NAILED Songs of the Week #29
“like pulling a chord that drops a piano on your head”
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Shenyah Webb, Arts Editor of NAILED:
"Skipping Stones (live)" – Amelie McCandless
The lighthearted yet rooted music written by French folk artist Amelie McCandless is a perfect example of a certain introspection that happens when I listen to folk music. You know, the sort of introspection where you can feel your insides changing, one that heals and empowers, that holds your hand through those solo journeys in life, and reminds you it’s going to be okay.
A unique purity is present within the timbre of her voice, guiding me to a headspace I forget all too often, an uncomplicated place where simplicity feels right.
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Matty Byloos, Publisher and Contributing Editor of NAILED:
"Danger in the Club" -- Palma Violets
Guess you could say I'm a sucker for theatricality. Or maybe it's just scenes in films or music videos that leverage narrative form and a steadicam, so it feels like you're floating through the space of someone else's life or dream. In the case of the official video for Palma Violets' song "Danger in the Club," that's exactly what happens. There's a club, it's evening time, a man walks into a bar like the start of so many jokes, and the band that's playing in the background exists as only a modest part of the story that unfolds inside. In the tune, Palma Violets pick up where some of the more jangly-raucous songs by The Doors (think "Love Me Two Times" for example) leave off, run that through a filter of The Growlers' "Big Toe," and sidle right up next to The Stranglers' "Peaches." There's a heavy dose of the Libertines in there too, and what a fine group of musical tangents we've compiled, just to talk around the pseudo-anthemic sounding "Danger in the Club," with its group-style chorus shout of the words, "Give up, give up / But he's the DANGER IN THE CLUB." The talk around town has it that the band's sophomore album is a special offering, but nearly every band's sophomore album is troubled and over-hyped. At bottom, this is a solid sing-along song to be enjoyed with beer and friends. Go and enjoy, pretty please.
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Guest Editor: Stephen Meads, Music Aficionado, Writer and Touring Poet:
"Bird of Prey" -- Natalie Prass
From the cartoon mayhem perspective one of the best gags ever has got to be the falling piano. Some poor sap pulls a doorbell chord only to bring one-to-seven pianos of varying grandiosity down upon their own head. And after the ensuing crash the character (perhaps a postal worker or milk bottle delivery type) pops up through the center of one of the pianos with a flock of tiny birds twittering around his discombobulated brain. Like the scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Roger keeps trying for stars but never manages to nail his line. "Bird of Prey" holds that same taut challenge within it's whirling piano-thumped delirium: it is supposed to be a devastating song about the loss of love or relationships that carve you apart emotionally and leave you little more than a tiny rabbit seeking shelter from the sky -- which is pretty much everywhere -- but the melody is so sweet you can't help but fall into it like pulling a chord that drops a piano on your head, like repeatedly beating yourself with a frying pan hoping for a result that doesn't leave you senseless, like you'd be able to comprehend your own impending doom.
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Carrie Seitzinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NAILED:
"Lies" -- Totem Terrors
I like that this one's a weird one. Get into it with that strange stepdownish thingy! This song's got a sense of humor, and somewhere in there the lyrics go from silly to real. Making the same joke over and over because it's not a joke it's what you really think. And I must commend the idea of using music to let off steam and screaming about wanting the truth. Let it out!
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