Mutes – Modern Waste
There are hundreds of millions of pounds of garbage out there in the world, with the average person producing 4.9 pounds every day. What’s more, we are not inundated by things that could be easily classified as garbage at the present time, but also with many things that have yet to become garbage, or for which the distinction is much fuzzier.
In Westernized countries, especially, comfort and success are equated with possession. Tastes change faster than they ever did before, partly because so many people afford to alter them and, overstimulated as they are, cannot decide what would please them the most.
This is part of what British post-punk group Mutes writes about on the latest single, Modern Waste. The tense industrial-rock rhythm of the track lays out the canvas for the endless descriptions of change for change’s sake. Mutes also incorporate a free-fowing alt-rock energy that further helps push the sound. All in all, the tune makes a great point. We like our products in the same way that we like our modern pop stars, in short bursts and not really for a very long time.
Lost At Sea – The Albatross
Even little babies get the blues. The mythology behind this style of music would have us believe that some folks are either born with or without a sense for it. These are the ones chosen to play the blues and live with it like a medical condition that is noticeable, but not quite life-threatening. The blues is not despair.
When it comes to the kind of anguish that feels ready to swallow people right up, the alternative rock seems to be the cardinal point of reference. The heartfelt lyrics, the thundering guitar chords, and the metaphors of feeling swallowed up by the world are all standards post-2000s alt-rock.
Lost At Sea’s The Albatross references this type of inner turmoil both as a form of therapy and, perhaps, as a way for others dealing with similar feelings to find some comfort. Lost at Sea have mastered the art of creating a beast of a rock sound while condensing it to a recorded form that is both pleasing and could have massive commercial appeal.
