I wasn't expecting a whole lot on my way to see Ginny & The Dog Bites last night. I mainly went for two reasons, one being that one of my best college friends Andrew Nave is in the band, and the other being that there is very little entertainment in my tiny hometown of LaFayette, so I figured it would be something cool for my few remaining high school friends and I to do. I had seen a couple of the band's videos on Facebook, and they seemed pretty solid, but nothing like what I was about to experience. It turned out to be one of the greatest highlights of my summer so far! Not that there's much to compete with it (damn you LaF), but that's not the point!
The Dog Bites know how to put on a show, and they definitely live up to their jam band genre. You'll find that solos are abound and executed with great precision. At times I wasn't entirely sure if some of the sax and trumpet parts were part of the original song, or something the band had made up, but either way they were hypnotizing at times and it was great fun seeing the band really get into performing them. Of course I can't talk about solos here without directing a bit of spotlight over to guitarist Mikey Dufresne, and he's far from afraid of a little attention. He delivered a couple of blistering solos that just obliterated the crowd, flames flying everywhere, screams of "My leg!!"... Watch for yourself in the seconds before Funk 'n Waffles came down in flames:
Fortunately an identical Funk 'n Waffles was built directly across from this one in anticipation of an inferno at this scale.
Alright the place is still standing, but anyways, the band nicely pulled off a variety of genres. Blues, rock, pop, funk, it was all there. Vocalist Noelle Killius' voice fit nicely into all of them, from the feel-good pop of "Valerie" to the down n' dirty blues of "Whipping Post". There was never a moment where I felt her vocals were phoned in. Although The Dog Bites are mainly a cover band at this point, they did play a couple originals. A mellow, nameless scat featuring only 3 members of the band (Nave, Dufresne, and Killius) that provided a bit of a cool down halfway through their set, and a full song titled "My Distraction", which demonstrated good songwriting ability since I didn't even know it was an original until I was told afterwards. I thought it was another cover, meaning it's just as good as the songs they had been playing that were written by other bands.
I firmly believe these guys have serious potential beyond doing covers if that's the path they want to take. The technical proficiency is there without a doubt, and I definitely recommend seeing them if you're looking to find some underground entertainment (literally, Funk 'n Waffles is in a basement). Ginny & The Dog Bites are a fun group to watch, joking with each other on stage and just being very enthusiastic overall, making them very likable. It'll be interesting to see what they want to do with their skill, if they want to write more original material or continue with great covers. Either way they're a fantastic group of young musicians, so go check em out if you can!
You can check out the band's Reverbnation page here
Good songs enter our conscious and satisfy our ear holes for the time being, then float out of our minds over time. Great songs are drilled into our subconscious and can reside there comfortably until the next time we hear the song, at which time we belt them out at the top of our lungs. This is not the case for the following songs.
The following songs are the type of songs that get drilled in your brain permanently, but don't just chill out there sipping on Coolattas. No, these songs like to invade your skull and make you think you enjoy their presence until they start to suck on your sanity like the parasites they are. At that point it's just a disease we all have to deal with that strikes every time the songs' first bars drop.
If you haven't heard these songs, i'm envious of your sound-dodging abilities because if they really were parasites, we'd have suffered multiple pandemics by now. Probably a minimum of 2 zombie apocali (apocalypses?). So since you're almost definitely already infected by them, I give to you the 5 songs I wish could be surgically removed from my grey matter.
5) Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor (1982)
If you still workout to this 4-minute block of solid 80's cheese, you're probably Richard Simmons. Honestly though, this is one of those cases where the song itself really isn't that bad. In fact, i'm willing to bet there was a time in all of our lives where we imagined ourselves feverishly getting sh*t done in one of those "hard work" montages to "Eye Of The Tiger" like in Rocky. Unfortunately, the song simply suffers from being too typical and overplayed to the point of becoming the audio equivalent of stuffing at a thanksgiving dinner. It's something no one really loves but just kinda gets thrown in anyways, and by the time you're done eating it you think, "Well that was alright but i'm totally okay with not consuming it for another year".
4) We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions - Queen (1977)
If you can count the amount of times you've heard these songs on one hand, I feel bad for you, mainly because you have a hand with a million fingers. I group these two together because they're basically two sides of the same coin: one is saying "We're gonna do it!" and the other is boasting "We did it!". I mean, they're good songs, but like basically everything on classic rock radio, it's played TO DEATH. Oh, and also the fact that it's impossible to go to any sports event without hearing them makes it twice as annoying. Queen are rock legends, who had one of the greatest voices in all of the genre in Freddie Mercury, but we get it. They did rock us, and they are the champions. Now let's please move on and find a different sports anthem. NO NOT SEVEN* NATION ARMY AAHHhhh...
*Realized I said One Nation Army here earlier aaaaaand i'm pretty sure I lost some serious music geek cred. Remember kids, always proof read.
3) Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke (2013)
I wanted to like this song. I really did. When it came out I loved the groove, the little descending bass line, the fact that Pharrell helped produce it... if only it weren't for Robin Thicke and his "all the ladies want me" bravado. Every time I hear him say "I know you want it" and "You're a good girl" I just imagine him waving a T-bone steak at a woman as if she were a starved dog. That, coupled with the #THICKE music video, makes Robin Thicke one of those guys that just epitomizes f*ckboy status. I'd be lying if I said a smirk didn't crawl across my face when I heard he was getting sued over copyright infringement by Marvin Gaye's family. "Blurred Lines" is the kind of thing that makes me afraid to be outside a 10 foot radius of a toilet bowl.
2) All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor (2014)
Another song that makes me feel like i'm playing Russian Roulette if I turn on the radio. Yeah, sure, I can practically hear the wave of feminists screaming at me about it's body-positive message, but a message isn't a song. You could put Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech in song form, but if the music is coming from Creed i'll still turn it off just as fast. Don't get me wrong, i'm all about that positive body image (I was born with a chest deformity myself), but Meghan Trainor expresses it in the most awkward and unsettling way possible. From claiming that she knows what guys like in a woman as if she's met every man on the planet, to, in the most gut wrenching kill-me-now moment, where she refers to her butt as her *ahem* "boom boom". Stahp. Plz. *lies down in fetal position*
1) Fancy - Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX (2014)
Iggy said it best: "You already know". Before this um... "freestyle" that generally embodies her image nowadays, there was "Fancy". What really kills me about Iggy, at least here (maybe by some act of god she makes sense in other songs), is her lyrics that were probably scribbled in crayon just below a grinning, shades-bearing sun in the top right corner of her paper. Exhibit A: "Swagger on super, can't shop at no department". Swagger on super. Swagger. On. Super. Look out for the next Marvel summer smash starring Iggy Azalea as the annoyingly egotistical Super Swag!!! But then again, after Ant Man, that almost sounds plausible... Anyways, here's my favorite Iggy line: "Got the whole world asking how I does that". No Ms. Azalea, the whole world is actually asking why you does that.
Because I couldn't decide if I love or hate it:Don't Stop Believin' - Journey (1981)
The "classic" middle school dance closer. If only middle school wasn't so awkward and gag-inducing for most people (This is the part where I raise my hand), I might have better memories associated with it. I still don't know how I used to be able to listen to it 5+ times in a row back in 7th grade. Really though, I just can't decide whether I want this song to stick around or die in a hole. I moved it around on this list from #1 to #3 and finally to it's own spot here due to how emotionally confused I am over it. Those intro keyboard chords will always rip a spiteful groan out of me from the darkest depths of my being, yet by the time Neal Schon rips out that wailing guitar solo it's as if i've forgiven Journey for narrating the most cringe-worthy years of my life. It's a song i'll forever hate hitting "play" on but still somehow end up almost loving... almost. It's like being glad you found your old 7th grade yearbook until you open it and remember your mangled teeth and anime-like hair.
Last night I was watching Conan, my favorite late-night show, and as he wrapped up his introduction to the show, he announced that the musical guest of the night would be a band named Hippo Campus. I didn't think much of it at the time as late night TV isn't where I, or really anyone, goes searching for new music. After Wednesday night's guest Purity Ring, who I didn't really care much for (cool stage props though), I figured Hippo Campus was going to be something along the same lines.
False. Immediately after Hippo Campus was introduced I was grabbed by the smooth, feel-good groove that started off their performance of "Suicide Saturday". Not only did their music pull me in, but, on a less musical note (sorry, unintentional pun), I just loved the whole vibe the band gave off. These seem like a group of guys i'd love to hang out with, and the throwback 90's jacket lead singer/guitarist Jake Luppen wears during their performance basically solidifies that we'd be best friends. Reading deeper into the band, it turns out all the members of the band are 2013 high school grads. You can say we're basically the same people at this point.
Check out Hippo Campus's performace of "Suicide Saturday" on Conan here, or, if you're too lazy to open another page (I feel you), here's the song on Spotify.
I know I said this blog wasn't going to do album reviews, and don't worry, it still isn't. "Spotlights" is a new section i'll be doing whenever I hear an album I feel deserves to be brought into the public eye and ear. I'll be giving a quick rundown of what the album sounds like through bullet points and things that give off the feelings that resonate from the record. I don't like trying to force music on people, and i'll never be the guy that goes "If you don't like this, you don't like music" or anything like that, because music is a personal taste. I like to think this format is a good way to suggest new music without being the hipster douche bag who judges you based on whether you buy music on vinyl or not.
So without further ado, a recent album i'd like to give a spotlight to is Tame Impala's "Currents".
- Genres: Psych-pop, synthpop
- Serious groove on this record. Some of the basslines can give you whiplash due to how hard they'll make you bob your head (ex's: the second half of "Let It Happen", "The Less I Know The Better")
- Tame Impala's signature use of trippy effects *gestures at monster voice in "Past Life"*
- Themes: Finding one's self, breakups
- Sample lyric: "I know that I'll be happier, and I know you will too"
- Similar albums: "Fragile" by Yes (1972), "Oracular Spectacular" by MGMT (2008)
Personal opinion: Solid record. A bit uneven with some songs that sound unfinished (Disciples), but there's enough super catchy songs to make up for it. I think I still prefer Tame Impala's previous album "Lonerism" over this but "Currents" is still one of my favorite albums of 2015 so far.
First off, i'd like to thank you for pulling away from your Netflix binge to read my blog... NO WAIT DON'T GO BACK!!! Ugh, never mind. I guess i'll just write out this list and hope that you glance at it during the 15 seconds between episodes.
So if you don't yet know, TV shows are great. We love feeling for characters and seeing ourselves along with our friends in them. But what really puts the cherry on top of the cake of feels? THE THEME SONG. So here's my list of the best TV Theme songs that never fail to get me psyched to consume my visual feels cake.
5. Scrubs (2001-2010)
Lazlo Bane's "Superman" just seemed to fit the show perfectly. It didn't ever play for too long since there was usually a story set up beforehand, but that part at the end with the "I'm nooooooo, superman" always made me feel like "yeah this is my kinda show".
4. Friends (1994-2004)
I'm gonna admit to something that might possibly anger a good amount of people reading this: I never actually watched "Friends" much. I know, what an abomination of human life... but DAT INTRO THO. I mean come on, don't try and tell me you don't do the claps every time you hear it. Like really, you're probably a communist if you don't. Not even probably!! You ARE a communist. Do the hand claps or go home and read your copy of the Communist Manifesto you Marxist.
3. The Andy Milonakis Show (2005-2007)
Ah, a gem from my high school days. I actually had this recorded on my jitterbug-like flip phone back in freshman year and would listen to/memorize it while waiting for my parents to pick me up from sports practices. Andy was a pretty weird dude, especially for being in his 30's during the show (whaaaaaat), but I think we can all relate to a guy who keeps bologna in his front pocket and enjoys pancake on his face.
2. The Office (2005-2013)
There are few things in this world that get me as amped up as the intro to The Office. I feel like I should listen to it before I have to give a presentation or do a job interview, it just feels so empowering for some reason. By the time the drums kick in halfway through I probably look like Dwight doing his "Kickstart My Heart" pre-sale ritual.
1. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-1996)
If you didn't see this coming, chances are you're a 40+ year old adult who accidentally stumbled upon this page while trying to figure out how to get your email to work. The Fresh Prince's intro was (and is still) so good that as a kid, if the intro came on, I was practicing it line-for-line so I could rap the whole thing in front of my friends for uh... respect I guess? Nevertheless this was another song that sat next to my recording of The Andy Milonakis theme for me to memorize. If you want to get a group of people to make a connection between each other, play the Fresh Prince theme. Anybody who doesn't sing along failed to have a childhood and should be sent to research scientists for thorough examination.
Honorable Mention: Malcolm In The Middle (2000-2006)
If there was ever a theme song to narrate my middle school self's life, this was probably it.
SoundSpread is where you'll get some solid music insight...
But this isn't gonna be your everyday "Best Songs of the Week" or anything like that. I like to delve into more... unique topics. Like "Best Guitar Solos While Wearing A Cast". Well, that one is actually just Dave Grohl 10 times in a row. If anyone knows of any cast-bearing guitarists with skills that surpass Grohl's i'll consider making some changes.
So stay tuned for some neat posts that create a thanksgiving-like spread of audio gravy!!!
