Bad Keys of the Mountain – I’ll Get By
Don’t underestimate how far some people will go to find a bit of beauty and a touch more freedom. Sure, not everyone. Yes, it’s easy to focus on everyone hell-bent on the destruction of themselves and others. But, for most people, a simple promise of that saving grace will make them walk over quicksand, dance over land mines, and, if absolutely required, learn Spanish, too.
There’s plenty of great music placed outside of our range of hearing. Just think of all the wonderful songs that haven’t been captured by the net of endless radio play. Just think of all the beautiful people who placed all of their hopes on the dream that beautiful music might save them. Crazy Horse, a band most famous for having backed the great Neil Young, was a group of such musicians. Young publicly bemoaned the early passing of Danny Whitten, guitarist and songwriter for Crazy Horse. But the songs are still there.
Like Columbus rediscovered the Americas, or at least the Central part of it, Bad Keys of the Mountain is rediscovering Crazy Horse’s “I’ll Get By” for our shared benefit. It’s a highly melodic and heartfelt song, and there’s plenty to work with for a band excited by the warmth of power-pop and the promises hidden inside of a perfectly sung vocal melody. There’s freedom in beauty. People will do nearly everything to have it. What great luck that we get to experience some of that whenever we hit “play.”
SLACK – You’re Christmas
Nobody’s above a bit of cynicism. But, then again, everyone ought to welcome some innocence and hopefulness from time to time. For most regular folks, that’s what the holidays are all about. That and unhealthy food is consumed in vast quantities.
Most of your rock stars, despite what they’d like to tell you, are regular folks with average hopes and dreams. They dream of being home for the holidays just as much as your run-of-the-mill travel salesmen.
And nearly every great, classic rock band eventually ends up making a Christmas song. Nah, it’s just cynicism and wanting the song to do for them what Slade’s winter anthem did for them. It’s merely catering to people’s holiday needs.
SLACK’s “You’re Christmas” is a pretty, low-key song for the holidays. It’s the kind of tune you can play to your romantic partners once you’ve had a little too much wine. SLACK’s greatest quality, on any of their songs is the ability to sound like a radio-friendly soft-rock 1970s band. It’s a good sound and an alright time to forget about how much Coke doesn’t have to spend on advertising each Christmas.
