NAILED Songs of the Week #38
“the plea to not be left”
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Carrie Seitzinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NAILED:
"Baby Don't Go" – Katie Von Schleicher
Katie Von Schleicher is plugged in... to a Tascam 4-track cassette machine, which her songs from Bleakploitation were recorded on in a dark room. The frizzy production amassing the sound only adds to the disheveled voice, the arms-thrown-down-in-surrender guitar riffs, the gingerly forceful drums, the plea to not be left. And that plea is walking around this song in a leather jacket and black eyeliner and moxie. Suffice it to say, Katie Von Schleicher's music has its own persona. Her new release from Ba Da Bing Records, Bleaksploitation, is fresh out today.
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Guest Editor: Joe Blair, Writer and NAILED Contributor:
“Lightning” – The Blue Rider
I wanna shake(!) – at least at a good rock and roll show I do – so when going to a concert where I know a fraction of the bands playing, I typically just stand in the back for the unheard-of acts and hope something catches my interest. Shaking is generally to come later.
However, I recently went to see a damn solid headlining band, but was surprised to be taken even more by the opening act. The Denver rock 'n roll scene delivered some stellar tunes to Portland’s Doug Fir back in early September. The Blue Rider, self-professedly “Pioneers of the Denver ‘PsychSoul’ sound,” brought the perfect mix of gritty garage rock with psychedelic rhythms, all encompassed insde the overshadowing influence of surf rock.
I couldn’t help but pulse to the din and beats and distorted tremolo guitar leads while that organ jive penetrated my brain. If I wasn’t so visually fascinated by their semi-subdued-but-charming stage presence, I would have been dancing like a drunk white guy, which I also happen(ed) to be.
The four piece seamlessly creates a sonic cross section between The Seeds, Link Wray, Olivia Tremor Control, and bluesy jam-outs from bands like Spiritualized and Built to Spill. Dig The Blue Rider, and shake with me to the reverberations of Denver PsychSoul.
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Matty Byloos, Publisher and Contributing Editor of NAILED:
"Interior Light" – Young Rival
It's night. Darker than dark outside. You're on the freeway somewhere, going some place but not headed technically anywhere at all. Just driving, if for nothing else than to find that place inside the world where all the noise dies off and you're left with something, well, just less -- less of whatever you think it is you already have. Maybe it's space you're looking for. Peace of mind. Driving in the car and smoking a cigarette, examining the details of your life without beating yourself up about anything, the cool night air inside the car from the crack in the window, so alive and quiet in that space, just knowing in that moment how much your story fits into a grander narrative of how the world is always unfolding around us.
PS -- If the Strokes ran into Of Montreal in a boozy bar somewhere near San Diego and had a one-night stand, I'm convinced Young Rivals would come out as the twin spawn of that magic moment.
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Guest Editor, Adam Strong, Contributor at Noisehole:
"Breaker" – Deerhunter
There's much joy to be had in Deerhunter’s “Breaker,” a song that catches your breath when you hear it because you don’t exactly expect crystalline guitar tracks in a Deerhunter song. You don’t expect a churning rhythm reminiscent of Tom Petty, either. But it’s the center where the nugget lives, that thing that keeps you coming back to “Breaker.” And it’s also in the lyrics.
Breaking the waves
Again and though I try
The ocean is strong
I cannot stem the tide
Words, ideas, breakers, waves, up and down and lead singer Bradford Cox is the man in the boat. Then the enormity of what “Breaker” means hits us. Cox’s wisdom that’s been earned after a period of hard times for the band. I’m not sure what the hard times were exactly, but the song has something to do with getting back up after you’ve been beaten down.
In “Breaker,” Cox realizes that when you get beat down and you get back up, there is wisdom in the repetition of the up and down, and it can be something to take comfort in. And if you can hold onto to the repetition, to the wisdom, then you can find the secret to what some people call happiness in this world. And that’s what keeps us listening and alive.
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Shenyah Webb, Arts Editor of NAILED:
"When I Was a Boy" – Jeff Lynne's ELO
Electric Light Orchestra is one of my favorite bands of all time, one that I will never be tired of making part of my life's soundtrack. In fact, I might have altered my reality just a hair to fit into some of their epic ballads, convincing myself that I was the robot lady from "Yours Truly, 2095," giving myself a robot dance and everything.
Sixty-something pop maestro Jeff Lynne released just today, Alone in the Universe, bringing even more magic to our lives. Although the sound remains true to the classic ELO songwriting style, much of the synthy beeps and vocoders, in addition to the majestic orchestras, have been replaced by classic guitar and piano, giving the album a less glossy sound that emanates a pure familiar feeling. I'll take it!
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Check out Songs of the Week #37 for even more great music from the editors and contributors behind NAILED.