hour of pearl – Dead Mohawk
The conversations were endless, and they all resulted in promises. If we had been brave enough to ink it in blood, we would have. All of us promised that when, and if, we ever grow up, things will stay exactly the way that they were at the moment we were debating maturity.
The people who were most involved in youthful pursuits of music, art, or fashion were the quickest to promise. The kids with piercings in their eyelids and tattoos covering half their bodies laughed it, and said that there was no way that they were going to change.
But, look at them now? Turns out that suits hide tattoos pretty well, and piercings can always be removed. This makes the ones who have refused change something akin to heroes, as hour of pearl makes us remember.
hour of pearl’s “Dead Mohawk” isn’t an empty, angry punk song about fighting authority. It’s a thoughtful, poppy rock song about fighting the need to give up, submit and change for no reason. It’s a song dedicated to everyone doing something wholehartedely not for the bucks, but for the purest reason of them all, to confidently say: “At least, I didn’t give up!”
Ultra-Lite – Would You Kindly
Now, imagine you were addicted to drinking Coke every day, and were looking for ways to cut down on your consumption. Now, imagine that the Universe, while hoping to do you a favour, makes all of the companies producing the beverage run out of business and that all of the available bottles go flying off the shelves in mere minutes, purchased by similar Coke enthusiasts trying to stock up. Finally, imagine you don’t get to the store in time.
At this stage, you’d be left with a much bigger problem, arguably, that gnawing feeling that you’d really like that flavour, but can’t. You’d be haunted by memories of the taste. You’d end up crying while looking at pictures of you holding a Coke bottle.
For a lot of fans of 1990s alternative-rock, this is precisely what happened. Sure, in 1993, it must’ve felt like there was too much of it. But one day, the tide had changed, and there was hardly anything at all left. Of course, a band like Ultra-Lite will have a built-in audience.
And, cleverly, Ultra-Lite knows exactly what listeners are waiting to hear from a band like them. “Would You Kindly,” a song about unsatisfied partners and romantic frustration, is built on a sturdy, dynamic post-grunge sound. It’s all about power and emotion, and that flavour that you have not had for long, you’ll want to make room for again in your life.
