Bealby Point – Telescope
The British rock journalists are old fishermen whose fate in the great three-minute single has made them acquire a tremendous amount of fate. Most days, they go without catching anything, but neither they nor their readers will starve.
You can practically predict that, regardless of trends and changing fashions, a handful of new bands capable of producing strong singles will appear every few years. Those interested just have to have their nets ready when it happens.
Bealby Point is an indie-rock quartet applying for that position. The focus of their music is to chase away the bitter and gloomy British weather with visions of endless summer and hopefulness. Telescope is a guitar-driven glimpse into their vision and one that should really please fans of modern indie.
Dee Lunar – The Darkness
I was speaking to a veteran punk-rocker recently, a member of the group the Newtown Aces. I asked him about the state of modern punk bands, many of which have garnered a fair deal of mainstream attention in recent years. He was tremendously complimentary of their abilities. However, he questioned whether some of them might be getting lost in their fancy metaphors and symbolism. Protest music, at its core, he said, should make its message clear and impossible to interpret.
Perhaps, this is true. Good artists have a habit of dancing around subjects in a bid to show the world just how much information they’ve acquired. Furthermore, in an age where making political statements is, ironically, more dangerous than ever because of possible online backlash, many artists keep tight-lipped.
Dee Lunar’s The Darkness doesn’t mince words nor hide behind fancy expressions. “Consumerism rules” she sings and it is poisoning the minds and hearts of many. The captains of the industry are interested solely in making a profit. Tribalism has overtaken any hopes of constructive dialogue.
The Darkness is a simple, but poignant punk-rock song. If it is short and simple, this is because it needs to be in order to reach an audience. After all, this is what protest music’s goal has always been.
