Artists Getting Out and "Doing Their Thing" (SNS week of 7/18/2021)

 This is a bit late, so it will be brief, as I am working on a special series of blog to commemorate , my eleven years of doing this.

We are in the middle of summer, and while COVID-19 is still a threat, what with the Delta variant working its way in, more people are getting vaccinated.    As a result, many artists are doing live shows once again.    I mentioned last week that ScreenAge has been back doing live gigs.   C. Lynne Smith  has been as well, performing in various South Jersey bars, most notably The Reeds Sax Lounge in Stone Harbor.   The Outcrops are out and around, and garnered a mention in an article "10 N.J. Bands You Need to Listen To in 2021".   They have a full schedule in New Jersey and Pennsylvania going well into the fall.   Finally, Tom Corea has been busy, more on that below. And those are just three of the local acts.  Many others are touring once more.

TAG, YOU'RE IT:  Middle Kids' "Questions" re-takes the top spot from ScreenAge's "Going Back", to nab its second, non-consecutive week at the top.   It was a close race with one point separating the two songs.    That makes it the tenth straight week that a female-led band has topped my blog list, and it's possible that the two songs can switch again next week.  In a second tier of songs are another by ScreenAge, "Questions" and Bebe Rexha's "Sacrifice", which switch positions 3 and 4.  Anna Lavigne's "Dare to Dream" forces its way into the top 5, forcing ScreenAge's "Think Again" in to the 6-spot.    Ms. Lavigne also scores the Impact award this week as "Seashore Blues" moves 22-15, giving the Scottish songstress two songs in the top 20.  That seems to be the norm these days as Pageants and Ian Roberts (one solo, one with his band Tinkers Lane), also have two songs in there (not to mention ScreenAge's three).  Positions 7 to 19 are in a logjam, with all but one bulleting, but unable to make significant moves as there is much competition in the top 20, a testament to some great songs.   Also new in the top 20 are the latest by Molly Burch and Christina Taylor.  

BIRD N BURCH:  And it's Ms. Burch, along with Jade Bird who lead the debuts.   Ms. Bird's latest, "Now Is the Time" is another winner.  It's along the lines of her #1 blog hit, "Headstart", with an upbeat pop stance and should continue her streak.  Molly Burch is one who has released a slew of singles every few weeks in advance of her album.  I purposely held this one back a few weeks to let her other songs sink in a bit.  But it's time for this one, "Took A Minute".  This is another upbeat pop romp and further shows Ms. Burch's versatility.  Featured in this video is drag sensation Cynthia Lee Fontaine who competed in RuPaul's Drag Race recently.  Incidentally, Molly's new album, Romantic Images, was released this week and includes all of her 2021 blog his: "Emotion", "Control", the still rising "Heart of Gold", and the new "Now is the Time".   A wonderful talent and a blog fave.

Anyone remember the New York City band, A Place to Bury Strangers?   They had a cool song in 2010 called "In Your Heart".   However, except for 2012's "You Are the One" (#33), I've pretty much overlooked them.  Well, they are back with a cool song, "I Might Have".  While they are referred to as "noise rock", and yes, this song is rather noisy, but in a great way, I love the ambiance effect in their songs, and this one is a perfect example.   If anyone still gets stoned to music these days, this is the perfect song to do it.  The Black Keys follow their #2 "Crawling Kingsnake" with another from their blues-oriented album Delta Kream, with "Poor Boy a Long Way From Home".  It's another awesome jam session from the boys from Akron, Ohio.   The song is a cover of a 1927 by Gus Cannon.  The band probably has alienated their alternative rock audience, but thankfully, they're still doing well on the Triple-A format. 

Tim Izzard follows up his top 10 "Night Nurse" with another from his great Bowie-inspired glam album, Starlight Rendezvous, "Watching For the Man".  Once again, Izzard captures that era nicely.  It's glam rock with a dash of country, and has been getting on various Internet playlists, so I figured it's a worthy follow-up.   I would also like to thank Tim for his constant mentions and postingsof my blog on his Facebook page.   

Next is Jersey girl Phoebe Ryan is back as featured vocalist on Cash Cash's EDM single, "Ride or Die".  Ms. Ryan's voice is a natural for this type of song.   Given that some of her best work was featured by The Knocks and The Chainsmokers, this should do well here....and hopefully give her back that momentum that she deserves.  Staying with Jersey artists, Einstein's Dad follows its top 10 "Driving Home" with another from the "global" band's second album Mario's Dream (are they talking about member Mario Licata?), "See You In the Sun".   More of a ballad this time around, with Steve Roman's usual excellent vocals.  

Speaking of that band, Tom Corea has been very busy this summer.  The Einstein's Dad producer and drummer has been performing live at various festivals and gigs around North Jersey.   Captains of Leisure is a band (Tom describes as "yacht rock") that played a gig in Netcong a few weeks back.   Then there's Terry and the Rockits, one of two bands that Tom had joined before the pandemic hit.   Finally they are out on the road again, set to play in North Haledon on August 28 as part of that town's concert series.    No word on Tom's other band, Billy Penn and the Inside Drivers as of yet.

The final new entry on my SNS 100 playlist is "Foyer" by Wild Nothing, late of that band's participation on Molly Burch's "Emotion".   The Blacksburg VA band scored here with top 10's "Nowhere" and "Shadow" in 2012-13 and most recently with 2019's "Letting Go".  "Foyer", released last year, is a mid-tempo, rather somber, synth-driven song that could shine with repeated listens. 

NEXT WEEK, I will begin a special series, as mentioned at the top of the blog, listing 100 of the artists or bands that have some sort of Jersey connection that have personally affected me over the last 60 years.   I will count down the list of 20 per week.   Stay tuned for that!

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

July 18, 2021

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	2	NUMBER ONE: MIDDLE KIDS "Questions" Album: Today We're the Greatest (2 weeks at #1)	9
2	1	ScreenAge - Going Back	7
3	4	ScreenAge - Questions	7
4	3	Bebe Rexha - Sacrifice●	12
5	6	Anna Lavigne - Dare to Dream	7
6	5	ScreenAge - Think Again●	11
7	7	Modest Mouse - We Are Between	8
8	8	Pageants - Just Tell Me	7
9	9	David F. Porfirio - Day at the  Beach	10
10	10	Dua Lipa - Levitating	6
11	13	Ian Roberts - So Fine Summertime	8
12	14	Tinkers Lane - I Do Love You	10
13	18	Deb Browning - Stop Messin' With My Man	8
14	19	Surfer Blood - Summer Trope	7
15	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: ANNA LAVIGNE "Seashore Blues" Album: Angels in Sandshoes	6
16	12	Pageants - It Might Be Crazy	9
17	28	Cold War Kids - What You Say	4
18	24	Molly Burch - Heart of Gold	7
19	27	Christina Taylor - I Got That From You	4
20	16	Cannons - Bad Dream	11
21	20	Kylie V - On My Mind	16
22	26	The Kid LAROI and Miley Cyrus - Without You	9
23	15	Meg Myers - The Undergroiund	12
24	11	The Black Keys - Crawling Kingsnake	13
25	23	Winnetka Bowling League and Sasha Sloan - Barcelona	10
26	21	Kaleo - Break My Baby	15
27	38	Saint Motel - It's All Happening	5
28	17	Scarabino ft Matt Weiss - Under Your Skin	10
29	25	Fleet Foxes - Sunblind▲	20
30	40	Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen - Like I Used To	5
31	31	ScreenAge - North Star●	14
32	44	Beebadoobee - Last Day on Earth	7
33	33	Molly Burch - Control	12
34	29	Oneiric - Golden Cage	11
35	37	Blake Shelton - Minimum Wage	10
36	35	The Weeknd - Save Your Tears●	23
37	30	Tim Izzard - Night Nurse	16
38	48	Greta Van Fleet - Heat Above	9
39	34	Quarters of Change - Cyclone Trip	18
40	36	The Offspring - Let the Bad Times Roll●	19
41	49	Jack Penate - Murder	7
42	47	R. Mark Black - Whispers (Getting Louder)	8
43	55	Amy Helm- Breathing	3
44	32	Kings of Leon - Stormy Weather	12
45	53	The Band CAMINO - 1 Last Cigarette	4
46	56	Cannons - Footsteps In the Dark	3
47	66	MOVER OF THE WEEK: ED SHEERAN "Bad Habits" (Single Only)	2
48	58	Oneiric - High Spirit	3
49	51	Leon Bridges - Motorbike	6
50	41	Gia Ness ft. Cameron Ness - Love Song	18
51	42	Valerie June ft Carla Thomas - Call Me a Fool●	18
52	39	Einstein's Dad - Driving Home	12
53	59	Liz Phair - Spanish Doors	4
54	43	Pageants - All Bets Aside	14
55	54	Pink - All I Know So Far	5
56	57	Chrissy Roberts and Ralph Capasso - I Play To Win	5
57	65	Sleater-Kinney - Worry With You	6
58	46	Oneiric - The Ride●	19
59	45	Imagine Dragons - Follow You	14
60	60	Braids - Slayer Moon	5
61	68	Oneiric - Grace	3
62	61	The Tragically Hip - Ouch	4
63	74	Lauren Davidson - Silver Linings	3
64	64	The Catalinas - Working on a Groovy Thing	10
65	69	Rave Republic X Kevin Krissen and Fablers ft Matt Weiss - Can I Be the One	5
66	81	King Tappa - Lost in Thought	2
67	---	TOP DEBUT:  JADE BIRD "Now is the Time" Album: Different Kinds of Light	1
68	72	Garbage - Wolves	3
69	52	Twenty-One Pilots - Shy Away	14
70	73	Black Coffee ft. Maxine Ashley and Sun El Musician - You Need Me	23
71	50	The Outcrops - Peace of Mind	11
72	63	Evanescence - Better Without You	6
73	82	Jon Batiste - Freedom	2
74	71	Elle King and Miranda Lambert - Drunk (And I Don'tWant to Go Home)	16
75	87	BreakTime - Rock and Roll Refugee	2
76	---	Molly Burch - Took A Minute	1
77	78	Weezer - I Need Some of That	3
78	86	Twenty One Pilots - Saturday	2
79	---	A Place to Bury Strangers - I Might Have	1
80	79	Taylor Swift ft The National - Coney Island	23
81	---	The Black Keys - Poor Boy a Long Way From Home	1
82	80	Olivia Rodrigo - Brutal	4
83	70	Anna Lavigne - Every Kind of Heaven●	20
84	77	Vance Joy - Missing Piece	6
85	84	Bleachers - Stop Making This Hurt	5
86	85	Dayglow - Medicine	2
87	90	Aaron Lewis - Am I The Only One	2
88	---	Tim Izzard - Watching For the Man	1
89	67	Dua Lipa - We're Good	17
90	---	Cash Cash ft. Phoebe Ryan - Ride or Die	1
91	---	Einstein's Dad - See You in the Sun	1
92	95	Zac Brown Band - Same Boat	2
93	76	Julien Baker - Heatwave	13
94	91	Kjband - The Phoenix	3
95	62	Wavves - Sinking Feeling	15
96	---	Wild Nothing - Foyer	1
97	89	Lorde - Solar Power	5
98	75	LP - How Low Can You Go	16
99	83	Jon Batiste  - I Need You	15
100	101	Morgan Wallen - Sand In My Boots	3

Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.   ● Songs with 25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲   Songs with 50 or more plays.