The ongoing rants of one man out to introduce the world to the tunes that inhabit the space inside of that region known as his mind a collection of the songs that have shaped his day, his Song of the Day.
I saw these guy's play an almost completely packed venue in the release for their EP “The Darnedest Things,” and it blew my fucking mind to see these guy's truly get a reception that showed that they are something worth giving a fuck about and that view of them on that stage looking out in a stuffed room playing these songs that spoke to an entire room of people in such a way that I'm not sure they knew would happen made me feel like a dad looking at their child accomplish something they never thought they could do even if I kind of really didn't actively do much of anything for these guy's really it was one of the last times I can immediately think of that has truly stuck with me in terms of show's I've attended.
This song is a blast of early 90's alternative rock aesthetics with some echoing guitar work, a fantastic pacing, and George doing a vocal performance that sends a shiver down my spine because there's just this weird sense I get that this guy finally found his voice and the line, “To Be a fucking weirdo ALL THE TIME!” is just absolutely perfect just a casually expressed cooler than cool delivery that's just so effortlessly done that I'm at a loss for words really.
These guy's go their shit together way better than I do that's for fucking sure and you better see them whenever the fuck you can because I got a good feeling about them especially if they can keep on making stuff this fantastic.
I saw these handsome son's of bitches
just before I started seeing my current girlfriend.
There's no purpose for that statement I
just think it's kind of funny also I remember them playing this song
at that show and months later it did this weird thing for me where it
dropped, I listened to it, thought it was fantastic, forgot about it,
heard it again, and now I can't help but not jam to this summery
little tune.
These guy's are another pop punk kind
of emo group that make the catchiest most easily sing along session
ready tunes you'd ever heard in your entire fucking life and the fact
that they got a pretty devoted local following should come as no
surprise because they know what the fuck they're doing they're just
in need of everyone else coming to realize these bright airy tunes
are what they need in their lives.
This song is subtle it gently lulls you
in before busting out a very energetic and dreamy chorus that makes
you think of riding the bike along a coast line during the summer as
you see a very attractive girl in a sundress walking by and as she
gives you the sweetest smile you've ever seen in your entire fucking
life you're then transported to this cloud like state of euphoria
that you didn't know could exist nor do you ever want it to go away.
If you haven't felt that feeling then
listen to this song, get that feeling, see these guy's live, get your
fucking mind blown, awkwardly hit on a girl, and live your best
fucking life supporting people making great stuff ya fucking asshole.
Yeah that's pretty accurate because I just did not fucking try this year I gave myself a send off of epic proportions and then just been blaring the same things all year so with that in mind there had to be some fantastic things that came out right?
Well yeah and here's the tracks that I personally felt something listening to and remember actively listening to quite a bit in what is some form of an order that while not defined (Minus number 1) should serve as a means of giving this pre-christmas week something else to look forward to so let's fucking do this:
5. Nervous – The Fiction Department
You know when a band does one show a
year and that show happen to be for you?
Well when a band does one show a year and that show happen to be for you, you best god damn believe you
listen to the music they put out especially when it happens to
trickle out at a rate similar to your last few years of being a music
blog and that's what these guy's did when they dropped this demo on
the same day that my end of the day show was suppose to happen and
here we are a little less than a year later and yeah it's a pretty
deep hitting tune for me.
These guy's are modern American Emo
through and through a bunch of young guy's that write some fairly
simple heart on your sleeve tunes that won't be winning any awards
any day soon but they speak to a primal sense of dread that even my
old ass can't help but feel attached to especially when the line,
“Convince myself THIS IS RIGHT WHERE I BELONG!” that shit rings
true people especially when you decide to throw all your past efforts
into a wood chipper and burn it all up, and there's all the weird
personal attachments for me because these guy's really have a lot
that they can do they just seem to be at an awkward place a lot like
myself and it's weird to sit back and listen to this tune and not
feel like it hits closer to home than I think these guy's intended on
it doing.
Yeah this song is a fantastic bit of
emotionally tinged I need purpose in my life pop punk and you don't
need to be a shitty teenager to feel the appeal that's for fucking
sure so go listen to this fucking song and pester the shit out of
this band and convince them to start playing shows again.
Well it happened folks the showcase to end all showcases Song of the day is officially done and last night after much delay due to mother nature not being able to accept the fact of the matter I had the farewell show happen over at Minibar KC.
It was a hell of a showcasing of 3 exceptionally good acts starting with the Fiction Department finally coming out of hiding to rip through a well balanced host of what I feel could be the signs of the next great American emo band from the rip roaring "20 Minutes," to the debut of their exceptional "Nervous," these guy's really put forth a fantastic effort.
Following them in an incredibly timely and efficient matter was The UK's who fucking tore the god damn house down with a well crafted set of mostly newer jams that have really come into their own and become a whole other beast of their own from the fantastic cuts off their newest release American Way of Death to some newer cuts my favorite being Motor City Blackout which is this fucking fantastic rocker of a track that I'm sure will be a fucking banger when they release it sometime in the next century and a half be sure to be on the lookout for that when you can because it's fucking tight.
After that whirlwind of awesome you're wondering what could possibly come next well then we have the Saints of St. Joseph, the men, the myth's, THE LEGENDS OF MODERN DAY Scruffy and "THE MOTHER FUCKING!" Janitors who to put it bluntly brought this to the best kind of finish playing through a host of some of Modeling is Hard's best cuts as well as a new tune that fucking killed it these guy's proved just why they had to headline this bitch for sure.
This night was a weird experience for me because that's it I'm fucking done with this little website of mine and the whole concept of writing a song of the day and looking at this footage it's strange because ever since announcing this I've been asked by a host of people what is next and that I can't really answer for ya I got 9 years of post to use for a resume if I wanted to and maybe if I'd of played my cards a lot better I could be doing some part time work or something but in the process of setting up this show and figuring out how to end this blog I just kind of needed to step away from that and reconsider things and what I can do with my creative energy.
If there's one thing I really can say it's that this night humbled the ever loving fuck outta me because as I'm writing this I'm still having a difficult time coming to grips with the fact that this actually happened like I can watch the videos that I recorded and hear my awful singing along to all of these tracks but it's hard to really grasp the fact that it all happened just because I didn't want this bastard to just die the way as all pet projects with nothing more than a written farewell.
At this point I've said most that I needed to say in regards to the state of Sam's Song of the Day and I just wanted to do one last post to commemorate the end show thanks to everyone who read the years of post and to anyone wanting to know what's next give me a while and I'll be up to something all of the love I have gotten is more than I could honestly ever expect to be deserving of and from the folks at x105.1 shouting out the show twice, to the various bands expressing their appreciation for the nice words, to the bands who played all of the show's I've put together, and of course to all of the people who've ever read song of the day and thought, "You know that is a pretty good fucking song," I thank you all for making this worth it.
I remember a long time ago I was at a show at Minibar and I was talking to one of the local DJ's of the newest alternative music station here in Kansas City and I remember telling him my odd theory in regards to the most likely end result of modern music consumption habits within the next 50 years and him only ever referring to local music as “regional music,” and at the time I was sure it was something he'd been told by an A&R executive from one of the many nation wide studios he was apart of and in the process of trying to come up with something to write about the end of day's headliner that conversation still seems to be present for me and I'll expand upon that in a bit but first let's get to talking about Scruffy and the Janitors as a group.
Kind of like The UK's what we have here is a band that's an end product of the garage rock explosion of the early 00's and if I were to simplify these guy's I'd say they're a lot like Cage the Elephant in that they are this kind of dirty mix of blues and punk that's an unapologetic roughhousing track after track after track with their first Major EP Anglo being chocked full of them from the scorching opening track, "Ms. Crucio," and the popular, "Dirtleg," these guy's were a very no nonsense group of mother fuckers that made music that was very invested in it's roots and unwilling to compromise.
Now fast forward 4 years and a host of life changes then we get to Scruffy of today no longer willing to flesh out their set with Cage the Elephant covers they put those years of relentless touring to use and put out Modeling is Hard my favorite album of last year and what is it that made it that way for me?
Well let's go back to the idea of “Regional Music” for a second and kind of take that into consideration when talking about Scruffy because what they are at the end of the day are 3 guy's from St. Joseph Missouri all in their early to mid 20's trying to make it in a world that's unlike that which their parents lived in a town that I can describe as a city with a small town vibe to it's locals because if you ever see these guy's in their hometown you have a very communal experience of a lot of their closest acquaintances rocking out to a local act, singing along every word, and partying it up like it's their last night on earth because for them it's like a means to kind of escape their small town and partake in something larger than the sum of it's parts and it's that effort that kind of seeps through all of Modeling is Hard it's an album that is starting to move away from the more overt Cage the Elephant tones of a tune like, "Dirtleg," and instead you get a wide variety of sounds from the angry punkish tunes like "The Spins," and "You got hit," the slower more melancholic "Carry Me home," the psychedelic combo of, "Feelings," and "Elephant," and of course the outstanding title track this album reeks of a bunch of guy's that are doing their thing to not only make their own but give a voice to their community of hard working individuals looking to make something out of nothing and this record really brings forth those feelings especially for someone like me that's spent a good chunk of time following these guy's around, talking with them, and kind of inching my way into their community even if I still feel like an outsider looking in.
I can't really overstate just how much this collection of tracks knocks it out of the fucking park people "Flesh and Bone," and "Modeling is Hard," are some of my most listened to tracks last year and they are just some outstanding rift filled rockers that leave me screaming along and banging my head and the combo of "Feelings," into "Elephant," is something to behold whenever they close a set with it just this intense acid trip of a pairing that is like that scene in Dumbo where the elephants are all trippy and cool before things get heavy and fucked up and you find yourself screaming, “FUCK FUCK FUCK,” at the top of your lungs it's quite a god damn hell of a time only to then start all over again depending on how you're listening to this album.
On a more personal note this record is one of those few I've heard in a long time that seemed to fit in a certain place for me that also oddly enough lined up with this story I'd been writing for quite some time as I listened to it I was able to imagine these host of made up characters having intense moments of confrontation to the various tracks of this album and when I hear those songs I just want to put them in motion in some sort of visual fashion so in helping me achieve a goal I've always wanted I can also showcase respect and perspective for a piece of work I find very near and dear and a group of people who I have a lot of respect for their addition to the craft, but alas all I really could do for this project is give it my #1 and 2 year end spots respectively and while that's something that garnered me a whole lot of views I'm not a hundred percent sure if it's even a fraction of a way to explain why you should feel the same way about this collection of tunes and group as I do.
I mean you can go see them on Saturday with me that's a thing that'd be appreciated all around because trust me it'll be a thing for sure and just the way to go out.
Thanks for reading about the 3 chosen acts for my farewell to this blog they're 3 groups of hardworking individuals that I expect to go somewhere in due time and you should come and appreciate them with me because if I'd waited any longer then I wouldn't of been able to have the ability to book them because big things are going to come I can guarantee that for sure.
Oh and on one last note stay tuned for this Valentines day for the last big piece of this website and if a few non-writing related things can fall in place for me I should have something special for after the show but until then have a wonderful day and listen to all these fucking bands!
9 years it's been 9 years since I started Sam's Song of the Day on the Smashing Pumpkins Forums and to think in 8 day's it's all going to be over and done with and that's got me thinking a lot these day's because the anxiety and depression that comes with these things is fucking real people.
This has been quite a wild ride of spending years posting a shit ton of late night random thoughts, trying to come up with a host of songs for various list, telling as many people possible about what I've been doing, and of course 2 house show's that were quite a fucking time and in that time I've done my best to come up with a host of good finishing articles that are to come in the next week where I'll hopefully get a post about Scruffy and the Janitors on Monday and a big Valentines post that is going to be a trip for whoever decides to read.
That's the future though let's talk about now and then because today is SOTD's birthday and while I could post the same song I've been posting the past few years I figured I'd do something different and make note of something else coming to an end.
There's a band I reviewed on here called Goodbye Gravity and they're throwing a farewell show of their own tomorrow and with the ever looming possibility that I won't be able to see their show I figured the next best thing would be to be able to tell you guy's about it and post a song that feels appropriate in a large way to myself and them as a whole and that's their song Strings.
So before I get too into things I can't lie after rediscovering their release Sunday Matinee I can't deny that this group sounds like this old Emo band I love called Nightmare of You and other local KC act Pink Royal had some odd love child which isn't a bad thing because when the songs are just as solidly good as these guy's had a habit of making I don't mind that one bit and that EP has a host of tracks that kind of have a good alternative tone to them that's very reminiscent of that pre-indie douche period where everybody wanted to be Mumford and Sons and actually plugged their guitars in and rocked the fucking house and of all the tunes that I think best showcase this for these guy's it's probably this appropriately themed closing track.
Lyrically this song is a farewell to day's gone by and yet it's also a hopeful view forward into a world of infinite possibilities and things to come and their exclamation of how they, “Found themselves a better roll,” is just so fucking fantastic it's like they wanted to make the best set closer in existence and they not only managed to do that but also made a tune that they better end their time as a band with because that reality is even more so now than I think they ever intended.
It's a shame that life leads us all to a path that requires we end the things we love but at the very least we could leave a soundtrack to eventually go back and enjoy what once was.
Happy Birthday Sam's Song of the Day it's been great so stay tuned because the 16th is going to be special.
So The Uk's are a band I've covered quite a bit on here and actually had play at my house 2 times for my own little birthday bash so to get them on this bill was a no brainer if I'm going to be honest with you guy's although in all these years I don't exactly know if I've given them the credit they deserve to explain why they are in such an important spot in the ending day's of Sam's Song of the Day so let's take a second to just kind of look at this band.
If I were to describe this band in a very simple way I'd say they're a product of the post 2000's garage rock explosion that occurred considering they're about the first wave of young musicians that you can clearly hear the influences of bands like The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, and most prominently The White Stripes this group uses a lot of low end recording qualities to pump out these blues fueled rockers of tunes that take you in a time machine of sorts but with enough modern sensibilities to keep things up to date and relevant for the modern listener which is good because there's a reason those influential acts were such although somethings occurred for these guy's that I've been trying to properly articulate in the build up to this final showcasing for SOTD and it's sitting here playing Tetris Effects listening to their entire currently available discography on Spotify that things become a bit more clear for me.
Waxwings, Losing teeth, and Bad Seed you listen to these tracks and the Jack White influences are strong as fuck these strong kind of throwback rockers of tracks that are just these bombastic shots of energy and rock that showcase a bunch of hungry musicians that plug their shit in for a reason they rock and that's the point but you can't help but hear them and rock out but there's a certain sense of they got a way's to go and I remember feeling that for a while until their most recent project American Way Of Death came out.
Why Don't You go it's yet another rocker of a track but there's something different in it that you can clearly hear in comparison to all of Bad Seed in that the band had some lineup changes and went on a pretty extensive series of tours to then go back into the studio and pump out a project on their own and the fact that the EP this song is on is about half the tracks shows that they've now decided to take things in a less bombastic direction and it shows because this song is a slower paced cut that has a lot of the familiar elements you'd expect from these guy's but they're presented in a slower paced cut that feels a bit more substantial in a way.
That's the EP as a whole really yes Wake Up and Poison Squad do still showcase a very Jack White approach to Rock and Roll but then you hear AWOD....and yeah these guy's are a fucking thing.
I've explained to one Noah Bartelt but this may in fact be the best god damn song they've ever made because I don't know what got into him to record an almost pop punk tune but god damn does it sound fucking fantastic this song is a surefire standout of a track that has every great element of a song it's a catchy tune with lyrics that are easy to sing along with that also present a sense of reliability when he exclaims that he's a damaged man, a fantastic chorus, a rhythm that has the frantic rock and roll energy that you've come to expect but with a faster pace and kind of punk influence that gives it a sense of personality that's very unlike their earlier material, and of course one bitching fucking guitar solo in the middle of the song this is a sign of things to come in a way from my observation because a lot of their live only tracks at the moment also seem to be going into this kind of amalgamation of tones that they seem to have here where they're clearly garage rock but with a kind of pop punk fuel that I can most certainly get behind.
These guy's got a shit ton of upward trajectory and I very much advise you pay attention especially to the stuff they got to show at this show I'm throwing because I'm pretty sure that they'll sell you just as much as they've sold me and I'm sure the Jack White comparisons will be a thing of the past if they keep going where they are.
So we're a little over 2 weeks until the end and a few day's away from the anniversary of this little thing and with that in mind I should probably have something posted about the wonderful acts playing my farewell show but like I've highlighted depressive spells are a real bitch and a half and it's difficult to really get around to writing things when you don't want to do anything but it's that level of depressive thoughts that got me thinking about what it is I like so much about some of the bands I chose to play my show and the various things they seem to cover and that's where I'm going to go and with that in mind I figure I'd cover a band who describe themselves as modern American Emo The Fiction Department.
I can't lie I've listened to their EP TV Show's a fuck load of times and for some reason I really don't know what brought that up because I only got to see them one time prior to this show and this EP while being fantastic is also an incredibly rough product that you can tell is made by some rather young individuals looking to really get their footing and you can tell that just looking at the track listing which goes from very upbeat kind of pop punkish tunes like Felt, to the downright early 2000's heart on your sleeve painful youth experience's in 20 minutes as well as the non EP single Bad Idea, to these kind of angsty angry screaming cuts, and even the slow paced closing track this goes through a very youthful set of emotions I've all but been numbed to and I guess what I like about these guy's is there's a certain cathartic release in just throwing aside everything and just kind of pretending to be a shit heel emotionally charged teenager again.
I know they're going through a host of changes in their sound and direction as a group which is why they seemed to of went on a long break but I'm sure seeing them at this show should be an interesting experience for all involved and I'm pretty pumped to see where they've taken themselves.
SO there's this band from here in KCMO called Dreamgirl and when you look them up on Spotify their top song has over 5 million streams which is insane for a local act so I'm wondering why is that the case?
3 minutes and 54 seconds later....
OH that's why they're fucking great!
OK I'm going to be honest I've known about these guy's for a while now and to say they're the most appropriately named group around is an understatement with some lighter than air vocals and a penchant for making some really groovy indie pop tunes you have a group who makes you feel like you're having a slow dance at a prom with every groovy groove they make and if you get the chance their self titled release from last year is quite a good release and they're making more strives towards a national tour so there's even more chances for people all around to experience the dream for sure.
There's a song by a band called Middle Kids called Edge of Town and it's a pretty solidly good track that came out at a terrible time for me, it's this kind of lower end indie rock tune that's dripping in this overwhelming sense of pretentiousness that's made worse by the fact that the other songs on that EP just sounded like a half rate Paramore and I realized this band peaked with this song and I never bothered to listen to them ever again, but it's not honestly their fault when I think about it in retrospect because it was about the time this song came out that I was going through an angry lonely period of time where nothing was very good for me and I was starting to have this weird falling out with the radio because I guess these guy's, Glass Animals, and the most recent Catfish and the Bottlemen record at the time where being rammed down my throat and I got this feeling of not wanting to have to be a drone of what the radio wanted me to be all hyped for and I rejected in such a way that I didn't even really listen to much of anything new or national because I'd honestly gotten sick and fucking tired of being told that those bands as well as the vast majority of mdoern alternative rock wanted me to be into because I'd developed this feeling that it was all a bunch of fucking bullshit that dragged on and on and was only meant for teenagers to say they discovered something and that's awkward for me because I'd come to grips and have been doing this whole being a god damn adult thing and these tracks don't speak to me because they're the same old recycled as fucking garbage that I've been hearing for years it's not being broken because the radio station is wanting you in on a cool little secret it's all corporate telling you this is your band this is what you want and you all need to pretend that these are your songs and that's fucking bullshit because those aren't me or what I want to associate with you bastards haven't broken a god damn thing in years you just are hoping that everybody remains a dumb ass shell of a human not willing to actually have their own fucking taste and that really had tainted me and is why I don't really ever find myself listening to the buzz these days.
Although even with all that vitriol spilled I mention that song because even with the lack of fucks I have for that band there's a part of that tune just one part between 2:20-30 where things kind of awkwardly slow down and stop trying to be this anthem of sorts where she starts asking if some guy has something on his mind and then things just blow the fuck up in this blast of energy that's utterly captivating to me in such a way that it's literally the only thing about the song that I like and will occasionally still remember every now and then and just mark the ever loving fuck out over it's an utterly bombastically awesome way to end what's ultimately a pretentious piece of trash of a tune that at the time I tried my hardest to accept it as a good tune because of that but never could in time.
Cave-Mess
Now what does that rant have to do with this band? Well in all honesty not a god damn thing minus that one sentiment about when a song just comes at you out of nowhere with a sense of bombastic energy because that's kind of this little Kansas City Emo outfit.
Mess are a band with some of the prettiest most lighthearted vocals I've heard from anyone in this city and those wonderfully dreamy vocals are usually situated over some very not happy lyrics that make you wonder how such a down trodden group of people can also manage to be so sad, pretty, and energetic because their live shows are a very energetic affair of a crowd of people who are incredibly into this band and radiate that energy into a group of musicians who surprisingly rock the fuck out way more than you would think they would listening to their releases.
They have an under produced charm to the way they approach tunes that's a good way to showcase their kind of unfiltered efforts and emotions, and if you get the chance you should give em a view they're a real surprise for sure.
So Shadow Rabbits are an alternative rock act from here in KCMO that have a sound that's what I imagine the coolest band you'd know would sound like. They have a host of tunes that evoke a kind of 60's rock and roll vibe with grooves that are incredibly slick and vocals so alluring that they're damn near hypnotizing in most instances and of the host of quality well constructed songs they've made this one in particular seems to really be something I fancy.
A haunting piano intro leads into what's some retro tuned guitar work that perfectly compliments Ashley Dattola's chilled confident vocals that allure you in and give you this false sense of security as the melody just grows in intensity leading you down a spiral before things calm down and guitarist Jon Ulasien comes in and perfectly compliments Dattola as they lead the song out echoing, “as you wait now.”
This song fucking owns in a way that is more than the sum of it's parts for me and it's something that occurred to me one random show I remember seeing them play where they did it in front of a white sheet just letting their silhouettes be all you see and every subsequent time I've gotten to hear this song live has been fan-fucking-tastic in such a way that I think more people need to get around to listening to it.
So you want an insanely catchy set of pop punk tunes ready to rock out to and sing every lyric to with a cute girl who's name most likely begins with the letter A then OH you need to acquaint yourself with this bands early 2018 release The Overview Effect because that EP kicks some serious ass and of all the tracks on it that tickled my fancy the most I'd have to say it was this little short but sweet number.
That Ep in question had a host of heavier more focused tunes that attempted and in most cases succeeded in being something fairly larger than the sum of their parts but if you where familiar with my adoration of their 2017 cut Two Hearted then you'd probably not be surprised to know that the tune that I liked the most was this fun little pop punk tune.
"We don't always have to be our insecurities, defining enemies we divide and disagree," it's something I frankly kept singing wrong until I typed out the right lyrics after looking them up on their website BUT YOU SURE AS FUCK KNOW IT DIDN'T STOP ME FROM SINGING ALONG!
That's the biggest strength this tune as well as most of their catalog is just how easy it is to find yourself singing along to every single song and isn't that what makes pop punk so much fun?
Excuse me for a second while I fangirl out a bit on ya because this fucking group sometimes they just fucking get it.
HOLY FUCKING JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY IS THIS SONG FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!
Ah ever since they dropped this little new wave tune on Spotify I've just been in awe people it's a simple song about the scary parts of love and relationships with a host of questions to ask about if the struggles make the relationship and how differences are a real thing (I'm into analogue, you're into digital) Rachel Mallin has written what's a very simple tune but the thing that makes it something special is it's lighter than air dreamy instrumentals and her just exceptional vocal performance.
There's a vulnerable charm to her subtle yet captivating singing that just hooks me in a way that she's yet to really do and in all honesty I get some these weird spine shivering feels whenever I listen to this song because of these slight vocal deliveries that are equal parts strong and sultry, weak yet confident, just the type of things I find myself obsessing over how to properly contextualize to you guy's but yet I fail at doing so beyond just telling you it's maybe the best song they've put out yet and to think I just originally remembered it as a captivating but overly feedback heavy live track the first time I heard it.
I like to give these guy's hell for not putting out I Pick Winners but when the songs coming out are this I can't be mad in the slightest this is a phenomenal piece of work you need to hear now.
So with the year end list out of the way I can finally make my one last announcement of the year in regards to Sam's Song of the Day people and that is that after 9 years of doing this on February 16th, 2019 I will officially be bringing Sam's Song of the Day to an end and to pay tribute to 9 year's of effort I'll be hosting a special end of day's show if you will at Minibar here in KCMO I'll be having a show to celebrate 9 years of Song of the Day with live performances from the bands Fiction Department, The Uk's, and Scruffy and the Janitors be sure to show up and prove to me that the efforts where all wort it people...
Also I'd like to take a second to thank none other than Kid Computers Very own George McMillian for designing this bad ass fucking poster for me
OH I'm guessing I should probably explain this decision a little bit better well....So let's back things up a bit Sam's SOTD started as a means of me kind of creatively expressing myself on the Smashing Pumpkins forums as a means of trying to give myself an identity because at the time I had finished up high school and was in an awkward transitional time of my life where I'd realized that talking about and discussing music with the world was a true passion of mine and after a couple of months of posting on that forum and my own personal facebook I remember this woman that for lack of a better way to describe her I'd describe as a creative source of inspiration for me complimented a post I'd made about the song, “Blow Up the Outside World,” and said for me to just start a blog already so kind of like the original post I'd decided to find the first blog hosting site that came up and then started the Sam's SOTD website you are reading today and throughout that time I've had a host of ups and down's that has lead me to cover a host of songs both cringy beyond belief to some of the best god damn pieces of music I'd ever heard in my life.
I've done interviews, reviews, and a host of one off dumb ass idea's that I wasn't sure if they'd stick or not and I did it all to very little response beyond the occasional compliments from various contemporaries and sometimes the occasional post like or comment and it was going good for quite a few years I look back on the effort really put in from 2012 to 2015 and I felt at one point in time that I really maybe finally had something to be proud of, but that wasn't really the case because of certain personal tragedies that had happened to me in 2014 I'd ended up going through some really heavy stuff and my personal love for life, and the things that interested me just kind of stopped and this blog suffered because of it.
I'd stopped posting so regularly and it became harder and harder to not only adequately word just what it was about the music I listened to but it was really hard for me to truly FEEL anything when I was listening to a lot of songs which is kind of funny to think about because 2015 and 2016 I really did kind of try and fail hard to really try and advertise Sam's SOTD as something and I guess near the end of that time frame I'd come to the sad realization that it wasn't and I'd just kind of been felt the fool to try and act as if I'm trying to be someone I never ended up achieving.
I wanted to be a Radio Dj and a music journalist, I wanted the world to hear my opinion on these songs and be like, “Yeah you're fucking right dude this does rule,” and sadly enough that never was to be I can only really blame myself for not putting the effort in to REALLY make this a thing and I guess taking 2018 off to reflect over that just brought it all into perspective I decided to just put more effort into the job I currently have and figured that ending this blog and trying to find my mojo or possibly make one last go at trying to make a piece of art that the world can look at and enjoy and show me that my efforts as a voice of unbridled passion was really wort it but as of today this website isn't it.
With that all said and an end on the horizon all that's really left to do until then is to just celebrate myself and look back at 9 years of music that made this thing what it is today so with that in mind until that show comes I'll be posting and undetermined number of songs from this playlist I worked on and started tearing up at that showcases the various songs that I've enjoyed over these years and a host of music that has a certain level of importance to me that I'll be telling you guy's with each post until the day of the show where I'll throw it and maybe make one last post comprised of pics as the last send off.
Now with that in mind starting January 1st I'll be starting out covering all of the songs that I personally considered the best of their respective years in question so stay tuned for that and be prepared to see this be the most active it's been in years.
You know we almost had a repeat of last year not gonna lie it was really fucking hard to not have any of the songs from 2018's hands down best album be number one but I'll get to that later because right now I have to talk about St. Joseph Missouri's finest Scruffy and the MOTHER FUCKING Janitors and this exceptional piece of music they released.
I've seen these guy's so many times in the past 2+ years that I got put in this album's liner notes which was absolutely insane but what's really crazy is how since this album dropped back in February I haven't stopped listening to it and in all seriousness it's maybe one of the best god damn albums I've heard in a long ass time every single song from beginning to end has been refined beyond perfection with a fine tooth comb and back after 4 long years of relentless touring, blood, sweat, tears, bottles of booze, and being the most hard working sons of bitches around you got 14 impossibly great tracks that showcase a band looking to truly showcase that they've grown exponentially in terms of their abilities as a group of musicians looking to spread the message of life through rock and roll and this song just barely stood above the rest in my book to do that.
From it's opening bass line, to the soaring wall of guitars and echo's of, “AH,”(Yes I know it's simple but fuck you it rules) you have a song that crawls into your head and demands you take notice of how fucking awesome it really is and the delivery of, “The more you talk about it, The More it Lingers on, I'm trying not to follow but you're coming in strong, now I'm Hanging out the Window, and reaching for the words that you said, and I can't figure out your head,” just hit's you in a way that you can't help but scream along to Steven Foster's voice just reaches a point in this track that's anything and everything you could ever really want in a 4 ½ minute rock song.
This band took all the momentum they had off Jonestown and delivered times infinity and this song is really something outstanding if you're hearing it out of your car, on your phone, in a shitty little dive bar, basement, or high end venue being played live this song fucking rules and it's something I think everybody needs to experience for the sake of all that's good in this world do it.
Do you like 90's alternative rock? Well I FUCKING DO and while I honestly didn't get too much into the Holiday's as a group I did have them perform at my house for their very last show and in the process of one thing coming to an end came this new group Kid Computer who just kind of entered 2018 in a similar place that they were before but with a brand new sense of motivation to prove themselves and what we have here is a song that did what very little seemed to do for me this year and that's really pull me in and make me want to listen to something new.
This song is a very 90's sounding college rock tune that's reminiscent of the Meat Puppets with a bit of Polaris thrown in to make it feel ever so slightly special George McMillian as young as he is does possess a sense of maturity in his performance of this song and the guitar work is some top notch feedback heavy air guitar ready stuff that I've literally had playing around in and out over the course of the whole year as I still try to think of just how something this good came seemingly out of nowhere.
What we have here is an example of a potentially great band to come so what we need to make that a thing is for all of you folks to go see them live, buy all the stuff they have to sell, and promote and rock out to this bad ass beast of a jam because in a day and age of traditional rock and roll falling by the waste side this song is a reminder of why in the fuck all you ever fell in love with that genre to begin with and these guy's are still on the up and up and as exceptional as I find this tune I can only think they're getting better it's just a matter of seeing where this afterglow takes them.
(note they didn't even play this song at this show in particular but fuck it they still ruled)
OK mother fuckers I have been waiting since...hold on let me check the poster on my wall real quick....April 23rd, 2016 the release show of their first album which they ironically ended up not headlining due to shenanigans we don't need to get too into at this very moment in time since they ended their set with that song I've been patiently waiting for them to record and release this god damn song and finally 2 years later and countless shows later they finally got around to self financing and recording a release for this song and NOW I CAN FINALLY FUCKING TALK ABOUT IT MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!
So if I'm going to be honest there's a juvenile quality to this track about the struggles of falling in love with a lesbian but you know what when you're heartbroken pettiness comes with the territory and when you manage to at the very least channel that into a very old school rocker of a tune with an insanely catchy hook and some pretty air guitar ready rifts you can't help but get hooked on that and it also kind of doesn't help that I was in a very salty place in my life when I first heard this song but we don't need to get too into that my overly self reflective posting day's aren't really a thing hardly anymore with the increased presence of online trolling and the ever decreasing mental conditioning of your average millenal we need healthy means of coping with our pent up aggression and if this blog was ever any indication of the fact that music has generally been mine then I don't honestly know what to say to all of you.
Yeah like time eventually great things come to ya and this song most certainly is an example of that because while this is a late release in the year it's something I've know was gonna be high on my list the second it's time came this song is an incredibly satisfying piece of aggression that doesn't come off as so petty it hurts but rather a bombastically aggressive and rocking cut for the lonley hearts club with a chorus that's both ready to sing and scream along with and some of this bands most aggressive instrumentals yet and I just love how they do this choir thing near the end of the song before just ending it in one giant bang.
This song is the UK's really finding a means of making something that lives up to the label of garage rock from it's bare boned production, simple but effective lyrics, and most importantly that pure unfiltered rocking instrumental to give a tune that after all these years still makes me scream YEAAAAAAH!
Also I may or may not have yelled, “It's about fucking time,” at the release show I can neither confirm nor deny that.
Picture below may or may not be from that show but I can garuntee it wasn't during this song...
Well folks it's time to do this the top 5 tracks of the year as determined by yours truly and rather than to get too into details let's just get straight into today's choice with this pop infused bit of awesome:
#5
Blacklight-Yes You Are
Do you like new wave?
Trick question you fucking love that
stuff and if you need a good example of why but with modern
production advances and touches of the general evolution of modern
pop music to give you the cleanest most dance ready tune you're bound
to get stuck in your head well do I have something for you in the
form of the all mighty Yes You Are's exceptional cut Blacklight.
Kianna Alarid's powerful fucking vocals
are on full effect in this little pop cut from her first uttering of,
“Baby you look like a stranger,” to her just BOOMING delivery of
this songs chorus she commands your attention in a way that not too
many other people in this city can and this song is just one of many
cuts they have that showcase their overwhelming sense of
professionalism present that makes them stand out well and above a
good chunk of their peers.
With a fancy new video and an EP on the horizon this group is looking to take the catchy well produced and focused gems of their previous work and crank them to 11 and dominate 2019 in a way that you won't be ready for but you know you'll be dancing the whole time especially if the tunes are this deliciously 80's sounding.
St. Joseph Missouri's finest here from that opening drum part to the blast of guitar this is a simple song that is maybe the most effectively done thing I've heard all year and once you've seen them perform it in their hometown with a huge group of their closest followers singing along to their cry of, “I DON'T WANNA WAIT SO LONG!” this song just fucking hits ya right there in that special place to make you think that you just may very well be apart of something bigger than the sum of it's parts.
Jonestown is a tune that gives this feeling of being in a small place with a big dream a simple rocker that chugs along well and has a less brash and abrasive tone that was heavily present in their earlier songs and the lyrics while not too much to digest stick around in a way that not too many songs really do for me these day's and I seem to have a real fondness for the line, “Left my sister there,” I have absolutely no clue why but I really like that and the end where they simply say, “ah-ahh,” which trust me is absolutely mind blowing when a room of folks are joining in.
I've seen these guy's all around from the best venues in Kansas City, to their hometown, and my mother FUCKING HOUSE and this song every single god damn time leaves me screaming along louder and louder and louder as I think of all the nights of just blasting this song relentlessly while drinking beer after beer I'm reminded of a few years ago when I mentioned how I was forming the year end list with it in mind just what exactly was going to be number 1 and this year is just one of those years this song hands down top to bottom no questions asked is the best song of the year and whenever Scruffy eventually release that album I'll be blasting the ever loving fuck out of it you best believe that.
I got to talk with Scruffy's guitarist and he answered these questions for me:
So what is the inspirations behind Jonestown?
The inspiration behind Jonestown is a cross between trying to get away from the life you have built and the legend of the Jonestown massacre.
How was 2017 for you as a band in terms of the music you wrote, released, and the performances you gave?
2017 was a turbulent year for us. This new album, Modeling is Hard, has been delayed again and again. It’s tearing us up inside to still not have it out yet. We shopped it to a bunch of labels but it didn’t work out, so we’re putting it out ourselves, which comes with a whole host of obstacles. We didn’t play a lot of shows this year but the ones we did were top notch. Our show with Archie Powell and the Exports and Radar State has to be one of the most fun shows we’ve ever played along with some house shows we threw in St. Joseph. 2017 was full of us recording. We finally hit that next stride. Our performances have gotten fuller. Our following seems to be getting more solid. It has been a “behind the scenes" year.
What are your plans for 2018?
Release. The. Fucking. Album. We have a music video for The Spins coming out soon, we can confidently say that the first show we play in St. Joseph in 2018 will be the “Modeling Is Hard” release show, and we hope to tour in the spring/summer. And work to get back in the limelight with the help of the new album!
-Teriq Newton
Every single person reading this now December 22nd 2017 whether it's by plains, trains, or automobiles needs to go to 619 E Felix St, St Joseph Missouri 64501 RIGHT THE FUCK NOW and see this song played live and while you're going there google the lyrics and memorize them and sing the fuck along because god fucking dam it will you then realize that this is by far the single best god damn song that came out this fucking year.
There are only a handful of tracks I can truly say that you need to see played live and this one from it's earliest stages at the new defunct Tank Room wayyyyyy back at the Momma's Boy Ep release show to today has evolved from a really solid jam to a fucking beast of a god damn tune and again:
619 E Felix St, St Joseph MO 64501
GO there TODAY! See this song live and realize that it's truly the fucking best.
Well that's it my year end best of list is officially wrapped up and now you my loyal readers know the only songs that matter and I'm glad to know that each of your lives is now better because of it and with that in mind stay tuned in the next day or 2 for my follow up list of the worst songs of the year as well as a special announcement on the 29th but until then happy holiday's from Sam's Song of the Day.
LFK's Finest fuckers proving my old saying of great music being like bad sex over and done with in 2 and a half minutes or less and what we got here is the most oddly romantic 2 minutes and 17 seconds of music that I remember very drunkenly yelling at them to play the last time I remember seeing them play live and while I'm sure that may have annoyed them I'd like to let them know if they're reading this post that they've most certainly been incredibly wonderful to me by just simply pumping out this utterly exceptional bit of music that is one of the few instances of any true emotion being felt for me over the course of one emotionally draining and utterly unmotivated year of my life.
The Sluts you fucking rule, The Only One is a fucking excellent record, your live show is fucking mind blowing, and this god damn song is the second best fucking thing that ANYONE has released this year and for that I'm a hella chug the fuck out of a miller light in celebration of this exceptional song.
Wonderful is an all out blast of feedback heavy rock and roll that is quintessential to the tone that this band presents with some steady guitar and drum work that gives it a rapid fire pace and makes you want to move in a way that seems kind of counter intuitive to the lyrics of the tune which are simple as fuck but maybe one of the truest expressions of what one could possibly ask from any given blossoming relationship and this song truly has been just, “wonderful to me,” and it damn near was the single best tune of 2017 like this and number 1 are completely interchangeable in all honesty and this position in no way holds back this song because it may be the most appropriately titled thing you'll ever hear and that's for god damn sure.
I reached out to The Sluts in regards to this track and this is what they had to say:
Q: So what are the inspirations behind Wonderful?
A: I honestly don't remember what was going through my head when I wrote the lyrics for that. It's just been a long time since we wrote that one and I'm an avid drinker. I remember thinking that we needed a good up-tempo rock song. The other songs we wrote for that EP were kind of Sludgy or mid-tempo and laid back. Basically it's a song about having someone that is good to you and cares for you no matter how flawed you may be. Dover hates how positive it is. Again, I don't remember writing it but it could be some sort of subconscious ode to a past lover.
Q: How was 2017 for you as a band in terms of the music you wrote, released, and the performances you gave? What are your plans for 2018?
A: 2017 was arguably our best year as a band. It was the first year where we didn't dick around with touring at all. We finally realized that we are way more content to stay in the area, and play the venues that treat us like family when we come around. (i.e. Replay Lounge, Bottleneck, Granada, Riot Room) Dover's married, I had a long term girlfriend at the time, and going on the road just seemed like a chore to us. Dover's mantra has always been, "I don't ever want this to feel like a job," and I'm inclined to agree with him. So we tracked our new EP, 'Only One' with Joel Nanos at Element Recording and Mastering Studios in KC and only booked gigs that seemed like a real good time. In my opinion, it's our best sounding record. Joel is not fucking around. After the EP came out, the sweethearts at 96.5 The Buzz spun our single and even asked us to play Buzz Beach Ball. That is probably our biggest gig to date and we had a blast that day. I never thought in a million years when this band started that we'd be on stages that big. We truly are some luck basterds. We got to meet the Toadies and the Local H guys too. It was a crazy day I will never forget. As of now Dover and I are taking a few weeks off entirely to recharge our batteries a bit. We don't plan to book any shows until March or April. I'll do a few solo shows just to keep me sane though. We have about 4-5 new songs we need to straighten out a bit, but when they are ready, we will track another EP over the winter. It will hopefully be released in spring of 2018.
