
Jeremy & the Harlequins – Wrong Way in the Right Lane
What if nothing else had happened in guitar music after rock n’ roll slammed down the door back in the 1950s? What would the world think of modern rock n’ rollers?
Well, things would certainly be different. Nowadays, the people who play this retro rock are either Elvis impersonators dreaming of one day being summoned to Las Vegas, or they’re chubby, middle-aged dads playing music with their friends on the weekend.
But take away all of the loud and fast music genres that appeared in the shadow of rock n’ roll, and the people playing this music that got so big in the 1950s would appear like demons doing their deeds with the assistance of a guitar. They’d look like missionaries of the devil dragging souls down to the abyss. They’d be the coolest cats around.
Jeremy & the Harlequins don’t just summon the spirit of classic rock n’ roll on “Wrong Way in the Right Lane,” but they play like punk, metal and the sort never existed. The band leans into the song’s groove like someone using a jackhammer. The lines are sung with the confidence that no listener will possibly be able to resist. And what they see when looking out into the world are just endless, open highways. There’s still nothing that needs to be replaced about rock n’ roll.
Risley – Walls
The world is inching closer to a goal of maximum efficiency and comfort. Things are cheaper to make and easier to ferry around, and everyone expects to have them at a discount by Christmas. And while let’s not kid ourselves, the divide between rich and poor gets greater throughout the world, for those living in developed countries, there have never been fewer things about which to worry seriously.
Even pop-rock music is getting with the times. It’s cheaper than ever to record and distribute music. To stay competitive, the record labels that are still around hire artists who can deliver songs and videos with the utmost efficiency. Ideally, these songwriters can provide fully recorded songs and videos that mimic the trends of the time, all done for a shoestring budget. But where’s the passion, and do we need it?
Maybe it’s just about time to return to an era where the musicians we wanted to hear were those who performed as if nothing else in the world would satisfy them. Risley’s brand of alternative rock found on the sing “Walls” sounds like the work of someone who has no other choice. Powered by the drumming of former Pearl Jam member Dave Abbruzese, Risley tries to make the song sound like an echo of everything that matters, of everything that will ever be remembered. Music formulas may fool the algorithms, but our support must always go toward the real artists.