The Pretty Reckless Rattles Off An Unsatisfying Wish List

Good thing The Pretty Reckless brings an impressive barrage of drums and guitar to its brand new single "Oh My God" because at least there's flavor added by that gesture. Vocalist Taylor Momsen, time and again brings up her psychological wish list. She wishes she could go back to when she was dumb and innocent. She wishes she was thin, black (cause that's where soul music really gets cranking you see). She wishes she was dead (poor thing). She wishes she could do something smarter than sing, which leads me to wonder since when was singing considered a stupid occupation. Plenty of intellectual gravitas behind that stock in trade. She even alludes to drowning in depression and harboring a need to swim. Make no mistake...were it not for the blisteringly hot guitar and drums on display I'd declare "Oh My God" a three minute twenty-one second waste of air. There's not a hell of a lot to be said for a song dedicated to lamenting what's just out of one's grasp while failing to do much to salvage the situation. Ben Phillips supplies the octane behind his lead guitar and the sweat he pours into the battering ram style really shows. Jamie Perkins came to play on drums. He shies away from being content to stay in second gear. He comes out of the chute ready to ride, and isn't that what all rock fans crave...a chance to revel in the trip. Ultimately though it's Taylor's baby and it doesn't do much dressing to impress. Her pipes are plenty smoky enough to get the attention of even the nastiest well worn bar but, as is usually true for a running back who cranks out three hundred plus yards in a losing effort, Taylor's efforts come off as royally wasted. You could say she's all blow and no show. I mean isn't self improvement up to the individual rather than the paying customers she's caterwauling to? If you want to get optimum mileage out of "Oh My God" please focus your attention on every instrument but Taylor's. You'll feel infinitely more refreshed. Whining loses its appeal really fast if ever there was appeal to be had. "Oh My God" leaves me muttering "Jeez Louise" can this women not track down a therapist or something. She appears to have issues on top of issues. What's more her lyrics make her ill-suited to take any of them on with any degree of certainty. Better places to get those ironed out than in the professional confines of a recording studio. Louise needs to make her syllables count for far more than kvetching. Otherwise there isn't much of a tale to tell.

Young the Giant Flashes Its Silvertongue With Authority

Like some bass to go with your dance ditties? Young the Giant can hook you up thanks to "Silvertongue", the kind of song that fills you up in a deep dish pizza sort of way. First you get Francois Comtois laying it down on drums, a nice little appetizer that juices up the main course devilishly. Then the aforementioned guitar, courtesy of Payam Doostzadeh whose also responsible for the synthesizer which adds plenty of sparkle. The Irvine based band comes to the danced armed for bear, hand clapping sweetness to beat the band. Lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia serves as a prime master of ceremonies, beckoning the masses forward with his winsome ways. His pipes serve the material well. This shindig gains traction thanks to Sameer. He elevates the material to a higher dimension entirely, one that's rich in fun vibes that get you away from whatever troubles might be brewing. The tempo doesn't run willy nilly all over the place, a ship lacking direction. The beat has a slinky edge bound to get party attendees rolling in the aisles...that is when their feet aren't shuffling across the floor in utter gaiety. Young the Giant has its craftsmanship down to a science and that fact helps the boys out along the way. If "Silvertongue" was a kind of wearable material I'd point to tight '80s era Spandex. The sound goes on seamlessly, not a stitch out of place. The video surely is catnip for all you folks who like stylish nuggets alongside your stein of beer.It is hypnotic above and beyond the call of duty. Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata do double duty on guitar, with Jacob throwing in synthesizer and mellotron for good measure. Eric adds keyboards for good measure. So the bar has a fully stocked larder of aural goodies to throw in your face and the results resonate like nothing you've ever experienced before. During peak hours you can turn to "Silvertongue" and it can do a really fantastic number on your mojo. Young the Giant has brought a fantastic bit of ear candy to us without so much as one conditional for our affections. That bodes well for their immediate commercial future and rock chart durability. "Silvertongue" speaks volumes for the talent Young the Giant has on display.

Grouplove's Life Feeds Off of Schizophrenic Guitars and a Keen Sense of Warmth

It's a tale of two instruments which propels Grouplove's new single "Welcome To Your Life". On the one hand you've got drum fill accompanied synthesizers. Very loose and fluid hook line starting off the proceedings in an understated way. The chorus, on the other hand, resembles diving into a warm sauna rich in harmonious electrified guitar shape and texture. Very human personal feeling all the way around. The lyrics benefit from such an inviting template from which to dip into. It caresses the body and soul seamlessly as if you could practically sense an actual person assuaging your angst ridden demeanor Lyrically the point is girl thinks guy is a super hot mess, however, for whatever reason they're back in business regardless. The adage appears to be nothing ever happens without a change which, in society as we know it to be, appears to be rooted in truth. "Welcome to your life. It could be a fantasy, let it be your fantasy." Some fantasies are sort of rooted in grim undertones so, not all fantasies are best encouraged. What should be encouraged are the nerve ending appeasing chord progressions found in the main refrain. Your mind goes to unwind on impact and said impact is well worth indulging in. You don't suspect the brand of song you're going to get from the electronic opening. You'd be forgiven for blowing off "Welcome To Your Life" as a one trick pony with nothing much else to show for taking a peek under the hood. Then the ambiance shift occurs. You are treated to friendliness personified. Hannah Hooper fuses her breezy vocals nicely with Christian Hooper's ingratiating persona. The result surfaces as bubbly listener friendly alt rock that this band has forged a fine reputation for itself in singles past. Pace wise nobody moves at an overly fast clip. You watch the parade roll by but it doesn't leave you eating its pronounced dust. You can settle in, possibly newspaper in hand amply ruffled, and use the tune as endearing background noise as you're reading the classifieds, sports page or whatever else tickles your fancy. It's a likable gem that has the potential to grow on you upon repeated listening. Chance amounts to circumstance. Truer words were never spoken. Unplanned events often make up the bulk of our daily dealings. We make plans but, in the final analysis, many of our best laid ones don't exactly reach full flower, life getting in the way and whatnot. It's a game of chance, and one where winning depends on what you consider winning to entail. For some it's a night where the hubby isn't beating the wife to a pulp. For others it's a fourth quarter balance sheet where the profit margin trends upward. It's all in how you use your victory filter. Grouplove has cemented its winning ways via a song that wraps you up in its arms and carries off to an audio nirvana the likes of which you haven't known before and likely won't again anytime soon. Welcome to a sound that lingers on the eardrums satisfyingly and won't let go.

Green Day Gifts Us With a Breath of Fresh Air

Green Day's new effort comes packed full of great spark both from acoustic and electric guitar. "Still Breathing" has plenty of oxygen to spare and we're the prime benefactors of it all. The song opens armed for bear on a steady diet of prime acoustic strumming. We're not entirely sure what kind of highway we're about to journey on. Billie Joe Armstrong knows his way around the acoustic style. It's certainly showcased his friendly side, all sunshine and clear as a bell futures. As the song clicks into third gear we hear more high octane electric coupled with some high powered drumming from the illustrious one Tre Cool. He bangs away like a man possessed. He shows off his wild man chops during the chorus which features the sentiments: "Cause I'm still breathing on my own. My head's above the rain and roses making my way away, Talk about combining the bitter with the sweet. On the one hand you have the sweet smell off fresh cut roses, thorns and all. On the flip side there's the seemingly never ending rain beating down, a picture of well watered melancholy tended to by a constant, devoted gardener. It's a nice juxtaposition featuring light and dark and one combining the beauty of a spring afternoon with the solemnity of a dark life sapping winter evening. But...back to the song itself. The horsepower never ends. Even in the acoustic portion, Billie has team Green Day running on all cylinders. The pulse goes at a jaunty clip, inviting listeners along for the agreeable ride. When this tune gallops toward top speed at the electric guitar choral refrains, Tre is at his finest. His drum kit takes on a life of its own. The rat-a-tat intensity really complements Billie Joe's vocal pluck. The man sounds so happy to have weathered whatever storms life has pushed in his general direction. To be breathing on his own sends him to high levels of ecstasy that he becomes hard pressed to keep under wraps. The simple pleasure rolls of his tongue impeccably well. "Still Breathing" has wonderful harmony that holds up nicely throughout the whole song. You really like spending time with Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre, especially when the product they offer bubbles out of the champagne glass. We can relate to your child looking off on the horizon, Billie Joe. In a sense that's what we as a collective are doing, our group eye to the future, curious to discover what's coming up to surprise us around the next bend. These guys are well past the age of courting lost or regained childhood innocence but the desire for perceived simpler times remains hard to turn away from. "Still Breathing" stays crispy from first note to last. It reminds us how blissful the flow of oxygen can be especially if we've been taking it for granted way too long. Green Day truly put out a diaphragm full of impressive sentiment and sharp execution. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that Green Day's new song isn't one meant for the discard pile.

Chevelle Opens Up a Demonic Door Full of Fiery Riffs

Chevelle is back, hungry, and ready to deliver some bone crunching words in the first installment off its new foray into the rock world, "The North Corridor", which goes by the moniker "Door To Door Cannibals". Kudos to guitarist Pete Loeffler for delivering the fire that refuses to be extinguished. The bridge explodes with his hefty hooks and you start to wonder, "Did a real human being actually drive home these enticing sounds. The pacing goes ever so deliberate, the better to wring out each flop sweat inducing nugget. Pete's lyrics make you groan in all the right places. You're in the middle of the horror show yet at a safe enough distance where the threat of bodily harm is remote, if it exists at all. How prickly heat inducing does "They're like cannibals from the grass stealing lives" come across to you? Checking to make sure your jugular vein is where you remembered it being last? That's a positive sign if ever one existed. Dean Bernardini drops mouth-watering bass as if he were spreading rich barbecue sauce across genuine choice chuck. Sonically "Door To Door Cannibals isn't without its endearing quirks. The bridge guitar gets us back to the sort of showoff moves that metal lovers desire chapter and verse. Before the fret bore down relentlessly until there was no way you could hope to cry uncle. Sam Loeffler employs his drum labor sparingly but we'd miss it were it nowhere to be found. A little bit here, a little bit there but nothing that suggests a swagger that keeps anyone else from having an opportunity to shine. The collective gets what greater good it's contributing to. I myself like that Chevelle wants for me to take sensible bites of this cut of raw meat rather than wolf it down in one Simpsons style gulp. I get to appreciate the rich flavor palette at work beneath the surface. I get to hear for myself what a multi-tiered masterpiece is brewing. I haven't found too many songs in which reference gets made to the jocular fingers in the face. Chevelle shows us again that there's a first time for everything. In a rock tune that's a daring image to send our way. A little levity alongside our patented rock bugs in the teeth demeanor. Chevelle does the squirm inducing job nicely and we get the sense we need to hold on for dear life because who knows where the ride is going to take us. I believe Chevelle should have no problem selling the masses on how much of a cranium buster they're in for. "Door To Door Cannibals" says quite a mouthful, and does so in zestful fashion.

Lots Of Love Coming Your Way Thanks To Shinedown

Shinedown's new "How Did You Love" explores the question of how one presumably gets remembered in this life. An unexpected piano riff gets us into this discussion regarding what type of mark we left behind. Ostensibly it's about the sort of love you distributed to your friends, family, etc. Shinedown bursts into high gear during the choral refrain as a means of demonstrating how passionate they are towards this topic. Vocalist Brent Smith fully engages in now or never urgency and that's what takes this song up as many notches as it can possibly go. Zach Myers pummels you through guitar work that, as they say in football, doesn't take a down off. Check out how potent it sounds at the bridge. Conviction, thy name is Brent. Each note comes through so clearly that your tone deaf ninety year old grandpa could grasp this message. Shinedown has previously demonstrated how adept it is at marrying thoughtfully cooked harmonies to excellent vocal technique. Whether it's soundtrack work or studio craft, these Floridians know how to hammer home a point until you've got it committed to memory. These lyrics point out how losing yourself in the shuffle on the way to your preordained headstone carries with it untold agony. So while you're on your knees in the religious institution, hoping your God has that direct line to your soul, best remember how did you treat people on this side of the life sphere. Brent stresses that it's up to you to find your own way while you're hear so that, in the final analysis, regret has no chance to poison your heart, and therefore infect the hearts of those around you who were silly enough to let you into their inner circle. All of what makes Shinedown an awesome outfit to be reckoned with comes through in this slightly under three and a half minute ball of flames and life ethic examination. As you might expect from a song draped in such royal finality, headstone and cemetery imagery factor in largely. Life's a one take film so you'd better leave no doubt about the sort of man or woman you had hoped to be because after the curtain comes down that's what they'll take away. If the cat that ate the canary grin is your final visual offering to the wider world then others can remember for all eternity a guy who remembered to pack a smile alongside his workaday lunch pail. Eric Bass plunges into our chests fearlessly on bass. He knows how to hammer home the now or never vigor so we have to at least acknowledge the sense of uneasiness pondering one's final sentiments can dredge up. I've always respected Brent for how masterfully he gets his tonsils wagging for us. No lack of bravado or horsepower from him. Even during songs that aren't as weighty as "How Did You Love" Brent can command an audience's total attention simply by refusing to dial down his macho muscle flexing. Drummer Barry Kerch pounds away without fear but also without hogging the center of attention. In summary "How Did You Love" strikes the sort of energizing pose that's impossible to hate.

Alter Bridge Shows Us Some Potent Political Muscle

The damned song has a super charged intro before Myles Kennedy even appears to blast home some political fire and brimstone on vocals. We're talking 1 minute, 15 seconds of pronounced muscle flexing just to get your palate warmed up. Yes folks, Alter Bridge wants to talk presidential race with us and aims to do so in all their electric guitar venom pierced glory. Mark Tremonti and Myles lay out the electric thunder. The bridge brought me to my knees in amazement. The drumming courtesy of Scott Phillips as part of the aforementioned intro melted face. No two ways about it, "Show Me a Leader" thoroughly encapsulates the spirit of this political season. Enough with the half-hearted promises that never amount to jack squat. Myles and crew want a candidate who doesn't bring lies as part of the package. They want hope to survive and, believe me, in this political cycle, one wonders if it has boiled down to the lesser of the two evils rather than some white knight on a stallion ready to save us from ourselves. "Show Me a a Leader" crackles from stem to stern. If you lean in close you can practically smell the fire in the band members throats. There comes an emphatic "NO" throughout the main verses. No to the way it has always been. No to pretenders to the throne. No to business as usual in Washington. Way to shift chords and speed, guys. That, in the intro, underscores how uneasy this particular election is making everyone, particularly from sheer overexposure. It feels like the Clinton/Trump wars have been raging on since the Stone Age. This song sounds perfect as the vehicle to bring the assorted divisions to a rousing climax. Absolutely stellar melody. It is programmed to send shivers down an unsuspecting spine or three. "Show Me a Leader" sounds a lot like Alter Bridge's stab at a magnum opus. If so then this was a success to end all success stories. You don't get much crispier than Alter Bridge's sustained power rant against the waged power struggles. Brian Marshall gives amazing balls to his wielding of the bass. In fact it too lends this outing menace, as if that was running low in the first place at the outset. Disillusionment fills the smoke penetrated hallway. It has come time to act and make peace with decisions made, ruminated over, and possibly regretted in the long run. Myles rages about the fool's errand that's known as waiting for the one whose intentions are pure gold. That's like waiting for a unicorn to traverse the morning sky. Nice fantasy but no basis in reality, but the fantasy has its sex appeal for sure. "Show Me a Leader" shows us the 2016 version of Alter Bridge has boned up on the steamy political climate and knows how to turn that ample frustration into a laser sharp hard rocking diamond that looks you right between the eyes, daring you to be the one who blinks first.