Random Indie Video: "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn, and John
The random indie video I'm throwing at ya features the Stolkholm based twee 60'ish pop of Peter Bjorn and John, (Peter Morén, Bjorn Yttling, and John Erikkson). Holy moly, those Swedes are taking over indie rock, and maybe that's not such a bad thing. First there was The Hives back in 2002 (I liked them so much, I even own a Hives t-shirt); then I got into Jens Lekman's droll love tunes, obviously heavily influenced by the quirky, wry genius of Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Now there's Peter Bjorn and John with this song is that is catchy as fuck, take that to mean whatever you wish. And when I say catchy as fuck, I mean that in the best possible way, as in a "Friday I'm In Love" type catchy. This is the kind of song you don't mind whistling while you're pushing a shopping cart through the produce section. Oh, and speaking of whistling, this is one of the few tunes featuring whistling the doesn't annoy the living bejesus out of me. Come to think of it, I can't really think of any other songs that feature whistling at the moment. Wow, I should just quit typing and let you guys push play on the video, huh? Alright then, delaying you guys from watching this any longer would probably make you skip past this entry altogether and I wouldn't want that to happen. I want you to be a whistling Swede loving fool like moi, so I don't feel so alone in my dorkiness.
Currently listening to: Writer's Block By Peter Bjorn & John
rocker March 23, 2008 10:24 PM PDT hi, rock fans! )
i invte you to register at our <a href=http://blog4rock.com/rateme>blog rating system </a>for rock blogs :)
Eze August 2, 2007 05:08 AM PDT http://thejukeboxnews.blogspot.com/
There has been much coming and going of the authors here at Vintage Rock. If you have not posted an entry in over two months, I'm either deleting you from Vintage Rock or marking you as inactive on the side-bar. I don't think its fair to give authors credit here if they don't post any entries. Its nothing personal, I'm sure you all understand.
Kristy (founder)
Aims (co-founder)
Shay (non active co-founder)
Jess (non active co-founder)
Morgan (non active co-founder)
Kerry
What Is "Vintage Rock" About?
Vintage Rock has officially been on the internet in various forms for about five years now. I started it on a whim of boredom at the terrible, bolt.com. I met some great friends there, and we ended up forming a super-group; a forum where it was okay to speak our minds about anything and everything music. And since there were multiple authors here, we were able to learn about an eclectic variety of music news, recommendations, and bands.
In the last few years, many of the authors who helped co-found this blog quit posting entries. I'm not bitter about their absence, because I know it takes a lot of time and dedication to write quality articles and posts. I will never forget them, but I think its time I quit expecting them to come back. I'd really like to see Vintage Rock turn back into the place it once was. I really don't forsee that happening though. I do however think it is valid for me to keep up this blog in hopes I can inspire even one person to realize that MTV is not the only way to define one's musical tastes. I know its difficult, and takes a lot of research, but there are amazing bands out there just waiting to be discovered. And that is the purpose of this blog. I've never made one penny for running Vintage Rock, and that's okay. Its worth all the hard work when I hear one person say, "Hey, that band kicks ass!" So yes, if you like Vintage Rock and what we stand for, don't be afraid to comment on an entry or say hi on the tag-board. The more input from you readers, the more likely I am to be inspired to post more entries.
Anyway, I'm off my soap-box for today. I just thought I'd let you know that things are going to be a bit different here. I'm taking the focus off the side bar and deleting a lot of things I don't find relevant anymore.
Album:
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart closed with Lowery singing about how "Life Is Grand" in pointed response to "those of you who have appointed yourselves to expect us to say something darker." So when Key Lime Pie came out, its moodier music and imagery, not to mention that soon after the fact the band fell apart on the tour for the album, led more than one person to think those darker times had finally arrived. As it is, the group had already gone through one major shake-up between the two albums -- founding member Segel had taken a powder to concentrate on other efforts, with Morgan Fichter brought in as a replacement violinist. Her abilities were certainly praiseworthy, as the album-starting instrumental "Opening Theme" shows quite well. However, it's definitely not the same band that did Telephone Free Landslide Victory a mere four years previous -- things are more straightforwardly rock here most of the time, perhaps not too surprising in light of Lowery's subsequent work in Cracker. As it is, though, it's excellently conceived rock, with space, moodiness, and more to spare. Consider "Jack Ruby," with its wordless backing vocals, tense rhythms, and thick soloing, or "Laundromat" and its steady but unnerving crunch. It's not all potential melancholia, though -- "June" in particular is an underrated number, celebrating the early summer with sweetness and love (at least up to the increasingly stranger ending). Lowery's singing is his best yet, perhaps a little less prone to wackiness but an emergent, distinct voice all the same, and certainly prone to sing a quirky lyric or two still. The oddest thing of all was that the band actually gained a little mainstream attention on MTV and radio via a cover of Status Quo's psych-era nugget "Pictures of Matchstick Men."--- Ned Raggett
