Hey kids, it's that time again! Time another 5 Songs You Need to Hear! This week I will be focusing on songs and artists that are new and original but hearken back to styles and eras gone by. Maybe you're like me when you first heard Bruno Mars sing "Uptown Funk" and you thought, Isn't that "Jungle Love" by Morris Day & the Time? So if you like your new stuff to sound old, this is your week! Let's get crackin'...
1. One Heart - Leftover Cuties. I absolutely love this band. They are a very convincing throwback to the old prohibitionist era speakeasy jazz clubs of the 1930s. For a band whose sound evokes smoky nightclubs from a black& white movie, they are a breath of fresh air and color on an otherwise dreary musical landscape. Be sure to check out their brilliant cover of Elvis' "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" on their YouTube channel. If you like this and want more I can highly recommend any and all of their CDs available anywhere fine music is sold.
2. The World (Is Going Up In Flames) - Charles Bradley. Fast forward to the 1960s R&B era of singers like James Brown and Otis Redding. Man, nobody makes music like that anymore... except Charles Bradley. This cut sounds like it could have been recorded in 1965 in the height of Viet Nam, civil rights marches, and cold war paranoia. It is eerily relevant today, hinting that maybe we have not progressed as far as we'd like to think. When it comes to making raw, authentic, soul music, we need progress no further than Mr. Bradley. Again, you;re welcome.
3. North Side Gal - J.D. McPherson. There's been a lot of guys that have tipped their hats and acknowledged their debt to pioneers of rock'n'roll like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the like. But very few have done it so convincingly as J.D. McPherson. He doesn't want to pay homage to these guys, he wants to be them. And he is very, very good at it. The Stray Cats wish they had this guy's chops and authenticity! File this in your collection between "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Lucille."
4. Mr. Magic - The Majorleans. There is something about this song that takes me back to the late 70s. You know that scene in Pixar's Ratatouille where the food critic tastes the food and he is immediately transported back to his childhood, and all these vivid memories of sounds, smells, sights, people, emotions coming rushing back to him? That's what this song does to me. The opening guitar riff comes on and I feel like I'm back in my bedroom in 1977 listening to 96Rock in Atlanta. It sounds like elements of Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, and Dire Straits all rolled into one song. Now, this is a rare case where I cannot fully recommend this band in general, but I do love this song. I apologize for the lack of any good video, but just listen to the track and pay no attention t the lack of pictures. :-) Enjoy!
5. Wait for the Summer - Shake Some Action. I have been waiting for just the right moment to share this band. 80s retro bands are in vogue right now and there are a million I could have chosen, but Shake Some Action hold a special place in my heart, Why? Because they sound so much like my old band, Jacob;s Trouble. This is the kind of thing we loved best when we first started out. Jangly, shimmery guitars, sunny melodic harmonies that hearkened back not only to the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Monkees, but the bands that tried to sound like them in the Eighties: R.E.M., Guadalcanal Diary, Let's Active, Hoodoo Gurus. Those were some amazing times for me and the music that would play such a big part in my life. The truly cool music fans will recognize the band name as a song title from power pop pioneers the Flaming Groovies. And true to the name, Shake Some Action carry on the fine tradition of making melodic, bright, fun pop with some punch.
Alllllllllllll-righty then. You know the drill. Get busy. Listen. Buy. Share. Support great new music wherever you find it so that it will still be there when you go to look for it. And as always, please feel free to share with me any new exciting musical discoveries you happen to come across. Who knows, you might see it here one week as one of the 5 Songs You Need to Hear!
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