Episode 84

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

What’s up everybody? Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck. I am your host, Mark, and every week I am here listening to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs in the hopes that I will find a few that simply don’t suck that you can add to your playlists. Now if this is your first time listening, thank you so much for checking out the show. If this is something that you listen to on a weekly basis, thank you so much for your continued support. I love each and every one of you. Now before we get into the new music, you know me, I’ve got shit on my mind, so let’s get into it.

This week my oldest child went back to college. She was home all summer, it was fantastic, but as she says, she loves being close to her people, and that’s where college is, so she was thrilled to go back. I know she’s having a blast, and the only really problematic piece of that is the moment where I’m like, damn it, why can’t streaming services understand? Now if you’re a parent who has a child in college, you know exactly what I’m talking about, because Netflix has started this whole password sharing crackdown thing, and other streaming services are starting to follow suit. Disney Plus, Max, and Hulu are the ones that I am aware of, where they’ve made mention that hey, we’re going to start cracking down, and this is video streaming. And I get that she is not currently living in my house, but she is a dependent of this household, but she’s at college. These services are very advanced, and you would think that if you were to say, hey, this profile is going to be at a college or university, and if you see that IP group, because she’s connected to their network, you should allow this, because she’s going to be there for the next three, four years. But no, she gets the prompt saying, oh, you know, you’re not at home, dah, dah, dah, dah. Fuck you guys. Come on. Pull your heads out of your ass. I get the sharing of passwords of people who aren’t in your family, crackdown on that shit, for sure. I think everybody should pay for services that they get. It’s only right. We’re supporting the content and the artists. Get it. But it’s maddening that there is not some sort of procedure to allow for college students to use their parents’ account. And again, talking about video streaming services, but the thought occurred to me recently, are the music streaming services going to do the same? The precedent is being set, and it’s not a huge mental leap to say that it could happen. Now I’m already damn tired of all the subscriptions that I pay for each month, and this continual nickel and diming that these platforms are starting to do, like, you know, now Disney Plus has fucking commercials, like, I’m paying for the service, why am I getting commercials? It’s really maddening. Because they’re like, oh, just pay a couple bucks extra a month, and then you don’t have the ads. Well, motherfucker, that’s not what I signed up for. So I’m really starting to consider thinning the pack on this shit. You know, I am all for paying for service. I am all for paying for content. I am all for artists and people who are involved to get paid. But the greed is really, really starting to rub my ass raw.

All right, in other more pleasant news, have you ever kind of stopped to think about sound tracks and how it affects the way you view movies and television? The next time that you are watching something that’s really intense, like a horror movie, and it’s getting to be a bit much for you, mute it. All of a sudden, that guy in the mask with the chainsaw, you just see him as somebody who probably didn’t get hugged enough as a child and not a psychopath. It’s amazing to me how music can affect your psychological response. Now I found a study from the University of Rome, and they conducted it on this topic about music and sound tracks and how it affects your viewing. And it’s actually deeper than I originally thought. So in this study, they did it in two parts. The first part, they took 120 people and played this same very obscure video clip, and they set it to three different scores. Then they took 90 of those folks and did like an eye tracking study to see the physiological effects. So the three pieces of music were described as anxious, melancholy and ambient, with ambient kind of being the control if you’re a science nerd like me. And the music proved really effective. The melancholy soundtrack caused the participants to report a deeper sense of empathy, like by 16%. The anxious music decreased the empathy by the same percentage. So for the melancholy, it went up 16% for the anxious, it went down 15%. And in that anxious music, they actually paid more attention to the minor details in the background of the film, including a cameraman who was very particularly hard to spot. The eye tracking piece of this actually helped confirm that cameraman was being focused on and spotted because with the anxious music, they were just darting around trying to figure out what was going to happen. Really really fascinating. But when you think about it, the soundtrack plays with your brain. It starts with the emotions, but it does not end up there. Music influences how we perceive character personalities. We try to guess what’s coming next and even how we view the setting. So the next time you’re watching a movie, and it’s intense, pay attention to the soundtrack and what the soundtrack is doing. Seemute it and see what it does as far as your perception of it and see how it’s truly affecting your senses when it comes to how you’re enjoying the film.

And lastly, before I get into the new music, I want to encourage you to be weird and be yourself. This week, I discovered that there is nothing funnier than the looks that I get when I am on my giant Harley, waiting in line at the Costco to get gas, and I’m blasting chapel rone on my stereo. I will say The Rise and Fall of the Midwest Princess is an amazing album. And honestly, there’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure. Just enjoy the stuff that you enjoy and do it loudly.

All right, let’s get into the new music for this week. It was a really, really good week. Really good. And I don’t say that a lot. If you listen to the show, you know, I don’t say that a whole lot, but it was a good week. So here we go.

The first song this week is from Glass Beams, and it’s called Orb. Glass Beams has around 800,000 monthly listeners. And if you are in the mood for a little bit of psychedelic infused, Middle Eastern tinged instrumental rock, then you, my friend, are in for a treat. These unknown shadowy figures come to us from Melbourne, Australia. And the only thing that we really know is the founder. His name is Rajan Silva. He is of Indian heritage, and you can really hear that paid homage to in the music. There’s an interview that he did with Rolling Stone India where he mentions watching his dad’s concert for George DVD, George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, you know, playing sitar and he watched it over and over again. So it really influenced him musically. But that’s all we really know about this band. They perform in ornamental face coverings, so their identities are shielded. And musically, it’s just super chill. I mentioned the Middle Eastern flair to it. It’s got that Middle Eastern drone. If you are a world music fan, you kind of know what I’m referencing. The rhythm track, you know, drums and bass, it sets like this trance like foundation. And as you listen to it, you just kind of sink into it. It’s very tranquil to listen to it. From an instrument standpoint, it’s drums, bass and guitar. There are some synth sounds here and there that get dropped in. And it’s fantastic. This EP came out in March, so I’m a little late on it, but I’m honestly glad that I arrived. Here is a little taste of orb from Glass Beans.

The second song this week is Stereo from the Wild Feathers. Criminally, after 10 years of being a band, Wild Feathers only has 73,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. And that is bullshit. And sorry. This is the third song that I’ve had on the podcast this year. It is the third song being released from their upcoming album, which comes out this fall. And each one keeps getting better and better, getting stronger and stronger. And I really, really dig this track. They have been described in the past as kind of the modern day Eagles. And Stereo really leans into that reputation. Playing it top to bottom, there’s harmonies the whole time. It’s got a great melody, and musically it sets a really beautiful sonic landscape. When I tell you that I’m really excited about this album to drop, you can believe it. I really love the slide guitar work that’s kind of sprinkled in between each line and the verse. There’s all these little kind of things that are going on like that, that it’s just really, really pleasant to listen to. If you haven’t checked out the Wild Feathers by now, you really, really need to. And now’s the time. I’m going to give you a little taste. There is a little sample of Stereo.

The third song this week is from The Band Feel, and it’s called Find a Love. Now if you listened to last episode, you know I had the bites on chatting with them and Jordy mentioned the band Feel as one of the ones that he and the rest of the band thought were doing rock right. I had asked the question like who do they see as kind of their shoulder to shoulder compadres that are carrying the rock standard. And you know, like any good music fan, he recommended them, so I went and checked them out and he’s right. If you’re into bands like Dirty Honey, Greta Van Fleet, or you know songs that don’t suck favorite The Commoners, the greatest Southern rock band from Toronto ever, the band Feel who has 47,000 monthly listeners is a band that you should probably add to your playlists. Fantastic guitar rock, anthemic vocals with harmonies to support them. This song came out in 2023. They’ve been touring relentlessly since this came out. They did support Dirty Honey recently. They’re still on the road. I’m sure there’s new music on the horizon for them, but I wanted to shine a little light on them, give them a quick listen. Here is Find a Love.

The fourth song this week is from Palaye Royale and it’s called Dark Side of the Silver Spoon. These guys are a little more well known, 1.5 million listeners, and I’ve seen their name a bunch, but I’ve never really dug into and listened to them. This track is coming off their newly released EP and it’s got a lot going on musically. It’s a little punky. It’s a little glam infused. And honestly, I get this little bit of whimsical fun that I really, really dig. There’s moments where the production, I think, feels like a jellyfish record. And I think it’s kind of the harpsichord bouncy rhythm that’s happening that gives me that jellyfish vibe. The chorus, super strong, really catchy, fantastic from beginning to end, honestly. There’s not a weak spot. There’s a really fun section in the middle of the song where the song pays homage to all the young dudes, like it’s literally the melody line from all the young dudes. And you know it’s happening because right before this section, the song literally just kind of melts into this change. And then after that, kind of really just unique bridge, unique in the fact that the way they get into it and the way it feels to the other songs, not the fact that it copies all the young dudes. But after that, it just kind of picks back up into the original theme and just slams on home. It’s fantastic. Really dig this. I have not had a chance to dig into the rest of the EP yet, but it’s on my radar to do so because I really, really think if this is a flavor of Palais Royale, I’m going to really dig it. So here’s a little bit of Dark Side of the Silver Spirits. So here’s a little bit of Dark Side of the Silver Spoon.

The fifth song this week is Rule #36, Long Way from Home by Fish in a Birdcage. Now when I tell you that I fell down the largest of rabbit holes with this artist, it’s an understatement. I basically saw a white panel van that said free candy on the side and jumped in, never to be seen by my family again. I’m sending links to this band to all of my friends who have similar music tastes to me asking if they’d heard it and if they had, why were they gatekeeping them from me? But nobody knew who Fish in a Birdcage was. Fish in a Birdcage is one person. And he brings in collaborators from time to time. He is a cello player, but he also plays many other instruments as well as sings. And when I say this, gentlemen, scratches an itch in my brain that is so satisfying. Oh my God, I love this. I love this so much. I binge the entire catalog, which dates back 10 years. It’s about 40 songs that he’s released over these last 10 years. And each song is a rule. It starts with rule one, magic. And rule one magic is just cello, violin, and vocal, really cool. And then like rule 36, this week’s song, Long Way From Home, is a bit more of a rocker. And it’s literally, that’s the spectrum. To describe the sound, it’s a bit of Baroque pop. It’s indie, it’s folk. Parts of it remind me a little bit of Moxie Fruvous, which is probably why it’s scratching that itch in my brain. There’s other parts that remind me of bands like Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie. Even Neutral Milk Hotel, maybe a little bit. But the more and more I listen to it, it finally dawned on me what it truly reminds me of and why I love it so much. It reminds me of a Cirque du Soleil soundtrack. If you’re not a Cirque du Soleil fan, or if you’ve never seen a Cirque show, the music is only barely secondary to what’s happening on the stage. It’s always a full band playing, and their killer musicians, and the soundtracks are just fantastic. If you’ve never seen a Cirque show, just go correct that. But anyway, I digress. I could picture a whole Cirque show going on to all of these 40 songs that I’m listening to. I love literally everything that I heard over the weekend, and I listen to everything that they put out here. You know what? Just enjoy this.

All right. That is it for this week. It was a good week, right? It was a great week. You can tell me. You can go to the website, songsthatdontsuck. net, and you can send me feedback. You can recommend artists to me. You can find transcripts of the show and see how badly AI transcribes my voice. You can check us out on social media, Instagram, threads, Facebook, TikTok, and X. Please subscribe to the podcast on your podcast platform of choice. If you have the option to drop a review for the podcast, please do that too. Five stars is preferable, but whatever you say, say it with your chest. With that, I want to thank you again for listening. Truly do appreciate all of the support, and as always, go out and support these artists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.