Broken Fires – Midnight
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Manchester Orchestra, Arcade Fire, Frightened Rabbit
While new bands are busy optimizing their sound to fit the mould of modern radio, there are certain strategies that can’t be improved. Loud guitars and drums that create an anthemic sense of unity with the potential audience are among those things.
Should one be critical of this? After all, these bands are pulling on heartstrings that are historically known to illicit emotion. Or, perhaps, the ambition of these bands is what deserves to be praised. Hey, after all, everyone feels the blues and can do with some upliftment.
Broken Fires’ Midnight finds the right mix of bitter melancholy and sweet hopefulness. This is music made to convince an audience arena to sway and move. It’s controlled chaos that wouldn’t work without the old guitar and drums combo. Broken Fires aim for grandeur. Odds are that there will be plenty swaying to their tune.
Pesky – Lucy
Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Similar artists: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Weezer
The world is always waiting for a great singalong and Slipknot or Dua Lipa just won’t cut it. Imagine all the future buskers being forced to learn those songs in order to scrape some cash? Now, imagine if there were no Lennon/McCartney or Brian Wilson composition to rely on.
Well, the world might just grind down to a halt. It’s debatable how those writers managed to come up with so many of those kinds of songs? Maybe their easy-going lifestyles helped. Maybe the music industry was willing to show greater consideration to them. Either way, there’s a big need for those sorts of tunes, and the world’s wishes remain largely unanswered.
Pesky set out on a liberation mission with their single Lucy. It’s the kind of guitar pop number with which their famous 60s descendants would have been proud. It feels like the kind of tune that either arrives to the writer immediately or doesn’t at all. Pesky’s Lucy is a tune that buskers can and should learn for both passion and potential profit.
