The Morning Herald – Under The Roof
Genre: Post Rock, Indie Rock
What is now referred to as classic rock had a lot of rules involving clothes being worn, the subjects being discussed, and the sounds being used. Today, it is largely viewed as the good-time music of the 1970s, a somewhat unfair characterization. What is true is that loud guitar music has lost the Pop Wars out of a stubborn desire of refusing to change with the times.
With so much technology capable of replacing the work of the best technicians in the music world, others set about using it. The new breed of musicians wasn’t averse to using cutting-edge tools, nor to quoting the kind of pop hooks that could get concert goes to swing their beer bottles in unison.
The Morning Herald’s Under The Roof belongs to that kind of world. You might call this indie rock. Everyone else does. There is, however, nothing independent or avant-garde about this. Quite the contrary, and to its benefit, Under the roof sounds like a guitar band making pop music for the radio. These could have been the folks rocking over-the-top solos and lyrics about girls and cars. Instead, they moved with the times and created something that belongs on a present-day pop playlist, not in a restaurant chain’s museum.
Sister Void – Eye
Genre: Gothic / Dark Wave, Shoegaze, Alternative Rock
It’s easy to feel confused. That’s the normal state for most of us as we go about our daily business. It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed or disconnected from the rest of the world. In fact, the business of feeling different to that is where the real challenge lies. However, accurately capturing these feelings in art is difficult.
Only the greatest are able to do a convincing job. The others merely type away, hoping that their innermost feelings will connect to the public. They rarely do. It’s easy to feel trapped. It’s difficult to say it in a meaningful way.
For the most part, when it comes to modern music, the audience will choose happy songs over the ones that are sad. This is not merely done out of mere escapism. It’s not that people cannot relate to feeling sad. Simply, it’s the fact that few songwriters are able to convincingly summon those feelings.
Sister Void’s Eye is a claustrophobic rock song. The verses, led by a tense instrumental and the murmured vocals of the singer feel like being led through a long, unlit tunnel. The chorus, however, provides the much-needed rocking relief. Eye manages the rare feat. It makes feeling disoriented attractive, and it tells the story in a believable way.
