Katy Guillen & The Drive – Outcome
There’s a growing trend for movie streaming services to commission documentaries on old alternative rock bands, weirdo movie makers and misunderstood artists. All of them, without exception, are tearjerkers.
In these docs, we learn about what made these creative thinkers tick. We learn that they struggled to understand the world around them. Finally, we’re told that despite their best efforts, they failed to turn their creative endeavours into a living.
And while that’s sad to hear, the good news is that the weirdos have won. Just listen to Katy Guillen & The Drive for proof. New ones make new art every day, and a good segment of them earn enough of an audience to carry on doing their work. Few of them stop to care about gold records or corporate endorsements. Isn’t that a reassuring thought?
It’s hard not to hear Katy Guillen & The Drive’s “Outcome” and feel just a little more hopeful about your chances. Guillen’s ready to tell you that whatever your dreams are, there’s a good chance that holding on to them will lead you to whatever Promised Land is waiting at the end. And with this kind of musical delivery, not to mention the sentiment of the piece, it’s hard not to feel thankful for Katy Guillen & The Drive proving all those bad luck stories wrong.
Jeremy Serwer – Full of the Moon
Hate to bring up nostalgia, but grunge music left some unfinished business. And the internet seems to agree, with the style of music, pushed by nostalgia or not, having made quite a comeback in recent years with endless reels and TikTok clips soundtracked by the classic Seattle groups.
Jeremy Serwer is only happy to help grunge have its final say. He is one of a number of musicians to still be inspired by this style of music, and it is easy to see why this is.
In mainstream recognition terms, grunge was the last dark rock style that still appealed to fans of Montrose and Bad Company, while delivering protest songs on the nature of greed and corruption. It’s only natural that it would remain appealing, especially in this time and place.
Jeremy Serwer’s “Full of the Moon” is a magnificently dynamic and mysterious-sounding alt-rock song. It’s powered by swirling, slightly dissonant acoustic guitars. It highlights Serwer’s strong melodies. And it serves as an ancient ritual issued as payment for the gifts of nature at a time when the human race seems hellbent on abusing those gifts. It’s no wonder that grunge-inspired music would still have this kind of appeal.
