Browsing Tag

College Radio Rock

Square Pyramid sang the post-punk blues in their grungy hit, Run Down Dirty Soul

Posted on 26 December 2022

Taken from the eponymous debut album from Square Pyramid, the standout single, Run Down Dirty Soul, is a progressively exhilarating mash of era-spanning alternative culture. From post-punk to blues to grunge, it’s all on the table in this enlivening intrinsically originated hit that has what it takes to unite music scenes once and for all.

With atmospheric hints to Echo and the Bunnymen in the chorally cold rings of the guitars in the intro along with bluesy harmonica blasts before the track slams into a grungy revival of off-kilter alt-90s and college radio rock tones, clearly, each of the three members of Square Pyramid came to the outfit with their own influences and inclinations. And therein lies the blisteringly experimental alchemy within Run Down Dirty Soul. It is a sonic amalgamation that no other outfit has brought to the table.

There’s nothing quite like allowing multiple parts of your personality to meet each other in the space of one song, and that’s exactly what Run Down Dirty Soul achieved for me.

Check out Run Down Dirty Soul on Apple Music and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Power – I Like You: prepossessingly pure alt-rock

Posted on 16 December 2022

Fuelling the intimate feels of Elliott Smith with the swanky proto-punk zeal of the Kinks and the melodic colour of the Beatles, the latest single from Mike Power which carries eccentric echoes of Pavement, Courtney Barnett and Decemberists, is a soul-rendered alt-rock riot.

The tight instrumental framework of I Like You allows the affably sweet sentiments in the uninhibited declaration of passion to hit that little bit harder as you lose yourself in the blossoming soul that heightens the winding alt-90s influenced rhythms to the nth degree. It doesn’t quite drop the L word, but I think we can all agree that the ‘like’ phase in a foundling relationship when we’re enamoured by every idiosyncrasy is just as prepossessing.

I Like You is just one of the singles to feature on the increasingly popular sophomore album, Compulsions, from the NYC-formed Mike Power band. We wholly recommend making time to appreciate the dynamism of it in its entirety.

I Like You is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Marcus Liuzzi became the sweetest power pop heartbreaker on the airwaves with ‘You’re Not the One’

Posted on 27 August 2022

Power-pop heartbreaker, Marcus Liuzzi, has released his latest no holds barred single, You’re Not the One. Those words sting even when they’re not about you. But for anyone that knows how it feels to be corrected after they think they found one, there’s a certain solace in knowing you’re not alone on that particular emotional ride, and that painful transition is one step closer to a happy ending.

With the college radio rock vibes coalescing with the garagey 70s rock stripes and plaintive yet playful piano scores, You’re Not the One peddles a fair amount of nostalgia, but there is no disputing that the Boston, Massachusetts singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist brings a certain autonomous je nais sais quoi to the airwaves.

You’re Not the One is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rock roots wrap around a murder mystery narrative in Robbie Rapids’ single, Who Shot Them Down

Posted on 29 April 2022
https://soundcloud.com/user-697117024/who-shot-them-down/s-9uYf9mNDfbL?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Through his multi-faceted talent, Robbie Rapids recorded his four-decade-era-spanning nostalgic rock track, Who Shot Them Down, while recording his murder mystery audiobook, Arc Road, and instantly became more intriguing than Nick Cave.

With a similar cool yet roots-deep vibe to Left Lane Cruiser, Robbie Rapids and his bluesy take on College Radio Rock which comes with Beach Boys nuances will surely make an impression on the airwaves. Lyrically, it is impossible not to get immersed in the narrative that spins the tale of a murder mystery that happened in 1964 through Rapids’ high energy Americana rock vocals.

Who Shot Them Down will officially release on April 29th, 2022. You can check it out yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rock fuses with hexed soul in Chris Holly’s latest single, 7 Curses

Posted on 2 February 2022

“7 Curses” is the latest lighters-in-the-air worthy whiskey-soaked blues-rock single from Chris Holly. With nuances of Pixies-style production mixed in with the college radio rock vibes and the raw emotion dialled up to 11, few tracks hook you in so deeply from the first hit. 7 Curses definitively proves that there is nothing sweeter than experiencing a fusion of rock and roll and pure tortured soul.

The wanderlust guitarist, Chris Holly, has toured worldwide, rubbing shoulders with Hootie and the Blowfish, Better Than Ezra, and even Slayer and Pantera in his metal days. Now, he’s teamed up with the sensational 19-year-old songstress, Alexis Perry, who has already enamoured the indie music scene. She’s the Taylor acoustic to Chris Holly’s trusty Gibson LPs. If there was ever time to start paying attention to Chris Holly’s career, it is now. New artists as sweet as Soul Asylum don’t come along every day.

7 Curses was officially released on February 2nd; it is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Just Pathetic are wondering just what happened ‘Since College’

Posted on 18 May 2021

Describing themselves as ‘a band specialising in substandard music and haphazard melodies’, Just Pathetic’s ‘Since College’ is a poppy-punk number, with elements of Bowling For Soup, The Police, Sum-41, and Journey all mixed up with a Blink 182 tongue-in-cheek bouncy, upbeat ode to time since…well, you guessed it, since college.

There’s a nice little break-down mid-song, a nice flanged-and-octaved guitar-line throughout, and lyrically there’s some not-too-serious digs at teen entitlement, angst, and ‘emo-days’ mixed up with underage drinking and ‘interesting’ cigarettes. It’s fun, it’s vaguely silly, and it’s catchy, energetic, and exuberant mixed in with laid-back ‘stoner’ vocals (there’s a tiny hint at ‘Superfuzz’-era Mudhoney to the delivery), with the fuzziest guitar tone we’ve heard in a long time. It’s the age-old question: ‘Where have the days gone since college?’

You can hear ‘Since College’ on YouTube; check out Just Pathetic here.

Review by Alex Holmes