Rosie Frost – Pennies on the Dollar
Similar artists: Sonic Youth, Pixies, Nirvana, Foo Fighters
Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Just look at the history books or visit any important museum and you’ll know which sort of people turned out to be important. The rich folks who owned the industry come and go with only a self-financed plack somewhere to remind that they were around. Politicians don’t much matter unless they did something really stupid like start a war. And even the best looking people of the time look ugly when compared to modern standards.
Ah, but the artists are still around. Their work is analyzed in schools. People save up all their money to travel over oceans to see their works in person. And, when history books are written up, the fate of a nation is always described in conjunction with the fate of poets, writers, and musicians. As it turns out, art is not only one of the few things that survive; it’s one of the few things that people end up caring about.
Rock and pop music remains some of the most important modern forms of art. But they aren’t exactly treasured. This is Rosie Frost’s belief and lets audiences know with their “Pennies on the Dollar,” a song critiquing the Spotify royalty model. The punk song is a protest of the fact that all hard-working musicians are pushed into a system that will reward them, at best, with a few cents every time someone goes to stream their music. It might not be fair, but it’s these artists who will win the war eventually. And, about that, there can be no doubt.
Juju – Cosmic Fall
Similar artists: Goat, Joy Division, Wooden Shjips, The Cult, Primal Scream
Genre: Post-Punk, Psychedelic Rock
I suppose things have changed. The internet and the local supermarket do have it all. People back in the past had to do a lot of digging. They needed to travel great distances to get hold of something good. And, they needed to spend a fortune.
There was something truthful in calling certain creative types “cult-artists.” Not only did they inspire in their fans the kind of devotion typically found exclusively in a religious cult. Their fans also needed to go through the work of finding their work.
The internet now has all of it available. But fortunately, not all of it can be seen on Netflix or easily ordered off an app. That’s good because it leaves people with something worth chasing down. And it makes the work of bands like Goat and, now, Juju that much easier.
Juju’s “Cosmic Fall” sounds and is presented like a great, lost artefact of 70s psychedelic rock. It sounds made by a group of religious devotees or political militants. It looks like a tape that was only made to be seen by a select few. It makes you want to chase down the meaning, and it grabs your attention.
