
The Moss – The Place That Makes Me Happy
Similar artists: Krooked Kings, Kevin Morby
Genre: Indie Rock
As long as rock stars exist, they’ll dream of escaping their boring life at the top, finding meaning and really living. That’s a common premise in comedies, too. A famous actor or musician escapes the constraining grip of management and business partners and meets some regular slobs who really teach them about life.
In fact, almost all of the great rock records are escaping to a more enviable place. The folk-rockers like Bob Dylan and The Band dreamed of moving to the country. The English punk-rockers thought life would be alright in the Jamaican Sun. Prog-rockers could only be satisfied by imaginary worlds. And even Lou Reed or The Strokes envisioned a New York City that was infinitely more exciting than the real version of it.
The Moss’ “The Place That Makes Me Happy” is a charmingly chaotic little pop record about getting stoned in the forest and finding your purpose. It’s a tune that gets by on charm, as well as high-end production that ought to give this every opportunity to be a success. In the end, this guitar-driven pop tune is here to give us what we need: hope that there’s a place out there for us freaks, too.
Wolftrap – fucked up blues
Similar artists: Andy Shauf, Angus & Julia Stone
Genre: Indie Folk, Folk rock, Lo-fi Rock
Wolftrap believe in a life of rugged endurance, but it’s not something you’d gather on first encountering the duo. In fact, there are popular schools of thought at the moment praising the importance of choosing the hard road through life. The Stoics have made quite a comeback. Modern survivalists who live by eating worms out in the woods have millions of fans. And folks are trying to join the Marines for fun.
That’s all well and good. Perhaps all of us need to prepare ourselves for the worst of times just as we are ready to greet the most beautiful days. But what about smiling through it? None of the stoics or survivalists talk about having a sense of humour. Facing hardships without it truly sounds grim.
Wolftrap’s “fucked up blues” sounds like the music of people who have been battered and bruised but still find amusement in everything that has happened. There’s gallows humour not only in the words that are perfectly song in unison by the well-blended vocals. You can even hear it in the quirky chord progression and the 60sesque arrangement. A beautiful, funny song about beautifully sad times.