The Glumlots – Rat’s Nest
It wasn’t like all the good people were doing nothing while preparations for seriously evil machinations were underway. No, for the most part, they were busy trying to look the other way. And, no, it wasn’t because they were evil themselves.
Most folks hope that they never have to worry about terrible deeds, especially if they’re being done to someone else. Most people want to avoid confrontation, particularly if it doesn’t feel like it is something that will impact them directly and immediately.
But evil’s always there and looking for an excuse to reveal itself. People aren’t naturally sociable creatures, but they seem to get awfully chummy the minute that they can join a club that has the job of oppressing a different one. It’s how things are beginning to work nowadays, and The Glumlots are a voice of reason.
In fact, The Glumlots are one of the few voices of reason in this era of information bombardment. The single “Rat’s Nest” takes the temperature on the ground and finds that it’s sizzling. What’s worse, much of the worst is being felt in the country that ought to be a symbol of tolerance for all others. With this direct, passionate punk song, The Glumlots are letting anyone who’ll listen that they won’t stand for it! You shouldn’t either, and you should do your best to let the world know!
NOTADOG – Probably Happy
Somewhere, sitting in the dead of the night with a whiskey bottle in front of his face, there’s a guy sketching plans for a statue of himself. He’s planning to call “Brokenhearted.” He was moved into this artistic foray by a recent breakup with a woman that, he tells his friends, “never got me.” The statue shows a man with stern, rigid features that are partially covered by the collar of a raincoat. He is smoking, of course.
Getting financing for the statue, if a life-sized replica is going to be produced, as intended, will be difficult. But, thankfully, once the booze wears off, he’ll realise that he can just start writing songs about his misfortune instead. He’ll sing it in a gritty vocal tone and call it something like “The Bravery of Going on.” There are a million of them after all. NOTADOG, on the other hand, and fortunately, is not that kind of songwriter.
There are moments while listening to the folk-punk sounds of “Probably Happy,” when you have to wonder if you should even be hearing this thing, if the songwriter should even tell us this story. It’s full of detail, after all, doesn’t leave out the embarrassing parts, and it is heartbreakingly funny to boot. But that’s precisely what helps NOTADOG stand out.
The writer describes a breakup as if it’s the worst thing in the world, and then, like it’s nothing. It’s the rare instance of someone not letting their ego get the best of them while penning this kind of tune. After all, there are enough sketches of James Dean statues living in the sketchbooks of other heartbroken artists.
