The Dissenters – The Doctor’s Back in Town
If nothing else, rock n’ roll offers an endless supply of cheers, shouts and screams in the face of a harsh and unforgiving world. And, while that’s certainly something, you wouldn’t exactly know that it still existed if you were keeping up with the songs still generating likes, impressions and a few measly cents on the streaming services that now dominate the day-to-day of recording artists.
What can songwriters still pen songs about? If they’re famous, wealthy ones, they could write about their maids or get chauffeured around. If they’re busy trying to get famous, they could write about working day and night to fool the Spotify algorithm. Yet, there are The Dissenters who still have a bit of that old–fashioned despair with them, that feeling that tomorrow might never come.
The first thing to notice about “The Doctor’s Back in Town,” is that it’s a well-crafted punk-rock tune complete with hooks and good dynamics. The second, and even more important, is that it’s got soul and an opinion about life that extends past shouting about how the governments are out to get us. There are things out to get you in far faster than crooked officials, and The Dissenters just have a way of rebelling even in the face of what seem like hopeless odds. “The Doctor’s Back in Town” is a powerful rock song.
Electric High – Lover Lover
There are plenty of musicians who spend countless hours trying to understand what makes a song or a style of music work. They dissect the tunes, analyse chords and melodies, and draw complicated charts.
Much the same way, record labels obsessed with turning out hits will employ these musical analysts, along with an army of statisticians, producers, and experts in human psychology. Their findings may cost a fortune, but always feel like something you should already know.
Some genres of music, when executed properly, just sound kick-ass. They make you feel like riding around in a fast, new automobile. Garage-rock is chief among those genres, and the areas of the world that best recreate the thrills that this style used to provide are Japan and Scandinavia.
You’d never know it from hearing them, but Electric High are a Norwegian band. They’ve specialised in heavy-duty garage-rock that U.S. and British classic rock radio favours. “Lover Lover” is a dynamic, well-produced song with angry lyrics about being abused, but getting the last laugh. It sounds like music that will end up on the soundtrack of a computer game where you can drive cars off cliffs.
