Combos For Dogs – Unearned Confidence
The thing about rockstars is that, without the fame, nobody would like to have them over for Sunday dinner or drinks in the garden. Sure, everyone would like to possess a story of themselves meeting and hanging out with Axl Rose. But would they be as friendly to the singer were he not famous? How would you explain the broken windows and punch-ups to friends?
And because the majority of musicians learn to acquire this bravado early on, you can only rely on metrics such as Spotify plays to determine who’s worth taking notice of anymore.
Meanwhile, the people who play wacky, quirky, humorous rock songs and pretend like they’ve never entertained a dream of being a rock star start being in demand.
Combos For Dogs mix familiar garage-rock riffs with quirky production and vocal delivery for “Unearned Confidence,” a critique of every arrogant person they’ve met, disliked and promised to get one over in the form of a song one day. Combos For Dogs wouldn’t want to hang out with the rich rockstars unless it’s to get them hammered and passed out so that they can take pictures and write nasty songs about them. Maybe that’s the healthiest attitude to have toward overly confident characters.
Must Be Wrong – Longing for Love
If you want a topic for your songs that all types of audiences will understand, you can stop looking and just pick love and matters of the heart. Everyone wants it, or suffers because of it. And, more than expensive, bad coffee on the go, there’s a consistent demand.
But who do you imagine writes the majority of love songs? If you close your eyes for a second, you’re likely to imagine bearded men smoking cigarettes and playing an acoustic guitar. Or, you might see ladies sitting at a piano and staring out in the distance.
And while you’d be right, that does describe many of the most famous songwriters of this type; you’d also be forgetting about a large part of the public, its needs and who can fill those.
Swiss punk band Must Be Wrong bring all of their wild energy and gritty sounds in the service of amour. Of course, before they can fully embrace it themselves they need proof it exists in the first place. “Longing for Love” is something of a pop-punk power ballad. It’s emotional, it’s easy on the ears, and it’s something we all need, at least from time to time.
