The Altered Hours – Turn Away
Of course, people are selling songwriting courses where they advise young practitioners of the art to condense their message as much as possible. Listen to them, they seem to say, and you too can have a 20-second TikTok clip rack up millions of views.
And while it’s a good exercise for modern musicians to pay attention to what the market desires, it’s probably not the best thing in the world to treat creative endeavours like soulless business plans solely devised to make money.
The Altered Hours are a nice exception, but the vast majority of modern pop-rock songs are brief, depthless and end much too quickly. They’re designed not to bother or steal too much of your attention.
On the other hand, The Altered Hours, you can tell, have spent a great deal of time and of their creative energy creating a sound on “Turn Away” in which you can get lost for days. This is music that, if given the proper respect, transforms into its own world and, before you know it, pulls you into it. I doubt they’ll be teaching this in the aforementioned courses, but I know that they’re making a mistake by not doing it.
Excuses Excuses – Nothing At All
If you’ve been following the recent season of “Farewell Tours,” you’ll know that in modern rock n’ roll they’ve become a nearly obligatory part of an ageing band’s way of communicating with their public.
But don’t feel sad. Yeah, there are events such as Ozzy Osbourne’s Birmingham farewell that end up being the final act. But that’s a rarity. For the most part, the classic rock bands are just eyeing up strategies to hog the stage a while longer.
Seeing our favourites for as long as possible is something many of us desire. But imagine who we could lose out on while doing this? What happens to all the fantastic new (or newish) bands that need their shot at headlining?
Canada’s Excuses Excuses takes alt-rock ideas and Billy Talent as an example and aims for the top prizes with the single “Nothing At All.” The song tries to summon the won’t-go-down-without-a-fight energy that’s required for songs of this type. But, notably, it’s performed with the confidence of a band that knows it deserves a shot at replacing the old guard. Is there any shame in trying to become the new classic?
