The Last Man – Resonator
The world’s a funny old place, and so are the people in it. There are so many ways to avoid bad news, political propaganda, or clever marketing ploys. But nearly none of us choose to walk out. We keep coming back for more, as if the next piece of news, the next charismatic figgure, the next politician election will be the thing that saves us all.
Therefore, we are drained. Exhausted and forgetful of what we wanted in the first place, we move through the world one piece of news at a time. You can bet that folks are connected at all times to the news, whether real or fake, age as quickly as badly as miners or the folks driving taxi cabs in New Delhi. Since nearly none of us have taken the escape route, what is there for us to do?
If there’s still one place to take the bad energy and deliver it out into the world, it’s art. Rock music is a particularly fertile, emotionally charged art form. It’s created through certain rules, though, of course, and The Last Men understand and work within those parameters. “Resonator” is rock music for dark mornings on lonely highways or for long, sleepless nights in empty beds. The powerful riff and distorted vocal tone work together to create a sound that is modern anxiety itself, but also one of its few remedies. If you ain’t run away yet, there’s an alternative.
A Weekend at Ramona’s – I Never Get It Right
Universities all over the world introduced classes designed to teach young artists how to maneuver the tricky, murky waters of business. That was a while ago. Now, if you bump into any of the professors, and if they care enough to lend you their time, they’ll try to talk you out of a career in art. In fact, should you tell them that you actually want to become a rock musician, they may just walk away laughing.
Still, how many things can you and your friends get together and collectively work on that will change people’s minds? How many things are you able to do that will get folks to become entirely focused on what you have to say while they sway from side to side and tap their feet? Making music, if seen from this angle, is nothing short of a superpower.
It’s a superpower that anyone can grow within themselves. It’s especially potent once you get rid of commercial expectations and outside influences. Take A Weekend at Ramona’s, for example, and their alternative-rock stomp of “I Never Get It Right.” It has the authors’ fingerprints all over it, and it’s a song designed to mine the potential of vintage 90s alt-rock while creating a rich, modern sound. There’s a dynamism to the music and a real sense of urgency. And, most importantly, it’s music that should have an effect on you from the first seconds of hearing it. If that’s not some kind of superpower worthy of anyone’s full attention, what is?
