Built on Principle begin their Modesty Martyrs EP with Duh. The track utilizes a groovy backing beat inspired by 1970s psych/guitar-led rock. The feature (Myka 9) on this initial track ensures that this is one of the most heady introductory efforts we’ve heard. Fans will need to play this cut a number of times before hearing every line and dynamic that issues forth. There is a mid-1990s NYC sound to…
Glorious Night is the first track on Narrow Path, the new album from Joe Miralles. The hopeful vocals and taut drum, bass, and guitar arrangements makes for a track that is equal parts 1990s alternative and 1970s singer-songwriter. While this introductory single would easily make its way onto radio / playlist rotation, I feel that the backing instrumentation far outstrips the quality of the average radio track. There is a…
Feel So Good Today is a positive-rap track that blends together Ne*Yo and Flo Rida to effortlessly skirt pop-R&B and rap styles. The sunny backing beat is partially island rhythms mixed in with EDM. DPB’s rap style is polished, contributing more than the lyrical content. The cadence of his rap style during this single adds a further layer of harmony. One could easily imagine Feel So Good Today slotting on…
Mz Rockastella creates straight fire with her latest single, Who We Are. We’re quite impressed at the rapid-fire flow that she lays down here. The intricate wordplay ensures that listeners will have to play the single back multiple times before hearing everything that has been contained within. The synth and percussive elements of the song’s backing beat provides a robust backdrop, rising and falling to properly highlight Mz Rockastella’s flow…
On Solitude Blues, Ryan Zimmerman is able to tell a dense and detailed story with little more than his guitar. There is a rough-hewn sound that imparts further realism to the track. Ryan’s vocals have that same dusty, experienced sound that will call forth comparisons to Chris Cornell and Waylon Jennings. Effortlessly moving through country and western, blues, and rock styles, Zimmerman is able to make his Solitude Blues into…
Reckoning is the first experience that listeners will have with The Colours of Kings’ new album, The Truth is in Me. The track blends in equal amounts electronic and alt rock, touching upon the style of the Goo Goo Dolls and Dishwalla while bringing in bits of U2 and Owl City. A more wondrous sound continues into Fight the Future, where the band utilizes the X-Files as a frame of reference.…
Little Animal begins Fox and Bones’ new album, Better Land. The bouncy alt-pop that immediately issues forth blends together the vocal stylings of Cat Stevens and John Popper. With a robust instrumentation that will have listeners’ toes tapping after the single’s first play, Fox and Bones are able to continue on to Love Me Like A River. Love Me Like A River whips in a bit of country and blues…
Jared Dymbort’s Rearrange immediately hits listeners with a soulful, slightly-bouncy take on Ian Curtis or Robert Smith. The track is able to benefit with a number of twists and turns that places listeners in a much different place than they began. While the instrumentation takes a backing spot during Rearrange, the music that is crafted through the inclusion of synth, guitar, bass, and drums is intricate and fulfilling to parse.…
Holy WOW!’s Nebulas is an effort that will stand up to repeat plays. The sheer depth of the single’s arrangements keeps fans from hearing everything that the band has laid out down here. Hauntingly beautiful vocals call back to the days of Bauhaus and 45 Grave. The taut instrumentation that comprises the backing to this single kicks ass; the bass is dense and brushy, while the synthesizer punctuates the song.…
The Imaginaries have released a pair of holiday tracks. On Merry Christmas, Baby, the duo is able to make something drawing on blues, pop, and country that makes a play at garnering plays on Holiday playlists. Intelligent vocals, fulfilling bass, and a pair of smooth, capable vocals are all that listeners need to sail away with. First Thing On My Christmas List is a laid back track that showcases technically proficient instrumentation…
House of Light is a dreamy, traditional rock / alt track in the vein of Stevie Nicks and Natalie Cole. Deliberate, contemplative guitar lines and booming drum beats establish an engrossing environment for Barton. The yin and yang of the vocals and instrumentation ensures that each side pushes the other to a higher plateau. With just a bit of mid-1980s Tom Petty whipped into the track, the familiarity fans will…
Black Coffee is a funky track that is able to call forth the vibrancy of the titular beverage. Soulful vocals beam out over the track, comprised of an intricate bass line, a tinge of the Dave Matthews Band, and enough passion to draw in even the most dour of us. Rob Higginbotham’s vocals are further bolstered through a matching female set of vocals, while the beginning of the second minute…
Nuke The Soup’s Deeper is a hopeful track that builds upon the approach of mid-nineties / early oughts alternative rock and punk music. Hints of Green Day and Natalie Cole can be picked up here, while the strong guitar work presented on the track allows Deeper to stand on its own. The stylistic shift that listeners will experience at the two-minute mark keeps things interesting, as does the psychedelic-tinged guitar…
When You’re Gone is a powerful effort that goes back to the early-nineties style of goth music (e.g. Christian Death, Switchblade Symphony) and makes it important and vital again. The slow introduction showcases a very traditional sort of instrumentation; the emotionally intense vocals completely change things up shortly after. Taken together, these two disparate elements make for a loud, resounding effort that will stick around with listeners long after the…
Worth Taking are able to refresh the emo-punk sound of the early oughts with their new single, Am I The Only One. Alluring vocals work quite nicely with taut instrumentation. A robust bass line interplays nicely with splashy drums to make something eminently listenable. We’re immediately tapping our feet by the end of the first minute. Never content with the status quo, Worth Taking are able to keep shifting and…
The Reverend Horton Heat (known by his parents as Jim Heath) is likely the only musician out there to be name-checked by Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, John Lydon and Rob Zombie. But it makes sense, as no band since The Cramps has done a better job of fusing rockabilly with a sharp punk rock attitude. And his latest, “A Whole New Life,” shows he still has a foot planted firmly…
Chris Beer is able to bring forward late-era Johnny Cash and Mumford & Sons in his latest track, Remember to Forget. Blending together contemporary with a much more storied style (e.g. Snow Patrol), there is always a unique flair that is presented in Beer’s new effort. Where there is a seemingly straight-forward sound that is dominated during this single, listeners should really strap their headphones on and listen deeply to…
Thomas Passon creates a bouncy EDM track that blends together industrial, drum and bass, and pop. Taking influences from U2 and Scooter, Passon can make a song that will appease fans wishing to dance as well as those music aficionados that want something a bit deeper and more comtemplative with their acts. Los’s usage of a guitar style out of the Weezer or post-grunge playbook alongside the perfection of electronic…
On Gottweist’s latest single Weight of the World, the band is able to create a hard and heavy track that calls back to Machine Head and Fear Factory while having just enough harmony to have listeners hanging on every world. The dynamic that is established by the band – guitars and drums rotating, a brutal set of vocals reigning over the composition – firmly ensconces the band among the top…