The Roseline – Hot Dice
Similar artists: Tom Petty, The War on Drugs, Hiss Golden Messenger
Your favorite pop star lies about the songs they write! Not all of them, of course. And that’s not to say that pop stars are devoid of talent. Quite on the contrary. Most of them possess a rare mix of abilities that have helped them achieve success.
Still, with so much work to do on promoting music, do they have time to write songs? Did they have the time to acquire the skills to write songs? Likely not. And, after all, is this such a dealbreaker? Surely, they can achieve success in some other way.
Somebody else can write the songs. Just about everyone you follow uses ghostwriters these days. But they also like to take credit. It’s not just the money. They like to pretend they have the talent and emotional debt to craft great songs.
The Roseline’s Hot Dice is the work of writers and pop-rock craftsmen that the music industry both loves and fears. This is a well-written, well-arranged, meaningful song. It’s the kind of work that a record exec would pitch to their stars. It’s a song from ye ol’ days when rockstars had to do it all. They even had to write their own songs.
James Kelly – Live It Up
Genre: Classic Rock, Alternative Rock
Once in a while, you’ll hear or see someone very talented, worth wishing to one day be as cool as them. And, when you see someone like that, you think to yourself… “I hope that they’re at least fucked up.”
Call it petty envy. But, even if your wish turns true, you’re bound for more confusion. If that person is ambitious enough, surely, they will use all of their disadvantages to their advantage.
Like Django Reinhardt plucking the guitar with fewer fingers than most, or Keith Richard crafting expert guitar riffs while dazed out of his head, some people get comfortable laying on spikes.
James Kelly is back with Live it up, a single that proves that whatever life throws at him, it’s bound only to make him stronger, or at least funnier. Kelly continues to present himself as a would-be James Dean who stumbled out of the drunk tank and into a good writing program. Even when dealing with mortality, there’s a crooked grin to go along with the philosophizing.
