Harrison Lemke – Exonerated
Chocolate-pudding must have never tasted better for poor ol’ Dostoevsky than on the day that the Czar decided to pardon him from what looked like, almost certainly, a public execution that he’d earned for meddling in state affairs.
A lot of songs have been written around the elation of winning and earning something. Not enough songs have been written about the feeling of relief of avoiding catastrophic failure. Snatching mediocrity from the jaws of failure does feel good, if only for a brief while.
Harrison Lemke’s Exonerated is that rare gem. On this indie-country tune arranged without much fuss, Lemke writes from personal experience, or so he claims. Days will never feel as good as they do when you realize you still have your freedom; he tells us. For that and for writing an all-American number, Exonerated deserves a spin.
Melt Citizen – Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now
Before every platinum-selling band under the sun was name-checking The Ramones as an influence, the only ones to credit their careers were groups like Screeching Weasel and the Queers, fantastic, melodic rock bands that held the charts in as loose a grip as a monkey trying to work a screwdriver.
Years have gone by, not even the platinum-sellers of old get featured on radio and television anymore, and the playing field has levelled out. Fast, fun, melodic punk groups are still being formed at a rapid pace, and they’re a delight for anyone with a rock n’ roll heart.
Melt Citizen’s cover of 50s tune Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now is the fast-paced, quick-witted pop-punk tune you may have been waiting for if you’re done dusting off your old Ramones vinyl. Since the Ramones took most of their influences from that decade, it hardly feels like a departure from their regular body of work.
In keeping with the thinking that the faster you play and the shorter the songs, the more songs the audience gets to hear, this single doesn’t even scratch the two-minute mark before departing in a trail of dust.
