Secret Monkey Weekend – So Much Joy
If there’s one thing in this world that doesn’t need saving, it’s pop music. Maybe that’s because, unlike other art forms, pop really doesn’t require a user’s manual, profound explanations, or history lessons in order to understand.
The only thing that pop music has to do to be a success is to get stuck in your head. And, in order to achieve that, it may use any kind of tricks and strategies. That’s something that Secret Monkey Weekend have learned to do well.
But don’t all musical artists want to be heard and loved for their work? Yes, the vast majority. But among them, there are many who are unwilling to put the audience first. You want a crowd to adore you? Give them something to hum, chant, and belt out.
Secret Monkey Weekend is operating using the power-pop motifs that made bands like Cheap Trick or The Cars the favourites of so many radio listeners. “So Much Joy” is purposely created as a retro-rock proposition, as something you might have been able to hear on the radio decades ago. But the real surprise ends up being that when a band manages to produce powerful pop hooks, it simply cannot sound old hat.
Hbiba – Something Here
It’s not our fault for liking music so much that we almost forget about it. Great passions have a tendency to become repetitive habits. But it’s simply the way we’re built. We’re greedy and hard to please.
You can’t expect to cry at hearing your favourite song every time, unless, somehow, you get to relive the first time. Hbiba’s music is about that. It’s about losing something dear for so long that, when regained, it’s an overpowering feeling once again.
The rest of us will just have to learn to deal without our heroes for a while. The next time you’ll find them, it might be by accident. Some radio stations may be playing that aforementioned favourite song and, guess what, you may start to weep again.
Hbiba’s “Something Here” is inspired by the feeling of regaining something dear. But it’s also a meditation on the act of listening to music in itself. The choppy dream pop sound feels alien, otherworldly. It feels like someone is explaining through an example what a pop song is. If you find this amazing, it’s because the entire experience is outstanding once you really think about it. There’s magic there, even if we sometimes forget that this is how it all works.
