MBG – This Time
The trick with great three-minute singles, according to Ray Davies, the master of the 3 minute single, is to get a memorable line in right away, in the same manner that you would try to get the attention of a potential romantic partner.
It’s easier said than done, of course, with most of the lyrics of today’s music crassly lacking originality or acting as down-right plagiarism of other older, more famous works. MBG plays the game brilliantly in their favour, with the opening lines of This Time talking of manifesting love and the trials and exhaustion that come with these efforts.
The rest of the composition reveals an indie-rock unit with a soft touch towards their melodies and manic love of using distorted guitars. A lot of people try to make this kind of music, but it only suits a minority. MBG is, no doubt, within that minority of groups.
Brad and Tre – Down in the Canyon
Guitar music used to be a living thing. A tool regular people used to tell stories about their lives. Slowly and steadily, it great into an industry. Slowly and steadily, the manufactured nature of arena-folk, posing rock stars and assembly-line pop stars, makes interest in guitar music die down. The fad is over. Perhaps, it’s time we return to music’s original intent.
In the hands of marketing virtuosos of the likes that brought MTV into every living room during the 80s and 90s, the grassroots folk of Brad and Tre could be grown into a phenomenon comparable to Beck or Alanis Morissette. Their songs are simple, memorable, and as long as people have lives that weigh heavy on their souls, many should feel a kinship to this duo.
Without the big marketing machine behind them, we can take this for what it is. Brad and Tre are two friends that make acoustic music that sometimes veers towards folk punk. They record their videos in parking lots, wearing their street clothes. They write songs about their ordinary lives, centred around topics that few modern writers want to touch. The vocals are brilliantly executed, and there’s no gimmick in sight.
