Last week Nick Waterhouse and I had a conversation about discovery in the age of the internet. Finding something in the bottom of a record bin has a true feeling of discovery. You actually found it. Finding songs on a website has a different feeling. There is more intention. It's harder for a song to feel like it's really yours and really personal when it feels like it was someone else's first. I want this column to be like a combination of the two. It's a bit like a crate because you can pick up a song if you want to, you can pick them all up, or you can pass on them all. It's also us sharing music with you. Take these songs like they are yours. Love and listen. There will be more to come.
Allah-Las- “Every Girl”
Many rock’n’roll singers have had a difficult time with satisfaction. They seem to burn burn burn like fabulous yellow roman candles, trying to soak up all the riches in life at one time. One drink isn’t enough, one drag isn’t enough, one lover isn’t enough. And that holds true in this song. A young libertine, falls in love with every girl he lays eyes on, never being satisfied with who he is with and lusting after all of them simultaneously, singing that “every girl’s the one for me.” as his band backs him with beachy, lo-fi guitar riffs. Lust and satisfaction have always been central themes in rock’n’roll, and like rock’n’roll itself, they will never die.
The Allah-Las new album, Worship the Sun, will be available on September 16 th.
Listen if you like: The Sonics, The Animals, Temples
Princess Superstar- “Love Light Bliss”
We all show dominant aspects of our personality at different times. Most of the time the dominant aspects of our personality depend on where we are and who we are with. In these different situations, we are not different people, we just show different aspects of our personalities.
When Concetta Kirschner goes on stage, her dominant personality is Princess Superstar. She could be stuffy NYU graduate, or New York vegan, or wordy Mensa member, because she is all those. But when she is on the decks she is Princess Superstar. And I like to think that there is a little princess superstar inside of us all, just waiting for the right situation come out. Unleash your inner Princess Superstar for this song.
Princess Superstar’s new Ep, Firecracker, is out now.
Listen if you like: Upbeat female hip-hop, Chromeo, sassy dance grooves
King Tuff- “Biggest Hearts”
I LOVE this song. First off, it’s straight forward, lo-fi garage rock, which I already have a big soft spot for, but what I really love is what he is saying here. He is saying that even though he looks like a goon, he’s got a big heart. Sometimes rockers want to put up a front and show how masculine and non-affected or womanizing they can be. And I love that this song doesn’t do that. His lyrics are straightforward, honest, open, unpretentious, and sweet. He’s saying that even though him and his crew might look like tough guys, that really, they’re sweethearts. And I love that and have the biggest heart for this song.
THIS SONG DOES NOT EXIST ON THE INTERNET. I got it as a 7” single in the back of issue #3 of The Pitchfork Review. If you want to hear it, which you should because it’s a great song, check the soundcloud link. Tune in at 7:48
Listen if you like: Lo-fi garage rock, Hunx and his Punx, Burger Records
Perfume Genius- “Queen”
Perfume Genius is the project of Mike Hadreas. In the past Perfume Genius has written beautifully about personal issues like his own substance abuse, self-hatred, and the societal struggles of being accepted as a gay man. And he had done those through soft, salient, piano ballads. Perfume Genius’s new song,“Queen” maintains this intimacy, while expanding his sound.
“Queen,” is cracked and peeling, yet strong and powerful, and it seems to prevail even against itself. The verses have a kind of drudging power to them that could be on their way to either total oblivion or complete triumph. The chorus comes in as an alarm, ringing, an emergency sign of approaching devastation, and the end results in an ascending choir, that could signify an ending as much as they could a beginning.
Perfume Queen’s new album, Too Bright will be available on September 22 nd.
Listen if you like: Power, the new St.Vincent album, amazing music videos
Nick Waterhouse’s pick: Dean & Jean- “I Cry”
Nick Waterhouse was in our studio last week. Oftentimes, before bands play in our studio, they will eat lunch in our greenroom, and I chat with them between bites. My conversation with Nick Waterhouse revolved around Raymond Chandler novels and pulp fiction of that era and left me eager to talk with him afterwards. When it came time to talk I was not let down. Nick showed a general apathy towards the music industry, shared his struggle with being a musician in the modern context, and gave me a song that fit just about every aesthetic that I think of when I hear or see Nick Waterhouse.
Listen if you like: Nick Waterhouse, mid 60’s cocktail party tunes, screaming sax