Eric Schroeder – Leave Me Sleeping
Rockstars can’t afford to stop once they’ve got going. They can’t wink to the audience, or whisper that they don’t really mean it. Should people start screaming in the aisles and begin to faint, that’s simply someone else’s responsibility.
Everything that a worthwhile rock song has to do is get you there, move things over the line, and park the vehicle at its destination. It can run over potholes, move too close to the curb, and even (ideally) make it feel like it’s all going to tip over.
Great rock songs are just an illusion. They’re meant to put you in the middle of some exciting place. They’re meant to threaten you and make you think that you just might not make it out alive. And, then, they’re supposed to take you back home.
Eric Schroeder’s “Leave Me Sleeping” is a rock n’ roll spell. It sounds like a car speeding the whole way through and making some death-defying manoeuvres on the very edge of a cliff. It’ll all just be bombast were it not for Schroeder’s singing, well intonated and nicely pitched. “Leave Me Sleeping” takes you ought, scares you out of your wits, and gets you back safely. That’s all a rock song ought to do.
ROTHCO – Fools Gold
What journey are you heading out tomorrow morning? Will the soles of your shoes or the wheels of your car carry you to places you’ve never been before? After all, for most people, novelty and mystery are vital ingredients for growth.
Ay, but there’s one of the places where most modern people run into trouble. If you’re lucky, you live in a place that is free from dangerous, distractions, and trouble. What are you going to do with all that safety and predictability?
Able to extract yourself from any crisis, your senses dull. You get used to the same commute from and to work. You get used to the same faces, and you stop appreciating them. It’s natural to long for a great adventure or, at least, for things to mean more than they do.
ROTHCO step bolding into the business of making gothic-tinged, mysterious rock music with “Fools Gold.” The music feels designed to soundtrack trips out into the forest in search of symbols that can reveal ancient truths. It’s exciting music fit for people who just need a little bit of a conspiracy theory in their life, and a shard of paranoia to make regular life feel in jeopardy. Without it, everything else would just be a boring commute home.
