Getting Gruntled

This week, I wanted to draw some attention to a band called Red Guitar, a band from Kansas City with a folksy rock sound and songwriting combination that makes me think of Tom Petty. They have also been compared to The Fray, Ryan Adams, and Coldplay. Red Guitar is another one of those bands I have found on Amie Street where I purchase all their music, and *almost* feature them for a few weeks in a row, then wait in a vain attempt to choose a single song to highlight. Be sure to listen to “Angel Across The State Line” and “Jump Out On The Water”.
This track, “Let’s Go Out,” is about feeding wanderlust as both an activity for both searching your own soul and for exploring relationships with your travelling companions.
Today, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is at 3.50, and traveling is a headache. Spring is in full bloom, and schools are out in another month. It’s more difficult and expensive to get out and roam, but that spirit is as important as it ever was.

This week, I found a band called Porchsleeper. They don’t have much in the way of detail on AmieStreet, but they are out of Ann Arbor, MI. The “Stinkeye” track I have in the player here really kicks, and has a pop-punk feel to it that reminds me of The Refreshments. Be sure to check out the “Bulletproof” track while you are here.

I found a lot of good female vocalists this past week on AmieStreet. One of these was Karma Lively, who has “a hundred songs of peace and war,” is from “North to the Future” Alaska. Besides having a light, fun acoustic sound, and having something to say with her lyrics, She’s donating all of her music sales for the year on AmieStreet to charity. She has a sound that is somewhere in the neighborhood of The Cranberries, Jewel, and Sia.
It looks like she’s laying down all of the instrument tracks herself, which always gains a lot of points with me.

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

Fresh from the toe of your stocking over the fireplace, the band for this week is Pavement Candy. Pavement Candy is based in Tokyo, and has a fusion sound like The Charlatans or maybe early Phish. They have been performing since May 2004. The track I’m highlighting, Old Friends, New Surroundings, tries to capture the essence of those conversations where you locate a long lost friend. There’s catching up to do, and much to say, with never enough time to say it.

Old friends in new surroundings
Familiar faces that stay true
Sing you a happy song
The trenches have been dug for too long

No margin for error now
The truth lies somewhere within your eyes
Wake up feeling like the summer sun
See you at a place I know you can reach

The band I discovered this week is The King Left. The track here, The Storm in a Teacup, is not the cup of tea that mellows you out. It’s the one that sees big changes brewing.
The band hails originally from Ithaca, NY, and now is based out of NYC. Their sound is much like The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, maybe even Modest Mouse.

I hope you like them.

This week, I’ve rediscovered Big Society, a band whose music I bought back a few weeks ago, along with some other selections.
I’m testing the new player that Mouseclone has been helping to develop. The plugin isn’t finished yet, but should be coming along. In the meantime, I’ve stolen creatively borrowed the working code.
Big Society is headed up by Tom Shields, a singer and songwriter originally from Rhode Island (home of the oldest operating tavern in the United States), who met a fledgling band in Raleigh 15 years ago, and they have been together ever since. The song Silvery Moon has a classic rock feel with a folksy rhythm. I get the feeling of listening to Bob Dylan or maybe early Phish with this one. It’s upbeat, looking forward to the future “with my one true love/curled up by side.”