Kruvenvrag – Gun and the Flag
Try to remember the last time you were really sad! Try to think of some songs that appropriately describe what you were feeling. Now, try to think of where these artists are from, and if you’re like most rock listeners, you’d have invariably chosen Anglo-American performers.
To try to prove their superiority in the modern pop arts, or point to the opposite, is a waste of time. Trying to dream up a world where others possess our resources won’t do us any good either.
However, to imagine bands from wholly different parts of the world taking those sounds and dreaming them back into the world in a new form should help not just our listening habits but also give non-Western bands the respect they’ve earned. After all, just about everyone feels the aches and anxiety of the modern world in the same way, including Bulgaria’s Kruvenvrag.
Kruvenvrag’s “Gun and the Flag” is a clever, tender piece of dreamy folk-rock where nothing, outside of the lyrics, betrays the music’s place of origin. And this, along with just how satisfying the sound happens to be, are the most remarkable things about this.
Anyone familiar with Eastern European music will know that this is not what bands here sound like. Still, anyone familiar with this part of the world will also know that many artists have taken inspiration from Western bands while ignoring distances altogether. Why can’t your next great indie-rock band be from Sofia? Considering Kruvenvrag’s potential, why can’t your favourite new English-sung set of tunes belong to them?
Shiny Shiny Black – When You Get That Look (Live)
I’m sure that there’s something for you out there. No, not just something that also fits you, but something specific, something that only you can have. It’s kind of like one of those mantras that Yogis used to provide for a fee. Sure, everyone knows how a mantra works. But if you trust the Wiseman, there’s only a specific sound that resonates with your aura, and until you pay up and they entrust it to you, you’re bound to go shooting out in the dark.
Yeah, I bet that what you’re looking for is sound, something that will fit you. I bet you need some sounds tuned to whatever key the problem that bothers you most happens to be in. I bet that once you find that collection of sounds, you’re bound to feel better, that you’re going to be inclined to want to hear those sounds whenever you need some relief. Shiny Shiny Black makes music on the off-chance that the band’s mantra will resonate with you.
The trick is to write as if you know the person who is going to sing the song intimately. “When You Get That Look,” here, performed live, sounds like a letter to someone assuring them that bad times are ahead, and that good ones might follow once the worst is dealt with. Shiny Shiny Black’s other tool is the fantastic use of tension-building melodies, the problem to which only the band has the solution.
And who knows? One day, when you feel like there’s no sound that describes how you’re feeling, you may be lucky enough to encounter Shiny Shiny Black.
