AVERAGE DEATH by THE ARMED
This is a very cool band making a very cool song that sort of straddles the (very thick) line between pop music and freaky harsh noise. There are a lot of elements at play here. It almost sounds like what you might get if you asked an AI to listen to all of my liked songs and blend them together. I guess if I had to classify it, I might call it art punk. It definitely has some Protomartyr vibes, and it kind of reminds me of what you might get if several bands on Graveface got fucked up on Ketamine and listened to a lot of metal before jamming together. It's got a nice melody in the chorus, but that melody is sort of buried behind a wall of noisy static and aggressive drumming. It's rewarding to listen to, and it reminds me that I need to listen to more THE ARMED. I guess they also showed up on the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, so that's a bonus. Cool shit IMHO.
NAZARENE by THE WAKE
When I was but a lad, I worked in a big chain bookstore and one of my jobs was to clean out the magazine racks and recycle the out of date issues. This was back in the days when niche music magazines would include sampler compilation CDs. I acquired many, many sampler compilation CDs this way. I'd sneak them out in my lunch box. If I had a bunch for some reason, I'd set them outside by the dumpter in a little box, then I'd swing back by and snatch them after closing. Anyway, this is how I listened to a lot of goth/punk music in those days, and this is how I discovered The Wake. They kind of do a Sisters of Mercy thing, and that's cool. Most goth bands that choose the path of rock and roll vs. the path of dance music seem to lean more toward the horny Type O Negative way of doing things. There's nothing wrong with that, but I like a good little catchy goth-rock number that makes you go "hey, you know what? maybe Jesus Christ was a vampire." I like The Wake. They showed up on a shit ton of those compiliation CDs and I'll always nurse a soft spot for them.
STILLEST HOUR by THE .357 STRING BAND
I also have a soft spot for bluegrass. It was a bit of a revalation to me as a young lad when I figured out that I could enjoy the musical stylings of my forebearers while still living life as a shitty little drunk rebel. I always thought that country and bluegrass music were strictly for church and the lord. I honestly did not know for the longest time that you could be into crime and the banjo at the same time. I will still get down with a good, seedy country/bluegrass tune. I don't think .357 String Band has existed as a unit since, like, 2010. But they had some fun ideas, and you could tell that they really wanted to be the Flogging Molly of hillbilly bluegrass. Having said all that, this is more of a sweet love song than a barroom banger. The fella singing this song is tired of the bullshit and just wants some peace in his life, and that's a relatable thing for everyone I think.
THUNDER MAN by XAVIER WULF
This is a rap song that samples the Silent Hill 2 OST, so of course I am into it. It actually fits really, really well and it's a big head-nodder for me. I don't know shit about Xavier Wulf, but I've "liked" at least four of his songs and I dig his vibe. I also dig the idea of laying down a serious chest-thumping ultra-masculine "I will steal your girl and you can't stop me" type track over the soundtrack to a game where a guy kills his cancer-ridden wife to end her misery and then struggles to live with the guilt. Who knows if Xavier saw the irony in that, but I like to think that he did. It's fun either way.
MEAN MACHINE by THE CRAMPS
I fucking love The Cramps. That shouldn't surprise anyone. I discovered them at exactly the right time in my life, and it was a major revalation that there were other people in the world like me. I felt like I always had a Cramps song stuck in my head, even before I heard about The Cramps. That sounds silly, but that's exactly how I feel. Maybe there are melodies and vibes stuck inside all of us and you could go your whole life without ever finding a way to actually hear it in your physical ears unless you are very lucky. I feel like I was lucky to find The Cramps. There's something to be said for finding your people. Anyway, this is a silly song about a racecar. RIP Lux. You gave all the degenerates a voice, for better or for worse.
THE MAD DADDY by THE CRAMPS
I fucking love The Cramps. There's a concert video out there somewhere from the very end of Lux's last tour, and they open with this song. This motherfucker is out there in a high-collar body stocking looking like the world's sleaziest grandpa just belting this objectively dumb song and having the time of his damn life. He looks like he could fall down dead at any moment, but he also looks like he could live forever. King shit.
MUZZLE by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
I was a theatre kid during the absolute pinnacle of Melon Collie mania, so of course I lived and died for The Smashing Pumpkins for many years. I used to listen to the alt-rock radio station out of Springfield with a blank tape at the ready to record every Pumpkins song that happened to come on during the all-request hour at 9:00pm. Fuck Billy Corgan for ruining it with his absolute insanity. If you asked me then how the Smashing Pumpkin's legacy would end, "Billy goes insane, buys a professional wrestling company, becomes a conspiracy theorist, and descends into mad self parody" would not have come to mind. I am eternally grateful that I never got that "SP" tattoo that I desperately wanted when I was 17. Goddamnit, Billy. You broke my heart. Anyway, sing it like Cartman. It is never not funny.
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