Leif Morris – A Moment Ago
Similar artists: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, Blind Melon, Alice In Chains
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
What’s wrong with quoting your heroes? Everyone, without exception, needs a master, a teacher, or a guru on their way to enlightenment.
As we speak, the self-help book industry is generating millions and millions of dollars. Most of those books contain ample retellings of things thought and said, initially by Indian gurus, Japanese zen masters or Wall Street investors. Does this make the modern books any less helpful?
A lot of this happens in music also. There are plenty of bands that sound like more famous groups. Then there’s AI that can create a song in which Damon Albarn is fronting Oasis. Only one of those requires any effort. Only one of those is made with the purpose of enriching the world.
Leif Morris’ “A Moment Ago” is an extremely convincing leap into 90s grunge territory, specifically early Pearl Jam. It’s not easy to recreate this sound in a convincing manner, as we’ve heard time and time before. Also, Morris trees capture the spiritual, transcendental nature of the sound. By reaching toward something greater than one rock n’ roll punch, he finds something special. Next time, we’ll need to hear more from Morris himself, but for now, this is an impressive exercise in hero worship nonetheless.
prom – Fancy Word For Addiction
Genre: Grunge
The general consensus is that music fans need songs to get them through the endless days and ease them through the long, lonely nights. While this is not entirely untrue, the fact is that artists need the same thing, and audiences are thrilled to provide them with that.
Almost every interview promoting a new pop star album nowadays features a long, sobbing story about a tragic event that inspired the music. Read through enough of these interviews, and you’ll notice most of the stories are the same. Does this help record sales? Yes. Does this enhance the popularity of pop stars? You ask Taylor Rodrigo or Olivia Swift and tell me.
prom’s “Fancy Word For Addiction” is grunge-friendly self-diagnosis and therapy. And while being so honest is a risk, it’s a calculated one. Audiences react to honesty and to people feeling as they do. It sounds like the truth because it probably is. prom manage to deliver a fevered confession containing heartbreaking lyrics, grunge guitars and a melodic post-hardcore chorus. It’ll all work out in the end.
