Episode 70

Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck, with your host, Mark Bradbourne.

Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck. I am your host, Mark. Every week, you know that I listen to hundreds and hundreds of new songs, trying to find some good ones that you can add to your playlists because I’m a sadist. No. I enjoy doing it, honestly. It’s been a great process for me to continually expose myself to new music, and I found some great things, and I’m happy to share them right here on the podcast with you. As always, thank you so much for taking a moment out of your day to listen to the podcast and get exposed to some new music as well. I really do appreciate it. Before we get into new music, I have some thoughts, so buckle up.

First up, my favorite new band, The Bites. We’re back in Northeast Ohio, and I got to see them for the third time. Third time in less than 12 months, which has been just fantastic, honestly. This trip, they were opening on Sebastian Bach’s tour. He just had an album come out. Sebastian Bach leads singer of Skid Row when he first hit the scene, and it marked the first time that The Bites were opening for someone who I actually knew. Not only knew, but had some interest in seeing, granted, if The Bites were not on the bill, I probably would not have gone, but I’m glad I did. It was my first time out at Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio. It’s a rather large venue. It has great sound, great acoustics. The sad note of the show was Sebastian does not draw as well as I thought he might. The place was only about half full, which was kind of a downer. I think it’s about a 1,500 or 2,000 seat venue. Anyway, it did not stop The Bites from completely kicking ass and taking names, and I swear to God, these guys get better and better each time I see them live. And as a musician, I know that as you play with a band continually and you’re touring night after night, you just get this level of comfort with each other, and you can anticipate what other people are doing, and it just starts to sound fucking amazing. And The Bites have got to that point. And it wasn’t just me who was blown away, which was the awesome part. Like I’m hearing the crowd kind of go nuts, which was fantastic. And then after the show, I was like, I went down to the merch table. They said, hey, we’re going to be back there. You know, we’d love to meet everybody. And by the time I got back to the merch table, there was a line. And when I say there was a line, there was a long line. So I got in line and I said a quick hello to Jordy, the lead singer. And I said, you know what, I’m going to come back because I do want to chat with you guys. And I’ll do it like once Sebastian starts, right? The line will be clear by then. And I kind of like faded off to the side so I could still kind of watch the line because I don’t know. It’s weird. I have like this vested interest in the success of The Bites at this point, which I have no business doing. It’s not like my little tiny podcast has, you know, moved the needle on their listening audience in any way, shape, or form. But I’m just a fan. I love these guys. They’re fantastic. But I’m watching them interact with all these fans. They’re signing whatever people have put in front of them, including bodily parts, which was fantastically hilarious to watch. But they are generally so interested in interacting with people. They’re taking photos and at one point I became the unofficial photographer because the line was just, they were overwhelmed. So I started taking photos for them so that people didn’t have to figure out who was going to take the picture. And they joked they were going to tip me out and I’m like, the fuck you are, man. Get out of here. But anyway, at one point the security guard quipped saying, I’ve never seen an opening band with a line like this. And I was like, for real. Like I hadn’t either. And it was fantastic. And here’s the really interesting part. I hear Sebastian start his set and there’s still people in line. I figured people were going to bail, right? Because that’s who they paid to see really. Like nobody knew the bites were really opening this tour. They got noticed like two days before that they were going to be on the tour. And people stuck around and they missed like the first two, three songs of Sebastian set like wanting to meet the bites, which I was like, fuck, yes, that’s amazing. So I was like, ah, it was so good. And here’s the really fun part for me, like again, I have no measure of like change in their success. Like I don’t, I don’t have a hand in it at all, but I’m standing off to the side watching all of this happen. And if I tell you that I felt like a proud papa, that is exactly how I felt. I am so fucking proud of these guys for all the things that they’re doing. They are grinding it out, man. They are doing everything that they can to make this thing work. And they’ve got so much talent. They are so good. They’ve brought fun back to rock and roll. And I want nothing more than to lose my access to this band. Like I’ve gotten a set list from every show that I’ve seen so far. And I told them, I said, I can’t wait till the point where I can’t get a set list from you guys. Like that’s the level of success I want for these guys. And it’s just so fantastic. So if you haven’t listened to them already and I talk about them, I feel like constantly on this podcast because I do, I believe in them that much. Go check them out. They’re actually going to be back in Cleveland at the end of May. I’ve already got my tickets. They’re going to be out at the Winchester in Lakewood. It’s going to be fantastic. If you’re in the area and want to go, let me know. I will go with you. I’ll go by myself. It don’t matter. But I’ll see you there.

One final note on this show, as I was talking with Jordan, he asked if I had heard of this band called Classless Act, another band from Hollywood that they know. And I had not. I think I’d heard the name, but I hadn’t heard any of their music, so I was checking some of that out. So a bonus song this week. It’s a cover song. Classless Act’s latest release happens to be a cover of Britney Spears’ song, Toxic. So I’m going to link it in the show notes for you to check out. Jordy noted that the vocalist is phenomenal and he is. And honestly, the rest of the band is really, really good. Like listening to a few of their different tracks. It’s good stuff. So check out Classless Act. That is a recommendation directly from Jordan. All right.

Other things on my mind. I got asked the question. Someone asked me, if you could listen to one song again for the first time, what would it be? That is a very deep question for someone who is so passionate about music. There is one song that I have very vivid memories of hearing the first time. But all of the other songs that I’ve heard in my life have all blended together. And I couldn’t tell you at what point I heard what song. Like the one song that I remember distinctly hearing was Pull Me Under by Dream Theater. I know where I was. I know who I was with. I know how I felt. And like I love Dream Theater and I have since that day, but I have no idea why that song has stuck with me the way that it has. It’s honestly a little weird. But this brings me to a chance to live vicariously through others. If you are a YouTube watcher, I am a YouTube watcher. And one of the channels that I follow is The Charismatic Voice. The Charismatic Voice is Elizabeth Zaroff. And I’m very jealous of her at times. Because she is a classically trained opera singer, has a beautiful voice. Part of her channel is teaching people about singing. But the other part of her channel is basically showing that she has had a very sheltered musical life outside of opera. So she does reaction videos to songs and artists that she has never heard. So you’ve got a classically trained opera singer listening to Rob Halford and James LaBrie and Anthrax and all these like hard rock heavy metal bands. And it’s fantastic because she lights up with joy as she’s listening to this stuff. And it’s, I don’t know, it’s just really cool to see somebody experience it for the first time. The other musical nerdy thing that happens is she breaks down what they’re doing with their voices, which as a music nerd, I really like that part. So check out The Charismatic Voice on YouTube. She’s fantastic.

One last thing to talk about before we get into the new music, May 21st. So this comes out on Monday, on Tuesday. Tuesday is National Rock and Roll Podcast Day. Now there are so many great music podcasts out there. So there’s probably a few you know, there’s probably hundreds that you don’t know. So I’ve got a handful of recommendations this week. I’m going to be posting more on social media. You know my brothers and rock and roll autopsy at the top of my list. I love those guys. Rock Talk Studio. If you need recommendations on books and documentaries, Big Rick is your guy. So go check out Rock Talk Studio. Rock and Roll Nightmares is another good one. Rock and Roll Bedtime Stories, also fantastic. Album Nerds, All Day Vinyl, so many music podcasts. If you follow the hashtag National Rock N, the letter N, Roll Podcast Day, you will find all of them. We are banning together to make May 21st be this amazing thing. So be sure and check out all of the music rock and roll podcasts on National Rock and Roll Podcast Day. I will drop some links in the show notes to make it a little bit easier for you. All right, let’s get into some new music, shall we?

The first song this week is Lay Me Down by the Rooks. Starting off this week, I’ve got the Rooks debut single. My first thought as I was listening to this was that they remind me a bit of the band, Travis. I remember discovering Travis back in like 1999, 2000, 2001 somewhere in there. And this song really reminds me of early Travis, not so much their later stuff. The key things around that, like the backing vocals and kind of the overall tonality of the track. This is on paper, a great straight ahead rock song, right? Nice hook, great chorus. There’s a lovely bridge leading into a guitar solo. And honestly, it’s like the textbook songwriting approach, and it’s not a bad thing because honestly you don’t get a whole lot of that anymore. So it’s nice to hear. I really like this song, I’ll be really interested to see what comes from the Rooks over the next few months or a year. But as far as debut singles go, this one’s a really solid one.

The second song this week is Chameleon by High Fade. I’ve had these guys on the podcast before last year, if I remember correctly, with their viral hit, Burnt Toast and Coffee. More of the same, honestly. Slammin’, syncopated funk rock. It’s delicious. This one though is really an instrumental. There’s a little bit of call out to the band, a la James Brown, but there’s no vocal, really. It’s a banger. As a musician, hearing the level of musicianship that is going on, it’s really amazing. There’s this syncopated stop-start, ins and outs, and it’s just super tight. And I know you can do some magic in the studio. I’ve been part of magic in the studio, but I’ve seen videos of these guys play live, and this is not studio magic. This is just raw talent. They are a three-piece, and there is so much going on musically. Like, as you’re listening to it, you’re like, how do three people make this much sonic goodness? They fill that space, and it’s just this high level of skill that, I know there’s tons of skilled musicians out there, but when they get together and they have great chemistry, this is what you get. So if you haven’t checked out High Fade yet, now’s your chance.

The third song this week is When We Were Stars by Guster. Guster’s back. I had them on earlier this year. They were talking about a new album coming out. The new album has dropped. This is the track they kind of dropped on album day. And honestly, this track has the potential to land on your beach or poolside summer playlists. It’s got a really fantastic chill groove to it. The production’s really warm. It’s super catchy. The song has this great build, you know, up and through the middle. There’s a great roller coaster structure, honestly. And Guster’s been at this for a long time. They know how to write really good songs, and they have done it again. This is the first new album from them in five years. And honestly, from what I’ve heard of it so far, it was absolutely worth the wait. So go check out When We Were Stars by Guster.

The fourth song this week is Schadenfreude by Attendant. Now, I’m not gonna lie to you, Schadenfreude is probably one of my favorite things when it’s experienced by the right person. So the title absolutely drew me in. If you don’t know what Schadenfreude is, just Google it. The music, honestly, though, once the music hit, I was like, okay, I love chaotic rhythms and it’s happening and I’m here for it. It’s almost like a hard rock heavy metal colliope in the verses. Like imagine rock and roll themed horses running in a tornado at some sort of amusement park. This song is on the soundtrack. They call it Grunge Punk Waltz, and I’m like, yep, that checks out. So go give Schadenfreude a listen from Attendant.

The fifth and final song this week is More by Liily. Liily appeared on episode one of this podcast back in January of 2023 with their single applause. And I remember as I was prepping for that show, Lily appeared on Miley Cyrus’ New Year’s show with Dolly Parton, and I was like, oh my gosh, I’ve got the gift of finding these bands that are just gonna be huge, like I found this one and they’re already on TV. Wow, I was deluded. Anyway, that song is still one of my favorite finds from the podcast. This song, the opening bassline gives me very soul coughing, Mike Doughty vibes for sure. It’s cool, it’s catchy, and then as they get a little bit deeper in the song, they channel their inner Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails in the chorus, and there’s this fantastic industrial vocal and music feel that starts to happen. So it’s really two very distinct things that are going on, but it works so well in the song. I really, really, really, really, really need to see these guys live. I remember that being a recurring mention when I was researching this band back in episode one, the band has to be experienced live, and I’m still waiting. So more from Lily, it’s a fantastic listen. Go check it out.

That is it for this week. As always, thank you again for listening. Spread the word to your fellow music fans. If you have friends who have ears and they use those ears to listen to music, you need to let them know about the podcast because it doesn’t matter what I post on social media, it’s not gonna get to them. They’re gonna miss that message, so you need to give it to them directly. With that said, do follow me on social media because I do like interacting with y’all. You can find me on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, on X, and on threads. You can check out the website at songsthatdon’tsuck. net. You can find transcripts and all kinds of stuff there. And always check the show notes of the podcast now. With the changes that Spotify made with their hosting, I can’t really put the music in the podcasts anymore. So I’ve basically decided that I’m just putting links in the show notes. The cool thing is the links go to every music platform that you could possibly have. So Tidal, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, Bandcamp, whatever. All the links are there for all the music that I talk about. So please, please, please check out the show notes. Go support these artists, and… Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.