Keeper – Change
Genre: Pop Punk, Cloud Hop, Emo Hip-Hop
Similar artists: Lil Aaron, Neck Deep, nothing, nowhere
Nostalgia is a terrible thing, especially when it comes to music. Practically, every style that ever got to enjoy its time in the spotlight has been given a short moment in which to enjoy similar scrutiny years from its golden years.
Modern emo is one of the most surprising styles to make a comeback, not least of all because of the modern, fresh ideas being brought by the artists responsible for this revival. From the production to the playing, to the hooks, these artists are not merely looking to make a spectacle of themselves, but build a lasting connection with their audience.
There are some who might scoff at Keeper’s trendy, occasionally juvenile single Change. However, it takes an embrace of new, fresh ideas to really create a dent on the charts and this group has the fearlessness to approach music-making this way.
Scraggleface and the Trash Folk Experiment – Otherside
Genre: Pop Punk, Indie Folk, Indie Rock
The history books talk about how special the original rockstars truly were. They didn’t drink their coffee like any of us other losers do. They didn’t go to the kind of bars that regular folks visit. And, naturally, they only soaked up influences from the kind of occult sources that would require membership into the world’s most exclusive club of magicians.
That’s a great story. The only problem is that it’s false. Great music is made by regular people. The ones that manage to move enough people are placed on a pedestal and their actions are judged as tremendously special.
It takes the music of the likes of Scraggleface and the Trash Folk Experiment to remind us of the gift of being able to write, perform, or simply witness these being done by our peers. Truth is best delivered by the people that you are almost likely to believe and this is what this is folk-punk outfit manages to do on the single Otherside.
