Today’s Track: SPRINTS – ‘Up and Comer’

January 9, 2024 — Leave a comment

Jacob to Planet Earth. Surprisingly, this is not a false drill. I respond with a new post!

It gives me – Jacob Braybrooke – great pleasure to wish you a very happy new year as I have finally returned to address you as the writer of One Track At A Time, a website that was previously a diary of discovery when it came to finding new music and exposing the dynamic duo (known as your eyes and ears) to a range of unique bands that I would never wish to fly under your radar otherwise. If you are following the blog and, of course, reading this – I want to say a huge thank you. The main reason why I’ve been on hiatus for so long is the ‘D’ word – and I’m not talking about ‘Drums’ or ‘Drill & Bass’, or whatever basic innuendo that your mind conjures up, but the ‘D’ that worms into your brain and lies to you. Telling you about your inadequacy and lack of worth. Conveniently timed at a period where I was leaving the ‘Cocoon’ known as university life. I began working a stop-gap job in retail and I’m accepting that I’m becoming older and that, to be honest, I absolutely hate said stop-gap job. Therefore, I’ve decided to pick myself up off the canvas and search for career opportunities in the music industry. Although, however armed with excitement and nostalgia that I am to be writing about a fantastic new band once again that I am, I have to face the facts that my writing is very rusty now. Therefore, I’ve decided to start posting again. Not everyday – maintaining my own radio show, job applications, stop-gap job and writing every single day, like I used to back in the peak day, is going to be a little overwhelming. As a result of this, I will simply post a few times over the upcoming weeks, maybe not even publicise it so much, treat you like the old friend that you are and sharpen my skills for the mountain of impending cover letters and personal statements that are inevitably on my way while creating a platform for emerging artists to thrive because my mission, as an individual, is to combat the generic that you hear everywhere from the mainstream media trying to mass market. It’s been about that all along not just holding the fort for a company solely interested in profit.

In my first comeback post of 2024 – although ‘Love Myself’ by Hailee Steinfeld or ‘Fight Song’ by Rachel Platten’ may be a little more fitting of my current mindset – I present to you the Dublin-based indie punk-rock band who are called SPRINTS. It’s always difficult to find new music in the dustbin grounds of January, but these Clash-supported rockers are taking the alternative rock scene in the UK by storm all of a sudden. They were formed in 2019 when they went to see Savages and they were inspired by how deaf the gig was slowly making them. This past weekend, the 4-piece released their debut studio album ‘Letter To Self’ to positive reviews by The Guardian, DIY, Dork and Loud & Quiet. Bolstered by powerfully intimate tracks which explore the self-image of frontwoman Karla Chubb as an independent Punk pioneer of the new wave of futuristic Post-Punk acts in the UK, it’s definitely one that appeals to fans of Paramore and Catatonia. Check out the single that says it all, ‘Up and Comer’, below.

“I understand that women should have access to abortion, and I understand that mental health services are not adequate to stop people from committing suicide, so yeah, I don’t know exactly how much money is being spent on it but I don’t need to in order to tell you that it’s not enough“, Karla passionately writes in the band’s bio on the City Slang Records website, adding, “It’s just a class barrier to make people feel like, if they’re not educated enough, then they can’t be involved in the conversation. But you don’t have to be Usain Bolt to run a race, and you don’t have to understand the theory of everything to understand that, morally, someone’s an asshole.” to her speech on what inspires the political aspects of her band’s songwriting on their label’s page.

These themes of how mental health affects feminimity are abundantly clear on ‘Up and Comer’ – today’s track – which begins with a barrelling power-pop guitar riff that steadily builds to create a crescendo of anger when the bass and drums kick in. “I swim the seas between paranoia and disbelief/I reach the surface but the air is hard to breathe” and “Wear a smile like it’s a runner/Your despise like a badge of honour”. she croons, as the swelling guitar chords and the upbeat yet controlled drum beats push and pull the rhythm. There’s a seething quality to the mood of the track, where the rage boils like a kettle as the chorus kicks in and gently retreats as the verses appear. The pace is smooth and clear, however, with the rhythm retreating at a more subtle rate than you may expect. It keeps the fiesty emotion of the track in relevance but it allows the chorus to stand out by increasing the intensity that is maintained to a lesser degree of abrasion. I love the lyrics of the chorus too, where Karla croons, “They say she’s good for an up and comer”, in response to how she feels patronised by those who are commenting on her level of prominence as an emerging artist despite feeling that she’s as experienced as those other artists who have already made an impact. Overall, ‘Up and Comer’ is an effective Punk tune that sounds accessible and catchy, but they personally establishe a truthful quality that leans into the aggressive edge of the quartet’s sound. In this case of finding success on the long and winding road of sustaining yourself as an indie musician, it’s easy to see why the press have quickly encouraged a SPRINT and not a marathon for this promising band.

That’s all for now! I hugely appreciate your time and attention that you have given the post that you have just read. The next one won’t take 10 months to complete – you’ll be pleased to know. I currently run a weekly podcast titled Eclectic & Electric that fulfills a similar purpose of challenging the “generic” that the powers be love so deeply which you can find here: https://www.mixcloud.com/jacob-braybrooke/eclectic-electric-first-show-of-2024-january-8th-2024-spotted-in-ely-radio/. You can also find me on the social media accounts below to stay in touch and discover new music.

X (Formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/JacobBraybrook2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbraybrookerecords/?hl=en

Today’s Track: Sinead O’Brien – ‘Holy Country’

March 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a publicity shoot to promote a DIYMag.com feature (2020) (Photo Credit: Louise Mason)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for you to push your worries aside for a few minutes while we get invested in yet another daily track on the blog, given how it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I am delighted to write about Sinead O’Brien once again today, who topped my list of ‘The Best EP’s Of 2020’ with her debut extended play ‘Drowning In Blessings’. An incredibly unique talent from Limerick who I describe as the “Post-Punk Poet”, I caught wind of O’Brien when ‘Taking On Time’ was offered for free on KEXP’s ‘Song Of The Day’ podcast in early 2020, a valuable resource when it comes to seeking out and sampling new music. Since then, her star power has risen. She has supported cult artists John Cooper Clarke and The Brian Jonestown Massacre on sold-out theatre shows across the UK and Ireland, she has performed at Eurosonic Festival and SXSW, and she has collaborated with Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey (Foals, Black Midi, Squid, Fontaines DC) on singles like ‘Girlkind’ and ‘Kid Stuff’ that she dropped throughout 2021. I’m excited to report that O’Brien has announced that her debut solo full-length album – ‘Time Bend and Break The Bower’ – will release on June 10th via Chess Club Records. Once again co-produced by Carey, the LP’s release has been accompanied by a long string of tour dates across the UK and Ireland for September and October 2022. Irish fans can visit her in Cork, Dublin, Belfast and more – while UK natives can catch her playing at venues in Nottingham, Brighton, Glasgow, Ramsgate, Bristol and more. Once again produced by Carey, her highly-anticipated LP was recorded in South London, and she teases, “The story of the album is built up in layers: One song giving context to the next. I thought about becoming undressed: testing my ideas, my voice. Working myself out across themes of identity, curiosity, creative process. Experimenting with the form and shape of language, using tone and delivery to get to the immediate centre of what I am saying”, Sinead explains in a press release. Let’s give her latest promotional single – ‘Holy Country’ – a listen below.

“The album title ‘Time Bend and Break The Bower’, from the song, ‘Multitudes’, came into my head and made its demands, an idea that pressed on me throughout the record”, Sinead continues to explain about her solo album, concluding, “The clock symbol is enlarged, it looms like a moon over my activity watching, counting me down to zero. Dripping with self-sabotage and the feeling of being chased: it pulls and pushes against the verses which talk of ‘Multitudes’; the things that faithfully come back – the images, the words, creativity. It is creativity itself”, in her expressive press notes. Opening with a sultry acoustic-driven guitar riff akin to the ‘Country’ genre in reference to the track’s title, ‘Holy Country’ finds O’Brien being the architect of vocabulary that makes her really stand out in terms of lyrics, with O’Brien giving us a clear insight into her thought process as sequences like “I stare at the walls when I feel hollow/I stare straight down the hall and I follow the thoughts” swell above a Post-Punk crescendo of sounds that crash, thump and stutter beneath the more abstract, lyrical surface. Her vocal presence is commanding and demanding, as she exclaims the likes of “Take me to the secrets of the Saints” and she points out “The giants of time turning tunes” as she continues to flip the switch, disregarding the warm and folk-ish opening guitar riff at the start in favour of warped synths and rapid percussion that creates a more glitched-out sound. It is very unique and unimitable music from O’Brien once again, although the way that the sharp guitar riffs merge with O’Brien’s more free-form lyricism where she points out mental processes as we traverse her mind isn’t far from the well of Dry Cleaning’s Spoken-sung waxings, but the tone is clearly more serious while retaining an abstract nature. In conclusion, ‘Holy Country’ is another vivid stand-out from Sinead, who continues to convince me that she is one of the most creative human beings on the UK’s live music circuit. A very articulate and talented individual, her album has me hyped to a high amount that is often quite unusual for somebody as obsessive as me who listens to almost anything anyways. It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster and a totally refreshing record.

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a PR shot for her ‘Drowning In Blessings’ EP (2020) (Photo via Chess Club Records)

As I have mentioned, Sinead O’Brien has been one of our ‘regulars’ on the blog since I began the project actively in the summer of 2019. If you enjoyed ‘Holy Country’, you can check out some more of her sounds below:

‘Taking On Time’ – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/20/todays-track-sinead-o-brien-taking-on-time/

‘Strangers In Danger’ – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/03/todays-track-sinead-o-brien-strangers-in-danger/

‘Kid Stuff’ – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/15/todays-track-sinead-obrien-kid-stuff/

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a press shoot to promote ‘A Thing You Call Joy’ (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

That brings us to the end of another day of music coverage on One Track At A Time! Thank you for giving a few minutes of your day to me today, as your support is always highly appreciated, and I will be back tomorrow for another iteration of ‘New Album Release Fridays’. We’ll be previewing the third studio album from a West London-based indie rock singer-songwriter who recently stated “It’s a shame when you’re at a festival, and all you see is white guys” in a very candid interview for The Independent.

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New Album Release Fridays: Dropkick Murphys – “Queen Of Suffolk County”

April 30, 2021 — Leave a comment

Did you know The Stranglers used to be an 8-piece? The Suffolk Eight. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Turn Up That Dial” (LP) (Released on April 30th, 2021) (via Born & Bred)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A bundle of new releases arrive today – including the new fairground-inspired double album from The Coral, the debut LP from the modern LGBTQ+ icon Girl In Red, a new outing from Gojira (the French Metal band who hold the record for the loudest concert ever recorded at the Stade De France), and, if loudness is your thing, the new outing from the Brit Award winning rock duo Royal Blood may tip your fancy. It’s not a far cry from the ever-charismatic Dropkick Murphys either, who are releasing their tenth studio effort, ‘Turn Up That Dial’, today, as always, through their Born & Bred label. Since 1996, the Celtic Punk band from Massachusetts have earned three Top 10 albums on the Billboard Top 100 chart, generated half a billion streaming figures, and released a near double platinum hit in ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’, and so it’s not been shabby business for them at all. There’s some brilliant track titles on the new album, I must say, which Dropkick Murphys have confirmed goes for a lighter tone than previous offerings, including the likes of ‘Middle Finger’ and ‘Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding’ in the recording. There’s also ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’, which has a music video, below.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and things were so down, more than ever, we thought, nobody wants to hear an album about how bad 2020 was in 2021” were the exact words that leader Ken Casey used to promote the new album, one which celebrates the importance of a good sing along in music, and the title of ‘Turn Up That Dial’ really embodies the style of the music in it’s namesake, with tracks like ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’ playing on the relief from worry that comes when you “turn up that dial” on the speakers and blast your phobia away. The playful personality of the group is on show as per usual, with lyrics that recollect stories about a knife-toting local femme fatale, with Casey advising “You best stay out of her way, You know she’s here to stay” and “She don’t joke, and she don’t play” over the top of a usual and traditional Celtic soundscape, with an ounce of rock coming in for the chorus. The verses are on the lighter side as Bagpipe melodies and a slower Banjo melody gives way to witty lyrics like “She had style, she had grace, She had a knife and she had a mace” and “She was fire, she was lust, she was the devil, with a bit of angel dust” that paint a vivid picture of this character hailing from their local area, who had a penchant for taking what was hers. It almost feels quite nostalgic in places, with the past tense of the vocals and the up-tempo pacing making for a cheerful, playful anthem. I like all the one-liners, and it’s ultimately not something that they’re relying on you to take too seriously. I don’t think I have ever listened to a full album from Dropkick Murphys front to back, but I’ve always enjoyed the odd tracks that I’ve heard from them before because they’re very charismatic as performers and the simplicity of their joyful sounds cheers you up when you’ve had a few bad days. Overall, while there’s nothing too experimental or unpredictable about this, it feels perfectly solid and it’s an enjoyable track to listen to. The humor is on-point, and the simple formula of the music is one that works and comforts. Also, to be frank, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all known a wild character like the ‘Queen Of Suffolk County’.

Pictured: Ken Casey (Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar), Matt Kelly (Bodhran), Al Barr (Backing Vocals), James Lynch (Lead Guitar), Tim Brennan (Accordion, Mandolin, Tin Whistle), Scruffy Wallace (Bagpipes) and Mark Geanakakis (Drums) (2018) (Photo via PR)

Here’s one to save as a bookmark and come back to when the festive season rolls around again, it’s my post about the seasonal Dropkick Murphys single ‘The Season’s Upon Us’, and you can check it out here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/23/todays-track-dropkick-murphys-the-seasons-upon-us/

Pictured: Cover Art for “Signed And Sealed In Blood” (Released on January 8, 2013) (via Born & Bred)

That’s all for now – but tomorrow’s post comes by way of a household name. A famous electronic dance music duo who have just released a new track, and were originally called ‘The Dust Brothers’ when they started out in 1995 before they had to change this moniker due to the existence of a different musical act with that same name. They have also seen international success, winning six Grammy Awards in the US. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Sinead O’Brien – “Kid Stuff”

April 15, 2021 — Leave a comment

This Irish Brian Jonestown Massacre tour supporter is all growing up. New post time!

Pictured: Promo Image for the “Drowning In Blessings” EP (2020) (Photo via Chess Club Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I have been a keen follower of the Limerick-based Irish Post-Punk poet of Sinead O’Brien, down to the point where her debut record, ‘Drowning In Blessings’, released last September via Chess Club Records, ultimately scooped up the pole position spot of my Top 5 “Best EP’s Of The Year” section of my blog from 2020 earlier this year. An architect of words and a futuristic innovator of Post-Rock, Sinead is truly one of the most fresh, unique and distinctive voices out there. A new single, entitled ‘Kid Stuff’, has just been released – and it was premiered last Thursday on Steve Lamacq’s Drivetime show on BBC Radio 6 Music. O’Brien has her own headline tour pencilled in for later this year, and she’s going to be supporting IDLES at Brixton Academy, and so the relative critical success for O’Brien is making her future look even brighter. Check out her official music video for ‘Kid Stuff’ – directed and also choreographed by Saska Dixie – below.

Produced by Dan Carey of Speedy Wunderground. who has worked on dance-oriented recordings with very successful alternative music acts like Squid and Goat Girl, ‘Kid Stuff’ is an exploration of the child-like and the peaceful memories that we’ve had, and how these experiences shape the person you are in your adulthood, at least to my interpretation, a new track which Sinead says: “Kid Stuff” shows up all different tones on different days. There’s something alive in it which cannot be caught or told. It is direct but complex; it contains chapters. This feels like our purest and most succinct expression yet.” about in her own press release. Starting off with a shredding, angular bass guitar-led backing, she gives a spoken word delivery as she muses about the sense of mundanity in life and waiting for chance, as lyrics like “Watching clocks, kettles, Sunset after Sunset, For a sign of change” and the fantasies we fascinate ourselves with as we grow older, singing “Picture a portrait of yourself, And that is what you are, Cropped, master of the edit”, as the drum beats swell with a brazen attitude. Meanwhile, the instrumentation carries a chaotic quality as the guitar melodies progressively get sharper, forming a unique type of almost danceable groove. There was always something appealing in ‘Drowning In Blessings’ in regard to this style, but it feels more focused and less ambient than found in that prior EP. In this case, O’Brien may be saying that we must remind ourselves of our ‘Kid Stuff’ to take the chance to sit with ourselves, away from the influence of the media, until we confront the nagging doubts that we choose not to face, signaled by “Spend time on it, Meditate a ring around the sun, Not to leave until I know that, That which I ignore” that builds up to the key change in “Which reminds me, I am still on the run, That which is not lost, is not gone” as the lead guitar melody briefly dips, before becoming more intense and visceral in it’s raised tempo. The vocals sit in the mix disoriently, with lyrics like “Someone quiet said that, Someone that I forgot” that plays on how we retain fragmented memories of people from our younger lives. I love the instrumentation in this tune because it feels so headstrong and rhythmic, with the Spoken word vocals playing off an almost “Peter Pan” effect where it just gyrates around your ears. It’s probably not going to be for everybody and the overall sound is perhaps too obscure for some, but I think it’s dead cool and I probably wouldn’t like it so much if everyone did. This is surprisingly melodic and incredibly original overall. Yes, she’s released new material. I think it might be the best thing she’s ever done yet.

Pictured: Sinead O’Brien for a Q&A feature on DIYMag.com (2020) (Photo Credit: Louise Mason)

Another Sinead O’Brien-centered post, another rave review! If you’re new to the John Cooper Clarke supporter, who was also part of NME’s ‘The 100’ last year, and you liked this, make sure to seek out her other material. You can start off with my thoughts on ‘Strangers In Danger’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/03/todays-track-sinead-o-brien-strangers-in-danger/, and ‘Taking On Time’, when I was a little greener myself, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/20/todays-track-sinead-o-brien-taking-on-time/

“I don’t think anyone should be afraid to use their words” (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

That’s all I’ve got time for today – but tomorrow marks the date for another weekly entry in our ‘New Album Release Fridays’ series, where we take an in-depth look at one of the weekend’s recommended new releases. This week, I have settled on a Manchester-based IDM producer of Dub and Techno music, who has released five albums with the Modern Love label. His second studio album received year-end awards from Resident Advisor and Pitchfork in 2012. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Kirsty MacColl – “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis”

June 12, 2020 — Leave a comment

Did you know that Elvis is not dead? I heard him on the radio! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Kirsty MacColl in a photoshoot to promote “Desperate Character” (1981) (Photo Credit: Smooth Radio/Getty)

That guy better get spiking his hair and get a-rocking-and-a-rolling then! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day, even on my Dad’s birthday! You would probably know Kirsty MacColl best from her collaboration with The Pogues on the 1987 Christmas hit “Fairytale Of New York”, but she also struck out on her own as a successful solo artist. MacColl was born on October 10th, 1959 and she grew up with her mother and brother Hamish in Croydon. Unfortunately, her life was cut short by a tragic accident while on holiday in 2000, where she was deep sea diving with her sons in the Chankanaab reef and a powerboat was speeding towards them. MacColl saw it coming, but the boat ran over her after she moved her 15-year-old son out of its way. MacColl was originally signed by Stiff Records, and she had a few hits in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This includes “They Don’t Know”, which was famously covered by Tracy Chapman in 1983. “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” was released back in 1981. It was one of her highest-charting singles, and it reached #14 in the UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for nine weeks. It reached #9 in the Irish Singles Charts. An interesting fact about the track is that, in the promotional version for the US, the very British “Chip Shop” line is replaced by “Truck Stop”, but this was only handed out to the Radio DJ’s version and it wasn’t given a full CD release. Take a listen back to the track with a title far too long to write again below.

MacColl deserves a few bonus points, just for that title. “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis” sees her gallop confidently through Western, Country and Blues sensibilities, but it largely comes across as just a Novelty effort and not a lot more. MacColl croons about resisting flirty talk from a guy, who, as you’d guess, works down the chip shop and swears he’s Elvis, adding: “Just like you swore to me that you’d be true” and “But he’s a liar, and I’m not sure about you” to add a poetic effect to the chorus’ refrain. She also shows a pessimism and sarcastic tone in the guy’s teases, singing in the second verse: “News is you changed your pickup for a Seville” and “Cos’ you’re out there on the phone to some star in New York” before showing her attitude: “I can hear you laughing now/And I can’t help feeling that somehow/You don’t mean anything you say at all” before a guitar solo and a longer version of the chorus ends it. The acoustic instrumentation is simple throughout, with a three-note guitar groove in the verses, and an added line of piano notes in the chorus, with an upbeat lead guitar solo near the end. It sounds energetic enough to get a crowd jiggling around for a bit, but it rolls along for three minutes without doing anything very interesting, and it doesn’t innovate or experiment in any real ways. The novelty factor would provide a small burst of fun and the title is a great one for a Zoom quiz, but the music itself leaves room to be desired, and it seems forgettable overall. But, just who is the guy who works down the chip shop, if he’s not really Elvis?

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Desperate Character” (Original Album Release in July 1981) (via Polydor Records)

Thank you for reading this post! As a reminder, at One Track At A Time, we endorse the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a recent single from a female solo artist, who is the lead vocalist of the popular French-English indie punk band Savages, to mark the release of her new album! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Iceage – “Lockdown Blues”

May 7, 2020 — Leave a comment

You won’t find a Mammoth, a Squirrel, or baby, in this Ice Age! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Elias Bender Rønnenfelt (Lead Vocals), Johan Surrballe Wieth (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jakob Tvilling Ples (Bass Guitar) and Dan Kjær Nielsen (Drums/Percussion) (2014) (Photo Credit: DIY Mag)

It’s certainly a bright Spring day and not an Ice Age in my part of the UK! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! It turns out that it’s not just Benjamin Gibbard, of Death Cab For Cutie fame, releasing music about their lockdown experiences for the benefits of their local charities. “Lockdown Blues” comes courtesy of Iceage, a Danish 4-piece rock band from Copenhagen with four albums under their belt. The single was inspired by the empty schools and frontline workers in the band’s dead environment, with all proceeds from the track’s sales on Bandcamp going directly to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Let’s listen to “Lockdown Blues” and reflect on its thoughts with the lyric video below.

“Lockdown Blues” is the first piece of output that I’ve personally ever heard from Iceage and it’s messages are maybe a little less relevant now that it is over a month old, but it’s a strong effort at a punk-based charity single that feels different to a novelty charity track or the acoustic ballads we’ve been getting otherwise. The lyricism does not beat around the bush at all, as Elias Rønnenfelt sings: “Covid-19/Lockdown Blues/The only way out is through/A wraithlike peril spread across the seven seas” with the Celtic-Punk touch of a searing guitar chord and a Bluesy touch of instrumentation. He sings about social distancing: “Empty shelves in barren streets/Confined domestic quarantine” and navigates the viewpoint of a party animal in a lonely and isolated time: “How the itching for lost touch is deafening”, all of which gets delivered by clean, Indie Rock production values and a post-punk touch of black comedy with a wicked humour to it. The faster paced section puts an emphasis on the guitar-driven melodies and the youthful, rebellious sound. While I can’t say that it really encourages you to stay at home, it puts a spin of hopefulness onto the current circumstances. I like how it addresses the elephant in the room in a bold way and it’s a refreshing change of pace to the somber tone of similar tracks inspired by our quarantine situation. The chant-led vocals may seem a bit too laddish for some listener’s tastes, but I certainly think it’s very appealing to a young target audience and the track is a strong effort in making the best out of a bad situation, while feeling a little bit different to other topical releases. You’ll have to mosh to it at home though!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Lockdodown Blues” (Single) (Released on 2nd April, 2020) (via Escho Records)

Thank you for reading this post! As per usual, please make sure that you be careful, don’t do anything silly and keep washing your hands! I’ll be back tomorrow to take a short break from my final university work with a look at the brand new track from a British multi-instrumentalist and rapper who wrote his famous debut album on a laptop in his bedroom, featuring an Australian artist seen at the forefront of the Psychedelic Rock genre. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Sinead O’ Brien – “Taking On Time”

April 20, 2020 — 1 Comment

An Irish punk songstress who personifies “Poetry In Motion”! It’s time for a new post!

Sinead O’Brien: “I don’t think anyone should be afraid to use their words” (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as always during this time of self-quarantine, I’m still writing about your daily track on the blog! Virus or not, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music each day! Having been writing limericks and publishing her fictional short stories in the esteemed London Review Of Books, Sinead O’Brien is an Irish poet and songwriter who fuses Nick Cave-esque spoken word delivery with melodic, electronic composition. O’Brien was born in Dublin, Ireland before she moved to London at an early age, taking up her first taught piano lessons at the age of six. O’Brien gets her inspiration from her fascination with being nosy… erm, I mean – people watching! She told So Young Magazine: “I started out by writing observational pieces, noting expressions, environment, the slightest changes in atmosphere and behavior of people. I am completely fascinated by these subtleties.” You and me both, Sinead! She also describes her work as a collaborative process with her touring band. A single that she describes as “genre-less” is “Taking On Time”, a single which she debuted on the “Speedy Wunderground – Year 4” compilation LP last year. Let’s give it a listen below!

The black-and-white visual style of the video provides both a stark contrast and a subtle backdrop to the pure, vibrant and intriguing fusion of spoken word delivery and the experimental post-punk sensibilities of “Taking On Time”. The opening line, “This, that I am”, is taken from a philosophical idea coming from poet Martin Heidegger’s theory of “all the different ways of being”, as O’Brien remains calm and controlled through the rough pacing of the track. O’Brien matches a layered bass guitar riff with a ringing cowbell melody. She recites: “Possessed by ideas/I am no more than a thinker than a prisoner of dreams” and “Forever we’re standing inside frames/To transcend the world of things we see untruly from inside frames” over the top of an echoed vocal processor and a shimmering drum riff. O’Brien adds a symphonic burst of electric guitar chords as she repeats the choral hook: “This, that I am, Taking On Time” over the top of the repetitious guitar lines and the sonic synthesizer palette, topped off by a crashing drum beat. It has all been programmed very fluidly and O’Brien’s thick Irish accent adds a subtle quality of anger to her vocal performance, which is cerebral but also melodic as she interweaves her vocal hooks with the fragmented electronic synth lines and the constantly thumping rock instrumentation. These alternative punk sensibilities merge with the poetic, raw lyric delivery and the electric palette to create a stunning and intriguing sound which conveys the personality of O’Brien and her artistic influences quite easily. It’s in no way pompous, but it’s written with a touch of sophistication. It’s unique and creative!

Thank you very much for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a new track from a Japanese film score composer who has his roots set in Cinematic Indie-Folk and used to be the leader of Seattle rock band Grand Hallway! He’s been exploring a synth-based, dancefloor-ready sound on his latest album, which is uncharted waters for his career! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Dropkick Murphy’s -“The Season’s Upon Us”

December 23, 2019 — 1 Comment

It is indeed on this Eve to Christmas Eve, Tis’ the time for yet another festive new post!

Released in January 2013 on their eighth overall LP record, “Signed and Sealed In Blood” contains the festive single “The Season’s Upon Us”, with the track seemingly arriving a month late to the Christmas party, although it’s accompanying music video was released on YouTube in November 2012, it comes from Dropkick Murphy’s, a Celtic Punk band formed in Boston in ’96, a group who became pioneers within the small fandom community of the niche genre, releasing a consecutive string of five well-loved albums for the Hellcat Records label between ’98 and ’05, significantly expanding the success perimeters of the label, before later signing for Born & Bred, their current record label. I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s been my mission, over the last month, to find you some alternative festive tracks to consider adding to your Christmas dinner-making playlists for your Kitchen this year! Today’s festive track on One Track At A Time is “The Season’s Upon Us” – by Celtic rockers, Dropkick Murphy’s.

“The Season’s Upon Us” is yet another fun addition to the alternative festive canon that we’ve been covering on the blog throughout the recent weeks. This is a track that just happens to come courtesy from the pioneering spirit of Dropkick Murphy’s. It’s full of anecdotal wit, chant-led chorus sections and the distinctive Celtic sound which the group have become revered for. The lyrics, often bouncy and quirky, have an offbeat down-tempo style, as conveyed through the lead performance of Ken Casey, who leads exclaims with: “Some families are messed up while others are fine/If you think yours is crazy, well you should see mine” and “The table’s set, we raise a toast/The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost/I’m so glad this day only comes once a year” over a horn arrangement, composition from an accordian and an interlaced Caelic expression. I’m sure that more than a fair few can relate to the lyrics and the track is oddly very ambitious, as it boldly mixes an organic musical dexterity with a folk-based sense of comedic relief that can be hit-or-miss to stick the landing correctly upon. But, on the track, the band manage to do it with a brash confidence in their path! So, where’s that Brandy and Eggnog? I’ve got a stonking hangover to relief!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Signed And Sealed In Blood” (January 2013) (LP Record)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, for an in-depth look at a Christmas track that’s as much of a Christmas song as “Die Hard” is a christmas film, as it’s time for our second foray into the mind of electronic maverick Richard D. James! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/