Plastic Bubble – Sol Invictus
You can easily imagine that, as you read this, there are thousands upon thousands of rock guitarists practicing in their bedrooms. And, the vast majority of them, are pissed off, and looking for the best ways to express it.
Who could blame them? The world’s a scary space, and most of them have been told that it is their job, if they ever want to be taken seriously as artists, to reveal the intricacy of these complex human emotions. And if subtlety fails, there’s always the screams that can be called upon.
Ok. Ok. But is there anyone that goes home after a day of dealing with the world and decides they’ll try to write a song about love? That’s ridiculous. Who, in this time of madness, would want to spend their time making art concerned with the blessing of being alive?
Plastic Bubble took on the challenge of reviving not just hippie psych-rock sounds, but also 1967-branded optimism when they made “Sol Invictus” nearly a decade ago. All these years later, the music deserves to be rediscovered. It’s just as pleasant and surprising. And the times have made this all be just as much of a rarity as the time when it was first released. Some folks are crazy for seeing good in everything, but, in music, those are a rare bunch.
Alligator Ladies – Where Should We Go
I wouldn’t worry too much about the future of music. It might still help some bands and their managers get enormously rich. Or, just as well, it might have stopped selling now and forever with nobody ever able to profit monetarily from it.
But the magic tools have long ago been found. There are many people who know how to use them. And as for the magic itself, well, there’s no reason to assume that all of it has been exhausted, or wasted.
Nah, while it’s great to look toward the future and try to consider all of the sounds that may be invented, the truth is that little has been done to improve upon the original fuzz-pedal-powered guitar sound of the original garage-rock bands.
Alligator Ladies know a thing or two about that kind of noisy, spacious garage-rock and all the dreaming that can go on while those guitars howl like angry dragons. “Where Should We Go” is a minimalist rock tune about boundless exploration. It’s short, to the point, and creates a whole universe of what ifs and where tos.
