What’s up AuxDeck readers? This week, all four of us came to the table with a classic, conventional track- only, each of them has a unique twist. Be it a raucous, energetic high school band that happens to contain a cellist; a surprisingly youthful take on an old, aging classic (while still sticking to its southern roots); a velvet 70’s rock vibe wrapped in shiny, new San Franciscan vellum; or a conventional, laid back American folk track written and performed in a distinctly British manner, each of these tracks have been bent into something special and extraordinary. That’s the reason we love them. We hope that you will too.
– Andrew
Sirkka Miller, the lead singer of Whether the Empty Storm, wants to tell you a story– and she obviously has a lot to sing about. Her voice is like eating a TicTac; it’s sweet and mellow and then suddenly fills in and gets more powerful and raw. Will Moon keeps the drum beat crisp and clean; you’ll hear it come in after the glossy bass entrance by Evan Linsey. Whether the Empty Storm also includes a cellist, Mari Ma. The cello adds richer, fuller sound to the song and is especially powerful during the chorus. Have I mentioned that this band came out with this album while still in high school?? They wrote and produced it themselves. Whether the Empty Storm is what every high school garage rock band aspires to be.
-Ruby Lanier
This one starts off with a bang- the first sound that hits your ears is a deliciously dark, smooth, and irresistibly sexy guitar anthem that stains the track with a grimy, seductive mood and leaves it dripping in a caliginous gloom. Such are the stylings of Hanni El Khatib, an SF native with a knack for spitting out dusky, dirty tracks; one that is put on raucous display in his latest record, Moonlight. The entire album reeks of a rank, rancid grunge steeped in a musty cigarette smoke, taking no prisoners with its deep metal imprints and a Hendrix-esque bleeding guitar that mars each track with a monstrous and unrelenting pressure. It’s this obvious appreciation of old school rock and blues that gives his music its pure and vintage vibe, but it’s suffused with just enough modern angst to emerge from the vintage mist and form a unique aura of its own. The Teeth doesn’t need much describing; it’s just a hot, hard, and heavy rock n’ roll song that’s best played as loud as possible with your eyes closed and your head banging. Inside and out, a solid track.
-Andrew Wilcox
There’s a stigma associated with cover songs. Covers are often written off as simply imitations of another’s work, or as a mere reflection that’s somehow lesser than the original. But Barnstar!’s take on Josh Ritter’s gloomy, methodical tune “Darlin” shows us how covers can simultaneously accentuate what’s best about a song while also taking it to new,inspiring heights. Giving the original song’s slow start a jolt of life with bright guitar chords and a gently rolling banjo, and then building to melodic mandolin riffs and wistful, dark fiddling, the band stays true to the song’s bones while making sure the track is undeniably by Barnstar!. However, the instrumentals by no means overpower the sparse, wistful lyrics,and that’s what makes this song great. Delivering an impassioned plea to the woman spurning him, Mark Erelli begs her to “let me prove myself”. The song builds to its conclusion, the strings fade away, and you hear the loneliness and melancholy in the line, “I’m just out here ringing bells”. Then the whole band comes in for the final chorus, but that’s what stays with you- the moment of calm where old song meets new, where the loneliness of Josh Ritter combines with the depth of Barnstar!, creating a tune that’s not just Barnstar! doing Ritter, but where the best of both worlds combine.
-James Sutton
I must admit, although listening to folk music is not always considered a cool or hip thing, I’ve always had a soft spot for it, and this album is no exception. Bedroom Hero, by Liz Lawrence, a young British singer-songwriter is very folk pop-esque. Her voice is quite beautiful, and this song really shows it off. It starts with just her and a guitar plucking, and as the song progresses a piano comes in to keep a beat a little more. It sounds like Ingrid Michaelson, or Sara Bareilles, with a feel-good nature and simplicity that work well together. Since this album there have been two others, and we can only hope that there will be more down the road.
-Delia Badger
Aux Deck 