
Saint Oscar – Love My Life
Similar artists: Green Day, Grinspoon, Powderfinger, Placebo
Genre: 90s Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Most of the songs by most of the very famous bands aren’t played by anyone, but by die-hard fans and naive music critics determined to show how rock n’ roll is an important art form. Hell, Green Day has a new album out and a list of original material that is longer than Epstein’s celebrity log list. But on their upcoming tour, they promised fans that they’ll only play the hits and sprinkle in a few new ones for bathroom breaks.
This is how much people care about typical, on-brand songs. The movement that involves a classic rock band playing an entire album live is reserved for those who have used up all of their other ideas and can be used only for a small number of very famous records.
The point of this all is that nobody expects your family and your dog to want to hear all of your songs. They just wanna hear the memorable ones. Saint Oscar has a knack of picking up on the things that are memorable, easy to latch on to, and easy to remember, and the single “Love My Life,” with its nod to 1990s pop punk, proves this. String a bunch of this along, and you have a career. Sounds easy, perhaps, but not everyone has the qualities that Saint Oscar exhibits.
Beast Killer – The Curse
Similar artists: Drug Church, ’68, Turnstile, Hot Cross, Middle Class Rut
Genre: Skate Punk, Post-Hardcore
It used to be that you could find folks completely devoted to music that emphasized the sounds of the violin, the cello, or, err, the harmonica.
Classical music enthusiasts are still around. But, thanks to rock n’ roll, their numbers are far smaller.
Back in the 1930s, half of all record sales were for classical. By the 1960s, it had shrunk to 20%, and it’s kept on shrinking, with its cultural significance now equivalent to that of the hula-hoops and fidget spinners. Still, those who love it know that they can’t live without it and will do anything for a fix.
Rock music, of a certain kind, acts like a dog whistle for true nuts. Beast Killer’s “The Curse” might get you from the opening, unexplainable salvo of mellotron keyboards or from the doomy artwork. If that won’t do the trick, they’ll attack with a short burst of classic punk. It’s well-played and designed. But that won’t matter much. If you’re that kinda person, you’ll know you like it long before you’ve heard all of it.