Possumwulf – Tel Megiddo Blues
Similar artists: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, The Smile
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
If you’re an admirer of anything, you’re a frequent customer. And if you’re that, surely, you must hope that you won’t end up picking up the exact same item twice in a row. You’ll be hoping for new concepts, new colours, or brand-new flavours each and every time you engage with the thing about which you’re passionate. Sadly, if you’re a fan of modern pop-rock music, you are bound to be disappointed.
You might have imagined that music like the one made by Possumwolf would be a given, not an exception. It’s not the style itself that ought to be appealing but the attitude toward creating music. If it’s true that rock n’ roll is a great invention, then it must also be true that it is a construction that can withstand new ideas, various permutations and the vision of artists who wish to study it from new angles.
Possumwulf’s “Tel Megiddo Blues” is an exciting piece of music, particularly because of what it represents. Throughout its 5-minute run time, you’ll be able to make out the musical artists that have inspired the sound. But, during that time, you also won’t be able to escape the artist’s personality, the unique choices of how to assemble this or the dreamlike world that it creates. It’s exciting because it sounds like familiar blues rock and, at the same time, like not much else you’ve heard before. Someone who has given us listeners this kind of respect deserves ours as well.
Mike Borgia – Screaming Cat
Similar artists: Gary Clark Jr., The Marcus King Band, The Arcs
Genre: Blues, Alternative Rock
You don’t really need to have a pretty to get by in the world. But it can certainly help. Your face can definitely become your fortune, the thing by which most people will judge you and, if all things work right, offer you a better route to meeting your goals. It’s just the way that the world works, and the rock music environment is not different. Thankfully for Mike Borgia, it’s the voice that is his fortune.
Let’s face it! It’s the vocal performance that the vast majority of music listeners seek out. In fact, if you play instrumental mental to most young kids, they simply will think it’s been left unfinished. Most adults, too, are left unimpressed by songs that don’t feature a vocal performance that can arrest their attention right away. It’s the equivalent of the super-model face. Some performers learn to make their audiences forget about it. Still, that’s only something that those who can’t rely on great singing need to do.
Mike Borgia’s “Screaming Cat” is a psych-tinged bluesy tune that puts the spotlight firmly on the vocal ability of the singer. But it’s like Borgia is always reaching for towering highs or bellowing lows. No, it’s the tone and the control. One will quickly think of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell or Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley, both of whom possessed the vocal chops that the vast majority of singers would perform ungodly acts for. Life offers both blessings and curses, and Mike Borgia is doing something with what’s come his way.
