Belling The Tiger – Devil’s Lure
If you could travel the entire world at a leisurely pace, what exactly would you bring back from your trip? Most people pick up tiny souvenirs that they can gift to loved ones or stick on their refrigerators. Some people spend their money on local food and drinks, with which tourist shops are filled to the brim. And, surely, there are those who just return home with an aching head and swollen ankles.
Tourists are usually in such a rush that they forget they have an active natural curiosity. They do the things that the guides tell them they must do and zip through each item on the list. But what about the stories? To create your own stories, you have to embrace some of the ones that have been there all along. Belling The Tiger’s method to writing classic prog-rock is to tell tales that seem assembled from different corners of the Earth.
Belling The Tiger’s “Devil’s Lure” plays like an old fairytale about forbidden lands and those who fall victim to them. And just like the most interesting progressive-rock songs, it is set to the sound of poetic lead guitars and theatrically delivered lyrics. It’s enough to make you want to go out and collect some of these stories and check out if any grain of truth has stuck to them or not. At the very least, it’ll save you from being a dumb tourist.
Jeremy & the Harlequins – Up ‘n’ Down
Have we really made any great advancements since the 1950s? Well, most of the world is, regardless of what you hear on the news, a safer, more prosperous, less disease-ridden place. And those are three things to cheer for.
But what about what really matters, what really makes our hearts flutter – rock n’ roll and sports. When it comes to professional quarters, both of these have a lot more money invested in them, and rich people are interested in taking part in one capacity or another. But Jeremy & the Harlequins aren’t convinced of these advancements.
Most of the great sports stars are so loaded with PEDs that they wouldn’t be able to pass a test at the “Maradona Clinic,” let alone in the 1950s. And, as for rock n’ roll, most of the thrills are gone, and even though you can fit a ’50s-style recording studio in your back pocket nowadays, records just don’t sound that good anymore.
“Up ‘n’ Down” by Jeremy & the Harlequins is meant to return Summery rock n’ roll to its fun and rebellious roots. Besides, the song also tries to capture back some of that “roll” that’s in the name, but rarely in the sound of modern bands. The song’s groove is what lures you in, keeps you connected, and makes you want to know the whole story.
