret or that end up ending poorly for us.  We all hurt the people we care about.  Life is all about getting through this and finding a way to carry on.  Reznor does seem to realize that there is more to life than what he's been doing, although the song doesn't delve into finding fulfillment but leaves you with the feeling that he thinks it's too late or that redemption is impossible...


The live music video with Reznor on keys is stunning; I've included the studio recording as well.

Studio: "Hurt"


"and you could have it all
my empire of dirt..."

3-22-11 - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ~ Nirvana

Maybe it's because I did a harder song yesterday, or maybe just because I heard it this afternoon on my drive home, but you're getting some classic Nirvana tonight.  Some people think this song is the best song ever; some think it's a "sellout" song or simply not Nirvana's best work (read the comments on songmeanings.net to see what I mean).  I think it's a pretty good song, particularly for a couple of specific lines, and the message that sometimes the "cool" thing to do isn't the right thing to do.  The memorable line (below) is a pretty telling social commentary...

"Here we are now, entertain us..."

3-21-11 - "Collide" ~ Skillet

I don't listen to harder music all that often these days, which is why you haven't seen a ton of it on here.  But now and again, I go back to some discs I rocked back in college, or hear something new that has an edge, and it's still good stuff.  I just tend to not have a lot of listening time that is conducive to cranking stuff like this these days.  


Skillet have come a long way since forming in the mid-90s.  If you're familiar with their catalogue, you'll recognize that pretty much every album has a distinct feel to it, yet it's still obviously Skillet.  Well, maybe their last couple discs have been a bit more similar, but still.  They have managed to evolve and experiment (amid member changes, no less) while staying true to their roots.


"Spank yo' momma hard."  That's how a college friend described this album to me... perfect way to put it.  This track starts out with a sweet instrumental intro, strings and whatnot, and builds with the feedback before dropping into the verse.  Choruses get heavy again, then a sick piano interlude breaks it down before building again for the climax.  Musically intriguing combined with powerful lyrics = me likee.  Give it a listen, tell me if you likee, too!

"We have fallen,
we have fallen again tonight;
where do we go from here,
when they're tearing down our lives?
when all they want is,
when all they want is for us to live in fear,
how long can we hold on?
can we hold on?"