What I did on my summer vacation staycation: Vacuumed the mouse poop out of the garden shed. Took some old paint to the hazardous material depot. Filed some records. Took the elder dog for breakfast (she likes bacon). And I went through more song submissions so I could report back to you with some new tunes.
1. Bebadoobee, Care
Fake It Flowers (Dirty Hit)
Recommended If You Like: Female-fronted alt-pop of the 90s (Juliana Hatfield, Veruca Salt, etc.)
Born in The Philippines and based in London, Beatrice Kristi Laus learned to play guitar by watching YouTube tutorials and listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She’s released a series of singles and EPs over the last couple of years. A full album is due later this year.
2. The Bird and The Bee, You Shook Me All Night Long
Single (Amazon Music)
RIYL: Covers in the style of WTF
AC/DC’s Back in Black turns 40 this summer, something that’s attracting all sorts of attention. Indie-pop duo The Bird and The Bee (Inara George and Greg Kurstin) are fans of interpreting other people’s music (including a whole lot of Van Halen) so this isn’t much of a stretch for them. The pisser about this song is that it’s an Amazon Music exclusive. I hate exclusives. You have to sign in with your Amazon account before you can listen.
Listen here.
3. Dylan Cartlidge, Yellow Brick Road
Cheerleder (Glassnote)
RIYL: Grandson, Outkast, Beatie Boys
Produced by James Dring (note that Gorillaz is on his resume), this was the first song Yorkshire-raised Cartlidge wrote with a big fancy studio at his disposal. I like the blend of 70s-era funk, hip-hop, and indie. If you want to know more about Dylan, check out the BBC documentary The Mighty Redcar.
4. The Waterboys, Wanderings in the Weary Land
Good Luck, Seeker (Cooking vinyl)
RIYL: Tough-to-categorize music
Mike Scott will not quit, nor will he stay in one place musically for very long. The 14th Waterboys album—and the final third of a series of albums going back to 2017—consists of plenty of spoken word and musings. I quote: “Comprising dramatic spoken-word delivery over wild genre-busing music.” They go on to say that the first single—a seven-minute marathon called My Wanderings in The Weary Land—“might just be the greatest rock’n’roll album ever made.” Discuss.
5. Jeremy Drury, Pour Another
Company Store (Independent)
RIYL: Good time summer drinking songs
If you’re a fan of The Strumbellas, you’ll know Jeremy as the band’s drummer. A debut solo album is due on August 28, led off with a song that reassures people that everything will be okay. I think we can all use a little bit of that right now.
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