Saturnine Sighs – Alright
Blame it on the boogie! Or, in this case, you should probably blame our inclusion of this song on a classic rock recipe, prepared without missing any of the better ingredients.
Frankly, we’re sick of critics recommending music based on cool-points alone. Saturnine Sighs doesn’t sound like a band that would be getting invited to join Lou Reed for a late pow-wow after the show. But, their single “Alright,” complete with big production and mammoth-sized chorus, rocks just right.
Saturnine Sighs could well be the War on Drugs’ less hipster-minded, clean-shaven cousin. They do draw from a similar well of 80s sounding drive-music, after all. The dynamics and playing on “Alright” make listening to it a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Uncle Salsa and The Pelican Boy – It’s All Over Now
Rock artists, even the greatest ones, are notoriously bad about properly assessing their work. That’s not to say that they under-rate their greatest songs. After all, the ones who’ve survived to have a long and fruitful career are, generally, egomaniacs blessed with good lungs, strong liver, and a big head. No, rock musicians tend to believe they are something that cannot be fitted inside the limited restraints of a genre definition.
Uncle Salsa and the Pelican Boy are not such a group. They know exactly what they are doing. And, if the project’s moniker was not an indication, they do not take themselves too seriously, neither are they afraid of embarrassing themselves.
The duo describes the lounge-psychedelic sounds of the single “It’s all over now” as the Beatles favoring Margaritaville instead of India. It’s a great line and a brilliant description. In other words, here is a group possessing all the musical abilities to recreate heavenly sounds and little of the ambition to change the world with them.
“It’s all over now” is grandiose, pretty, and silly. It’s a symphony composed in a hotel bar, written on lipstick-stained napkins.
