Kinda Wierd, I know...

OK so I think that girl in the Progressive Insurance commercials is kinda cute... Just out of curiosity I looked her up on the 'net and found this picture:

Her name is Stephanie Courtney and apparently she's quite a comedienne, having graduated the Second City comedy troupe with Will Ferrel and others.

Anyway, I just think her transformation from real life to Progressive Lady is pretty fascinating...

I know. I'm wierd.

The Fixx

Last night the directive for the band's next 3 songs were announced... Very excited about the followup practices to solidify them...

Song #1 is "One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx, and I'm really psyched not only because of the challenge (a three-piece acoustic guitar based band playing synth-heavy 80's music... Wow), but because I absolutely ADORE The Fixx. I make no bones about my general abhorrence of '80's new wave and pop music, but The Fixx managed to make music that was challenging lyrically, texturally and harmonically, largely free of cliche and record company influence and fripperie. The rhythm section is equal parts driving rock and funk grooves, and the watery guitar textures provide some of the most memorable hooks of the decade.

This is pop music that puts the "grit" in integrity, for me a glaring reminder that all was NOT lost in the 1980's musically. Check out "The Fixx: Greatest Hits" for a perfect primer in intelligent songwriting for the decade of plastic.

Rockin' the Suburbs

I'm a Ben Folds fan. Not the hardcore, "I'll follow you everywhere and I have all of your recordings" type fan, but I don't think I've ever heard anything he's done that I didn't like. If that doesn't sound like a glowing review, then allow me to elaborate a little.

I first heard Ben Folds with his trio The Ben Folds Five (still trying to figure that one out), and I loved his punk approach to banging the piano with pounding drums and fuzzed out bass as an anchor; I loved his melodies and his insanely clever hooks. His sense of humor got to me right away with breakup songs that included lines like "Give me back my black t-shirt" and "give me my money back"... I also loved how he could switch off the bitterness and pave the way for tears with songs that moved melodically and harmonically into territory usually reserved for broadway soliloquy or million dollar ballads.

Rockin' the Suburbs is a solo album of his that displays the best of those strengths and plays to his diverstiy. 12 songs filled with characters outrageous to painfully mundane, from a girl who believes she can time-travel to a man needlessly let go from his job of 25 years, this collection of tunes can make me contemplate awful truths and laugh at them at the same time. Each character has a story, and each story is worthy of an emotional investment: The suburban punk who gets a record deal despite a bad attitude and lack of talent, the faithful girl screwed over again, the acid-popping Jesus freak whose Jesus-themed amusement park goes horribly awry... Odd and utterly likeable, this collection is one of my recent faves.

Disclaimer: Anybody listening to this because they heard a version of "Rockin' the Suburbs" on the tail end of the kids' movie "Over the Hedge," BEWARE: The actual version is laced with F-bombs and is most definitely NOT fit for most children's ears. This album begs a mature listener and is NOT for kids.

Boston, Mass

It's cleaning day in the Child Family Home (for Wayward, er, Musicians), and as is often the case my choice of music that has "widespread family appeal" has been narrowed down to a VERY small selection of tunes. Hmm. Tracy thinks the Clash is to obnoxious (that's the point, innit!?!?!?)... The Rush selection is barely tolerated, and the kids are clamouring for their usual fare: The "Cars" soundtrack and "Kung Fu Fighting," which I enjoy, but not after a day full of it (yesterday's drive into and out of Denver).

So lets make the best of the situation, shall we?

Todays selection is one of my favorite homages to the glory and guts of Rock n Roll, to my mind a MASTERPIECE of rock songcraft, hooks, and guitar drive, my beloved Del Fuego's major label debut "Boston, Mass." For a brief period in my life they were The SHIT. Just deep dirty (yet oddly clean of attitude and subject ala Sprinsteen) rock, they actually were the center of my favorite TV commercial EVER, the Lite Beer commercial which featured their music and a voiceover from their leader Dan Zanes proclaiming that they were just folk troubadors at heart: "Rock n Roll is just folk music, 'cuz it's music fer folks." Poetry and truth, lemme tell you.

This is rock music: Loud guitars, pounding drums, danceable grooves... The Del Fuegos wrote a 10-song love letter to Boston and Rock n Roll and it stirs me up to this day. AND, as an added bonus, it's one of the few groups Tracy and I can fall back on as a favorable listen, and I'd argue that it is our best choice; the Indigo Girls can get too righteous and political, the Fray can get too mellow and weepy, and Coldplay veers a little too close to "wierd" at times for Tracy's likeing. The Fuegos, though... Well, they're just fun. The songs don't demand anything, politically or cranially. But they are very persuasive: Sing along... Dance... Turn it up... Louder...

Great stuff.

Cheers!

Chris

Today... The Earworm Test

Today I've performed the Earworm Test on two (relatively) new songs. The test is simple: Set the iPod to repeat a song for 30 minutes while I go about the business of being a Dad and/or housecleaning dude. After that, if the song is not immediately memorable to me it probably won't make it into regular music rotation.

The test I performed today was on "Get On Your Boots" by U2, one of my stalwart faves, and "Sex on Fire" by the curious Kings of Leon.

I have to say that as much as I wanted U2 to be the hands down winner here, Kings of Leon took the prize. I've enjoyed the occasional Kiungs of Leon single here and there ("Molly's Chambers" is my favorite KoL tune currently), but U2 has always been a "go to" act for me, never a disappointment... Well, maybe with "Pop" and "Zooropa" a little bit...

Anyhow, Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire" beat out the new U2. Who knew? The chorus hook is catchy and the sound is typical KoL guitar driven garage rock. Lovely stuff for the rockers out there, and hope for the future of Rock music as well.