Song of the Week

Sorry I didn't post last week. I didn't really have a song to write about. Last week was dominated by seeing the revival of Spring Awakening and reliving/weeping for my lost youth (and Moritz Steifel) and then having my faith (no pun intended) restored in the American play/theater/the written word by Lucas Hnath's The Christians at Playwrights Horizons. Seriously, go see that play. It's one of the better written plays I have seen in a long, long time,

Anyway...

This week belonged to Chvrches. Their new record, Every Eye Open is like an assault of electro-pop goodness. I'm still navigating the second half of the album but overall, I think it's terrific. It's kind of reductive to say it's more of the same from Chvrches but it is. They have quickly established their sound and mastered it. And lucky for them, it's a sound I really, really love (as evident from my love of Tegan and Sara, Ellie Goulding, Sia, etc.) I think it's more immediate than The Bones of What You Believe (and I ended up loving that record) and there's real sense of urgency and energy throughout. Do I want them to change up their sound? Did I expect them to? No and no. Keep on keeping on, Chvrches. And not to mention, Lauren Mayberry sounds really, really fantastic. I really just want to shout/sing along with her.

So this week's song is "Leave a Trace." Now this is a fantastic pop song. I dare you not to listen to it a thousand times in a row.

Song of the Week

Yes, yes, No No No was released this week but with these pesky new Friday release dates, it makes it difficult for a record to come out on a Friday, give it a good number of listens, and write about it a day or two later. I've listened to it once all the way through, and I am initially disappointed. First of, it's only nine songs,  twenty-nine minutes (and I thought Frank Turner's thirty-nine minute Positive Songs... was short!) Second, while "Gibralter" and "No No No" are such good songs, it seems like the rest of the record is just filler, sketches, ideas of songs. I don't mind the change in sound because I think Beirut is always changing but there aren't many complete ideas here. And that's disappointing when you've been waiting four years for a new record (and yeah, I understand what Zach Condon went through between The Riptide and this album, I totally get it.) I hope a) I grow to love it after a few more listens and b) it will lead to a new Beirut record sooner rather than later. I am not giving up on you quite yet, Condon!

Instead, this week's song is  "There's No One Crying Over Me Either" by American Wrestlers. I don't know much about American Wrestlers (I do know I enjoyed the tiny bit of their set I saw when they opened for Viet Cong) and I haven't given the rest of their record a proper listen but this song is terrific. It's hypnotic, and I just want to listen to it over and over again.


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Song of the Week!

I have probably listened to Frank Turner's Positive Songs for Negative People in full every day this past week. I'm listening to it right now as I type. It is just an enjoyable, catchy, well-written record. In fact, I think I may actually like it more than Tape Deck Heart. Of course I did like a lot of that record but it felt very long and the end of it contained songs that I never, ever want to listen to. Positive Songs... is a much more cohesive record. That's probably why it's so great to listen to all the way through over and over again. I'm even warming up to "Mittens" (albeit I'm still not on board with "Silent Key.")

And I can't wait to see Frank live in three weeks!

But this week I am not going to talk about "Josephine" again. I love "Josephine." It's probably my favorite Frank Turner track since "I Am Disappeared" (of course that's my favorite of his songs.) But I wrote a bit about it last week. Instead, I'm going to focus on "Demons," simply because I really grew to like it this week.

But there's no audio available on YouTube for "Demons" so here's "Josephine" anyway. I mean it is a really, really, really good song. And the lyrics! The lyrics are quintessential Frank Turner. I just wish it were longer. Give me more song, Frank!