Jack Quit the Band – N&F (Looking up at the 90s)
Similar artists: Glocca Morra
Genre: Math Rock, Indie Rock
There’s not one single person who isn’t living in the moment with the realization that in the future, they will be missing it, no matter how pointless the present seemed to be at the time. This is what the brainy Norwegians from Jack Quit the Band are trying to capture with their ode to the 90s and to the inevitability of change.
This is something brave and especially rare coming from rock bands. Generally, these organizations are supposed to stay the same. If musicians achieve even an ounce of success, the deal is that they’re expected never to sound or look differently from the way they did when they achieved the success. It makes for a pretty sad spectacle watching 70-year-olds touring their teenage hits.
Jack Quit the Band’s “N&F (Looking up at the 90s)” is part nostalgia, part diary entry, and part modern math rock flexing. The lyrics and vocal lines are written in the most direct way possible, in a way that a friend would advise you to tell let go of the past. The music is written in the most indirect way possible, looking for solutions where there aren’t really problems. The result is fascinating.
Ponta Preta – Real Countdown
Similar artists: Allah-Las, Night Beats, Mystic Braves, Natural Child
Genre: Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Pop Rock
If you could go back on the past, what would you do? Surely, you wouldn’t just hang around having drinks and chatting to people. Hell, you could just do this in your own time and feel miserable by it. No, you’d take advantage of all of the things that you know about those time. You’d bank on your knowledge. That’s what Ponta Preta do with their brand of smooth retro-rock.
To be fair, this pull toward the past is particularly powerful in certain areas that have improved little over the years. Pop music is one of them. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who benefit from working ears. With so little attention being given to the artistry of making pop music, it’s only natural that many of us wish we could make use of a time machine.
Ponta Preta’s “Real Countdown” sways gently into the warm psychedelia of the golden age of pop music. It’s a tender look at the past, however. The sweet, funky, almost George Michael-like chorus proves it. This is music meant to make you dream and dance, dreaming of better times that may have passed us by, or, with luck, may just be around the corner.
