Rob Osenton – Together Alone
Some newly released tunes just sound old. That is because some of them are tailored that way as if the Gods of the streaming services themselves got together to endorse a band that sounds like your favourite oldies. Other times, it’s because, effortlessly, the melody, the guitar, the lyrics, what have you, sound like a classic.
The main melodic hook for “Together Alone” by Rob Osenton is like that. It should make many top songwriters angry for not beating Mr Osenton to the punch. It’s such a pleasant hook, in fact, that he could have as well recited the dictionary and the song would lose little of its appeal. Make a note to watch out for the clever key change half-way through the song.
Underneath a warm wave of distorted guitars, the songwriter muses about people’s growing disconnect from each other. The idea that togetherness cannot be left out of the human equation is a noble sentiment. Many share the same idea, especially those that are active in creative fields. The line about people being on their phones is likely not to age well. But, still, here we were in 2020, and that’s not even the biggest of our problems.
Signs of Progress – Bones Exposed
Signs of Progress sound like they stole the book on pop-punk songwriting essentials and have been sleeping with it under their pillow ever since. Yep, they’ve studied the masters and are now able to produce their own brand of energetic, confessional pop-punk.
Bones Exposed begins with an aged, well-test guitar tone to the power-chord lead riff. And, there’s even some convincing feedback noise added on top of that, but make no mistake. Signs of Progress are going for a modern, clean pop-punk sound.
The lyrics deal with the touchy subject of mental illness, and with the difficulty of breaking free of destructive mental blueprints. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The soaring chorus brings things back to a hopeful place.
Punk rock has found many at the times that they needed to be found the most. Signs of Progress may do the same for people who’ll resonate with the group’s honesty.
