“These Are The Days” – Inhaler
I had not heard of this band until this week despite them having a #1 album in Ireland and the UK last year. They are a four-piece from Dublin that sound a little like the most famous band to ever come out of Dublin. That’s no coincidence: lead singer and guitarist Eli Hewson is Bono’s son. He isn’t exactly Julian Lennon, who sounded exactly like his dad, but there are certainly common traits between Hewson’s voice and his father’s. The band has some of the energy and grandness of classic U2, but they aren’t mimics either. Not a bad song, so they are on now on my radar.
“GOOD TIMES” – Jungle
Like the previous song, I discovered this via baseball writer Keith Law’s monthly playlist of his favorite songs. I generally like Law’s writing, his views on politics, and enjoy his reviews of movies and books. I guess I have to add music to that list now. I don’t know that we are in good times at the moment, but this song can change your mind for three minutes.
“Skulls” – Peter Matthew Bauer
It must be strange to have been in an “important” band and realize no matter what else you do, you’ll always be labelled by that part of your career. The Walkmen have been on hiatus over a decade, and show no signs of coming back, but Peter Matthew Bauer is seemingly always introduced as “founding member of The Walkmen…” This is another fine addition to his collection of solo work. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but the organ that drones throughout this entire songs recalls an organ in another song about skulls from awhile back.
“The Night Before Your Birthday” – Andrew Bird
Bird released a new album a few weeks back. As with just about every album in his long career, I doubt the entire thing will connect with every listener. But the key is that at every listener will find one or two songs they can connect with. Here is one of mine.
“Storm in Summer” – Skullcrusher
The rain all went north Tuesday and Wednesday, mostly south on Thursday. But looks like we might get some storms today, over three weeks since our last significant rain. Let’s hope the forecast is right and we get some summer storms later.
“Velvet” – The Big Pink
English electronic band The Big Pink released their first single in a decade last month. It wasn’t my favorite but made me dig into the archives searching for which of their old songs I had listened to in my iTunes days. It looks like almost exactly 11 years ago I included this song on my old music podcast. It is still a jam.