Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
Me. I'm only kidding. I'm not hot. But with an article title like this, I needed to throw in some fake narcissism somewhere. Moving on from that horrible joke introduction...This week was filled with lots of love coming from the music community. So many awesome surprise songs dropped this week! Perfect for Valentine's Day, right? Finally, my moping around eating Hershey's chocolate and watching the Olympics for hours on end had a soundtrack. I think people like me are the reason so many artists released bangers this week. Here, let me show you some. 1. Catch It - IceageI discovered Iceage on Pinterest, after mistaking singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt for Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT. Then I proceeded to do a reverse Google image search to see if I was right, and the video for their most popular song The Lord's Favorite came up. I quickly became obsessed with their dark melodious punk sound. Elias' dragged-on vocals and the clashing of the guitars transports you to the heart of winter, especially in this song with the added effect of the jingle bells. Personally, I felt like I was back in the wilderness of Île d'Orléans again. If you listen to their other songs, this one might be perceived as more "understandable" or "basic." I see it as a good turning chapter for their next album! This slower, more haunting vibe creates endless possibilities for who Iceage could be able to freak out next with their new songs. If you want more of these guys, I would recommend watching some live stuff. This one is my favorite, because it perfectly shows Elias' stage presence and the beautiful way he expresses himself by sliding on the floor for a couple minutes. Happy Iceaging! It isn't just a kids movie anymore. 2. Meet Me In Mexico - The DrumsThis charity single for the earthquakes that have happened in Mexico was released when I was in a study period, so of course I had to sneak out my headphones and give it a listen. It was such a good pick-me-up for the middle of the week! I love that it sounded like it could have made it onto Abysmal Thoughts if made earlier, but also had a different, quicker tone to it. I also thought the color scheme of the cover matched the vibes that this song gave off. I pictured an escape from reality, like a tropical vacation at a resort surrounded by palm trees and a variety of fruit. The lyrics give off that vibe too, of not wanting to party with "Americans," and wanting to go somewhere else and meet different people. That's an emotion that I think everyone has felt at least once, wanting to get away from their typical crowd and explore other towns and cultures. Wow. I need another vacation. Buy this song on Bandcamp! All the proceeds will go to hurricane relief in Mexico! 3. Nameless, Faceless - Courtney BarnettQueen Courtney is blessing us with another album, people. This song, an obvious callout to the anonymous online male haters out there, makes points that are extremely important to remember in this era. An example of one of these points can be shown in the lyrics: "I wanna walk through the park in the dark Men are scared that women will laugh at them I wanna walk through the park in the dark Women are scared that men will kill them." You hear all of these stories these days about boyfriends that kill women for rejecting them, etc etc. This song portrays the struggle of being a woman in the music industry, and just being a woman in general. Courtney is basically saying that no matter what women sing about, there will always be men out there that will hate them for just being women, and for no other reason. That is something men don't usually have to worry about! As well as addressing feminist issues, this song also addresses the hypocrisy of online hate. I never got why people bothered to comment mean messages on things that have absolutely no negative effect on their lives. Courtney is challenging these haters, saying that if they are so set on hating on her, why are they too afraid to do it in real life? That is the main problem with the internet: it could give you the power to go nameless and faceless. A very deep and important song to start 2018. Let's go Courtney! 4. Thought Contagion - MuseA conversation that my mom and I had in the Target parking lot this weekend perfectly summarized what I wanted to say about this song. She brought up that Muse has the power to stand the test of time, and that no matter what sound changes they go through, they will always stay true to their rock roots. Just think about it: No matter what era you listen to, Muse will always sound badass. Always. End of argument. Even The 2nd Law. I am loving the superhero soundtrack movie vibe that this song and Dig Down have been giving off. I'm hoping these singles lead into another amazing project by them! I really don't have anything else to say about this song that isn't shameless praise. God, I always forget how good these guys are. Matt's voice will never die out. 5. Far Away Truths - Albert Hammond Jr.AHJ was always my favorite solo project that stemmed from The Strokes. This song sounds like pure ol' school 2000s indie, and I love it. Especially the cover art, too. I feel like it should be a lost Strokes B-side! After all, it has their trademark guitar that everyone loves. I also hear a slight Queens of the Stone Age sound to it, and so do the other commentors of this video.
Not only am I pumped for AHJ's new album, I am also intrigued. From the description of this video, this album is inspired by a deeply personal topic and I am interested to hear how he expresses it through his sound and lyrics. Let's look forward to that! I hope you guys had a decent Valentine's Day. Don't get too many cavities from eating all of the discount chocolate from CVS. Have a great President's Week, as well!
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