Rum Buffalo – Spark Dreamer
Similar artists: The Stranglers, Bloc Party
Genre: Post-punk, Indie Rock
Like the road, you take to and from work, modern pop music offers few surprises apart from the occasional disaster. You can only get excited about the scenery so many times, after all.
It’s not just the decoration that feels like it’s been left in place since two Christmases ago. It’s also about where the road is going. Where once musicians had the gull to believe that they could explore previously unknown avenues, mostly everyone has given up on trying.
Is pop music too formulaic? You bet it is. Down to the snare drum sound of a hit record. Producers, very often, are nothing more than the technicians tasked with xeroxing successful songs.
Rum Buffalo might be playing a version of pop music, but on Spark Dreamer you get the sense that they have no idea where this will all lead them. There’s a sense of exploration that gives this a sparkling feel and a lack of concern for convection that makes us want to praise their work.
The Money War – Was It Ever Really Anything?
Similar artists: Dope Lemon, Holy Holy, Meg Mac, Gang Of Youths
Genre: Folk rock, Indie Rock
People who turn to pop music are usually very bored. This makes them perfect customers to repetitive, unoriginal sounds but generally unreceptive to anything that is new, cutting-edge or simply brimming over with life experience.
Nobody can create for an inexistent audience and hope for anything resembling success. The most cynical ones are those that play upon the weaknesses of those just barely listening while keeping their wallets open.
Those a bit more honest and courageous will color around the contour. They’ll offer just a bit of well-needed familiarity before diving into the ideas that really make them passionate about making music.
The Money War’s Was It Ever Really Anything? Is about as sweet as a summer single can be. Still, there’s a weight on the shoulders of the musicians, and it’s only the making of these beautifully crafted pop tunes that will allow them to work through their issues. It’s deceptively simple but with a deep mosaic of ideas lying just underneath the surface.
