Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Mia and Mia

Sick to death of my dependence,
Fighting food to find transcendence.
Fighting to survive.
More dead, but more alive.
Cigarettes and speed to live,
And sleeping pills to feel forgiven.
All that you contrive, 
And all that you're deprived.

I mentioned Ted Leo yesterday, and it got me thinking about him, so let's do something of his shall we? Having no idea where to start, as I'm a fan of just about everything he does, we'll go with "Me and Mia", a song that illustrates the best of what he brings to music; thoughtful and clever songwriting paired with a hard hitting yet upbeat pop rock sensibility that is unmatched in my opinion. There's a lot I more could say, but I'll let the music speak for itself. Give it a listen.

If you like this, you can pretty much pick up anything he's done and go from there, but I'd also highly suggest catching him live if you can. His shows are always entertaining and he's one of the best live acts around.

Upcoming Shows

Albert Hammond, Jr. - Losing Touch

Happy here? The rest's a wreck!
Strangers come, the night begins
Silence weighs a thousand tons
Her youth describes, you're lost in it

Albert Hammond, Jr. has been around for awhile but is new to me. In fact, I don't think I'd ever heard any of his stuff until a couple months ago when "Born Slippy" came up in my Spotify Discover Weekly (yeah, another DW find, nice!) I was thinking to myself, "hmm, is this a new Ted Leo song? And what's up with his new sound? It's great!"

I found out quickly that he was responsible for The Strokes' keyboard and guitar, which is awesome, but didn't know much more. Turns out he's been doing great solo work for about 10 years now! And he's a fashion designer to boot. Makin' it work, people.

I love finding "new-to-me" artists and Albert Hammond, Jr. is a great one; I've been digging through his back catalog and really digging it.

Upcoming Shows

Death Cab for Cutie - Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)

I know it's such a dangerous place
For there are more ascensions than there is space
Angels causing accidents
The camera phones'll document
But if I start to levitate
Pull me down with all your weight

Death Cab for Cutie are extremely well known for a band that still considers itself "indie" (maybe that's the Seattle in them). Despite their ubiquity, this track is the first one that I put on a playlist and keep repeating. Weird, I know, but that fact has made me go back and find fresh appreciation for their previous releases, including tracks from Ben Gibbard's short-lived electro-pop band The Postal Service, and discovering that DCFC's video for "You Are a Tourist" made history in 2011 for being the first live, scripted, one-take short film/video.

Something to look forward to if you're going to a festival this summer is the possibility that Lauren Mayberry (of Chvrches) will join Gibbard and company on stage for a song. That happened twice last week  - Wednesday in South Carolina and again Saturday at the Firefly Festival in Delaware.

Upcoming Shows

Two Door Cinema Club - Are We Ready? (Wreck)

I saw the world today
It comes in green and gray
Refrigerator humming
Chewing gum and instant karma
The wars are whoring
All the stores are bored with all your money
We follow what's to come
That's what they sold to me

Woot! New Two Door Cinema Club after practically four years of waiting. The full album coming in October is promised to contain a lot of reflections on modern society, as seen here, and musically influenced by "Prince, Bowie, Miguel, Kanye West. All the greats." Haha, I can't wait! Aaaand, can't wait to see them live (my first time) at ACL this fall. 

Upcoming Shows

Greyhounds - What's On Your Mind

I tried hard as I can, but I can't seem to understand.
Even though you know what you want, baby, you can't tell me right up front.
I try to search for the answer hidden in your secret codes.
Why do you always say yes when you really mean, no?

Let's keep the groove going, shall we? Actually, you know what? Let's kick it up (or down, depending on your idea of groovy) with "What's On Your Mind" by Greyhounds, an R&B (etc.) outfit from just down the street from where I live. That's Austin, Texas y'all.

I've not had a chance to really listen to their newest effort, "Change of Pace", but if it's anything like their previous, it'll be funky, soulful and fun; a real butt wiggler.

Upcoming Shows