Another Monday, another round of music recommendations distilled from the hundreds that came through my inbox over the last seven days.
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tippa My Tongue
Return of the Dream Canteen (WMG)
Recommended If You Like: More Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of those bands who never seem to leave anything off the table. If they record it, they release it. Unlimited Love, a 17-track album running over 73 minutes arrived in April. Return of the Dream Canteen, their second album of 2022 (and the second since John Frusciante rejoined the group again), will be out in October and will feature another 17 songs stretching over 75 minutes. Less is more? Not according to the Chili Peppers.
2. Sierra Pilot, Keys to the City
Single (Independent)
Recommended If You Like: Toronto-based arena raaaawwwwk.
Sierra Pilot (est. Waterloo, Ontario) has been working hard to establish a reputation by touring with Monster Truck, Crown Lands, Buckcherry, and Texas King. It paid off with their song Alive doing well on rock charts across the country earlier this year. Their latest single is reminiscent of the kind of bombastic rock that boomed through arenas in the 1990s. Nothing wrong with that. Shades of Royal Blood here, too.
3. The Motorleague, New Commandments
Single (Independent)
RIYL: Hard-touring Canadian rock bands
The Motorleague first came together in Nova Scotia in 2006, recording sporadically. Then came COVID, which really screwed things up, trapping them in the Maritime bubble that sought to control the spread of the pandemic. Consider this song something of a re-launch for the band.
4. Joe Strummer, Fantastic
Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years (Dark Horse Records
RIYL: Well, it’s Joe, innit?
Now that I think of it, it’s odd that we haven’t heard more posthumous releases from Joe. Did he just not have anything left in the vaults? Or has there been something preventing his estate from digging up unreleased material? This song, unheard so far, dates back to the end of Joe’s life when he was recording and touring with his post-Clash band, The Mescaleros. The track came out earlier this month on what would have been Joe’s 70th birthday. This December will mark 20 years since he died.
5. ONOFF, Blah Blah Blah
Single (The Label Group/Ingrooves)
RIYL: Creepy videos
The three guys in ONOFF are actually from Dublin, Ireland, but decided to collectively move to Sacramento, California, in 2013 because they thought they might have a better chance to break through on this side of the Atlantic. The video for this one features Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un. Not subtle, but the point is made.
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