Hevvy Serve – Daniel Johnston
Similar artists: Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, The Breeders
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Some people grow up with posters of Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, or Bruce Springsteen on their walls. All of them are natural-born winners who lead (for the most part) an exemplary life. But the people whose walls are adorned with posters of true-blue stars will never love their heroes quite like the weirdos and outsiders who find others like themselves to look out for.
Daniel Johnston became an unlikely hero to a huge number of weirdos, outsiders, and artists. The blame can be placed squarely on Kurt Cobain or the folks from Sonic Youth trumpeting his early DYI records and, later on, the excellent documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston.” Of course, it is primarily the man’s wild creativity that gets remarked on. But, let us be honest, his dark journey into a mental breakdown also strikes a chord with many of those seeking out such things.
Hevvy Serve’s “Daniel Johnston” makes good use of the band’s collective movie viewing time. This is an ode to a folk hero, but traditional campfire songs wouldn’t do this time. Instead, the band is inspired by the murky waters in which contemporaries of Johnston, such as indie-rock darling Dinosaur Jr., a band fronted by a similarly enigmatic figure.
Johnston suffered a lot. But even he must’ve sensed his work would grant him a kind of immortality. It’s only natural that others would be inspired by this and Hevvy Serve have set out looking for theirs.
Rocky Bottom – Strangers of Love
Similar artists: Elvis Costello, Electric Light Orchestra, Deer Tick, The Felice Brothers
Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
It’s nice to see clever people do silly things just because. It’s nice to see them roll in the grass, fly kites, or try to write pop songs. Those sorts of things seem to kick the world back into balance for a little while.
That’s because clever people are often taken for suckers. They’re told they are smart from a young age only to then be enrolled to dozens upon dozens of years of schooling, something comparable to light jail.
They are then planted into a job that, because of their elite training, they’ll need to do until the day they retire. And, once they’re out of the rat, their peers will continue to judge them with a critical eye to make sure that they don’t do anything silly that might endanger their carefully built reputation.
Rocky Bottom’s “Strangers of Love” is a really clever and silly pop tune that deals with affairs of the heart. Like Elvis Costello or Jeff Lynne, points of reference for Rocky Bottom’s songwriter, crafting such pop ditties involves an effort akin to experimenting in a laboratory for decades. But it also involves a bit of silliness and belief in the powers of songs and of love. The world might need more clever people rolling through the grass.
