After sugar-coating our ears with the endlessly fascinating Afro-trop-pop lullaby “Horchata”, ever-polarizing indie rock prep boys Vampire Weekend move on to the official first single of their well-anticipated Contra set with “Cousins”, a rambunctious ball of ska and surf rock-tinged energy stuffed in an utterly perfect running time length of two-and-a-half-minutes.
“You were born with ten fingers and you’re gonna use them all”, sings Ezra, and he wasn’t kidding judging by the varied bag o’ rapidly spun musical tricks that are on display on this contagious “A-Punk” sibling, including speedy dual guitar festivities that burst to life out of nowhere, drummer Chris Tomson’s tireless back-and-forth contribution of swift drum rolls and double-time poundings, and a stomping finale anchored in jinglin’ bell-assisted jubilance that whould get the biggest Scrooge you know overcome with holiday spirit.
Nearly bursting out of it’s seams with a kitchen-sink-like musical make-up that dabbles in DIY electro-pop, Streets-y UK rap and bits of 2-Tone, “Single Dad” from London trio Man Like Me, almost feels too rambunctious for it’s own good, but in the end it emerges a keeper, it’s ever-morphing bag o’ sonic tricks held together under an amusing lyric about one of the most frightening things that could ever happen to a responsibility-phobic young man.
“Shock! Horror!” cries singer/ rapper Johnny at the news that he’s about to become a dad, “How can you be a father?/ Yourself you can’t look after/ Let alone another”. If this was Maury Povich, he would be the one frantically racing to that damn back hallway, Povich hot at his heels, not to console him, but rather to cruelly continue informing Johnny that he’s “99.9% sure” he’s the pop.
As the track’s lively main boogie of bobbing basslines and blaring horn fare illustrate the pressure-cooked chaos his life now falls under, Johnny dizzily speeds his way through all kinds of panicky emotions, at one point selfishly wondering aloud how this sudden revelation will disturb his music career aspirations. Alas, he eventually cools down and comes around to accepting the new “tag” thrust upon him, resulting in “Single Dad”‘s greatest moment: a charmingly melodic detour that finds him re-assuring himself that “It’s gonna work out in the end sometime/ I’ve got to…believe it”.
A contagious serving of real-life humor delivered under an equally wacky musical pedigree (we’re especially fond of the out-of-nowhere steel drum celebration that arises towards the song’s end), “Single Dad” has enough entertaining ideas bubbling within it’s four minute frame to generate some curiosity in what other intriguing hilarities their Spring-set debut will have to offer. In the meantime, hit up their MySpace to peep more LOL-worthy video clips and download (for FREE) their B-Sides & Rarities mixtape.
The single will be digitally available February 9th.
Ska/ reggae-loving London singer-songwriter Nick Harrison offers something feel-good and bright in these shivering cold months with new single, “Something Special”, a sunny indie-pop romp with a pulsating disco groove about sad-eyed nightclub beauties.
Tucked beneath it’s happy rhythmic galore, Harrison’s lyrics hone in on a girl whose forlorn demeanor isn’t completely hidden by the strobe lights that flash around her. “Tragically dressed she arrives/ Holding her head off the dance floor,” notes Nick, his every taunting wail ending in a trail of quivers. Anxious to pull the slut-uniformed gal out of her doldrums, Harrison steps to her with the self-esteem-building advice: “You’ve been given something special/ When you put it to good use,” adding with a tinge of doom that if she doesn’t at least attempt to recognize those attributes and follow a different life path, she’ll surely “pay the price”.
Alas, his words end up falling on deaf ears (“You said you couldn’t change for me”), but that doesn’t stop Nick from recanting his good will urgings as she disappears back into the crowd or make the gleeful dance chug he’s pieced together feel any less infectious.
Head on over to Harrison’s MySpace and check out other mood-raising offerings like the breezy “Honey” or ska-loping delight, “Oi Rude Boy”. Below, snatch up a quite genius mash-up of “Something Special” with The Specials’ “Ghost Town”:
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
After sugar-coating our ears with the endlessly fascinating Afro-trop-pop lullaby “Horchata”, ever-polarizing indie rock prep boys Vampire Weekend move on to the official first single of their well-anticipated Contra set with “Cousins”, a rambunctious ball of ska and surf rock-tinged energy stuffed in an utterly perfect running time length of two-and-a-half-minutes.
Nearly bursting out of it’s seams with a kitchen-sink-like musical make-up that dabbles in DIY electro-pop, Streets-y UK rap and bits of 2-Tone, “Single Dad” from London trio 
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