Merv Pinny – OB can you hear the children cry
Genre: Blues, Indie Rock
Merv Pinny goes for the directness of protest song and new single OB can you hear the children cry.
There are plenty of reasons to get angry about the world. That, at least, will never change. A few important questions then arise. Should artists still show concern? Do pop entertainers have a responsibility to use their platform to speak about the lack of fairness? Does this do any good?
At the end of the day, an artist can only speak about what inspires them. The aforementioned troubles are inescapable. This is the reason why they aren’t often mentioned in pop music. Commercial jingles are supposed to take your mind off the world’s problems. Serious artists, on the other hand, take the bold step of speaking up. Often, they inspire and educate their fans with their words.
This is the perspective in which we should consider Merv Pinny’s OB can you hear the children cry. Some may call it a naive message. Others will praise Merv Pinny for the directness of the anti-war message. Under the cover of muscular blues riffs, the writer delivers a reminder of the horrors of conflict.
The truth is that we still need these kinds of songs. Every few years, war becomes fashionable again. People forget what it means, what it does. Artists like Merv Pinny are quick to remind us. War is the worst thing that humans have been able to create.
The Congregation – Soundtrack to the End of the World
Genre: Hard Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: QOTSA, Muse, Royal Blood, Rival Sons
The Congregation echo Songs for the deaf-era Homme on the high strung Soundtrack to the End of the World.
Listening to rock music was always supposed to be a dirty secret. This wasn’t like other pop-culture phenomena. It was not created with the view of it becoming a worldwide success story. Rock was meant to appeal to people’s primal instincts. It was supposed to be played in dark halls at night.
Oh, what a long and strange journey it has been! Decades and millions of advertisements later, rock music is safer than a Volvo seatbelt. People declare their admiration for it in the same way that they tell you what their favourite pizza topping is. The true eccentrics that built the genre are no longer encouraged to participate in its growth.
So, the true weirdos have to do it on the sly. They do without asking for permission. They do it after dark. That’s where The Congregation’s Soundtrack to the End of the World was born. The band utilizes convincing Josh Homme-like riffs and a maniacal preacher vocal to tell you what they’re after. There are no good intentions here. There’s no desire to appeal to as many people as possible. This is rock made for those that want to keep music rooted in something lean and mean.
