Shelter Boy – Atmosphere
The future belongs to those that dare change the present. Of course, if you want to move fastest, you move alone, like German artist Shelter Boy knows, a young man seemingly raised on endless MTV-era alt-rock videos, knows too well.
There’s a great shortage of characters in rock n’ roll, and there aren’t many lining up to fill those shoes. Back in the old days, music magazines could always rely on a rock star to provide a clever quote, or at least a daft comment that could sit nicely in a headline. Not anymore.
This might be where Shelter Boy steps in. The video single for Atmosphere certainly proves he has the drive, an ear for good melodies, and the charisma to draw in people. We should be made to pay big bucks for star power. For now, we’re able to get it for free, so let’s just make the best of this quirky, fun indie-rock single.
Burning Curtains – Up All Night (Down All Day)
The really smart and competent people that would have tried to make a career for themselves in rock n’ roll have stayed faraway from guitar music in recent generations. Your new Roger Waters is an architect, your new Lou Reed is a writer, your new Kurt Cobain is too busy painting.
Money may not be as good as it is used to be. However, the rock lifestyle still offers many some alluring prospects. For one thing, it is, as far as I know, the one job where you can turn out drunk or high for work and not only avoid getting fired, but be praised for your life choices.
Burning Curtains sound like the kind of group that has been taken with this kind of lifestyle. Their single Up All Night (Down All Day) is charming and sounds almost like a realization of the unavoidable perils of this kind of existence. I really like the sound of this band. And, it is partly to do with the fact that they certainly won’t be switching gears and going to play as the backing band for Lady Gaga anytime soon. They are the independent rock world’s to keep.
