Gooseberry – Panic!
Similar artists: The Rolling Stones, The Raconteurs, Spoon, The Walkmen, Franz Ferdinand
Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Gooseberry combines slick moves with wrenching anxiety for the new single “Panic!”
Serious music collectors know that there is simply no way to choose between modern artists and retro ones. Sensibilities change with the times. And no man can capture everything that is right about the world. Consequently, no artist can include the very best that music has to offer. What a drag!
The original stadium rock bands made their living on big hooks and songs about sex and, occasionally, about love. Their modern counterparts try their damn best to include sensitivity and earnest lyrics. Naturally, the latter is more approachable. But the bombast of the originators is also something to desire.
Gooseberry’s “Panic!” try to set the world to right by combining the boogie grooves of The Stones with modern indie-rock. “This ain’t love, it’s a panic attack” is a clever, easy-to-quote line. And being both grandiose and humble, Gooseberry manages to construct a song that has the best of both worlds, both old-fashioned and new.
H3F – Chalawan Funk
Similar artists: Sun Rai, Phum Viphurit, Khruangbin, John Mayer, Gavin DeGraw
Genre: Southern Rock / Red Dirt, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
H3F’s “Chalawan Funk” is a slice of primitive cool, a glimpse into the essence of modern pop music.
What’s the thing most missing in modern rock n’ roll? To this question, everyone will venture to offer an answer. After all, virtually everyone feels that there is something absent. It’s nearly impossible to find someone who believes that we are living during the Golden Age of this kind of art form.
I would start with the “roll” part of rock n’ roll. It’s gone away. It has, as Keith Richard says, transformed into a march. Almost all of it sounds designed and played by robots. And, well, we’ve found out, to our dismay, that, no, robots cannot dance and don’t seem to find a good reason why they should even try.
H3F’s “Chalawan Funk” may contain a sweet pop confection at the heart of it, but it’s the brilliant rhythm work surrounding it that is the real star of the show. This is music that echoes the excitement of early rock n’ roll, where the bass and the drums made or broke a band. H3F’s rhythm section gets it!
