
THE BRASS BAMBEES – On With The Show
Genre: Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
THE BRASS BAMBEES’ tense blend of post-punk and grunge is a fever that won’t break, a perpetual anxiety, and a good indication of where rock is at in 2023.
There’s no reason to deny it. Most people listen to music based on their moods. They have no time to investigate. They need something to reinforce their beliefs. And they require something to either stir up the flames that they feel burning inside them or something that can quench the flames for a while.
In that respect, modern music’s love affair with its audience is a transactional one. It may, as music journalists like to boast, function as a kind of DYI therapy. But just like sitting in the big chair, all parties involved are expecting something in return. Even the angriest musicians know that their work will be used to scratch an itch.
With “On With The Show,” THE BRASS BAMBEES hope to give a voice to disenchantment and create an anthem for those whose anger is simmering. The song is constructed well. The singing retains its detached, distorted tone throughout. The instrumental moves from a whisper to a crash, just like the band’s great grunge predecessors used to do. What if you don’t feel it? Then, it’s likely that you haven’t come to terms with your anger just yet.
The review made possible by Musosoup
Cactus Clay – Under My Skin
Similar artists: Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, All Them Witches
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative Rock
Cactus Clay is indebted to 1960s psychedelic rock but sounds like a man also trying to be part of something new.
Music of the 1960s is remembered through rose-tinted glasses. While it is true that the majority of significant innovations in modern art and entertainment began here, not everything made during that period is a bonafide masterpiece. Some of the records that were hits at the time have fallen through the crevices of time, and few miss them.
If you are to use our ever-helpful and all-encompassing internet to research 1960s psychedelic sounds, you’ll find plenty. Some of them are well known and held in high regard, and you may discover a minority of gems. But most of the songs will contain backward recordings of organs, never-ending guitar solos, and the exact same groove played by each drummer.
Clearly, Cactus Clay loves fuzzed-out rock psychedelia. That much can be easily established by checking out “Under My Skin.” However, there’s also a desire here to entertain modern audiences. Vocal melodies are trimmed nicely, and even the inevitable freak-out parts are tailored to modern sensibilities. The ’60s just sound better today.