Music really hits differently based on your mood, so I’d talk about some songs to fit an uplifting vibe. I’ve made about a hundred different playlists for pick-me-up songs, from ‘Hype Music’ to ‘I love these songs with everything in me’. It’s like one of those youtube compilation videos you watch that have oddly specific titles but somehow fit your mood just right, anyhow without further or do here are some of my favorite pick-me-up tunes
Natural Supersoul by Superfood
If any song could make me feel like the coolest thing it would be this song, the vibe is so mellow it makes you kinda grove along, but the lyrics really always get me feelin like a Nat-ur-al Sup-er-soul
Younger by A Great Big World
Nothing quite like a throwback song to make you remember the good old times of childhood life
Hanna’s Theme by The Chemical Brothers
This song has no lyrics, it’s just really nice humming, call me crazy but I find this song so peaceful and relaxing I used to listen to it every night while falling asleep
One Day by Matisyahu
This song is just beautiful, and I think the message is really powerful
Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club
I’ve never made a good vibes playlist without this one, it’s a must to me, if you ever feel like things never workout this is the song to put on, because it’s a nice reminder that something good can work
Released on July 21, 1987, Appetite for Destruction (Geffen Records)hardly even raised an eyebrow. It was the debut album by Guns N’ Roses, and the band immediately hit the road in support of the record. “It’s So Easy" was the first single released, a month before the debut dropped. The single, “Welcome to the Jungle” followed the debut on October 3, 1987. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” came in August of `88, “Paradise City" in November of `88, and “Nightrain" in July of `89. With the radio play of the middle three singles, the video for “Welcome to the Jungle" on MTV, and relentless touring by the band, in`88 Appetite became a massive commercial success. It was #1 on the Billboard 200 and became the best selling debut album of all time (the 11th best selling album of all time with 30 million copies sold).
Guns N’ Roses changed what was acceptable as Hard Rock, though for the general public, the band members themselves were completely unacceptable. Axle Rose (vocals) and Tracii Guns (lead guitar) were the original founders and the band’s namesake. But with larger than life personalities and even larger egos, the two could not keep it together. Guns left to form L.A. Guns, with moderate success (especially from their first couple albums). He was replaced by Slash and the fire was set. Duff McKagan, Seven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin finalized the lineup.
As noted above, G N` R instituted an irreversible change in the music industry, especially in the dark alleys of the Hard Rock / Heavy Metal world. Their appearance was (originally) “Big Hair,” but their sound was something else altogether. The band’s live shows were only an extension of the vision of Appetite. For the `80’s, they were wild! While the record was totally put together, it wasn’t long until the band, individually and collectively, began to show cracks. The song, “Mr. Brownstone,” for example, was about the band’s problems with heroin. They were no strangers to the police (before and during their success) in every town, state, and country; being known for violence and public intoxication. G N’ R were the poster children for “Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll.”
The original album cover art was based on Robert Williams’ painting Appetite for Destruction. It featured a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. Record stores refused to stock the album with this cover, so the label moved this depiction inside and replaced the cover art with the classic Celtic cross and skulls of the five band members. The original artwork was a representation of the band (the metal avenger) wrestling back the power of the people from the system (the robotic rapist).
The song listing for the record reads like a list of chart toppers:
1. Welcome to the Jungle
2. It’s So Easy
3. Nightrain
4. Out ta Get Me
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. Paradise City
7. My Michelle
8. Think About You
9. Sweet Child o’ Mine
10. You’re Crazy
11. Anything Goes
12. Rocket Queen
Album Rating: 10/10!!
Favorite Songs: Welcome to the Jungle; It’s So Easy; Anything Goes
BEST TRACKS: VHS Release, Red Marks, I Want to Wreck Your Car
FCC Violations: VHS Release, Smash-Hit, Slice of Paradise, You Don’t Have to Tell Me That You Love Me,
Recommended if you like: PUP, The Fratellis, The Front Bottoms
Thirsty Curses pummels the scene once again with a new, label debut album. Thirsty Curses is a local four-piece rock and roll band straight out of our own beloved city of Raleigh, NC. Their latest album, which is self-titled, was released last Friday! I had the privilege of listening to this album before it was released on streaming platforms and I was blow away by the raw energy and deep cutting lyrics encompassed in this release. I am so excited for you guys to finally be able to listen to it. There was also a record release show at School Kids Records last Friday and while I wasn’t able to make it (I had a Biochemistry test that I had to cram for ☹), I heard that it kicked ass and that the album was received phenomenally well. I wouldn’t have expected anything different from Thirsty Curses. They’ve been putting out good stuff since 2017.
There is some phenomenal songwriting on this album. In every song, the lyrics flow and swing together extremely harmoniously, creating a sense of continuity and balance that lets you just sink deep into the music. My favorite song on this album is track 1, VHS Release. Packed into this short, 2 minute 39 second song are several punky riffs, lighthearted drums, and some creative similes that outline heavy themes of being anxious and dissatisfied with your mediocre life, feeling lost about what to do next, and craving a clean start.
If you like drinking beer or if you’ve ever dressed up like a pirate for Halloween, you’ll probably like this album.
I feel hopeful whenever a local band comes out with an album this fresh and amazing. It shows that we don’t have to look far beyond our own backyards to find incredible talent. Fight the corporate machine, keep supporting local music.
Artist Record Label 1 PEACH PYRAMID Bright Blue Oscar St 2 CHASTITY BELT Chastity Belt Hardly Art 3 (SANDY) ALEX G House Of Sugar Domino 4 BARRIE Happy To Be Here (Ext) [EP] Winspear 5 NEW PORNOGRAPHERS In the Morse Code Of Brake Lights Concord 6 MANNEQUIN PUSSY Patience Epitaph 7 BABE RAINBOW, THE Today 30th Century 8 TURNOVER Altogether Run For Cover 9 FRANKIE COSMOS Close It Quietly Sub Pop 10 CRUMB Jinx Self-Released 11 ERTHLINGS Indigo [EP] Future Classic 12 BODYWASH Comforter Luminelle 13 GREAT GRANDPA Four Of Arrows Double Double Whammy 14 JULIA SHAPIRO Perfect Version Hardly Art 15 SARAH BETHE NELSON Weird Glow Burger 16 A BEACON SCHOOL Cola Grind Select/House Arrest 17 FRENCH VANILLA How Am I Not Myself? Danger Collective 18 SURF CURSE Heaven Surrounds You Danger Collective 19 CLAUD Sideline Star [EP] The Orchard 20 GRINGO STAR Controlled Burn Baby Robot 21 NIGHT SINS Portrait In Silver Funeral Party 22 NATHAN BAJAR Playroom In Real Life 23 SNAIL MAIL Habit [EP] Matador 24 PINEGROVE Marigold [Advance Tracks] Rough Trade/Beggars 25 B BOYS Dudu Captured Tracks 26 GREBES House Creatures Broken Circles 27 BOY SCOUTS Free Company Anti- 28 PALEHOUND Black Friday Polyvinyl 29 DIASPOURA Demonstrations Self-Released 30 PEAER A Healthy Earth Tiny Engines
TOP ADDS
1 CHASTITY BELT Chastity Belt Hardly Art 2 GREAT GRANDPA Four Of Arrows Double Double Whammy 3 TURNOVER Altogether Run For Cover 4 RICHARD SHIRK Arcadia Self-Released 5 WILCO Ode To Joy dBpm 6 BASEMENT REVOLVER Wax And Digital [EP] Sonic Unyon 7 BEGINNER’S MIND, THE Ego Death 13 ‘O’ Clock 8 LANDON ELLIOTT Domino American Paradox 9 GEOWULF My Resignation PIAS 10 DESERT SESSIONS Vol. 11 & 12 Matador/Beggars
Artist Record Label 1 DENZEL CURRY Zuu Loma Vista/Concord 2 SK, THE NOVELIST Baggage Self-Released 3 NONAME Room 25 Self-Released 4 MIKE War in my Pen 10k, Lex 5 RICO NASTY Anger Management Atlantic 6 BONES LivingSucks Self-Released 7 TIERRA WHACK “Unemployed” [Single] Self-Released 8 BUDDY Harlan & Alondra Star Trak Entertainment, RCA, Interscope, I Am Other 9 BROCKHAMPTON Ginger Question Everything/RCA 10 BIG L The Big Picture Rawkus, Columbia, Sony Entertainment, Priority
Artist Record Label 1 DESPISED ICON Purgatory Nuclear Blast 2 I DECLARE WAR Downcast [EP] Self-Released 3 COUNTERPARTS Nothing Left To Love Pure Noise 4 CATTLE DECAPITATION “One Day Closer to the End of the World” [Single] Metal Blade 5 VAMACHARA Hereafter [EP] Closed Casket Activities 6 SHAME SPIRAL “A Remanufactured Fear” [Single] Self-Released 7 EDGE OF PARADISE Universe Frontiers 8 CREEPING DEATH Wretched Illusions e One 9 JINJER Macro Napalm 10 THY ART IS MURDER Human Target Nuclear Blast
This past Sunday I got to go to see the band Omni at Kings and it was a pretty amazing show. I (thought) I first heard the band a couple of weeks ago while I was at work. I’m the daytime music director here at WKNC so I get albums to listen to pretty frequently, but I definitely remember first getting their new album and listening to it. I immediately figured it would end up on air from the first listen because I really enjoyed it (and from what I saw online under their music video a lot of people feel that way too). The band is from Atlanta Georgia and they seem like really cool guys. After the show I spoke to the lead singer, just to tell him that I really liked his album, and he was super nice and chill about it all. Looking online they are categorized as ‘Alternative Indie’ and ‘Rock’. That’s pretty accurate, but there’s also a pretty classic and kind of old school style about them that really made them stand out to me. My favorite tracks off of the new record are ‘Sincerely Yours’ and ‘Skeleton Key’.
To get back to an earlier point, I thought this was my first time hearing the band but when listening to my Ultimate Indie playlist I realized I had their song ‘Wire’ in there. That track is amazing and I definitely recommend listening to it if you haven’t heard it yet. The show was also amazing and made me like the band and new album even more. The opening acts were Blacker Server and Moonland and they really helped set up the scene, it was quite the show the entire time and I’m really glad I was able to go.
Another month is over and again some more real good music was released. This month I want to highlight three albums that I really enjoyed. In no particular order…
Networker by Omni
Networker is the third full length album by the band and it’s sound is very classical older-school indie rock. The thing that really made this album stand out to me was the guitar and bass work, the riffs are incredibly ear catching and the vocals just match so well that it feels like it was made for the genre. I would recommend Sincerely Yours, Courtesy Call and Skeleton Key first. These anthems have been on repeat since I first heard them.
Friends by Future Crib
Another album that really caught my attention for its guitar work. I think this album is exactly what I think when I hear ‘indie’ and I absolutely love it. I feel like this music would be so nice to listen to live. There isn’t much more to say then you should start with Astronaut, Pocket and Alone.
Heavy Lifter by Hovvdy
I was instantly hooked when I first heard the song Mr. Lee. I am a sucker for catchy intros, and the higher pitched vocals really fit the vibe this song has. I feel like I could sit outside and listen during the day or chilling in my bed at 3am and it would hit so different but so right both times. It’s hard to describe the sound this album has but it’s very indie and kind of dreamy feeling to me. I would also recommend So Brite and Cathedral.
Ahh, this band…. After The Burial (ATB) is one of my favorite Djent bands. Their overall sound is technical and melodic. The vocals are strong and passionate. Overall 10/10 band.
The first time I saw them was back in 2016 for the Sumerian Records 10 Years in Black tour with Asking Alexandria, Born of Osiris, I See Stars, and (one of my all-time faves) Upon A Burning Body. I primarily went for Upon A Burning Body, but once ATB stepped on stage, I was in awe!!! Their stage presence is AWESOME and never they fail to put on a great show. Since then, I have seen ATB probably 5 times and they never get old. I remember one time I saw ATB, I was at Arizona Pete’s in Greensboro and I was in the front for their set, I was headbanging and jamming the entire time. Their guitarist, Trent, kept throwing guitar picks at me so I have tons of ATB picks now!
ATB is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are signed to Sumerian Records and have released six full-length albums: Forging a Future Self (2006), Rareform [Re-Issue] (2008), In Dreams (2010), Wolves Within (2013), Dig Deep (2016), and Evergreen (2019). To me, Dig Deep is probably one of their best albums, not because of the sound of the record (which is awesome) but the story behind the album. In 2015, founder and rhythm guitarist, Justin Lowe (RIP), was found dead. He was missing and a hiker found his body beneath a bridge. His car was found on the side of the bridge. Authorities believe that the cause of his death was with a fall.
This was a hard time for the band because they were working on their upcoming album, Dig Deep. The band said that they weren’t going to finish the album but with the love and support from their fans, they decided to finish it after all. There is so much emotion on this album and I am so proud of this band for sticking together and being there for one another. You can also hear the same emotion and aggression on their latest album, Evergreen, which their vocalist, Anthony Notarmaso, said to be a continuation of Dig Deep. One of my favorite songs off of Dig Deep is Laurentian Ghosts. The opening riff you hear is actually a mix done by Lowe and was added to the song. It gave me chills when I first heard it.
Overall, this band is great. I love what they stand for, their courage, and their fight to press on and continue to make music. Respect.
