Sam's Top 20 of 2016: #11

11.The 1975-UGH!

I have to give Matt Healy and company credit for really becoming a phenomenon in and of themselves off what was really quite a good debut album that I still feel is a strong record but if I were to be honest if there was a band I could say that I fell out any harder with it'd be this little group of Englishmen.

It's not to say their music is trash because on the contrary their newest effort, “I Like it when you sleep,” and the overly long title galore has plenty of good songs on it...that happen to sound just like a host of other more interesting musicians that either are more significant or are terribly underrated like INXS, but when they're good they are in-fact quite great and in terms of all the songs I can recall from what was the most spectacularly forgettable release of the year and of all the good ones that actually sounded like a genuine 1975 tune I'd have to go with this slice of groove in the form of UGH!

So this song is probably the best lyrically of all the tongue and cheek that this band is pretty well established in with my favorite line about how, “This song only last 3 minutes,” and it's actually 3 minutes which is very stupid funny I'll admit but when you contrast that with this song being a not so thinly veiled tune about Healy's drug habit over a very unassumingly catchy melody you realize just why kinds think their so edgy and cool listening to what's a formula that's been done for years.

Although I will admit formulaic or not this song is fucking catchy and I sang along to it way more than I'd think I would considering, “The Sound,” and, “Somebody Else,” are significantly better tunes overall but they both just kind of didn't really capture my attention or weren't really only good because of somebody else like a great local act doing a solid cover or sounding like one of Daft Punks best songs.

Overall I haven't lost faith in this band I just hate squealing obsessive teenage fan-girls and this groups fans are some of the fucking worst because they've yet to realize that they aren't a particularly good band as much as an incredibly fashionable one.

Song of the Day 5/5/16

The Sound-The 1975

So this year's been a bit slow in terms of newer music rolling in and actually making me take notice and while I'm aware this song and album have been out for quite a while now my inability to consistently write something until just recently has left me with plenty of time to really look into this song and kind of come up with my own opinions.

I'm just going to put it out there and say the new 1975 album at best is an alright collection of tracks that is more a couple of really good songs surrounded by mostly subpar tracks at least when compared to the album before it but I will admit what's good is pretty god damn good even if I have this bad habit of just thinking the songs sound like other artist.

The sound it is just a straight up bad ass danceable track with a slight addictive quality that leaves it stuck in your head for months at a time and with probably the most clever set of lyrics of any of the tracks on the album it's a wonderfully tongue and cheek little romantic tune that's more, “William it was really nothing,” then it is, “Digital Love,” which in all honesty it sounds almost too much like and leaves me wishing they'd of just took the guitar solo from that and put it inpalce with the one that already exist on the track because it's more a series of lazy held out notes that are effective but nowhere near as bad ass as Daft Punk tapping along that fret board.

Really this may be one of the best songs of the year and that's no bullshit from beginning to end with all the gospel like chorus' and that 1975 charm in Matt Healy's delivery you end up with a song that'll move you in some odd way and get you moving.

Hmmmmm Sounding Similar?

So people as you know I do love me some 1975 and not too recently they dropped a new single in the form of a little jam known as Love Me which they seem to not want to post the full track on Youtube but you can either listen to it on Spotify or just listen to this preview...





Now as dope as that sounds I just kind of feel it necessary that upon a few listens I've come to realize that this song seems to sound like INXS doing their best rendition of Fame by David Bowie and if you don't believe me well here's the classic in motion for you to compare....





Now this could very well just be me overthinking things but you'd have to admit they do sound really familiar now don't they?

Song of the Day 9/11/14

So sometime shortly after I saw the 1975 live they seemed to have decided to make a music video for their song Heart Out which I"m more then ok with because it was amazing live and hopefully that'll translate to radio rotations.

The video in all honesty's a bit odd because it's young versions of them singing the song pretty much exactly like how they do it and it's both sweet and kind of cheesy at the same time and I guess they did that because the song itself is a very light number that's kind of a dreamy little love song about two starcrossed lovers and one of the best cuts on an already great album and oddly enough I also learned today that they'll be coming back to my area so I might just have to go see them again...

Sam Reviews a Show: Buzz Beachball 2014

So I went to a show a few day's ago and rather than immedietly coming up with a review the very next day I figured I'd take a few day's to kind of digest things and write about more what stuck out a few day's later and of course you know get over that convert haze we all have.

So this years Buzz Beachball was heald at Sporting KC over in Kansas and annoyingly enough it was raining the beginning of the day which combined with the hangover I happen to be nursing sucked balls people, but all those complaints aside there was some good thing's at the beginning of the day namely the Griswolds High energy performance to open the whole show which was like a good mix of INXS and most modern day indie acts which was good because they were fun as hell and got the show off to a good start.

After their set though that's when it started raining and because of that it was fairly easy to skip over Broods set which was a bit better compared to their prom set but they've still yet to sell me and from what i can remember the next act I actually watched was J. Roddy Walston and the Business who were a kind of Bluesy rock and roll act that actually do a very solid set but honestly felt a bit out of place because their music doesn't really feel alternative in a sense of what's to be expected from the vast majority of bands on the bill but they still held their own and did a great job.

So by the time the Mowglis hit the stage my hangover was starting to let up and from the small bits of their set I was able to catch they got a bad ass and Highly energetic performance of San Fransisco that was the perfect way to introduce the good weather and string of amazing performances to come.

Before I get to into things I will say that I didn't much care for how they organized the performances of this show by having the second stage perform during the main stage's set ups because I missed Meg Myers set due to the fact that she got the 30 minutes after Weezer and before the Arctic Monkeys which I didn't care to lose for getting an piss poor spot to see her again but form what I heard from her set she killed it.

OK now let's quit fucking around and get to the meat of the matter people the big 3 and first up was the 1975 who were fucking BAD ASS PEOPLE! They had a very solid tightly played set that was filled with all the strongest cuts from their album and tunes like Heart Out and M.O.N.E.Y. are strong when placed amongst hits like Sex and Girls which all sounded like the best New Wave record to not come out of the 80's. I'd definitely make an effort to see them again.

After them was the all mighty Weezer people and while I will admit some fault to the fact that their entire set list was nothing but hits and they noticeably didn't perform anything from Pinkerton which was minor in the grander scale of things because their set BLEW ME THE FUCK AWAY PEOPLE! Seriously Rivers Cumo and company where one of the tightest most well rounded group of performers I've had the pleasure of seeing live since The Smashing Pumpkins. They admittedly were a bit more straightforward but that didn't take away from the fact that the string of hits that they powered through didn't kick ass.

From the Woah-oh's of Perfect situation to the crowd chanting rumblings of Beverly Hills to the epic conclusion of Buddy Holly their entire set was a big string of awesomeness that was sure to satisfy everyone and reminded me just why in the hell I ever got into them because their songs are that fucking good, and that could have perfectly ended the whole damn show but they didn't and oh buddy did the act that followed just show why they did.

So I have to tell you guy's that with the opening chords of Do I wanna Know I was immediately slapped in the face with the overwhelming scent of wet pussy and marijuana and the fact that that was just the opening song kind of perfectly summed up what I was in for from the tour de force that was the all mighty Arctic Monkeys. In-between a large collective of women who were very vocal about their desire to start stripping and running to go attack one handsome fucking front man and the pairs of undergarments getting thrown at the stage this show was a trip people.

I can't lie I'm not really a convert and going in I wasn't and still am not the most familiar with this bands impressive catalog of material but they more then justified the fact that they closed this bitch out with a set that was just a mastered blend of progressive thinking numbers that expressed a large amount of tight musicianship and effort that was seemingly as if they just oozed showmanship. They without a doubt where a group of individuals that just left no doubt as to their expertise in what they do and completely and utterly impressed me in every way with just how well they not only made very progressive sounding numbers and could occasionally fucking pound you with rockers like I bet You look Good on the dancefloor which was just the bee's knees for me people because I loved their faster paced moments of musicianship and would of liked to see more but that's minor because they hit every hit I wanted and it was impressive and more then showed they deserved to close that bitch out.

Overall beachball was amazing people and all minor complaints I have towards the scheduling of performances can be considered minor because the quality of performances I got to see was worth it all and I can't wait to see if they can maintain this next year.

Below is a playlist of some of the acts listen and enjoy....

Sam's Top 20 of 2013: #2

2 “Chocolate,” The 1975

They might have gotten us interested with, “Sex,” but this is the song that made me give this band a true listen and god damn are they awesome.

There’s something reminiscent about this group as if they’re a modern day Clash with decidedly heavily Birttish vocals and a knack for guitar heavy jangly rock and roll with a bit of synthesizers thrown in for nothing more then atmosphere and lyrics that run the widest variety of subject matters some serious and others down right filthy, we have the most finely crafted tune this year and the ONLY excusable use of the phrase, “That’s what she said.”

Yes I love this song and its’ accompanying album’s quite strong too boot which only leaves you to wonder how a song that I find so beautifully simple and awesome isn’t the best song of the year, or for that matter how anything could be better then the wall of text opus that was yesterday's post for that matter, well there was another throwback that had its’ way with me but before we get to that we have to remind ourselves of the only other song that matters…