Red Mouth – Heflin Hollis
Genre: Punk, Stoner Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, The Cramps, Crime and the City Solution
Red Mouth look for quirky, barroom moroseness on the song Heflin Hollis.
Playing the bad guy is, according to lore, the most fun that an actor can have with their clothes on. The ones that are good at playing villains rarely are picked to pick anything else, and rarely are out of work. More importantly, they don’t often use a passion for their work.
Being given the permission to do wrong, or at least, pretend to, can be very fun indeed. It’s because of this that new heroes, or, rather anti-heroes, have emerged in music. The likes of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, or Van Vliet are no longer weirdos whose fate is to be avoided. They’re the musicians who have received the license to do pretty much as they please.
With that in mind Red Mouth set to work on stoking the fire on their live single, Heflin Hollis. The song plays out like the scene of a modern play or a drunken barroom scuffle. It’s all preachers and brimstone as the band dances across a rhumba beat with the confidence of the actors who know that their character won’t get axed this season either.
The Tapples – Streets in the Evening
Genre: Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Similar artists: The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Counting Crows
The Tapples sound like the rockers that you’d actually want as your neighbours on the single Streets in the Evening.
Nice guys finish last. But, where’s everyone hurrying to anyway? Where is everyone looking to get to that’s so important? Strange as it is, in the endless shuffle to finish chores and run after paper, rock music has allowed itself to be swollen as well.
It’s a real shame. Most artists now feel the need to try and live up to this phantasm of creative people as beleaguered, ragged figures. Most rockers are in on the take. Their way to their paycheck involves a ritualistic parading of their chains and leather jackets, and fake tales of their days spent in rehab.
The Tapples sound like people removed from that reality on Streets in the Evening. They like their tunes sweet, and their melodies powerful and obvious. They seem to make music that makes them feel good and, dare I say it, even hope that their audience feels the same way. There is nothing cynical about it though. It’s just an understanding and appreciation of just how sweet rock music can sound sometimes.
