Barking Poets – The Mess I Made
Empires don’t really get torched like Nero’s Rome. That’d be far too easy on everyone involved and a little too easy to explain to future generations. No, for the most part they burn out gradually, able to give a little less every day.
The same happens to the people in the empires. While we do live in what should be a time of plenty, and while it seems obscene to complain when folks in the past routinely didn’t leave past 20, most people report being mentally drained.
Solutions do exist, but there’s not one that will work for everyone, nor one that can be taught through a couple of lines in a self-help book. What’s there to do? At least, we have the power to acknowledge our predicament. At least we have the poets to sing about our challenges.
Barking Poets talk about routine misery and the elusive traps we set for ourselves on the “The Mess I Made.” What makes this punk-inspired, alt-rock sound so powerful is that the music sounds as if it’s had to time to stay bottled up, and is just now ready to bolt out to the surface.
“The Mess I Made” isn’t just about tension, though. Not with these kinds of hooks. It’s a memorable tune and that you can safely and confidently store on your rock playlists right now!
Anyone Awake – String Theory
Oftentimes, hearing new rock songs feels like being stopped on the street by Dove Ladies or the Herbalife people. As you sit there listening to their spill, you have to ask yourself how long this will take, what they’re trying to sell you and how to say “no.”
But most rock bands are desperate for success. That’s something all of us can understand on some level. The ones who play and dream of doing it for a living understand best of all.
Still, this all makes them want to associate themselves as close as possible to one genre or another, never daring to use any element that might confuse the fans of that genre. The result is that most bands in a micro-genre sound the same.
I’m happy to report that Anyone Awake isn’t trying to jump on anyone’s bandwagon and not trying to fit strictly into any style of music. “String Theory” is powered by very well-played guitar. But all that distortion takes a breeder for the singer to gently tell the world about connections that go deep and seem to have existed forever. Musically and lyrically, it’s all an unexpected blend. It’s all music by Anyone Awake, not by a genre-band
