Song of the Day 1/23/19

So we're at less than a month until the end and in that time I got a few things cooked up to post on here hopefully and one of those things is to cover all the songs that I give the most fucks about because they hold some special place for SOTD and with that in mind I think I should tell ya about what's probably one of my favorite songs ever.

Wolves(You Got Me)-DREAMERS

You know who fucking rules this god damn band and you know what got me into them? THIS FUCKING SONG!!!!

I remember at the time I covered this on that particular year end list I remember mentioning how this song reminded me of a song called Demon Dance with it's kind of throwback alternative tone and a set of lyrics that are simple but that impact me in a way that give it this explainable level of quality and hype that reminds me why I like these kinds of songs so much and over time it's really only continued to not only maintain that but have a host of positive memories attached to it.

These guy's where the first band to ever respond to one of my post about them on facebook when I first randomly made a post about how awesome this song is, I remember the first time I ever saw them live I was singing along to it front row and the lead singer gave me his pick, at that same show they signed my set list and wrote thanks for the kind words, and every subsequent time I've seen them this fucking song just hits me every single time especially the line, "You got me drugged up, you got me undone, falling in love like you do," at the end of the song it's just a fucking fantastic piece of music that doesn't often get the credit it deserves.

Yeah I love this song and you should to the guy's who perform it are swell dudes and will take all the fun selfies with ya...

Sam's Show Recap 3/12-3/17/17

You know I decide to tell myself, “Hey you're broke as fuck and could stand to take a few shows off,” so I did and then what happens this week I decide to just go to something like 3 shows in one week because yeah fuck it why not and GOD FUCKING DAMN did this week deliver so here's an abridged account of some of the bands I saw over the past few day's with some very terribly taken photos and links to all their Facebook Pages in the titles because that's easier than posting a bunch of audio clips.

So the first two shows I saw were at the lovely Record bar which in all honesty may be one of my favorite concert venues in this damn city with a wonderful atmosphere, a good staff, and some great booking choices this place is just phenomenal.

The first show I saw was on the 12th and it was a bit of a SXSW launch show for some bands and I manged to catch the first 3 before deciding I had to leave because of work obligations and at this show I saw:

Good Morning Bedlam

These guy's were interesting a Blue Grass harmony focused bundle of energy that made some very catchy little tunes and upon re-listening really do have some great harmonies. I couldn't really say too much because it's been a couple of day's and my mind is pretty fried but I do remember talking to some of these guy's and finding them to be some nice people along with some really good voices I'd recommend them to anyone who's a fan of a more country or blue grass sound.

Westerners

I've written about these guy's before and had a great time seeing them even though they had the unfortunate task of being followed by two mind blowingly great sets so I've had a hard time articulating just how god damn good these guy's are and this show they just kind of continued that trend of being a surprisingly bad ass fucking live show.

They provide a real energy and tone that just kind of are like a scene in a movie of the coolest rock band on the planet playing and their chemistry and onstage banter is pretty on point with them providing a very natural vibe to an effortlessly great performance that's been pretty consistent when compared to the first time I saw them so yeah this bands a bit of a hidden gem and still pleasantly great.

The UK's 

It's been a minute since I've seen these guy's and covered them here on Sam's Song of the Day and since the last time I saw them and a couple of line up changes they've some how managed to actually really grow pretty substantially with a new drummer that was a fucking machine just pounding away and while they didn't have a bass player they managed to still deliver on the various quality cuts that Bad Seed as an album presents and in some cases are playing significantly tighter on all fronts than what's actually recorded with this show maybe being the most on point I've seen them play and there's a song they've been testing around called Other Team that was just a brutally exceptional tune and them doing a 3 part harmony with the drummer really was quite bad ass and I can only hope they record it soon because I'd really like people to hear just how good it really is.

 A couple of day's later I continued my yearly tradition of seeing an exceptional show on national PI day by seeing what may be in contention for the single best god damn show I've seen this year when I saw B R O T H E R, The Griswolds and DREAMERS.

BROTHER

What's funny is I saw these guy's almost exactly one year ago from this show because I saw them play on St. Patrick's day and  I can't lie in one year they have just grown exponentially and this show was just a crazy fucking example of that growth because this set was just the tightest and best I've seen this band play ever. 

They completely had the crowd sold on them and managed to really hold their own and I really got a sense that they really are starting to get a sound to them that's more than just a Kansas City 1975 and I can only hope they put out a record soon because they really are proving why I've followed them for a year now.

DREAMERS

This band knows and anyone who has followed this blog that I fucking adore this band and This Album Does Not Exist is an exceptional record and this show was for all intense purposes just pure fucking unadulterated magic in it's purest form and while I didn't get a set list or get to say too much to all of them they delivered in a way that left me speechless and just wanting more. This band is just a captivating and energetic show that worked over the packed crowd quite well and had me jumping like a little school girl at points as I sang along with every song and felt the same surge of pure joy as they ended their set with Wolves which after almost 2 years now still hits me as hard as it ever has.

Can this band just headline a tour already and do that album front to back that'd be so fucking cool.

The Griswolds

So I haven't seen this band since they opened Buzz Beachball in 2015 and my fucking god did they go places since then right from the start this band had the whole venue hooked and at the end every one and their mother was just completely blown away at a band that in only a few years has just managed to become one of the best god damn show's you'll ever see.

They have a Glass Animals vibe in how they know how to craft incredibly groovy tunes that make bodies move and they craft some infectiously catchy and easy to sing along chorus' that at points all they needed to do was hold the microphone at the crowd and have everyone in attendance sing the songs for them and that stage was hardly able to contain them because they were all sorts of either interacting with the front row the whole time taking phones and giving people hella dope snapchat stories or just jumping into the crowd all together which was fucking awesome.

This band was special and this show was just pure magic from beginning to end from all the bands involved and even now day's later typing this up I'm still just baffled by the quality of what was done this night.

3 day's later after getting my mind thoroughly blown at this record bar show to celebrate St Patrick's day I figured I'd go to a free show up here in Power and Light to see Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Atlas Genius, and Night Riots. Also I have to make note that this show unusually went completely on schedule and was over and done with before 11 pm which was actually pretty nice if not kind of odd to see a show go so smooth so I'd have to say good job to all the people who worked this night and sadly this year I didn't get a single set list which was a bummer but hey you win some you lose some but onto the set reviews.

Night Riots

These guy's were really a solid set with a lot of energy that got the crowd really pumped and ready for the nights festivities and in about 30 minutes they really made me think a lot better about them then I did going in and hearing a small snipped of some Kendrick Lamar along with them doing all sorts of cool things with some drums and the whole band basically running a train on a drum set this show was amusing and most certainly will have me on the look out the next time they come to town.

(not pictured them running a train on a drum set but close enough)

Atlas Genius

I'd been following this band for a few years now and finally getting to see them I was very happy their set was filled with some super tightly grooved tunes that went on for a while and managed to really impress especially their interesting but bad ass choice to cover Dead or Alive's, “You Spin me round,” which was fucking awesome and their rendition of Tears for Fears, “Everybody wants to Rule the World,” was pretty fucking dope to but for me the real highlight of their set was the ever so REM tinged If So which is still as great now as it was the first time I heard it a couple of years ago. These guy's were fucking dope and they've really just kind of managed to carve out a real niche for themselves.

Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness

SO I thought the Griswolds had a crowd at the palm of their hands so did Mr. McMahon here who put on a show that for lack of a better way to describe it felt like 2005 didn't stop because almost everyone around me was jumping, singing, and completely losing their shit as this guy brought 90 solid minutes of piano based awesome and an energy that was just infectious with plenty of his new songs holding up very nicely live and the only real callbacks to years past being a fucking spectacular rendition of Dark Blue and Woke up in a Car along with an interestingly stripped back cover of Empire of the Sun's Walking in a Dream this guy has been doing this since 98 and it feels like he hasn't missed a beat.

This show was fucking great but in all honesty 3 shows in a week is pretty tiring and while I liked all the sets I saw by this point I think I got all I could really handle so forgive the fact that this article is kind of sloppy and rushed because this was a lot to take in and write up about for you guy's.

OH and because I never do this here's a few pics of me with Night Riots and Atlus Genius

Obviously I'm so good at this whole taking pictures with people thing aren't I?

7 years 5 great tracks

So I haven't written about a group of songs in quite some time and there's a very special anniversary that's come today and that would be mine, yes people today Sam's Song of the Day is officially 7 years old and with that in mind I'm a do one of my favorite things a Top 5 list but rather than making a best of like I did a few years ago I'm instead going to highlight 5 tracks that you guy's should all be listening to RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!!!! maybe all at the same time if you're fancy but yeah I've done plenty of reminiscing on here and figure I'd take this year to be in the here and now so in no particular order here's 5 songs that I've on and off been rocking out to over the past few weeks starting with the newest release...

1. Be Good Boy-Momma's Boy

AH THE FUCK YEAH! Kansas City's best group of rockers are gearing up to release the much anticipated and surely spectacular Liquid Courage EP this month and on February 3rd they debuted the first single from the upcoming 6 track EP in the form of this spectacular surf rock cut, “Be Good Boy,” which is a racious little number with an infectiously catchy guitar groove, some stellar bass work, and an opening line I get stuck in my head ALL THE TIME! Seriously before this was recorded I'd get the line, “I See You Smoking a Cigarette,” stuck in my head all the god damn time partly because I'd heard this so many times when I've gone to see them play and because of my favorite story involving this band.

It was at the second show I saw them which was a house show called Manor Fest which they threw in their house and they were closing out the first of a two night extravaganza and during their set the guitarist and vocalist on this particular track Mr. Shaun Crowley had tried to use another guitar for a track and during the whole song the guitar wasn't working and as the song went on he got more and more frustrated before eventually saying fuck it and plugging back in his regular guitar with just enough time to finish out the song and to light a cigarette before then starting in on this very track singing that line with a cigarette in his mouth and I'm not going to lie that was probably the most bad ass fucking thing I'd ever seen somebody performing a show do which is kind of silly yes but you know what FUCK IT if you were there and you saw that you'd think, “wow that guy's a cool mother fucker,” and you'd be damn right because that was Rock and Roll as fuck and this song is about that bad ass so yeah you should go to bandcamp and download the fuck out of this and if you're cool you can throw down a dollar or nothing at all I'm not here to judge just to tell you to download and play this awesome track repeatedly.

Also if you're really fucking awesome you can go see these bad ass mother fuckers play this song live for their release shows of Liquid Courage on February 23rd at the Replay Lounge in Lawrence Kansas or on February 25th at the Tank Room here in KCMO where you can get a copy of this album on CD or Cassette if that's your jive but either way you owe it to yourself to see this fucking band because yeah they are fucking AWESOME!

2. The One Who Got away-Shadow Rabbits

ON the topic of bad ass Kansas City acts that I've seen and covered here on Sam's Song of the Day we have the very groovy Shadow Rabbits with a very kind of dreamy-indie rock song with very 60's psychedelic rock tones in the form of, “The One Who Got Away,” which I've had on a pretty steady repeat since getting to see them play it live and I just have to say GOD DAMN is this song good.

The vocals are just on point with a level of confidence that is just damn impressive, the production is retro but still clean, and the part near the end where she echo's the line, “You're the one who got away,” that just get stuck in my head and give the listener something to REALLY sing along to with a shit load of passion similar to it's lyrical themes that are pretty much explained in the title and admittedly are very minimal and possibly could stand to have a verse just kind of cut out for the sake of making it not drag on awkwardly but hey when you're harking back to a time of 3 minute rock tunes that's acceptable and of course that outro is just damn great.

This band is super dope people and I this track is just one of many they have available that are well worth your time to go check out.

3. To The Fire-DREAMERS

Now for me to talk about a band that I've covered for quite a while on here and who isn't from Kansas City and a band that I'll be seeing live again here next month with one of MANY exceptional cuts from their debut album, “This Album Does Not Exist,” in the form of this just fucking jaw droppingly great track, “To the Fire,” which is a very kind of 80's New Wave dreamy cut with a chorus that's just fucking pure unadulterated FIRE like for real I could just hear those echoing cries of, “Into the fire,” on endless repeat people because I just love the effects that they use on the vocals and the steady pace of this tracks instrumentals on top of those kind of dragged out echoed vocals and the run time of just 2 minutes and 50 seconds is fucking perfect because it makes the song stay around for just long enough to make you down right crave it.

For real it's super fast pace along with awesome structure and addictively catchy echoing woo's will leave you just saying, “To the Fire,” over and over as you hit repeat to unsuccessfully try to get this awesome piece of music out of your head.

I can't wait to get to talk to these guy's again so I can tell them how great they made last year with their support of Sam's Song of the Day over their Twitter and little fun fact they were actually the first band to ever comment on one of my song of the Day post whenever I wrote about how fucking bad ass a song Wolves is and it's something I'll probably always be a little bit proud of and one of many reasons why I'm so god damn fond of this band.

4.  Can You Deal-Bleached

Yet another newer band I love and have gotten the absolute pleasure of not only seeing twice but getting to talk to them personally Bleached recently announced that they're getting ready to put out a new EP and Zine called Can You Deal which you can read about on their various social media accounts and their website and they're also gearing up to tour with The Dammed for their 40th anniversary tour which is fucking wicked as hell but with all that in mind let's talk about this fucking bad ass new single of theirs.

Can You Deal is a very kind of 90's tinged grungy rock and roll track very reminiscent of something you'd expect to hear from a Veruca Salt or maybe the Pixies and Jessica Clavins Guitar Work on this track is very VERY good and I love her changing of pace when she goes from kind of softer parts during most of the verses before kicking things into hyper drive and just fucking pounding through the chorus and her solo around the 2:50 mark is quite nice and of course Jennifers Vocals are just more confident than ever and she seems to really feel this song from how she sings it.

This band get's progressively better with each release and, “Can You Deal,” from just this track alone sounds like it may end up being possibly better than Welcome to The Worms because this band is finding a groove and will be taking over the world before we know it.

5. I Palindrome I-They Might Be Giants

So I'm a go WAYYY back to ye mythical Year of 1992 with the second track to the masters of quirky 90's alternative rock They Might Be Giants partly overlooked masterpiece of an album Apollo 18, “I palindrome I,” which in the title and a lot of it's lyrics ironically enough is a palindrome which is just one of many examples of how this quirky little duo may be the most ingeniously intelligent band around.

“Some day mother will die and I'll get the money, Mom leans down and say's my sentiments exactly, You son of a bitch I palindrome I,” start a very kind of dark and almost jerky little number that again doesn't over stay it's welcome and is dripping with this bands patented brand of charm and spontaneity in it's rapid fire pace you're delivered a stellar track that'll wiggle it's way into your subconscious and serve as one of MANY reminders that this band is more than a couple of bad ass Looney Tunes tracks.

For real if you get the time look into this bands catalog because they have made a fucking shit load of REALLY good songs that are very quirky in nature but at times can be surprising in just how well written and clever they actually are.

SO there you go people 5 bad ass songs I'm listening to right now it's been pretty fucking fun to of been doing this whole site for the past 7 years which is still FUCKING CRAZY to wrap my head around because I didn't think just how long it'd been and my facebook on this day memories thing are loaded with my post of these different songs of the day's and I've written some cringe inducing shit for sure but at the same time this little project has also given me some fucking spectacular memories especially from all the people who've read the different post and told me how much they liked them those people are the fucking best and deserve the biggest thanks along with all the bands and artist I've covered thanks for giving me a reason to go on for 7 years and the years to come but hey let's quit being sappy and go ROCK THE FUCK ON!!!!!

Sam's Top 20 of 2016: #10

10.DREAMERS-Sweet Disaster

I can't lie I fucking love this band so much so that I literally bought a ticket to a show just because they were opening it and finally getting to see them play live FUCKING TWICE! Front row and getting the set-list both times is really something especially since Wolves is still an outstandingly phenomenal piece of alternative rock that only solidified itself as a song that I just can't help but adore whenever I saw them play it at both shows.

So whenever they finally put out their debut album, “This Album Does Not Exist,” I've been racking my brain trying to figure out which of it's other 10 bad ass dance able new wave tinged tracks I'd put on this year end list because in all honesty it's one of the few albums this year that I actually enjoyed and not only purchased but have managed to still listen to all the way through semi consistently since then without it wearing out it's welcome and that's quite the feat because almost all the acts that I've enjoyed years prior have just put out some real clunkers this year and in what's been maybe the most disappointing year of my life it's quite nice for at least one thing from the past year to be worth getting invested in.

Now what song could I possibly pick? Well in all honesty it was tough because, “DRUGS,” is a fucking bad ass tongue and cheek message to society, “Come Down Slow,” is an introspective feel good of a jam, and “Shooting Shadows,” is a personal favorite in it's deliciously dirty lyrics over a very ominously depressing beat but when I kind of listen to the album all the way through and think really hard about it I think this is one instance where I kind of have to go with the main promo single of the whole thing.

“Sweet Disaster,” it's a semi introspective feeling rocker filled with plenty of references to the likes of The Ramones, Rolling Stones, and Talking Heads in-between the various feelings of doubt in what's a sounds like a relationship that's been through a variety of things to lead to a crossroads and while the song has a very optimistic tone there's still an undercurrent of doubt in it's lyrics that help give meaning to the phrase Sweet Disaster and it's that theme among a lot of their tunes that like WOLVES before it I can't help but be attracted to.

These guy's are one of the better bands I've seen come along in qutie some time and I'd very much advise picking up their record because it's quite the listen from beginning to end and their live show is absolutely phenomenal.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #5

#5 Wolves(You Got Me)-Dreamers

So this for me would be 2015's Demon Dance in that it's an amazingly old school sounding song that's the perfect blend of 90's feedback heavy alternative shoe-gazing rock and roll with some punk rock lyrical poetry that's an awkward series of metaphors for the torturingly crazy experience of falling in love and how it's like being thrown into a den of wolves learning to follow the pact and get use to that crazy feeling and the fucked up things to come.

It's a beautifully simple song that's just everything I love hearing in alternative music that's managed to constantly sound like the best classic song that reminds you of the day's of looking left of the dial and it's only bested by a few truly bad ass tunes that kind of edged it.

Song of the day 9/2/15

Wolves(You Got Me)-Dreamers

So this song is a lot like why I enjoyed a cut like Demon Dance by Surfer Blood in that it’s a very old school sounding alternative rock number with a distinct early 90’s shoe-gaze sound that’s reminiscent of the pixies, lemonheads, and sonic youth in the like with its minimalist productions and very rock oriented grooves that help give it a cooler then you sound that is just improved greatly by vocals that don’t try to be too impressive and fit the word fuck in its chorus.

This song just unquestionably kicks so much ass for me because unlike the vast majority of alternative radio trying to blur the line between pop and rock with their infectiously catchy and danceable beats and overblairing synthesizers or the Jack White impersonating acts that are trying to sound so old school it hurts it’s refreshing to find a song that kind of expresses those same grooves of the old school but don’t come off as a tune trying to be from that time and actually just being a damn good rock and roll number.