Coal Bed – Been Better
Similar artists: Green Day, Sex Pistols, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes
Genre: Punk, Lo-fi Rock, Garage Rock
Coal Bed knows that nobody is going to cry for the misery of rock music’s downfall. Instead, the band pack in the hooks and hope to grab any potential fans straight by the ear.
There are bands that make for good stories, and there are bands that make good songs. You can easily tell which is which. The ones that are responsible for great legends have books written about them. However, few bands cover their songs, the radio rarely remembers them, and even their fans are hard-pressed to tell you what their favourite song is.
The other category tends to write the kinds of songs that every new band attempts to cover; they have many imitators, and it’s always easy to tell them apart from their contemporaries. Perhaps, most importantly, these bands, more often than not, are able to write simple, memorable songs.
Coal Bed may be miserable, but they’re still a great company to be around, judging by the infectious pop-punk of “Been Better.” Sure, they’re here to tell you that everything that’s on the radio sucks and that life is hard. But they have the decency to sound brilliantly bouncy while they do this all. This ain’t a chore, but it is fun to listen to it again.
Gonzo LeBronzo – Portals
Similar artists: Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Helmet, Metz, Death From Above 1979
Genre: Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
Gonzo LeBronzo has a lot of good ideas. But that wouldn’t be enough. There are plenty of bands like this. No, the band’s main strength is that they wrap their brainy concepts in fun alt-rock.
Most people have weird dreams and just go on with their lives. The ones that are really ambitious and curious about documenting what their imagination can produce write these down in a dream journal only to eventually lose interest.
It’s only artists who get enough of an ego boost from sharing these nighttime illusions with others. Many a great writer has written a boring book concerning their nonsensical dreams. And numerous rock bands have taken long, boring sonic excursions unveiling their innermost feelings. What a drag!
Gonzo LeBronzo’s “Portals” is powered by dreams, but the band wastes little time in giving listeners unneeded details. Like the alt-rock bands that they worship, they know that eeriness and quirkiness need to be delivered alongside straightforward, catchy parts. Gonzo LeBronzo may want to tell you what’s deep inside their mind, but they’ll look to convince you of the quality of their hooks and melodies before anything else.
