Extreme Sports Club – Cry Forever
You know, maybe those weirdos holding cardboard signs out in the streets while advertising free hugs had the right idea. Perhaps, we can use their example and push things forward a little bit. Maybe we can incorporate public bouts of crying.
Heaven knows that a great majority of people would need it from time to time. And, mental health specialists assure us that these reactions aren’t just typical, but healthy. Perhaps the way to a better life is to get friendly with our negative emotions.
But will we do it in silence? Surely, not! We’re not used to silence anymore, and besides, it’ll all make us wildly uncomfortable, and we’d start laughing hysterically instead, while blushing. We may very well need the assistance of Extreme Sports Club for this kind of Weeping Revolution.
It’s, frankly, easy to play fast rock music. Everyone’s in on the act. But few bands slow it down, turn the volume knob to the left and use their vocals to whisper tenderly into the microphone. This is what “Cry Forever” sounds like. What does it feel like? A nice embrace given by some jokester that’s been brought to tears by the beauty and sadness of the world. And, if this is the way forward, it’s certainly a nice change of pace.
Duane Hoover – After the Storm in Your Mind
Ol’ Leo and some folks have merely heard of a supernatural chord existing, but most listeners know exactly what it sounds like, even if they can’t name the exact notes that compose it, or the musical scale it fits over.
Yeah, true music fans rarely want to know the precise ingredients of the things that are being poured down their ears. They are the true faithful. They are the knows that magic does occur whenever you trust that it will arrive.
And, perhaps, no sounds have more magic to them than the 60s-inspired, Phil Spector-shaped psych rock tones. Duane Hoover doesn’t just take inspiration from that era, but attempts to breathe new life into it.
“After the Storm in Your Mind” is a great, well-structured pop song like the ones they did back in the Golden Days. But it all feels like one long shimmer, like one single vibration that climbs into your brain, warms it all up and will refuse to live. It’s the very spirit of spaced-out, psych-pop.
