The Intemperate Sons – Going Crazy
Genre: Post-grunge, Hard Rock, Grunge
Musicology nerds and Frank Zappa hated garage-rock music with a passion. How could they not? The very best rock songs are able to do with three chords and a distortion pedal which most of these trained musicians can’t do if given two hours of your time.
They knew it. It bugged them. Their answer was to learn more exotic scales, create larger groups and, in the case of Zappa, rely heavily on dad jokes.
The great ones get by much more easily and with their dignity intact. This can be seen by The Intemperate Sons’ Going Crazy. It’s a song that sounds written on the spot. And, that’s one of the reasons why it’s great. Good ideas should be documented while they’re fresh and The Intemperate Sons do this here.
Shelf Lives – Shock Horror
Genre: Post-Punk
Similar artists: Death Valley Girls, Le Tigre, Wet Leg, Peaches, Bikini Kill
It’s usually hard to trust an actor or a pop music star. These folks spend most of their lives looking for appreciation. They hope that their opinions will align with those of their employers. They are forced to change with the times in order to remain relevant.
Doing something different is not only discouraged in the entertainment field. Few options remain. One of the only avenues for sincere expression that remains is to make yourself unlikeable and see where that leads you.
Not many bands would venture there but Shelf Lives do on Shock Horror. And, in doing so they may have just caught the elusive zeitgeist that everyone pretends to know so much about.
This is nasty, minimalist post-punk music. The vocals sound bitter, clever. The singer doesn’t sound to be in the market to make any friends. And, similarly to the likes ot Wet Leg or Peaches, it sounds like music devoid of melodies. Frankly, Shelf Lives make themselves hard to enjoy which, in turn, makes them utterly fascinating.
