
Certain Death – Cut
When was the last time that a pop song played on the radio and surprised you? If it did, you haven’t been listening to much pop music, or the song really failed to do its job.
Pop music should just be distinctive enough from all other hits so that the copyright owners don’t consider launching a lawsuit. Other than that, you know where the verse goes and where the chorus goes, and you should be able to sing along with it right away.
Maybe this is why some listeners stubbornly stick to the music that really tells them where it’s going to end up. Psychedelia isn’t just about getting stoned. It’s mostly about testing the limits of the unknown, along with the band exploring this style.
American group, Certain Death consists of musicians dedicated to the mystical, spiritual nature of the guitar riff. It’s not quite Deadhead’s music, the kind that can run for hours. But “Cut” is certainly a heavy, psych-rock track meant to remove you from your regular thought patterns and reveal things in a manner that you haven’t quite seen before.
Low Indigos – Ri’s Song
Rock bands aren’t quite bringing the same amount of money as they once did, and the big-time producers have all but given up on training groups on what they should sound like. It means that groups have to do it on their own and get to where they’re going by trial and error. This is why most new bands sound like a rehash of what’s already been successful.
Copying the ones that have already got to the destination that you’re dreaming of may seem like a smart idea. But, usually, it creates bands that are either too loose or too uptight. The first ones simply want to play parties for their friends and never worry about technique or production. The latter category should be playing jazz, and don’t know it yet.
Low Indigos’ “Ri’s Song” is a rare mix of fun and well-performed rock music. Over a chord progression lifted straight out of the 1950s and the era of the pompadour and featuring bombastic guitar riffs straight out of stoner-rock heyday, “Ri’s Song” is heavy, fun, top-notch desert party music. This ain’t too alarming to make you want to run away or too high brow to make you want to call yourself a cab. Fun and well-played.