Nihiloceros – Dirty Homes
Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Jawbreaker, Fugazi, The Replacements, The Pixies
What makes people follow their favourite bands for years and years? What makes audiences want to save money, gather up strength and travel large distances in order to see their favourite band perform sets that, likely they’ve seen them do a hundred times before that?
I reckon that it’s more than simply the need to find a hobby. For the most part, true music fans care about their favourite bands in the same way that they care about a close family member. They depend on these artists’ news songs to reveal some kind of truth to them. And, they are heartbroken when the music of these artists stop speaking about the topics that are closest to them.
One band that is looking to build that kind of connection is Nihiloceros. Their pop-punk, honest to a tee, Dirty Homes is a song written to an audience with which they are already on intimate terms. This is not a song made for the radio, meant to mean everything to everyone. This is a song meant to mean everything to a select few. Rock careers are built on these kinds of connections.
Find Nihiloceros on Instagram and TikTok.
Jesse Grossi – Grow Up
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock(They also suggested this might be Ska)
Similar artists: Sublime, Dirty Heads, 311, Rancid
Rock Houdini-like tricks are a thing of the past. The times where a guitarist could play blistering solo and have his name spray-painted around town with the suggestion that he might just be a deity are over. There are kids on YouTube capable of playing far better.
Similarly, the myth of the songwriter as some kind of exalted figure, receiving inspiration from above is all but dead. Some of the best songwriters who are still working today will confess to taking inspiration from their favourite authors, from sports, or from other songwriters. Coming up with songs requires the patience to learn the craft and write many lousy ones.
The internet has opened the prospect of self-promotion to many high-talented, motivated individuals who cared little about working within the music-able system. One such songwriter is the tireless Jesse Grossi. Grow Up, like other of his works, is inspired by the sweet, danceable sounds of 90s alternative rock. This kind of music has often been accused by some of immaturity, but Grossi is itching to show just what refusing to trade in your past can offer the world.
Find Jesse Grossi on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
