Junior Senior made one five years ago with “Can I Get Get Get,” where they asked their fans to send in clips of themselves lip synching the song. And now New York blues rock quartet Wild Adriatic has done a similar bit, though it’s more focused on dancing than lip synching, which is just as well, because there are some women in this clip that you will want to watch as they dance. Take, for example, the adorkable girl dancing in front of the Star Wars poster. She only shows up twice, but she’ll haunt your dreams.
As for the song “Bound to Let You Go,” the lead single from the band’s forthcoming Lock & Key EP (it comes out April 27), well, they’re a blues rock band, so the song is pretty basic, but it’s crazy catchy, employing that chord between chorus and verse that instantly reminded us of the great song “Spooky,” made famous by the Classics IV though if we’re being honest, we prefer the version Atlanta Rhythm Section recorded 11 years later. Anyway, this a fun tune, if a bit oversung here and there (Jeff Buckley would not have made a good blues singer). And the clip is a trip. We love you, Star Wars Girl.
It actually pained us to crop this photo, as Tel Aviv’s Meital Dohan is one yummy slice of cheesecake. And speaking of yummy…
We’re just going to go out and say it: Meital spends the entire video for her new single “Yummy” wearing nothing but thigh-high boots and giant pink boxing gloves. As for the clip, well, if features Ms. Dohan dancing around, punching people along the way. The song is not quite in line with our electronic music sensibilities, but hey, naked girl boxer! Need anything else be said? We thought not. Happy Friday, everyone. Try not to get punched in the face this weekend.
So, you might have heard about this – Axl Rose is asking the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to leave him out when it comes to inducting the band into the Hall in Cleveland Saturday night. And to be fair, we can see both sides of this. The Rock Hall wants to honor one of the most unique and ferocious rock bands to come from a very stale period in rock history (whatever you do, don’t call them hair metal, because they’re not), and they should. The problem is that as far as Axl is concerned, he has a band, and Slash, Duff, Steven and Izzy aren’t in it. Never mind simmering tensions between Rose and various former members of Guns ‘n’ Roses; to attend the ceremony would be akin to stepping out on his current band mates, which is the last thing Axl wants to do at this point. So bowing out in this manner makes sense.
Having said that, it’s silly for him to dismiss the fact that, naming rights aside (it’s my band, I decide who’s a member of Guns ‘n’ Roses, blah blah blah), it was the combination of those five guys that made history. Guns ‘n’ Roses is not, nor ever was, the Golden Palominos, where Axl can just pick and choose people with whom to collaborate from album to album. They were a band, and like it or not, they were at their best when Axl had Duff, Izzy and Slash flanking him. It’s great that he wants to continue to do great things as Guns ‘n’ Roses, but he’d be wise to remember what got him here.
Given the open hostility between Rose and some of his old mates, it seemed fitting to go with “Estranged” here, since he is just that. Happy Friday, everyone. Try to avoid ending up estranged from the people you love, if you can.
Actually, if there is a band whose sound could only be accurately represented by a band name that quite literally screams at the listener, it is IAMDYNAMITE. They’re a guitar/drums duo, but any and all comparisons to the Black Keys end there. These guys are all about the big chorus and the sing-along, with soaring harmonies and thunderous drum tracks. The band’s first single “Stereo,” in fact, reminds us of the late, great John Faye Power Trip, a phenomenal power pop trio from Philadelphia. (Faye continues to record though, under the name IKE.) That wordless vocal hook, among other things, will stay in your head for days. Days, we tell you.
The band’s debut album, the equally loudly named SUPERMEGAFANTASTIC, drops June 5. We’re listening to it right now, and so far, it’s every bit as good as the first single. And just in time to spice up your summer playlists, no less.
The editorial ‘we’ that dominates this column is getting turned off today. It’s my son’s birthday. He’s 5. His two favorite bands are Muse and the Kaiser Chiefs. Like father, like son.
And, as luck would have it, the Kaiser Chiefs have a new single “On the Run,” in conjunction with both Start the Revolution Without Me, the Americanized one-album version of the UK 2011 double-album The Future Is Medieval, and Souvenir, the band’s upcoming singles compilation. If you’ve never seen these guys live, go. Now. I’m lucky enough to have seen them twice, at the 2005 and 2009 Lollapaloozas. They killed it both times.
I asked my son what other song he’d like me to include in this piece. “Knights of Cydonia!” he said. As you wish. Happy birthday, kiddo. How wonderful life is now you’re in the world.
