Tuesday Tunes--October 27, 2015
Shaun Cordingley
This week on Tuesday Tunes, we are going with some very new tracks, and most of them hearken back to sounds of musical eras past, with a wide variety of styles, from hazy snyth-pop to college rock.
The Guys From do not hold the rights to any of these songs, it is more our hope to expose our readers to new and different music, or re-expose them to things they may have forgotten about.
At the top of each section, will be the song name, followed by the artists' name linked to their website, so you can fall down the rabbit hole, finding and supporting what you dig.
Hollow Life- Coast Modern
Coast Modern's debut single 'Hollow Life' is a little bit of hazy, synth pop gold; the Los Angeles duo of Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp have been working as songwriters-for-hire, pitching pop songs within the music industry for a few years, but dropping that "hollow life", have together found a mellow, groovy single here that deserves your attention.
It is almost too bad that summer has past before this song dropped (having released this single at the beginning of October) as this is definitely something that would have been perfect to have on repeats, sitting on a beach/patio/balcony and doing a whole lot of nothing. I'm not saying you should plan a tropical vacation (if you live somewhere that has winter) just to listen to this song, but you should consider bringing it with you.
Just Call Me - Gospel Machine
I cannot say that I really followed with the band meant when they call themselves 'garage gospel', but this soulful and sweet song that positively oozes a near-perfect throwback r&b sound definitely catches attention. Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Gospel Machine is a positively wonderful throwback and 'Just Call Me' really features vocalist Jayanthi Kyle's warm, pure voice that one can draw some comparisons to the great pop vocalists of the 1960s and 1970s.
Hey, and maybe you could just use a warm, heartfelt (and upbeat) love song today, with a keyboardist wearing a bow-tie.
Help - The Front Bottoms
Speaking of throwback sound, New Jersey's indie rock/folk punk band The Front Bottoms is perfect for anyone who misses college rock, or that mid-to-late 90s campus rock wave, but are looking for something new. The first time I heard "Help", I thought I had accidentally clicked on an alt-90's playlist, and was pleasantly surprised that The Front Bottoms' album Back on Top was released this just this September (and that while the song sounded so familiar, I actually did not know it).
Long time followers (in the lost podcasts and articles) may remember that I have spoken before that I had hoped that someone would recapture that alt-rock 90s feel again, and I am happy to say that The Front Bottoms nail it--even down to the video. Driving home for a holiday/commuting? Packing up and moving? Cleaning an oven? This may be one of the best songs we have ever found for zoning out to.
25 Reasons- Louis Berry
There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to English rock and roll, and Louis Berry is yet another artist worth tracking right now: the 23 year old Liverpool native has a a truly unique voice, sounding like a combination of the best of the modern British rock, and a bluesy songsmith from the past. '25 Reasons' is an uptempo growler of a song that works its way into your head and stays there, and is one of 2 songs of his available at the moment (with the above video being published on the October 16th...so rest assured it's pretty new, with an earlier release of the tune in May).
Pretend That We're Dead- L7
As it is almost Halloween, and whether you are ready to admit it or not, most non-Thriller, non-soundtrack music for the season sucks (it does), I felt that the best thing to do was turn to the always awesome, 90s punk/grunge, proto-riot grrrl band L7, and their song "Pretend That We're Dead" because:
a) It's great.
b) The band reunited in 2014, so it is possible to once again see L7 play and,
c) If this song does not remind you (at least a little bit) of Shaun of the Dead, the best horror-comedy ever made, then you're not trying hard enough.
Thanks to the proliferation of streaming services, these five songs are readily accessible throughout the web, but we do encourage you to purchase any music that fits into your groove. Believe us when we say artists cannot be expected to produce work for free; most are willing to spend 5$ on a cup of pumpkin spice chai, maybe chuck 1$ or (*gasp*) 10$ at an artist.
See you again next Tuesday with 5 more tracks, and Happy Halloween!