Music Monday: Burning up the Radio Edition

One mistake that I used to make listening to music was completely ignoring current radio. It seems like a mistake that a ton of people are making, if you read youtube comments. Half of what i see is “Music is dead, the radio is horrible…” followed by 100 comments about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. Well I decided that today I’ll list some currently popular bands I’m enjoying.

Foster the People:

If you have watched any music award shows this year you have probably heard “Foster the People” a few times. Their song “Pumped Up Kicks” was all over the radio for a while, and their recent Boom has surly got them pumped. First time I heard them I thought it was something off of the Gorillaz new album. It took me about 5 times hearing it on the radio to get enough lyrics to find the song online.

They really have a Gorillaz feel to me. Replace the Punk/Rap with Synth/Pop, and I can see the parables. They fuse two types of music, gave it a great beat, with some nice hooks, and hid in some anti-social lyrics. I’m interested in their next album. I’m a little worried they are going to be anouther Cage the Elephant; Who after having an Amazing first album, seemed rushed to come out with a second that was really flat in comparison.

Florence and the Machine:

Florence and the Machine is another winner off the first album. “Lungs” has been doing well, hitting 14 on the US top 200, and 1 on the UK charts. The lead Florence Welch is of course the big draw here. An odd collection of songs that cross category seems like a risky first album, but it’s a great listen. Each song is solid, and it has a lot to highlight.

Songs like “Kiss with a Fist” tell you it’s a English group, and Florence isn’t above utilizing that punk sound. Its followed by “girl with one eye” that has the guitar section of a Emerson Lake and Palmer song, mixed with a gritty, sexy, and dark narrative it certainly stands out.

The Big hit seems to have been “the Dog Days are Over”, but I”m shocked “Hurricane Drunk” didn’t get such Radio play. Seems like it could even compete with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” for yearly breakup song. It’s got vulnerability, anger, bitterness, sadness, optimism, a fierce chorus, and it’s just 2 paragraphs Up (talk about convenient).

Black Keys:

This video is loud, but it’s a good thing. 

Deffinatly the new band that I have given the most play to. Unlike the past two their first album didn’t fare so well. It wasn’t untill their sixth album “Brothers” that they got a gold record. The reason I have put so much youtube time into them is their discography. “Brothers” was a big departure from their earlier works. They really went form a strict blues/rock, to a more radio friendly alt/rock (sometimes even more pop). They even did an entire album of Junior Kimbrough songs.

They seem to have a big influence with slower, Mississippi blues. Short repetitive songs with lyrics about hurtin’, great vocals, simple riffs, heavy percussion, all on worn equipment for that a distinct sound of a garage band. Albums like “Thickfreakness”, and “Rubber factory” don’t have much in comparison to “attack and release” or “Brothers”. I’m not mad at them though, because brothers is a good alt/rock album. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my fingers cross that “El Camino” will be a bit more RL Burnside, and a bit less The Strokes.