Always Grounded – Rocky Hill
Time’s ticking! No pressure! But, just know that every minute that you spend doing one thing, you could have spent it on something else, and perhaps this could’ve made you happier, richer and more fulfilled. Again, no pressure!
Artists in the modern age feel that kind of pressure more acutely than most. Unless they’ve been lucky enough to have been born in an environment that can support their passions, they’re on their own and have to foot the bill. And, oh, what a bill it is!
Besides that, being an artist doesn’t just require your soul, but your time and your physical body. It means that you’re away from the people you love, or that you neglect them in order to focus on art. Always Grounded are shooting for the stars, but finding out leaving base isn’t always so easy!
It’s a touching moment, and not one captured in many songs when rockstars realize that their actions affect their loved ones. Think of Always Grounded’s “Rocky Hill” as a kind of “Beth,” except it’s not a ballad and the singing’s on key. And, because the band knows it needs to get heard with this one, “Rocky Hill” is a pop-punk tune that is loaded with hook after hook. It’s a great use of everyone’s time, sure. And, besides, lost time is not found again.
Last Second Dropout – Apathy
Most people take as few chances as possible. They hope that they’ll be allowed to walk the same road as they always have without any need to make a change at all. And if they should be forced to alter their plans, they’ll be horribly fearful of the risks that uncertainty creates. Indeed, perhaps the reason that there aren’t more revolutions in the world is that people are just too busy trying to keep things as they are.
But your favourite rockstars aren’t like that. How could they be? Doing nothing at all always leads you down the safest path, remember? Instead, putting in all the work to learn instruments, find like-minded individuals, create songs that describe your experience on Earth, and finding ways to deliver them to audiences sounds like voluntarily putting yourself through a lot of trouble. But that’s precisely what Last Second Dropout do and what they encourage of us.
In a world where few have the passion to love anymore, and nearly as few can manage real hatred, Last Second Dropout deliver “Apathy,” a track about taking the world as it is and never asking for improvements. Musically, Last Second Dropout’s calling card is a willingness to blend alt-rock, rap, and pop-punk into a sound that is easily digestible but rousing. This is music for people who just need to know that there can be more feel than the same old, same old.
