Electric Horseman – Space Baby
Similar artists: Israel Nash, White Denim, Strand of Oaks, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Genre: Folk rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
There were members of the cloth and journalists who launched entire careers out of pretending to detect hidden messages inside pop songs. “Stairway to Heaven” was supposed to offer your soul to the devil if played backward. “Hotel California” was about taking drugs with Satanists. And did you know that Phil Collins let a guy drown? Oh, you heard about that one.
Those were the days! For the initial insult that the bands in question might’ve felt, the people who accused them of hiding nefarious secrets in their songs really helped make their careers. Music should always aim to be more than is. Otherwise, all that we’re left with are a bunch of formulas that math students and members of Dream Theater can sit around trying to decipher.
Electric Horseman’s “Space Baby” looks to return rock n’ roll to an era where songs were as mysterious as The Rosetta Stone or The Voynich Manuscript. It could provide an answer to any of life’s biggest questions or might not mean anything at all. What is important, however, is that Electric Horseman’s brand of heroic rock makes you dream, lets you wonder, and keeps you thinking that you just need to strain your attention a wee bit longer to truly get the meaning behind it all.
SAMSARA. – Martyr
Genre: Alternative Rock
Young men and women who don’t have a natural desire to smash things up are the ones that we should really be worrying about. The fact is that the energy of youth, the prospect of facing this world alone, and the potential to realize your wildest dreams should chance work your way are enough to make you see things burst into flames. It’s just a natural reaction and something into which SAMSARA. are plugged into.
The tools for achieving this kind of sonic mayhem are classic ones, however. Most young bands, for all of their desire to separate themselves from the past, end up starting with the tools that their predecessors used. And while plenty of nifty gadgets and sonic alteration have been brought into rock music, nothing so far has been able to best the potential of a distorted guitar string signal fighting against loud acoustic drums.
SAMSARA.’s “Martyr” is what you’d expect from a young alt-rock band, but that’s not a bad thing, but rather a promise. The group is filled with angst, but also with the desire for their voices to be heard by the masses. Consequently, their brand of Muse and Royal Blood-inspired rock is large, anthemic, and just a bit gloomy to satisfy the numerous audience members going through their personal struggles.
