Rykarda Parasol – Above It All
Similar artists: Tess Parks, The Dandy Warhols, L’Epee, The Black Ryder, The Warlocks
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
If you make play your work, you will either never have to work again or, at the very least, get some fun out of life until you are forced to find a job that pays better. It’s hard to claim that both options bring the same rewards. But it’s also hard to ignore that rewards are included.
The people who spend their days watching bands in smokie clubs most often decide to be part of bands themselves. They inevitably learn the aforementioned truths. Rykarda Parasol’s sound and presentation make the singer appear like that kind of person. Sure, there might be easier ways to get through life. But nearly none of them could involve blending a passion for The Velvet Underground, storytelling and daring fashion.
Rykarda Parasol’s “Above It All” is a song designed to sound cool and to make audiences convinced that whoever is responsible for making this must also be unfairly cool. After all, whoever crafted this rock n’ roll story must be intimately familiar with bands like The Velvet Underground or The Jesus and Mary Chain. And such people simply cannot avoid looking and sounding cool. This is an art-rock gallery soundtrack meant to take place in the most happening part of town.
Jersey Calling – The Things Life Leaves Behind
Similar artists: Against Me!, Green Day
Genre: Punk, Alternative Rock
We need our artists to take a leap of faith and to be brutally honest. Only then, if we really love them, can we allow ourselves to be honest. They may not ever get to know it and may not even find it to be very important, but their actions can have a profound way on how we lead our lives.
Because of the bravery of some of the world’s premier punk bands, some of the best modern storytellers are able to tell their tales. Jersey Calling are part of this movement of truthtelling. It all starts from the presumption that the world may just turn out to be a better place when the cliches that usually fill up the real estate of songs end up being replaced by facts and by a recollection of actual events.
Jersey Calling’s “The Things Life Leaves Behind” is about as earnest as a rock song can be. The story covers heartbreak, deception and the inevitable ways in which life can let us down. But it’s the way that the songwriting brings this into the straightforward heartland-rock tale that really the bravery of it all. Yes, this is the sound of a good night out watching a workingman’s rock band. But there’s also a heavy dose of melancholy captured in every line being sung from the stage and back out from the audience.
