JASON AARON SCOTT – Wave of Descension
Things go up, and things move down. People work hard to build empires that are wiped out in mere days, and even the fortune tellers are left scratching their heads and murmuring to themselves: “Should’ve got the expensive insurance instead!”
But that’s just the way things go. You can’t possibly prepare yourself for what’s to come. And, what’s more, getting all hopeless and scared won’t do any good. It’ll just get you locked up in a studio apartment and addicted to the fear.
The only thing that’s worth holding onto is the knowledge that it’s all happened before and that this itsy-bitsy world of ours has survived it. Just read the history books! Just ask the internet! Or, just listen to Jason Aaron Scott tell it.
Perhaps it is fitting then that the song “Wave of Descension” feels like it’s built off the chord changes of some Everly Brothers song written when they were still teenagers. There’s an innocence to the whole thing and a direct message – “You just need to ride it out!” Breathe in and out, listen closely, and you might just find the strength to go out there once again.
The Youngers – The Deal
It’s difficult to want to go out into this mean old world and make something of yourself when you have nobody to tell your story to. In fact, it’s enough to drive a person mad working on adventures that will simply disappear when and if they do.
Perhaps that’s why the old outlaws signed their deeds in blood, why kids tag their names with graffiti on the city walls and why some, the bravest and most talented of us, become storytellers through the medium of art.
You could hardly imagine Neil Young merely choosing to spend all of his days working in some store out in Canada without putting to good use all of the stories he collected. And, even hearing The Youngers for the first time, you can hardly imagine them not pouring their heart out in a song.
The trick about “The Deal,” a tune that, indeed, reminded me an awful lot of Crazy Horse’s best moments, is that every single musical element here sounds like it’s getting ready for a fistfight. This is a song about being cornered, pressured and forced to act against one’s will. It’s a new song about ancient frustrations.
