Two Strikes – The Watcher
The majority of us have stories read to us as children. That shapes our attitude towards the world, its dangers, and the possibilities that life has to offer. But, most importantly, it teaches us how to listen to stories and, perhaps, how to tell some ourselves.
It’s debatable whether we’d view stories in quite the same way without that training. But my instinct suggests that things wouldn’t change dramatically. The famed Kasper Hauser, who claimed to have been brought up in total seclusion in a dungeon, had quite a way of spinning a yarn about his life.
What stories, and, indeed, jokes, songs, etc., have in common is that they don’t reveal everything on the first page. Ideally, they give you a show before telling you how it ends. They could do it faster, just like a news headline would. But using that strategy saves you from laughing or crying at the end and dropping a coin or two into the hat of the storyteller.
Alternative rock is a musical genre that expertly creates tension and solves it before you think that you won’t be able to take any more of it. Two Strikes, a band deeply inspired by 90s alt-rock dynamics and the genre’s rocking melodrama, uses that formula very well on “The Watcher.” Of course, there’s another secret weapon worth noting. That is the singing. Gritty and highly emotional, the vocals help elevate the songs and assist in smoothing the landing. This is the kind of emotional rollercoaster you need, and the kind that will have you getting back on.
Late Check Out – Control
I am naturally suspicious of rockstars who are happy to be defined by the cars they own, the supermodels they’ve married or the feel-good hits that they produced. I’m sure meeting them for a drink would be fun for an hour, or two. But being forced to be in their company must be draining. Think of all the effort they need that they, and their close confidants, need to exert just to maintain those positive vibes.
That wasn’t supposed to be the job of rock musicians. Who said that they just needed to keep people happy, themselves included, at any expense? Weren’t they supposed to be controversial and have average Joes look on them with suspicion? At the very least, they were supposed, through their songs and behaviour, to make fans question some of the aspects of their lives. They were supposed to make listeners wonder if they were truly free and what to do about it.
In this year of electoral battles, it’s been damn near impossible to ignore politicians, what they’re selling and the power that they have to sell things. Late Check Out would like you to, at the very least, wonder why things need to be this way. But the band’s new single, “Control,” isn’t preachy and doesn’t sound like a bummer either. Nah, the band’s alt-rock and post-punk are catchy, filled with energy, and play the part of the memorable single, which actually means something. It’s a rarity these days!
