This week, I’m highlighting Great Divide, who are based in the Ann Arbor, MI area and who have a really groovy sound that takes a lot of influence from early rock and blues. The “Ain’t No Roads” track really reminds me a lot of The Band, and those long road trips to Florida.

This week, I am highlighting Mache Seibel, who writes and plays health-related songs in the spirit of the old Schoolhouse Rock shows. they are educational, funny, and have good information. He has albums set up with songs geared toward different age groups, and an upcoming album about womens’ health. This song, Think STD’s is from the hilarious “Health Rock: Teen Edition” album, is obviously about STD awareness, and has a brilliant refrain that says “Think STD’s when your BVDs get down to your knees”. It goes very well withe the posts I did about The sex talk, MWTSS and self-awareness. Just the way I approach those “life” talks with the kids: truthful, honest, informative, and fun.

I reinstalled the Music Wednesday Plugin and this will be the first post with it.

The Teenagers are a Euro-based alt-pop band who list their base whereabouts as both London and Paris. I’m imagining a boathouse anchored on the channel. The trio’s biggest track to date has been “Starlett Johannson”, which you can sample by hitting the “more by this artist” button right in the player there. If it shows up. :]

I chose the “French Kiss” track because of the way the music helps the lyrics draw you into the suspenseful moments leading up to a first kiss. The nervous energy and odd things you find yourself saying can be comical —when you’re not in the moment anymore. The experince of the very first french kiss is delved into in the lyrics, which is a bit insightful, but how the song captures the nervous moments leading up to it is what really captured my attention. It would have been a good choice for last week, V-D and such. I hope you enjoy it.

This week, we have Valentine’s Day, so when I came across this track, I knew that it just had to be the one for my post. Diesel Boy Has recently had a re-release of the 1999 album to Amie Street, so you can get the tracks for your digital music device (DRM-free, no less!) for a great deal less than other places. The track is about pining for the long-lost best friend in a romantic way.

Diesel Boy was always known years back for songs that would now be pigeonholed in the “nerdcore” category: Shocking, self-effacing humor, heavy instrumentation, and hyperactive vocals. Call it what you will, it’s fun to listen to.

The band I re-discovered this week is Nerf Herder. They are out of California and have been around since ’94. I picked this song to go along with my previous post. I just had to get a sci-fi hook in there this time. It’s a great song about chatting up someone online who isn’t interested because you simply don’t fit the pre-made mold she had in mind, and then finally giving her a piece of yours. Sounds like ‘punk rawk angst’ to me. On any other day, if I were posting Nerf Herder, I’d have definitely used the song “pervert”. On the player, hit more from this artist, and double click the song title to hear it.

The band I discovered this week is West Side Winders. Amie Street has done some UI updates on the site, especially in the pop-up player, and in some other account-related updates. The West Side Winders are from the Chicagoland area, but tour all over the eastern midwest and New England area. I have a bit of a weakness for rockabilly and surf guitar, and I haven’t highlighted much of those genres here in quite a while. The surf rock guitars and the rockabilly lyrics make me want to paint flames on the hood of the jalopy, and go and find someplace to look surly…. This is a good-times song about wanting to go to a particular diner to hang out with everyone because there’s a girl who works there that you are interested in.
Enjoy!

The band I discovered this week is Jotto, out of Philadeplhia, they have an interesting sound: melodies taht are almost Beatles-like, as well as a wet, grimy sound to the electronics, giving it an aged noise. There’s also a good bit of Bob Dylan and The Strokes influences there on the surface.

A bird will fly right into your eye and sing what you regret
A night a name it all seems the same way, too delicate
She’s young, she’s taught and stares as we stalk its all irrelevant
I Just Want to See You
I Just Want to Be You
We wait outside deciding if she lied as if it mattered
She walks on by pretending if she’s shy or flattered
It’s a wife, a kid we, all saw that falling bridge and scattered

The band I discovered this week is Fat Robot. I was following links, and the band seems to be off-and-on, and possibly defunct. Out of Toronto, this three-piece includes an engineering student and a world traveler, and they have a sound similar to The Strokes and maybe even Modest Mouse, especially on the track “I Roll“. I hope you enjoy them!