Fluxblog Weekly #60: The Kills, Kip McGrath, Cass McCombs, Colleen Green, Ariana Grande
June 13th, 2016
Questioning Everything
The Kills “Whirling Eye”
The Kills have always eagerly embraced artifice and glamor, but in a way that more about deciding who you want to be rather than pretending to be something you’re not. They project an atmosphere so strong and a vibe so vivid that it can momentarily change your reality: Maybe you’re not smashed in Hollywood at 2 a.m., but you’re there with them in that feeling at the start of “Whirling Eye.” There’s a touch of new wave in this song – not so much that it comes out like pastiche, but enough to feel a bit different from the arty digital blues that Jamie Hince usually plays. It’s a hyper-romantic song, but also somehow very low-key. Alison Mosshart sings everything in this sorta matter-of-fact way, even when she’s belting out the most passionate bits of the chorus, and it makes exciting, profound, sexy things sound totally casual. That’s the fantasy: A life so thrilling it becomes mundane.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 14th, 2016
Just The Same As Clockwork
Kip McGrath “Clock Hands”
Good news, everybody! I’ve found the best chill indie song of summer 2016. The one that will sound perfect when you’re in a backyard, on a roof, in a car, near some body of water, or just walking around with headphones on. The song that will make you feel relaxed and friendly, but also just a little bit melancholy. They always need that vague note of sadness because you’re always supposed to be aware that the moment is fleeting. These songs take many forms, but this time around it sounds sorta like a groovier version of The Smiths fronted by Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab. I didn’t even know I wanted that!
“Clock Hands” is about embracing change in life, and knowing that as some things end, others can begin. “Take the clock / turn back the hands / let love in your heart again.” It’s a simple and sweet sentiment, and it’s delivered with just the right bit of empathy and realism. The song knows that is easier said than done, but it’s worth it to try and it’s always a good idea to open yourself up to new experiences and new people. As a wise man once sang, “what comes is better than what came before.”
Buy it from Bandcamp.
June 15th, 2016
Repelled And Pulled
Cass McCombs “Opposite House”
The lyrics of “Opposite House” suggest a living situation so narrow and cut off from the outside world that it’s brought on a sort of madness, but the sound of the song feels rather open and airy. There’s an indication that the space in one’s mind can be very different from physical reality, and that can in turn warp your sense of a confined room. To the singer of this song, there’s a whole world in this small home, and his endless time alone gives him plenty of time to figure out a way to bring a love back into his life. It’s all a fantasy, but fantasies can be nice.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 16th, 2016
O O O Baby
Colleen Green “U Coulda Been An A”
There’s been a lot of Ramones in Colleen Green’s music all along, but lately she’s made Ramones pastiche the focus of her work. The Ramones aesthetic frames her songwriting skills in a very flattering way, particularly in her talent for expressing her complex neuroses very plainly. By tapping into Joey Ramone’s charming guilelessness, she embraces an earnest vulnerability while dialing down some of the darkest feelings on her last album, I Want to Grow Up. She’s not undermining herself so much as putting a more light-hearted spin on her anxieties. “U Coulda Been An A” is all post-breakup angst, but it’s played like a joke: Hey, you coulda made this work, but whatever, buddy! It’s good to have perspective.
Buy it from Amazon.
June 17th, 2016
Hold The Moonlight In Your Hands
Ariana Grande “Moonlight”
Ariana Grande’s major hits tend to be uptempo and sorta blaring, or force her into pairing up with pop rappers who seem arbitrarily selected and artificially forced into the song. I much prefer her in ballad mode, particularly when she aims for nostalgia and innocence, as on “Moonlight.” The song is extremely sweet and sentimental, and though she subverts the old-fashioned qualities of the tune with some contemporary slang, it’s pretty clear that she’s whole-heartedly embracing the naive romance of it all. Grande’s voice is lovely on this, and nicely balanced between straight-forward emoting and nuanced elegance. I like that she opens her new album with this song – other artists might sequence this sort of song at the end, but she’s wise enough to know that this is exactly the sort of showcase for her voice that ought to be your entry point into a record.
Buy it from Amazon.