Cool New Stuff! (Music Review week of 6/25/2012)

This evening, I thought I would get a good jump start on my blog, by rough drafting it on paper (the old fashioned way) out on my deck (I don't have a laptop, and my desktop is in our office on the second floor.   I was going to write about summer songs that me and friends listened to down the shore in the 1970's and 80's.   I got all finished writing, then went inside and wrote down the possible songs that I would add this week, as I do every week.     Brian Sniatkowski's Song of the Week, Public Image Ltd's comeback single, "One Drop", a great song, a no brainer for sure was at the top of the list.    But what I didn't expect was a couple other songs coming in this week would blow my ears off.  So I shelved that blog until another time.  
Last week was also the first week in which I had created my new Facebook group "Scenes 'n' Soundwaves Music Page", and posted my top 20 songs, which I will also get into later.  So for now, let's get into the new stuff.

I've always thought that Public Image Limited (or PiL, for short) was to punk rock like Foo Fighters were (and are) to grunge.   Think about it.    The frontman for both, long-running bands was originally a member of a very short-term, but important band in rock 'n' roll history, featuring a member who died unexpectedly.  Just as Foo Fighters had been around for ever, Dave Grohl's previous band Nirvana, left an indelicable mark in the annals of rock, until their leader Kurt Cobain took his own life.

PiL emerged out of the ashes of The Sex Pistols, who, along with the Ramones defined punk rock as a serious form was music and yes, even the start of alternative rock, as this music contrasts with the arena rock that was prevalent in the mid seventies.    The Pistols featured Sid Vicious who died of a drug overdose in 1978.    It was then that Johnny Lydon (known as "Johnny Rotten" in the Pistols), formed his own band out of the ashes of the Pistols.   The band's initial run, which took them into the early 90's, was influential in its own right, although making very little impact sales-wise in the U.S.: Only half of their eight studio sets made the album charts here (unlike the largely-successful Foos).   Their second effort, 1979's Metal Box, at the high of the first New Wave era, is generally regarded as their best work.   They did do well on Billboard's alternative rock chart (established in 1988), garnering a #1 there with "Disappointed" (from 9), and a #2 the following year with "Don't Ask Me", from their compilation set The Greatest Hits So Far.

But after one more album, 1992's That What Is Not, Lydon put the band on hiatus, when the band's record label refused to pay for the tour.   Writing memoirs, a reunion tour with the surviving members of the Sex Pistols, and a solo album comprised his activity the rest of that decade.   PiL would finally reunite in 2009 for a series of concerts in their native Britain.

Finally, after twenty years, we now have the bands new album, This is PiL, from which the track "One Drop", the top debut at #71 this week, is taken from.   I have to admit that I am not that familiar with PiL's earlier work, but upon this listen it takes me right back to the punk/new wave era contemporaries like The Clash, Undertones, Bad Manners, and others.    Lydon is one of the few singers that can sing the same note many times and can come off as melodic.    I unexpectedly liked this song, so now, for the second time in three weeks, I've featured a band that has been around for over 30 years (The Beach Boys being the other) as the top debut and Pick of the Week.   They are touring, but it's in Europe including many dates in their native UK, nothing so far on any U.S. dates. 

Right behind PiL at #72 is "What Makes A Good Man", by The Heavy. another from across the pond.   The quartet have been around since 2007 and are best known for the song "How Do You Like Me Now", featured in a car commercial.  That song was from their second album, 2009's The House That Dirt Built, and reached #64 on SNS in the fall of 2010.  There is something about this that I like.   While retaining the essence of their prior song, there are retroactive echos reverbing through this one.   With an easy-going beat, the bass tracking recalls the acid rock era, and the harmonies are very late 60's-early 70's R&B mixed in for good measure.   Like the PiL song, this is very infectious, and should be in my Top 20 very soon.    Did I mention it's very catchy as well?  But alas, like PiL, they won't be in this area in the new future....a couple dates in the northwestern U.S. and a few in Europe so far.    But keep your fingers crossed for more.

Finally, completing the trio of new stuff, at #73 is "If I Wanted Someone" by Dawes, a four-member band from L.A.    You might remember their song "Time Spent In Los Angeles", the song reached #27 on SNS last fall.    Both songs lead off their most recent endeavour, their second set, Nothing Is Wrong.   Early this month, my wife and I drove down to Silver Spring MD, to visit our niece, Bailey, who has always been into new, cutting-edge music.   She just set up an apartment down there (she got a job working for the EPA in Washington), and during our visit she had her iPod going, and this album was playing.   I recognized "Time Spent in Los Angeles", immediately, although I didn't recall the band.  During my customary question I as every time I see her "What are you listening to these day", she mentioned Dawes was a new band she was into.    More folk-rockish that anything else (Bailey's primary genre, definitely reflecting the boomer-era rock shared by her mom and myself).     The guitar work does work very well as do the harmonies as well.   Unlike the other two bands, Dawes WILL be playing in this area, opening for Mumford & Sons at Hoboken's Pier A on August 1st.  Two days later they will be at Lollapalooza in Chicago.   And for the first time in a while, I have some music to get excited about, and soon we will see those double-digit "weeks on list" numbers dwindle a bit.


As mentioned earlier, I created a new Facebook music group, where anyone can discuss their favorite stuff they're listening to as well as post their favorite songs.    And it will be my new home for posting and talking about new music as well.   I started things off my posting my Top 20 from last week in countdown form.   With a variety of music, I got some good feedback.    The most popular responses were to Florence + the Machine's "No Light, No Light" (#18 this week), and the long-running "Screws Get Loose" Those Darlins, (#5), plus Grace Potter's "Never Go Back" (#4), Electric Guest's "This Head I Hold" (#12), and of course Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know", (#9).

Also, when someone posts a song on their wall that is on my SNS 100, I will shared it on this page as well.   Two people posted Maroon 5's current single "Payphone", #2 on the Billboard chart this week, and advances on SNS to a new peak of #43.   My chart does consider songs that are popular with friends as well.    If you want to join in on the discussion, please send a request to join this group.  Right now it's open to the public, you don't have a to be a Facebook friend of mine to join it.   The page is called "Scenes'n'Soundwaves Music Page".   See you there.

The top 3 remain intact, with Metric's "Youth Without Youth" heading the list.   The big mover into the Top 20 is the third song from The Kooks, "Is It Me", from their Junk of the Heart set (24-11), and the other newbie there is "That's What's Up" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, also their third entry into the upper echelon.


Scenes'n'Soundwaves 100 for Week of June 25, 2012:

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	1	METRIC "Youth Without Youth" Album: Synthetica (2 weeks at #1)	8
2	2	Maroon 5 - Come Away To the Water	13
3	3	The Shins- The Rifle's Spiral	11
4	6	Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Never Go Back	10
5	4	Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose	15
6	13	Mayer Hawthorne - Henny and Gingerale	6
7	14	The Wombats - Jump Into the Fog	15
8	5	Ty Segall & White Fence - I Am Not A Game	13
9	9	Gotye f. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know	22
10	17	Passion Pit - Take A Walk	5
11	24	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: THE KOOKS "Is It Me" Album: Junk of the Heart	4
12	8	Electric Guest - This Head I Hold	16
13	12	Lady Antebellum - Dancing Away With My Heart	13
14	7	The Decemberists - One Engine	11
15	16	Linkin Park - Burn It Down	8
16	10	Garbage - Blood For Poppies	13
17	15	Jack White - Sixteen Saltines	11
18	19	Florence + the Machine - No Light, No Light	23
19	11	Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup	13
20	22	Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - That's What's Up	8

21	36	Trails and Ways - Nunca	5
22	28	Oberhofer - Away From You	10
23	23	Marriages - Ride In My Place	13
24	21	Silversun Pickups - Bloody Mary	13
25	27	Florence + the Machine - Breath of Life	7
26	32	Best Coast - The Only Place	6
27	41	M83 - Reunion	6
28	26	Eve6 - Victoria	15
29	20	Beach House - Myth	15
30	37	Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side	4
31	29	The Hives - Go Right Ahead	13
32	34	Snow Patrol - This Isn't Everything You Are	10
33	38	Graffiti6 - Stare Into the Sun	7
34	42	Wolf Gang - The King and All His Men	4
35	25	Dante vs Zombies - Natural Disaster	15
36	30	The Black Keys - Gold On the Ceiling	22
37	31	The Offspring - Days Go By	7
38	40	Lost n the Trees - Golden Eyelids	12
39	18	Town Hall - Good Boy	13
40	33	Fitz and the Tantrums - L.O.V.	16
41	35	Dirty Heads - Spread Too Thin	15
42	43	Grouplove - Tongue Tied	28
43	47	Maroon 5- Payphone	7
44	56	The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio	3
45	39	Fun. f. Janelle Monae - We Are Young	30
46	49	Fun. - Some Nights	13
47	51	Phillip Phillips - Home	5
48	66	MOVER OF THE WEEK: THE BLACK KEYS "Little Black Submarines" Album: El Camino	2
49	45	Zach Heckendorf - All the Right Places	11
50	46	The Rapture - How Deep is Your Love	24
51	50	Alabama Shakes - Hold On	15
52	59	Ty Segall - I Brought My Eyes	4
53	61	Train - 50 Ways to Say Goodbye	3
54	64	Beach House - Lazuli	3
55	44	Miike Snow - Paddling Out	14
56	60	The Gaslight Anthem - 45	5
57	57	Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning	10
58	58	Gotye - Eyes Wide Open	10
59	48	Chromatics - Kill For Love	9
60	71	Of Monsters and Men - Mountain Sound	2
61	63	Reptor - Sebastian	5
62	65	Florence + the Machine - Never Let Me Go	16
63	87	Gossip - Move in the Right Direction	2
64	53	Smash Palace - Living It Lonely	9
65	62	Alex Clare - Too Close	7
66	52	Train - Drive By	24
67	54	E'lissa Jones - Best I Ever Had	17
68	55	The Fray - Run For Your Life	10
69	69	Frank Turner - I Still Believe	4
70	70	Katy Perry - Wide Awake	4
71	72	Eric Hutchinson - Watching You Watch Him	3
72	----	TOP DEBUT: PUBLIC IMAGE, LTD "One Drop Album:  This is PiL	1
73	----	The Heavy - What Makes A Good Man	1
74	73	The Phenomenal Handclap Band - Radio Girls	4
75	----	Dawes - If I Wanted Someone	1
76	77	The Tallest Man on Earth - 1904	3
77	98	Matchbox Twenty - She's So Mean	2
78	67	Rachel Allyn- Ain't No Fun	28
79	83	Awolnation - Kill Your Heroes	3
80	97	Dead Sara - Weatherman	2
81	68	Gary Clark Jr - Bright Lights	22
82	90	Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe	4
83	----	The Royal Concept - Gimme Twice	1
84	81	Blind Pilot - Half Moon	5
85	86	White Violet - Lays Around Lazy	4
86	93	Junior Doctor - Oh Oh	2
87	92	Theory of A Deadman - Hurricane	3
88	76	Caveman - Old Friend	22
89	78	Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling	23
90	95	Dr. Dog - Lonesome	2
91	75	The Walkmen - Heaven	4
92	82	Wild Nothing - Nowhere	22
93	----	Emeli Sande - Next To Me	1
94	79	Allo Darlin - Capricornia	6
95	----	Thompson Square - Glass	1
96	----	Rihanna - Where Have You Been	1
97	80	Atlas Genius - Trojans	5
98	84	Haley Reinhart - Free	14
99	91	J.D. McPherson - North Side Gal	4
100	94	Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk	37