Today’s Track: Peaness – ‘How I’m Feeling’

February 21, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘World Full Of Worry’ (LP) (Available from May 6th, 2022) (via Totally Snick Records)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for me to return to my laptop after a storm-related power issue prevented me from using any devices this morning with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Peaness (No, it’s not what any dirty-minded individual would call it) are an indie pop trio who met at The University Of Chester, Cheshire during 2013 and initially named their witty band after a joke between themselves – and yet it stuck. They decided to form Peaness formally the year after in 2014 – with Balla (Guitar/Co-Vocals), Jess (Bass/Co-Vocals) and Rach (Drums/Percussion) making up their 3-piece line-up. They have earned praise from publications like Bearded, Gigwise and Louder Than War, and singles like ‘What’s The Use?’ and ‘Kaizen’ have gained airplay from the daytime playlist of BBC Radio 6 Music, with Marc Riley as a huge fan of their work so far. A range of singles and EP’s have been released on labels like Kingfisher Bluez, Odd Box Records and Alcopop Records since 2015, and the three young ladies are soon going to be finally releasing their debut full-length album – ‘A World Full Of Worry’ – on May 6th via their self-release label Totally Snick Records. Peaness are also one of the few bands that I’ve actually spoken to in-person, as I had a brief chat with them at the merchandise stand while they were supporting The Orielles at The Sugar Mill, Stoke-On-Trent in February 2020 when we had a lovely little chat about all things music, which my close friend from university bought me along with him to. Let’s check in to see ‘How I’m Feeling’ below.

Recently announced for an extensive run of live headline shows and music festival appearances through the summer in the UK, Peaness are gearing up to bring their expansive itinerary of summer-driven guitar hooks and retro-style harmonies to a wider audience when ‘A World Full Of Worry’ launches in May, with the band saying, “In an unfulfilling job? Need a shake up with something in your life or you’ll go mad? Well, that’s ‘How I’m Feeling’ and it can’t be ignored anymore! Amongst self-loathing and melancholy there are sparks of determination and a belief that you deserve more. I hope it works out”, in their press release about the punchy punk-oriented tune. Determined lyrics like “This isn’t what I wanted/I break my back for you” and “This sinking ship has sailed/Threw myself over board” shine through from the off-set, where Jangle-Pop guitar melodies and scratchy, perky bass riffs power the verse. The chorus makes me think of the often underrated ‘Pretty Odd’ days of Panic! At The Disco’s earlier line-up, with a vibrant mix of 00’s Pop-Punk and late-60’s Psychedelia giving the track a quirky flavour and a nostalgic warmth in the mood, which are paired enthusiastically to lyrics like “I’ve got the guts to take a leap/You’ve gotta trust that I can” that talk about out fantasies of leaving the daily grind for something that you are more driven towards. I like how the percussion comes in towards the end, and the track has a cheerful set of sounds that are relatable, leading to a catchy chorus that should appeal to a diverse crowd of listeners because the songwriting feels accessible and there’s a retro do-it-yourself punk feel to the production, where the chanting vocals are never sullied by any auto-tune or overly polished effects. An engaging track by a very playful and dynamic three talents, ‘How I’m Feeling’ is pure summertime driving with the roof down cheer and timeless harmony-filled, slightly Lo-Fi, yet charming Pop-influenced punk music which Peaness has done with finesse!

Pictured: Balla (Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals), Jess (Bass Guitar/Lead Vocals) & Rach (Drums) (2022) (Photo via PR)

That’s all that I have lined up for you today and I have other matters to attend to now, but I thank you ever so much for checking out the blog today because your support is always highly appreciated! I’ll be back tomorrow with a taste of Jamaica as we review the latest single from a Massachusetts-based, St. Elizabeth-born Reggae-Rock artist who is the younger brother of Andrew Holness – the current Jamaican prime minister.

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Scuzz Sundays: Razorlight – ‘In The Morning’

February 13, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Razorlight’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on July 17th, 2006) (via Mercury Records)

Good Morning to you – If you have indeed joined me ‘In The Morning’ for yet another edition of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog, the weekly feature where we pay a visit to one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk’s past to see if they still send chills down our spines in 2022, which fits my theme of writing up about a different piece of music every day! An indie rock band from London with more line-up changes than anybody can shake a stick at, Razorlight were a mid-00’s pop/rock group who have gone through several rotations of members with lead vocalist Johnny Borrell tying the connections together as the sole permanent member. They are probably best known for crossover chart hits like ‘Golden Touch’ and ‘Wire To Wire’ that reached the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, along with ‘America’ which was actually a UK #1 hit for them. ‘In The Morning’ was another example of their most well-known material and it peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart as the lead single to be taken their second studio album – a self-titled effort, unusually for a follow-up release – that was released to a mixed reception from critics in 2006. The album did decent business, however, and Razorlight have since gone on to take some awards home from 2007’s Eska Music Awards, 2005’s Silver Chef Awards and the Muso Awards in 2005. Razorlight are still releasing new music today, although quite sporadically, with 2018’s ‘Olympus Sleeping’ being their most recent album release – which was their first in ten years. Let’s revisit ‘In The Morning’ below.

‘In The Morning’ has been certified as Gold in the UK to mark a milestone of over 400,000 copies to get sold commercially, and the associated album went straight to the top of the UK Album Charts, as well as reaching the Top 40 in countries such as Germany, The Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and more. What doesn’t raise their profile, however, is that it was nominated for ‘Worst Album’ at the NME Awards in 2007, a (dis)honour that went to Robbie Williams’ ‘Rudebox’, and I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that distinction was just a little bit harsh or if it was fair in your own opinion. Back to the task at hand, and it is clear that ‘In The Morning’ sets the tone for a hangover mood after a party that got out of hand, as Borrell croons lyrics like “The songs on the radio sound the same/Everybody just looks the same” that mix a shade of meta commentary while toeing a line between slightly reflective Pop and sultry Garage Rock with the simple mixture of the ramshackle Drum beats and the repetitious lead guitar hooks. Meanwhile, the then-26 year-old wistfully recounts the olden and golden days of young adulthood with the refrains of “Remember when you were young/You’d lose yourself” and “But then last night was so much fun” that he is perhaps a little too young to entirely relate to and make totally convincing, but the fact that the track has a slightly deeper meaning than what’s on the surface is a welcome breath of fresh air. Borrell recites his lyrics with a rock and roll drowse that isn’t far off his peers, with Franz Ferdinand and Maximo Park all coming to my mind, and he leads a chant-along verse with “Are you really going to do it this time?” that reaches out to festival crowds as the instrumentation builds upon its tension with a heightened sense of pacing. There’s not a whole lot else to say about ‘In The Morning’, but it’s certainly not a bad song by any stretch of my mind. It’s just a fairly average one, with little depth to the lyricism and nothing that makes them feel like they were doing something different to similar bands like Toploader and Hard-Fi who each scored chart hits at their time with their Pop/Rock hybrid sounds. You get the sense that Borrell is still a bit young for his reflections to come across as undoubtedly mature, but there’s nothing that offensive to it either. ‘In The Morning’ was simply fine overall, with simple and repetitive melodies that connect with mainstream audiences and the basic production is exactly what makes it a reasonably catchy tune that you can whistle along to. Razorlight won’t go down in the history books as a stand-out band, but there’s enough quality – within reason – as to not make it feel too outdated.

Pictured: Johnny Borell (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Keyboard/Piano), Reni Lane (Keyboard/Synths), David Sullivan Kaplan (Drums/Backing Vocals) and David Ellis (Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar) (in 2018) (Photo Credit: Andy Hughes)

That brings us to the end of another weekly installment of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog as we sleepwalk into another week of winter. Thank you for giving me a moment of your time today, and please catch up with me tomorrow as we kick the week off with an exciting single release from a familiar favourite of 2020 on the blog, who will be releasing her first album to be recorded in a studio in May via Grand Jury Music. She is a young bedroom pop singer-songwriter originally from Wichita, Kansas who will tour with Wallows this year. She has collaborated with TV Girl and Magdalena Bay.

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Today’s Track: Wet Leg – ‘Too Late Now’

February 12, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Rhian Teasdale (Lead Vocals/Guitar) & Heather Chambers (Lead Guitar/Vocals) (Photo by Frances Beach)

Good Morning to you! This is your resident 24-year-old independent music journalist Jacob Braybrooke reporting for duty with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If I quoted ‘Chaise Lounge’ to you in the street, the chances are that it would mean something to you if you already love your music and your radio. It is the name of the track that bought the Isle Of Wight indie rock duo of Wet Leg – Comprised of co-vocalists and co-guitarists Rhian Teasdale and Heather Chambers – to fame, having become a viral hit that earned millions of music video views and staggering streaming figures when it found an audience on the internet last year. The duo became as such when they studied at Isle Of Wight college together and became close friends, with the pair later signing up to Domino Recordings – the same eclectic label that has released material from high profile names like Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Ela Minus, Georgia, Blood Orange and more. Nowadays, Wet Leg are being played all over the BBC with playlist rotation on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music, and they have also performed on ‘Later With Jools Hollland’ on BBC Two, in addition to being shortlisted for BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2022’ award. They also began touring the US in late 2021 and the two currently have their debut studio album – a self-titled LP – slated for a full release on April 8th. Let’s check out their single ‘Too Late Now’ below.

“It’s about sleepwalking into adulthood”, Teasdale writes about the guitar-oriented track, ‘Too Late Now’, in her press release, explaining, “I never imagined that my adult life would look the way it does and I guess this song reflects on some of the pressures and pulls of life. Sometimes I get really inside my head and everything can feel very overwhelming. I think this song is about accepting that life can feel a bit s**t from time to time. Maybe don’t indulge that thought too much though”, in her own words. I can totally relate to some of the themes discussed in ‘Too Late Now’, with on-point lyricism about social media like “I don’t need no dating app to tell me if I look like crap/To tell me if I’m thin or fat, to tell me should I shave my rat” that are softly sardonic, but they retain honesty and order despite their gentle humor, with the pre-chorus spoken word refrains making some important points about heightening your own expectations when you leave adolescence and life simply goes on instead of truly flourishing. Other refrains like “I don’t need no radio/No MTV, no BBC/I just need a bubble bath/To set me on a higher path” have a broader commentary on influencer or celebrity status, and how simple acts of kindness to yourself can have an impact on your enjoyment of life through the smaller and more profound actions that you make. The chorus is more hook-based, with the rambling sequence of “I’m gonna drive my car into the sea/I’m gonna drive downtown while looking pretty ordinary” going for a somber but uptempo vibe that neatly contrasts the melancholic vocals with some more optimistic melodies. Instrumentally, comparisons to The Maccabees or Porridge Radio are likely to surface as the on-nature lyricism is paired up to the tune of rich, yet raw guitar melodies and muted bass that retains a steady pace throughout the track as the drums gradually kick into a more aggressive gear and there’s a light reverb on the guitar effects that hint towards a more Emo-driven sound without ever entirely traversing into ‘Scuzz Sundays’ gear with the genres that we recall on the blog with each Sunday post, and I liked the new track overall for it’s mix of hazy disorientation and quotable lyricism with commentary that Wet Leg’s peers are clearly connecting with. It remains to be seen whether Wet Leg are truly the ‘next big thing’ or another in a tough line of near-success stories like The Ting Ting’s or The Noisettes during the 00’s. However, there’s certainly potential for their careers to keep taking off because there’s talent in here. Personally, I would say that ‘Too Late Now’ is their strongest yet.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Wet Leg’ (Self-Titled LP) (Available from 8th April, 2022) (via Domino Recordings)

That’s everything that I had lined up for you today. Your support for the site is hugely appreciated, as usual, and ‘Scuzz Sundays’ will be making its natural way to the blog tomorrow as we recall the ghosts of Pop-Punk’s past for another week. This time, we’re listening back to a mid-00’s hit from an English indie rock group who are best known for their UK top ten singles ‘Golden Touch’ and ‘America’, (a #1 hit), from 2006.

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Today’s Track: Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – ‘A Passionate Life’

February 8, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Tom Rees (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Zac White (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Ed Rees (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Ethan Hurst (Drums/Percussion/Unclean Vocals) (2021) (Photo Credit: Lily Brown)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and you’re tuned into One Track At A Time, as usual, where we are gearing up our ear’s engines for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 4-piece of Welsh Glam Rockers who are in love with the classic rock greats like T-Rex and AC/DC, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are another emerging band who have picked up support from all the usual places – like BBC Radio 6 Music, So Young Magazine, NME and more – over the past handful of years since forming out of lead vocalist Tom Rees’ bedroom in 2016. The band hope to continue finding their breakthrough when their debut studio album – ‘Backhand Deals’ – releases on February 25th via Communion Records. The band will also be performing alongside Sir Tom Jones, Stereophonics and Catfish & The Bottlemen at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in June 2022. Known for critically acclaimed singles like ‘John Lennon Is My Jesus Christ’, ‘New Age Millennial Magic’, ‘You’ and ‘Double Denim Hop’, they have been making a name for themselves on the UK’s live touring circuit and they have, in a funny story that comes courtesy of DIY Mag, named “the re-animated corpse of Bon Scott” as their dream collaborator. Rees said of their impending debut album in September, “Backhand Deals is a practice in subverting the ideology of rock music as something that needs to be ‘brought back from the dead’. Rock should be about enjoying yourself honestly, whether that’s washing the dishes, sweeping the yard, or complaining about whoever got elected. Rock is a sweeping power, and is attributed to anyone who performs art honestly, from Lizzo feeling good as hell to AC/DC riding down a highway to hell. The honesty is the same, and the honesty prevails”. Let’s check out their latest pre-release offering – ‘A Passionate Life’ – below.

The band will be making their debut in the US at SXSW in March, and Rees says, “A Passionate Life was written about striving to be a better friend, and not spending so much time on myself”, about the new single in a press release, adding, “I think the world is always telling you to focus on you, which is the right thing to do a lot of the time, but it’s easy work. I don’t think I’ll ever change, but wanting to change feels like enough for now. We’re all surface level creatures and just the thought of wanting to be a better person makes me feel like I am”, to his notes. Exploring the ideas of principle and authenticity, Rees sings contemplative lyrics like “What am I gonna say, When all of these songs, Just melt away” and “I know that I should call sometime, Ditch this ruse, that I’m towing the line time after time” as he reaches out to some reliable friends for emotional support and good company, while the instrumentation boasts an engaging mixture of plodding Piano stabs and floundering guitar rhythms that play out steadily. The chorus, where Rees mixes a sense of sarcasm and humor to the tune of “Sex appeal, is just a product of fear” and “When am I going to reveal/This phony charm” that untangles the stereotypes behind what it means to be a ‘rock star’ in the mass media and leaves the listener behind to reflect on their own emotions or thoughts. It feels more restrained than previous servings of comforting 70’s-influenced Rock that we’ve heard from the band, but it makes great use of some Elton John-style keyboard melodies that manage to feel a little melancholic and the understated guitar riffs that underscore the integrity of the vocals with a neat sense of production. They also lean into the tropes of the genre to pull the nostalgia card, with a chorus of ‘La-La-La’s’ towards the end that feels like a clear nod to the likes of The Beatles and The Kinks from earlier, and in many ways, simpler times. Overall, it makes great sense for Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard to enlist the references of their greatest influences for a track that is solely about the meaning of togetherness, and it absolutely feels like one of those mellow tracks that will help you take things down a peg when you feel like your mind is full of traffic. Strangely sweet and pretty poignant.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Backhand Deals’ (LP) (Available from February 25th, 2022) (via Commuion Records)

Thank you for checking out yet another very unique post on the blog, and we’ll be revisiting some of the most seminal sounds of the past with another weekly entry of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ tomorrow. The next pick comes from a 90’s band led by a former promoter of Anthem’s TNA/Impact Wrestling promotion who we’ve covered on the blog previously, and they are still presently active. They brought ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ to our lives in 1995, a record which topped the US Billboard 200 album chart upon release straight away. You could say that they were ‘Smashing’.

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Today’s Track: HighSchool – ‘Frosting’

February 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Forever At Last’ (Released on November 1st, 2021) (via Dalliance Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another quick daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A trio who spent a long period of over 200 days in lockdown together in their native hometown in the suburbs of Brunswick, Australia – HighSchool are a new Melbourne Post-Punk trio who were formed during 2020 and they have resurfaced after a year of writing and recording an extensive body of work to decent acclaim, with recent singles like ‘Jerry’ and ‘New York, Paris and London’ gaining airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music courtesy of Steve Lamacq’s ‘The New Music Fix’ programming during the early hours of Friday morning each week. Comprised of Lilli Trobbiani, Rory Trobbiani and Luke Scott, the band produces reverb-drenched rock that encompasses between genres like Noise-Punk, Industrial Rock and 00’s Post-Punk Revival in their atmospherically gloomy, but also slightly wistful and textured sounds. Known for their subversive Goth imagery, HighSchool have been finding popularity on Bandcamp recently with the release of their debut EP – ‘Forever At Last’ – which was released on November 1, 2021 via the British-based record label Dalliance Recordings. Check out the single ‘Frosting’ below.

HighSchool recorded their six-track EP project with Archie Shannon from Floodlights behind the decks and it compiles each of their singles to date including ‘De Facto’ and ‘Sirens’, plus the title track and three more, some of which songs have demo versions that date back to late 2020 in terms of their development stages. Opening the short-form release is ‘Frosting’, a Shoegaze-influenced jam that I have been playing on repeat personally, as it reminds me of The Smiths in quite a huge way due to the bittersweet qualities of the emotions and the melancholic sound of the simple guitar strumming that is accompanied by some edgy Goth-rock imagery during the official music video, while it also feels more Lo-Fi than your average Post-Punk act, with some fuzzy guitar riffs that remind me of the DIY Pop music that’s been coming out of the New York psych scene courtesy of artists like JW Francis, combining the moody aesthetics with a softer side that allows the radiant Soft-Rock to lay some emotional groundwork for the swooning lyrics and the sense of longing that is created by Rory Trobbiani’s lead vocals in the delivery. Lyrics like “The second I saw you dance/I was waiting on a love I never knew” and “You can’t win the war if you don’t know who the enemy is” feel contemplative and recall the angst-ridden undercurrent of bands like The Fall in the mid-1980’s, and they’re backed up by a soundscape of textbook Post-Punk where the drowsing guitar effects and the nostalgic Synth riffs, along with a briefly fluttering String sample section, provide an emotive backdrop to support the industrial Bass rhythms that are looped underneath. It feels polished and tidy, but the lead vocals are delightfully slathered in Jangle-Rock guitars that distort the clarity of the nuanced lyrics. Such lyrics recall particularly intimate seconds of time from the past, such as “Can’t say I don’t miss holding hands/And chasing afternoons”, that create more substance for the emotive qualities, as opposed to replicating some of their contemporaries that have been etched into the ‘Indie Landfill’ classification that becomes difficult to break away from. While the music is most reminiscent of modern Pop-Punk and wry Industrial Rock, it almost continues the tradition of bands like Slowdive and DIIV by the creation of the melancholic soundscapes that contain pretensions of stylisation and visual art, but it is more warmly delivered and it aims to uplift Rory Trobbiani’s vocals from a mood of longing to a more nostalgic one. They already sound like a more experienced act than they probably are, and that sounds really great as their music mostly leans on the gloomy side without simply pointing at trademarks of the key influences. Fantastic instrumentally and beautifully performed.

Pictured: HighSchool (aka Lilli Trobbiani, Rory Tribbiani and Rory Tribbiani) (2021) (Photo Credit: Hector Clark)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest post, and, for the first time of the year, we seem to have a truly stacked line-up of new albums vying for your attention from tomorrow onwards, and we’ll be selecting one of them as a neat sampler for our ‘New Album Release Fridays’ post tomorrow. We’ll be previewing the newest album from a Missouri-formed indie rock band whose heavy music has been featured in advertisements for Apple, NFL and Bose. They have supported acts like Phoenix, Vance Joy, Joywave, and Cold War Kids on tour since autumn 2018 onwards.

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Today’s Track: NewDad – ‘Say It’

January 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Julie Dawson (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Áindle O’Beirn (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Sean O’Dowd (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Fiachra Parslow (Drums/Percussion) (2020) (Photo via PR/Fair Youth Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke – of course – and its time to dive headfast into another week’s worth of work and pleasure with yet another daily track on the blog to start it off, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 4-piece indie rock band from Galway, Ireland who can always be relied upon to create a charming blend of melodic Dream-Pop and ethereal 90’s Shoegaze, NewDad have already received support from BBC Radio 6 Music – with ‘Blue’ gaining a spot on their daytime A-list last year – and BBC Radio 1 Indie Show presenter Jack Saunders to consistent results. Led by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Julie Dawson, the quartet are also comprised of bassist Áindle O’Beirn, lead guitarist Sean O’Dowd and drummer Fiachra Parslow. An 80’s-leaning group, they have cited Alt-Rock heroes like The Cure, The Pixies, The Smashing Pumpkins and Just Mustard in some interviews and, in an article with DIY Magazine, they expressed that Charli XCX would be a dream for them to work with, a fantasy link-up that I’d certainly like to see materialize. Last March, they released the marvellous ‘Waves’ EP via Fair Youth Records and they are due to follow it up on 9th February with their second EP – ‘Banshee’ – which is also due to arrive via the same label. It was co-produced with Chris W. Ryan and mixed by John Congleton (Phoebe Bridgers, Lana Del Rey) in Belfast. Later this year, they will be performing at All Points East, London and SXSW. They also have regular tour dates set for the UK, the US and Ireland in March and April. Let’s check out the opener and first single from the EP, ‘Say It’, below.

“Say It is about unrequited love, about when someone is with you but not really, it’s supposed to capture that frustration you feel when you’re giving someone your all and they’re giving you nothing in return”, Dawson says about the simple but relatable themes behind their latest single, adding about the EP, “This EP is definitely bigger, having more time in the studio definitely meant we got to experiment more and layer more into each track so there’s an overall bigger sound” in their press release. ‘Say It’ is yet another indie gem with a whimsical atmosphere that starts off with some guttural deep breaths before the guitars and the drums kick in for the opening verse, where Dawson recites lyrics like “You only want to make things right at night/But it’s not the same” and “Today you didn’t even look at me in the hallway/I know you saw me” as she taps into the rushing tensions that you feel emotionally in the midst of an unrequited affair. The chorus is also strong, with the simple hook of “So I don’t want to say it, ‘Cause you don’t want to say it back” that feels piercing in it’s clear cut nature. The pacing is quite upbeat, and it comes across like Dawson is venting her complications about her irritation and bitterness about her own handling of the situation and her romantic dreams that won’t pull their own weight either. She strikes a perfect balance between feeling whimsical and forceful, with ragged lyrics like “You just look down at your laces like your f***ing famous” amongst softer spoken refrains like “You just want to see me fall for you” that capture the mildly psychedelic warmth of the emotive guitar riffs that surround her vocals. The angular drum beats have a stark mood to them, while the more textured guitars give off a calming vibe that contrasts the restless frustrations felt about the topical one-sided relationship with a lighter ambient energy that becomes an endearing hint of what will be explored on the forthcoming EP project. Overall, ‘Say It’ is another solid single from NewDad that really showcases Dawson’s abilities of mixing strength and warmth together in her vocals and her bandmates’ abilities of blending anxious emotions with remaining feelings of hurt from their textured instrumental work. It’s also a track that appeals equally to lovesick teens or young adults as much as the parents who will hear the bands they used to love during a similar snap shot from their lives. Simply great stuff.

Pictured: NewDad performing a live gig at the Yes Basement, Manchester (2021) (Photo via EvenTheStars.co.uk)

If you liked the latest single from NewDad and you want to hear more, don’t feel ‘Blue’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/07/todays-track-newdad-blue/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Waves’ (EP) (Released on March 26th, 2021) (via Fair Youth Records)

That brings us to the end of the page and, just for your reassurance, NewDad have said that none of them are actually Dad’s before. Anyhow, thank you for showing your support as always for the site, and I’ll be back tomorrow to muse over some more melancholic music due to arrive on a larger project in February. This time, it comes from a Los Angeles-based Psych-Rock band whose guitarist is the son of David A. Stewart from Eurythmics and Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama. It is a very small world!

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Way Back Wednesdays: Death Cab For Cutie – ‘Information Travels Faster’

January 19, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Benjamin Gibbard (Lead Vocals/Piano/Rhythm Guitar), Nick Hammer (Bass Guitar/Keyboard/Organ), Jason McGerr (Drums/Percussion), Dave Depper (Lead Guitar/Synths/Occasional Backing Vocals), Zac Rae (Keyboards/Guitars/Backing Vocals) (2021) (Photo via UpsetMagazine.com)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time again for us to remind ourselves of how old we all are with another installment of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the blog, not neglecting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Known for their very description-defying variety of instrumentation and the idiosyncratic voice of frontman Benjamin Gibbard, Death Cab For Cutie were a surviving Alternative Rock band from the commercial ‘Indie Boom’ of the 00’s who have achieved plenty of good attention, both critically and commercially, over the last handful of decades. They actually got their name from a track originally written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshell for The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band partially created for The Beatles’ film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ of 1967, and the outfit who took that name have since found their material being used by film and TV productions like ‘Twilight’ and ‘The O.C.’ in their own right. Early albums like 2005’s ‘Plans’ have been certified Platinum, but the band have continued to release a steady stream of quite well-liked releases as recently as 2018’s ‘Thank You For Today’ during their lifetime. Three of the band’s most high-charting singles, however, were found on 2001’s ‘The Photo Album’, a record that was their only full-length album to feature drummer Michael Scorr. To mark two decades since it initially arrived, Death Cab For Cutie have digitally released a 35-track remastered edition of the album with all of the usual suspects – cover versions of the likes of Bjork’s ‘All Is Full Of Love’ and The Stone Roses’ ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, studio outtakes, unreleased tracks, rarities and UK-exclusive B-sides that was released digitally on October 29th but will be availalble physically on Vinyl in Spring 2022. The rework includes an alternative version of fan-favourite track ‘Information Travels Faster’, so we’re going to hear the original below.

Another alternate version of the album was released in the form of a limited edition extended play titled ‘The Stability EP’ that appeared briefly in early 2002, containing bonus tracks from the original version of the album and Japanese versions of ‘The Photo Album’ as well. Beginning with the powerful refrain of “I intentionally wrote it out to be an illegible mess/You wanted me to write your letters, but I’d rather lose your address” as the sultry mid-tempo tones between the treble-assisted lead guitar riffs and the low-end angle of the bass guitar melodies create a poetic opening for Gibbard to recite some heartfelt lyrics above a bitter mood. The band provide a steady backing for him as he croons hooks in the bridge like “Sewing circles are not solely based in trades of cloth/There’s spinsters all around here taking notes, reporting on us” as he pens a letter to an anonymous contact to say farewell. It is left ambiguous as to what the lyrics are truly about, but there is a solemn refrain in the chorus of “As information travels faster, in the modern age, as our days are crawling by” that teases a deeper meaning between how we communicate with other contacts and how we find it difficult to communicate what we really mean to say when we’re not face to face, which feels like a near-precursor to the true social media days that came shortly after the album was being released. Released at a pivotal point of their career where it was time for the band to decide if they should quit their day jobs to pursue music full time, it moulds some atmospheric Piano-based backdrops to Gibbard’s desires to use pre-modern methods to correspond with others. Although it doesn’t quite hit me emotionally, we definitely get to hear how Gibbard’s mind works with the interesting themes of the lyrics and the technical instrumentation used by the rest of the band to pull off the poetic backdrop well. A compelling track that was written about a memorable topic that the younger generations may never experience.

Pictured: Benjamin Gibbard recording ‘Life In Quarantine’ at home (2020) (Photo Credit: KEXP.org)

Although we have never covered any of Death Cab For Cutie’s traditional output before, the lead talent of Benjamin Gibbard has enjoyed a revolving door of posts on the blog, including his mid-2020 quarantine single ‘Life In Quarantine’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/25/todays-track-benjamin-gibbard-life-in-quarantine/ and the late summertime-fueled Tycho collaboration ‘Only Love’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/10/02/todays-track-tycho-benjamin-gibbard-only-love/

Pictured: Benjamin Gibbard performing a live acoustic solo set (2018) (Photo Credit: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images)

That’s all for now! Thank you for corresponding with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow as we nearly get through to another weekend with a post concerning the underground sounds of today. My next pick comes from a self-described “North Georgia Cat” who was introduced to music by the Alternative Rock circuit of the Scuzz Sundays life span – the likes of Sublime and System Of A Down – by his older brother.

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Scuzz Sundays: Catatonia – ‘Road Rage’

January 9, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘International Velvet’ (LP) (Released on February 2nd, 1998) (via Blanco y Negro)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get right down to business with another weekly installment of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of the few female-led bands to gain attention on TV networks like Kerrang and Scuzz back in the late-1990’s, unfortunately, was Catatonia. Known for their political edge, Catatonia were one of the post-Britpop acts who found fame in the UK charts in a similar timeframe to peers like Ocean Colour Scene and Embrace that catapulted lead vocalist Cerys Matthews to mainstream attention during the time. A key part of the Cool Cymru movement in 90’s UK music, Matthews was notable for being disagreeable with the music press who would label her band as an ‘Indie Rock’ project because her goal was only to ever write Pop Music. Sadly, their time in the spotlight was a little short-lived compared to peers like Athlete or Gomez because Matthews entered rehab in 2001 for drinking and smoking following a list of negative reports regarding her habits in tabloid newspapers and gossip magazine columns, leading to some commercial disappointment with her later albums until the group decided to disband in 2001. However, the band had top 40 singles like ‘Mulder and Scully’ and ‘I Am The Mob’ that all received strong radio airplay and sales success. One of their most popular singles is ‘Road Rage’, a track that peaked within the Top 5 of the UK Singles Charts and was actually certified as silver. Their debut album – ‘International Velvet’ was also nominated for the Mercury Prize and went to the top spot of the UK Album Charts before being certified as Triple Platinum, which is still no mean feat at all. Matthews went on to collaborate on ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ with unimitable Welsh legend Tom Jones, and the band also performed the title track from ‘International Velvet’ at the opening ceremony of the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Cardiff and so although the band sadly came to an end quite soon after starting, they had a string of success. So, let’s remember their Q Award-winning single ‘Road Rage’ below.

Matthews and Roberts would often share the writing duties between them for producing Catatonia tracks, and Matthews would also be highlighted for her use of metaphors in her songwriting in ways that would typically be compared to poetry, and ‘Road Rage’ was no exception to the rule. She says the song was written about the trial of Tracie Andrews, who killed her boyfriend Lee Harvey, and told the police it was a ‘road rage attack’ and even appealed on UK news to find his imaginary killer before she was found guilty of murder in a Birmingham Crown Court during 1998, of which Matthews later based her own lyrics around the case. Another tradition for Catatonia began near the time of ‘Road Rage’ as well, where Matthews would really project her voice to recite rolling R’s that were too fast and furious for the ear to really make out for the most part, as you may have noticed on this track already. Starting off with a somber voice that recalls “If all you’ve got to do today is find peace of mind, Come round if you can take a piece of mine” over the top of a gradually crawling Drum groove that comes off as seductive and a slowly ascending bass guitar riff, before a burst of melodic lead guitar riffs heighten the energy with the hook of “You should be taking it easy on yourself” in the pre-chorus, before the vocals become more snarling in texture for the chorus as Matthews chants “It’s all over the front page/You’re giving me road rage” as she mixes metaphors of the time’s contemporary current affairs with the simple theme of dwindling in a combative relationship, a theme that would likely connect with more mid-aged listeners of the track. All in all, it hasn’t aged badly as the subtle changes in pace feel neatly woven into the fabric of the lyricism and the mixing of pop culture references with more memorable melodies feels equally tidy. For me, the drums get a little on the tedious side and there’s not really an explosive guitar riff that really packs a punch in the track, but it feels radio-friendly and there’s just enough attitude found within Matthews’ voice to feel strident and powerful amongst her issues with the love interest. A confident, if comfortable, piece by Catatonia that brought memorable melodies to bleak subject matter clearly.

Pictured: Cerys Matthews (Lead Vocals), Mark Roberts (Lead Guitar), Paul Jones (Bass Guitar), Owen Powell (Rhythm Guitar) and Aled Richards (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (1998) (Photo via BBC.co.uk)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for the day, and I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off another week’s worth of new posts to bring light to the bland January season. We start off with a splendid track of scientific proportions that was released in the latter half of 2021 by a fascinating super-group comprised of current British poet laureate Simon Armitage, multi-instrumentalist Patrick Pearson and musician Richard Walters.

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Scuzz Sundays: Green Day – ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’

January 2, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Nimrod’ (LP) (Released on October 14th, 1997) (via Reprise Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived again for me to see find out if a series of Pop-Punk style hits from between the 90’s and 00’s can match up to quality in the modern times for ‘Scuzz Sundays’ – not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! When thinking about the bands who popularized heavier variations of Rock in the mainstream of the US during the specified period of the Scuzz TV days – bands like Panic! At The Disco, Feeder, Bowling For Soup, Weezer, All American Rejects and The Bloodhound Gang call to my mind for various reasons. However, it feels shocking that we haven’t covered Green Day to any extent for my feature, a very famous 90’s/00’s East Bay native punk rock band who have sold over 75 million records worldwide and released a new album as recently as 2020, before. That’s mostly because I can’t stand ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ at all because I had to perform it SO MANY TIMES for a music class in secondary school. However, one of their other most famous recordings – ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ – should subside in kicking off the new year with some solid familiarity. A single that showed a softer side to Billie Joe Armstrong, who was previously known for playing his edgy teen-angled music loud and proud, the band’s famous ballad of 1997 reached the top 20 of the charts in several countries including Australia, Iceland, the UK, Canada and the US. It has also been downloaded over 2.6 million times – and I should think it went some way in securing a Broadway stage musical spot related to the band’s other massive hit ‘American Idiot’ in sturdy fashion before the theatrical piece premiered in 2010. On that note – I hope you have the time of your life with ‘Good Riddance’ below.

You’ve probably heard ‘Good Riddance’ played in sentimental spaces like your wedding or a high-school prom night, but the original source of inspiration behind Armstrong’s anthem came from a heart of anger. He told Loudersound in 2016, “It’s about an ex-girlfriend who had moved to Ecuador. In the song, I tried to be level-headed about her leaving, even though I was completely p***ed off. So, I named it ‘Good Riddance’ just to express my anger”, before a late-night house party influenced him to write the material under an Acoustic music guise, a move that he told NME was stylistically different for the band and a risky choice at the time. On this record, Armstrong manages to be relatable and effective in this simplicity and, while seeing a band previously known for darker Punk material turn to a more reflective tone for a gentle ballad isn’t an unprecedented move and a fairly predictable deviation in the modern times, it’s still good to see that Green Day weren’t afraid to change their style up for the benefit of varied material to shape up their discography. Setting this scene with the opening of “Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road” and “Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go” that trade raucous riffs for intimacy, the band are confident in backing up Armstrong’s restrained vocals with a fragile String section and a shifting series of warm vintage acoustic guitar strums. The memorable hook of “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right/I hope you had the time of your life” has an air of vengeance buried underneath the warmer delivery, but it comes across as heartfelt enough through the reflective vocals that refrain from auto-tune manipulation. While the song does sound very commercial, it was not over-produced. The vocals are a bit formulaic, but they are honest and packed with a small sense of genuine emotion and, really, Green Day are a decent band for being able to achieve these effects with such a radio-friendly recording. I think it’s the ubiquity of the sentimental value that transcends the immediate context of the songwriting that feels timeless and makes the song continually find new popularity with more passing generations and, really, that is still a solid achievement. Overall, this was an often misinterpreted little track that – while not revolutionary – has found a reason to be popular. Peaceful – if commercial – music with enough heart to stand the test of time.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘American Idiot’ (LP) (Released on September 21st, 2004) (via Reprise Records)

‘Good Riddance’ may remain to be a frequent staple for the end of Green Day’s live performances, but the show must always go on here at One Track At A Time. Join me for the rest of a seemingly never-ending encore tomorrow with our first entirely regular track post in a short time. It comes from a now-solo English musician who was formerly a member of Spaceman 3 and, among line-up changes, his associated band won awards like NME’s Album Of The Year 1997 – beating Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’.

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New Year’s Eve 2021 Special: Fleet Foxes – ‘White Winter Hymnal’

December 31, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Fleet Foxes’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on June 3rd, 2008) (via Bella Union Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for a fleeting (If you see what I did there…?) moment of cool reflection in the midst of ringing in the New Year, with yet another daily track on the blog, seeing that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Although they took a reasonable hiatus between 2013 and 2016 so that lead singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold could pursue an undergraduate degree, the Washington-based Alternative Folk group of Fleet Foxes have always churned out their strong share of critically acclaimed and commercially successful material over the years and they released their fourth album – ‘Shore’ – as recently as last September via Anti- Records – a very enjoyable record that was featured on my ‘Top 25 Albums Of 2021’ list last January. The band stood up to prominence in mainstream consciousness, however, with the release of their self-titled debut album in 2008 via Bella Union Records. The hit that its associated Simon Raymonde-ran label needed to stay afloat at the time, the retro LP was the band’s first example of blending their refined vocal harmonies and tribalistic lyrical qualities together to widespread acclaim. The album was eventually made available to buy in places as common as your local Tesco’s supermarket shelves after it eventually reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart. Since being considered one of the best albums of the 2000’s and a highly impressive debut release, Fleet Foxes have continued to make ‘White Winter Hymnal’ a popular addition to festive playlists (both befitting of the Christmas and New Year’s season), a Silver-certified single full of beautifully layered vocals that has also been used in media productions like Hulu’s ‘The Path’ and 2015’s ‘Love The Coopers’. The track was also ranked as #66 on Pitchfork’s decade-end list of the greatest singles of the 00’s – and it has been covered by other established names such as television presenter Alexander Armstrong and A-capella act Pentatonix. Get swept away in the sound of ‘White Winter Hymnal’ below.

Issued on 7″ Vinyl as well as the digital MP3 format, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was written by Pecknold from personal experience, as he was inspired to write the lyrics about a time where his friends ditched him in middle school. Although the lyrics might have been about childhood past, the source of the melody came from the familiar source of Walt Disney. Pecknold recounted to Rolling Stone during an interview in 2012, “The idea was a song like ‘Whistle While You Work’ from Snow White”, adding, “So it started with that very beginning thing, the first kind-of like, melody. And then once the verse was done, it just seemed like it lent itself to repetition”, in the discussion. Beginning with “I was following the pack” as the backing vocals of the band harmoniously overlap each other to capture the melancholy of winter and snow, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ was memorable for creating the effect of a dense cloud of harmonies that mimic a Cathedral reverb. Later lyrics like “White snow red as strawberries in the summertime” and “With scarves of red tied around their throats” feature imagery that is undeniably much stronger and the meaning of the track is left quite ambiguous. However, refrains like “To keep their little heads from falling in the snow” make me think of blindly following a bad influence without considering the repercussions. Instrumentally, the stirring drums and the ascending guitar melodies mimic the feeling of a sled that is riding down a path at a breakneck pace. The minimalist vocals, however, are more likely to convey a sense of contentment and peace, but the cavernous layered harmonies have a frosty and distant sound that relates to a white sheet of ice on a tranquill snowy morning. What was very interesting, and really quite groundbreaking, about the track is that, in seasonal terms, Indie and Pop music often tend to be more celebratory towards the summer season and, therefore, the qualities of a Christmas carol hidden in the melodies are more reminiscent of a traditional hymm and so Fleet Foxes’ ode to cool reflection in the winter was refreshing. Overall, ‘White Winter Hymnal’ had all the makings of a modern classic back in 2008 and that’s a quota that the Grammy-nominated band have fulfilled in 2021 with a recording that still sounds as gorgeous and as nostalgic as the first time it hit the radio airwaves. Cheers to a merry new year!

Pictured: Robin Pecknold (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Skyler Skjelset (Mandolin/Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Casey Wescott (Keyboard/Synths/Backing Vocals), Christian Wargo (Bass Guitar) and Morgan Henderson (Upright Bass Guitar/Woodwinds/Violin/Saxophone/Percussion) (in 2020) (Photo via PR)

If you told me that Fleet Foxes were covered on the blog more recently – ‘Can I Believe You?’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/26/todays-track-fleet-foxes-can-i-believe-you/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Shore’ (LP) (Released on September 22nd, 2020) (via Anti- Records)

That’s all for today and so all I have left to say for you in 2021 is… See you next year! Join me then for a special New Year’s Day edition of my regular posts tomorrow that you’ll really enjoy if you’re a fan of my weekly ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ feature! We’re going to be remembering a well-received late-70’s single by a prominent Scottish figure of the British Folk revival scene in the 60’s and 70’s. Famously described by AllMusic as “one of those mysterious woman songs”, the album of the same title as the song is a #5 hit in the US. The singer used to share a London flat with Paul Simon.

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