NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

   Jonezetta 's  Popularity   brings back memories of being 21. Although the album had come out the year  before, I had been hesitant to buy it. But after tours with  Anberlin  and  MuteMath , I decided to buy the album and put it into the CD player of my 2001 midnight blue Toyota Corolla S, my second car, and the car I had paid for with my own money. This album is one that is forever linked to the hot black interior, the red night-driving display, the drivers licenses-less friends and the friends of my little sister that I had to tote around. It was also the summer that I decided it was time to go to Cornerstone. I'VE BEEN DRIVING ALL NIGHT . My friends don't always vibe with my musical tastes and that's ok. I'm a little scared of people who like the same music as me. It makes me wonder when someone's going to hand us a big cup of Kool-Aid. However,  Popularity  was quite a hit among my friends. It's dancey and just '80s retro enou...

When a rock band gets as big as Linkin Park got, it becomes trendy to hate the band. I must admit that during their career, I wasn't in line with every step the band took--mainly because of the band's usage of profanity from their third album throughout the rest of their career. However, I could never understand critics and listeners who casually compared the band to butt rocks like Nickelback . Yes, Linkin Park's music is formulaic at times, and the band knew how to write a song to get on the radio. The comparison between Linkin Park and any other rock band seems like comparing Nickelback to Nike because Linkin Park was a brand more than band, complete with a consistent audio and visual aesthetic. The band didn't simply create records, but told stories. I'M SWIMMING IN THE SMOKE OF THE BRIDGES I HAVE BURNED. Linkin Park's fourth record, A Thousand Suns , is a multifaceted concept record. The band intended for album to be listened to in one sitting, inviting li...

Hippo Campus ' debut record landmark comes five years into their career. A solid, unpretentious indie release, landmark is the perfect soundtrack to spring and summer. Musically, lead singer Jake Luppen in a hyper-aware, somewhat ironic lyric in the album's first full song " way it goes " describes the album as "easy going shit" in which the lead singer "just grab[s] a guitar and moan[s] and shit[s]." But while the "easy going" songs on landmark sound effortless, the lyrics certainly are not just nonsensical "moaning." Rich with imagery of time, color, and place, the songs on landmark start to become quite vibrant, showing the band's keen erudition in lyric writing. IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME.     In the middle of the "easy going" record, Hippo Campus shares a somber moment on the track " monsoon ," which sounds a bit like it could fit in in the middle of Death Cab for Cutie 's Plans .  Rather than a...

It's been 20 years since the post-grunge " Hanging By a Moment " was the number 1 song of the year. Although the Christian Rock band  Lifehouse  never actually topped the weekly charts, the song had so much statistical force via radio play and record sales that the song became one of rare cases when a single that peaked at number 2 could   actually claim the number 1 position for the year.  No Name Face   featured three singles, but none were as big as "Hanging By a Moment." For the band's follow up, Lifehouse signed a Christian music marketing deal with Sparrow Records.  Stanley Climbfall  was no where near as successful as the  No Name Face,  but a sophomore slump didn't plunge the band into obscurity. In 2005, the band released their self-titled album which boasted their number one hit which was appearing in every TV show that year, the prom/wedding favorite, " You and Me ."  I WAS YOUNG BUT I WASN'T NAIVE.  " Blind ," the band...

I first started listening to  MGMT  in the spring of 2009. Their debut album  Ocular Spectacular   had been released at the end of 2007, but tracks like " Kids " had hit the alternative radio stations by 2009. My roommate in college loved the opening track " Time to Pretend ," which is a fun song about moving to Paris and marrying models, and when things get difficult, just get a divorce. After enjoying  OS,  the next year the band released their follow up,  Congratulations , which boasted more experimental electronica. After reading the review about how the band refused to release radio singles, I never tried the band and felt that they were venturing into a musical realm that wasn't for me. However, in 2019 when I heard their single, " Me and Michael " in a book store and when I started listening to " Little Dark Age ," I realized that the MGMT that I loved in college was back.  THE MORE I STRAIGHTEN OUT, THE LESS IT WANTS TO TRY . The poli...

The third record from The Classic Crime , Vagabonds , was the last record of the band on Tooth & Nail Records . The Classic Crime has had ups and downs in their success. Their first album, Albatros ,  was mis-marketed on iTunes in the genre of Christian Rock, something that the band and their A&R team had fought prior to the album's release . However, the band was ultimately associated with the genre because of their record label. Furthermore, the first record's reviews were mixed to  poor. But the band's follow up, The Silver Cord , was well-received, especially as a Christian Rock album. I'M COUNTING ON GRACE. Vagabonds didn't have the same CCM appeal that The Silver Cord had. Though the album had three singles on Christian Rock radio, the last of which was today's song " A Perfect Voice ," the album's opener, the album didn't appeal much to the band's target secular Warped Tour scene. With the apparent commercial failure and t...

  The smoothest, easiest, most chill record by Anchor & Braille is titled Tension . The album was written and recorded before the pandemic but released in May 2020 in a time when the U.S. was still under the shock of job loss, fear, and illness both physical and mental. According to a podcast I listened to today , lead singer Stephen Christian thinks of a scene from a movie when writing his Anchor & Braille albums. Whereas Songs for the Late Night Drive Home literally described the dark yet enchanting movie scene in the title, Christian said that Tension was about those quiet moments in your room by yourself or with a loved one. BY MYSELF, EYES WIDE CLOSED. The opening track to Tension claims "This ain't no ordinary love song." The song alludes to the early days of a romantic relationship, when late-night conversations with that person can keep you awake all night just fantasizing of all the possibilities of where that relationship can go. When Stephen Christia...

Your writing teacher probably told you to "avoid clichés like the plague." Writers and content creators constantly have to draw attention to their work, and anything trite or overtly formulaic might give the reader, viewer, listener, etc. that you as an artist don't care enough about your subject to make it fresh. The truth is, you graduate from high school or college, you write informally and you write a lot, you tend to start developing plague-like symptoms. You start working in an office, and everyone's listening to light rock. The music in your 30s is different from the cool and edgy music of your 20s, and all you want to do is to listen to something that won't make you think too much. Something that uses way too many clichés. But then, every once in a while a new group will come along to distract you from that monotony, even if their lyrics are basically turning clichés on their head.  SAID THE RIGHT WORDS, PLAYED THE WRONG CHORDS. With nary a song over 4:30,...

For as legendary as  New Order  and the band's predeceasing band Joy Division are today, it's interesting to see how long it took for the the band to enjoy the fruits of their labor. While Joy Division's " Love Will Tear Us Apart " has been featured in so many period pieces leading us who weren't alive back then to think that Joy Division was omnipresent, it seems that Joy Division is actually way more popular today than back then. That being said, Joy Division wasn't an obscure band, with the song being a #13 hit in the UK and charting on the dance chart in the States. So why was New Order's success slow? I FEEL FINE AND I FEEL GOOD. Reforming as a New Order following the suicide of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis , New Order's early discography was far less commercial than their later work. New Order was a jam band, and in the '80s, synthesizers were all the rage. But while many New Wavers started to kowtow to the pop radio--cutting their s...

Adoy is a Korean Indie group that formed in 2017 with members from other indie groups, including former From the Airport 's Zee. Adoy was founded as a musical project to produce " commercial indie ,”  an oxymoron that reminds me of the early 2000s when bands like Modest Mouse and The Strokes went mainstream. In Korea, too, the growing indie sound is flooding cafes, television, and movies. The Korean indie wave is much smaller than K-pop and K-dramas, but within Korea and in some underground scenes, Korean indie music is a cooler alternative to the bubblegum pop, the cute boys and and girls stickers slapped onto a binder.  WE RAN AWAY FROM THE TOWN.  In Korea, though, a K-pop act's visibility helps to contribute to their sales. Much like seeing the image of a giant McDonald's  M  or a Nike check mark, seeing the K-pop posters helps to attract young fans. Korean indie, however, usually doesn't have the visual component of handsome/beautiful musicians. However, ...

For today's song, I've decided to make my Under the Covers: Volume 1  available on Apple Music with a substitution of Boyce Avenue 's " The One That Got Away " with a cover of Post Malone 's " Circles ." I realize that my blog is turning desultory, like the later seasons of Glee , but not to worry, I'll be back soon with fresh content when I learn to balance life and blogging. Until then, enjoy the Apple Music Edition of Under the Covers ! Be sure to check out the original version of this post by clicking on the link for "The One that Got Away" and check back for more covers!   Read “Circles” by Post Malone on Genius Post Malone version:

  I first encountered  White Lies  in 2009 on an iTunes sampler. The song was " Farewell to the Fairground ," a song from their freshman album  To Lose My Life...  Their follow up album,  Ritual ,  was unimpressive, and I kind of forgot about this band until I heard their single " There Goes Our Love Again, " from their 2013 album  Big TV .  The album is certainly their strongest to date and plays like a New Wave album, taking influence from the most venerated post-punk acts of the ‘80s but released thirty years late. The song " Big TV " deals with themes of modern city life in regards to alienation, capitalism, and fleeting trends. Its electronic feel sounds like it's the kind of music that would be playing late at night, coming from the blue light of a big TV in a studio apartment downtown. YOU CAN RAISE A STAR FROM GARBAGE ON THE STREET.  Big TV  is a concept album, following a woman who leaves a relationship she’s unhappy with t...

There were a number of Christian extreme sports shows that featured harder Christian Rock. These shows might be featured late nights on cable tv or on Christian channels. In 2003,   Anberlin   released their first radio hit to Christian Rock radio, " Change the World (Lost Ones) ." However, around that time " Readyfuels " was included in one of those sports shows. The sport: luge racing. "Readyfuels" was the band's first promoted single by the record label. "Change the World" was sent to Christian radio. But "Readyfuels" wasn't a Christian Rock song, in the traditional sense.  GIRLS AND THE BOYS CHASE DOWN RUNNING HOT TONIGHT. “Readyfuels” is   a song that   mostly  glorifies the carnal nights of youth--a prelude to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Today’s song would go on to chart on even Air1 , a Contemporary Christian pop radio station. Anberlin's intention was never to be a Christian band, but unlike other Tooth & Nail ...

Thomas Wolfe is most famous for his novel  You Can't Go Home Again   which is a tome that I haven't read. However, I did read his first novel,  Look Homeward, Angel ,  which deals with similar themes. I picked up the book in the middle of a semester from hell and an existential crisis. I found Wolfe's descriptions of Southern life--the people in town and family members, the scenery, and the food--so comforting. The mostly autobiographical novel is nostalgic, but the protagonist, Eugene's academic pursuits push him to see the world outside of the isolated mountain town of Altamont (Asheville). DEFER TOMORROW. The Juliana Theory is a band whose influence far exceeds their success. Formed as the side project Brett Detar , the guitarist of the Christian metal band Zao , when he wanted to incorporate the catchiness of radio rock bands like Third Eye Blind that the metal band listened to in van on tour, The Juliana Theory became a legendary band in the pop-punk scene. Th...

In 1999, Carlos Santana topped the Top 40 radio stations, the Billboard Hot 100, and the Adult Contemporary charts with his biggest single in years, " Smooth ." Santana's latin guitar licks were accompanied by the sexy vocals of pop-rock frontman Rob Thomas . Three years prior to this #1 hit, Thomas' band Matchbox 20 --later stylized as Twenty --had released their debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You , which featured several hits on pop and rock radio. It was a year after the Santana collaboration that Matchbox Twenty followed up Yourself or Someone Like You with Mad Season .  SHOULDN'T BE SO COMPLICATED. After "Smooth," Rob Thomas' fame soared, and with a renewed interest in Matchbox Twenty, the band returned four years after their successful first album. The first single, " Bent " topped the Hot 100, radio top 40 singles, and several other charts, which was the only Matchbox Twenty single to do so. Although Matchbox Twenty continu...