ALCOPOPS – Seventy Two
Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Everyone’s looking for the next big thing, hoping that their astuteness will make them a fortune. People gamble on sports, stocks, cryptocurrency. The same happens in the world of pop music. All the record labels with any power to influence are hoping that they’ll endorse an act that is bound to sell millions and influence a whole generation.
Usually, they venture towards the acts with the best gimmicks. Some wear fruit on their head, some dance really well. Others attempt to bring exotic sonic influences to their music, while there are those who try and stats new fashion trends. In the end, almost everybody forgets what does end up creating new music start each time. It’s the ability to write good songs.
ALCOPOPS sounds like one of the bands that know this little secret. They dig into the sound of groups like Teenage Fanclub and Ride for their single, Seventy-Two. The group prioritizes beautiful melodies, strong song structures, and genuine excitement towards performing above artifice. All the stratagems of the pop world mean nothing without good songs behind them. ALCOPOPS has got this right from the very start.
Dead Mall – EYES
Genre: Punk, Screamo / Post-Hardcore, Alternative Rock
Punk-rock has reached its pinnacle and there ain’t no going back. You can’t play better than Bad Brains. You can produce greater melodies than the pop-punk bands of the 90s. You can’t write more timeless tunes than The Ramones. There ain’t no point assuming you’re going to get a large audience unless the music swings, hits, and grooves.
That’s quite a tall order for any group, especially punk bands. Remember the tired cliche about punk musicians being unprofessional, incapable of playing anything more than three chords, remaining entirely uninterested in tone and texture? Those days are far gone.
If you want to compete nowadays you’ve got to do it against the present, against bands like Turnstile of Viagra Boys, as well as the past, groups like Cro-Mags or the Dead Kennedys. Dead Mall are match-fit challengers. EYES doesn’t sound like a band looking to gain friends and influence people. It sounds like a band demanding attention. There is nothing nice, or friendly about it. But, it swings and it grooves with the best of them. It all makes it sound terrifying to get trapped in a moshpit at Dead Mall concert.
