Episode 90

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

What’s up, friends? Welcome back to Songs That Don’t Suck. I’m Mark, and every week I’m here listening to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs. Most of them suck. But I do find a few to share with you here each week. So whether this is your first time listening, or you are a long time listener to the podcast, thanks so much for checking it out. Now, this week I am in full lamenting mode. So give me a moment to play the part of the old man yelling at clouds.

So I came to the realization this week that I really miss the ’90s, like the early to mid– not quite the late ’90s, but that period basically from when I was in high school and then in college. The time before the internet was really a big thing, before on-demand streaming, before smartphones, honestly, before we forgot how to live as a society. I went to a show this week, a band that I had talked about on the podcast a couple of times, Wynton Existing, was rolling through town. And they were playing with some other bands, both locally and regional touring bands. The venue was an old Masonic Temple in Cleveland. And if you have ever been to a Masonic Temple, generally the acoustics are really, really good, especially in the Lodge Room where the venue is set up. The Lodge Room is where they perform their degree work to initiate and advance members. So the acoustics are usually just prime because everybody needs to hear what’s being said. And generally, things are not amplified. Anyway, so I show up to this show, right? It starts at 6.45 on a Friday night, so it’s not a late thing. And I’m sitting there in the back, and first band is setting up. And I’m looking at this small smattering of people in this huge space. And I’m like, well, it’s still early. So I kind of let it go. They got off stage, and then Wynton Existing was next. Crowd had grown a little bit, but not much. But as the bands kind of shuffled on and off the stage, I recognized that the audience was mostly the other bands, probably made up about half. And I just sit there, and I’m like trying to figure out why it is that people don’t go out to local shows anymore.

I mean, if I think about when I was in college, we always went out. And I think the problem is, I think I put my finger on it perhaps, I think there’s just way too much to do at home. There’s way too much entertainment. Want to watch a movie? Sure, fire up whatever streaming platform you have. Want to listen to music? Sure, we have the entirety of music history available at a click. Want to read a book? Sure, fire up your Kindle and download whatever latest book you want to get. Or maybe just doom scroll for hours on social media. Anything other than going and having a live in-person event. Back in the ’90s, we had dial-up internet. And you could basically check your email. And you maybe did that once a day.

Surfing the internet was painfully slow. And there wasn’t a ton of content, especially if you think about today. There was no YouTube. Hell, in ’93, there were about 600 websites. Yahoo was created in 1994. In ’97, Netflix came onto the scene. And they had a website. But all the movies were sent by mail. They were all DVDs. 1998, Google was invented. And it’s not what it is today. The point is, if we wanted to be entertained, we had to leave the house. Local papers and zines, they advertise all the cool things that were happening in and around your community. And I would remember grabbing the weekly Cleveland Scene magazine when it was still owned and operated by people in Cleveland. And I immediately went to the back to see who was playing at what concert venue. Maybe we dialed the phone to get the local movie times to figure out what movie was playing and when. And God, if you had a cell phone, you didn’t use it before 5 PM because it cost extra. So you called people and made plans in the very early evening. Wasn’t like it is today. Renting movies to watch at home, it’s for kids and old people. We went out.

And like I said at the top, right now I’m the old guy yelling at the clouds, sure. But damn, those were the days. It was how we met new people. It was how we made memories. It’s how we found the next great local band that became a huge rock star. Now, we just wait for the algorithm to feed up the next movie on Netflix, the next carbon copy pop hit on Spotify, the next meat sack with a pulse that will go on an awkward date with and then ghost. And we seem content with this. And it makes me sad.

Last episode, I was talking about bands that I’d been in. And I was toying with the idea of starting a new band. But it’s nights like that most recent night out that remind me of the utter heartbreak that it can be playing in a medium to large size venue. And like having the ability to be on a first name basis with everybody in the room before the first band is done playing their set. Sure, it’s great to create art and to play music with friends. But it’s meant to be shared. You want someone else to hear it and appreciate it. And I just don’t think bands have the ability to compete for people’s attention when they are up against a literal world of global available internet content and entertainment available to the audience at the push of a button.

And yes, the irony is not lost on me. I create a podcast that you can stream wherever you want, whenever you want. I’m part of the problem. Who is looking for the solution, honestly, or at least a balance? And honestly, I would give all of it up tomorrow to see human connection return to our species. All right, let me get off the soapbox. And let’s get in to the new music I found this week.

The first song this week is “Drama” from Spencer Sutherland. I caught this one on TikTok, honestly, and then I immediately went to Spotify. Spencer is very much steeped in ’70s Queen, at least on this album. The harmonies, the camp. I mean, if you like Queen, you will probably feel right at home with this. His voice has a little more growl at times, which I really dig, much more than Freddie Mercury ever had. But Freddie’s voice is iconic. So doing a comparison to that isn’t even fair. I mean, I was checking out the new album in its entirety. And this album is very much kind of like the relationship I’ve described between Greta Van Fleet and Led Zeppelin. It’s a modernized version of a classic artist. But there’s something updated about Spencer’s delivery that I really appreciate more than I do in Greta Van Fleet’s case. And because of the heavy Queen feels, you know I have obvious ties to what Jellyfish did with their stuff, because there was definitely some homage to Queen in their albums as well. And it’s probably why this was so appealing to me. So here, why don’t you enjoy a little Drama?

The second song this week is Comfortably Numb from Body Count featuring Davis Gilmore, When I saw this, I was like, really a cover? But being a fan of body counts early work, I had to kind of give it a listen, at least see what they did with this classic song. And it’s probably, probably in my top five Pink Floyd songs. I just love it. And as I’m listening to it, I’m like, oh, this isn’t really comfortably numb at all, but it is at the same time. Now, for the in indoctrinated, for the un indoctrinated, that’s the one. For the un indoctrinated, body count is the metal project of West Coast gangster rapper Ice T. Most of you probably know him as an actor if you’re millennial or younger. But for us Gen X types, we know Ice T as a rapper. And when body count came out, they caught a lot of shit. Probably their most well-known song was a song called “Cop Killer.” Guess who didn’t like that so much? Anyway, body count has teamed up with David Gilmore, and he appears here dropping just some beautiful guitar work, which, duh, of course he’s going to do that. I think he’s probably doing some harmony vocals in what is being treated as the chorus. It’s that, hello, is there anybody out there? And they’re treating that as the chorus, which is kind of cool, because that was kind of the hook into the verse originally. But in this case, the verses, Ice T is rapping completely new lyrics. They’re dark, it’s reflective, it’s moody, and it’s just basically doing what gangster rap did back in the 80s and 90s, talking about what’s going on in the world. And I really, really dig it. And it’s all done over the chords, harmonies, and melodies of the original Comfortably Numb. But because Body Count’s doing it, it’s heavier. It’s got a little more chunk to it. As I mentioned, David Gilmore’s guitar work is stellar, and this, just because of the way that it’s all put together, and it’s taking, like, different parts and moving them around and treating them differently, it’s hitting me in all these multiple different levels, and I really, really dig it. So give Comfortably Numb a little bit of a sample right now.

The third song this week is “The End” from Chime School. No, not that “The End.” Not the one that the Doors did. Not another mash-up cover. That would have been really odd to find two of those this week. They just share a title, and that’s honestly where the similarity ends. Chime School is a very catchy indie pop rock band. And this song reminds me a little of the band James a little bit. There’s something really cool about his vocals, but I don’t think I can quite articulate exactly what it is that I’m loving about it. I think there’s a combination of just his general tone, and there’s some interesting movement happening in the vocal melody, especially in the verses when the melody kind of goes up, and it creates this little bit of tension. Really cool. I love the drum part. Reminds me a little bit of what Ringo Starr does in some of the early Beatles stuff. All in all, the entire musical composition of this is right up my alley. Absolutely love it. It’s smart, it’s clean, and I went and kind of listened to the whole album. The album is called “The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel,” and it’s all happy, catchy pop goodness. So if this is your jam, you have a new band to follow. Give a listen, and if you like, do go and listen to the album, because it’s definitely worth it. So here’s a bit of the end from Chime School.

The next song this week is 2020 Vision from BRKN LOVE. Now if you are a long time listener to the podcast, or if you’ve gone back and binged all the episodes, you may recognize the name BRKN LOVE because they were in episode two of the podcast with a song called Spell. This track has a very heavy muse feel to it. But at the same time it has a much more poppy edge to it. The bass line is really the element that sets that muse feeling for me, that fuzzy, heavy, really aggressive bass that just makes me love muse. And this song has, like if you remember Spell, this song is a much different feel. But there’s a lot of elements that still ring true. Really killer vocals, both lead and harmony. Super catchy chorus, like these guys write great hooks. There’s no way around it. And just, God, I was so glad to catch another song from them. It’s one of those things, like as the number of artists that I found on the podcast, sometimes they even fall off the radar. I’ve still got the song in rotation, but I forget to go see what else they’ve released. They’ve released a ton of stuff in the last year and a half. So I got to go and explore some of that, and it’s fantastic. So here is their latest single, “2020 Vision,” and you be the judge and let me know what you think. . . . . . .

That is it for this week. As always, the website is the best place for you to find all things songs that don’t suck. Go to songs that don’t suck.net. You can find links to all of the music on seven of the major streaming platforms, not just for this episode, but for all past episodes. You can find us on social media, X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok. I’m there. I post all the time. And if you want to send feedback to the show, you can email me directly, mark@songsthatdontsuck.net, or you can do that through the website too, whatever you feel like. Be sure and tell your friends about the podcast. It’s the only way that this is going to grow. 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.