NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

When The Killers released their debut 2004 Hot Fuss , it ushered in a new era of New Wave music. According to Alan Cross of the Ongoing History Podcast , New Wave was the commercially viable offspring of Punk Rock, which had been successful in the UK but had failed to translate to the American market. New Wave was a British-inspired sound that touched on themes universal to the late-boomer generation. In the early years of the '00s, Rock had so many popular iterations, it was hard to keep up with. Nu Metal, post hardcore, pop punk, (scr)e(a)mo, garage rock were just a few styles that gained popularity. However, with a massive record like Hot Fuss, there were sure to be copy-cats--bands that would leech onto The Killers' model of UK success followed by American success. The Bravery were such a band. The Killers' frontman, Brandon Flowers , called the band out on the copying their playbook, starting the third-wave of New Wave's crowning feud, in a similar way to the big

MUNA is an alternative pop group composed of three friends who studied together at the University of Southern California . The trio self-produced their debut EP and uploaded it to Bandcamp and SoundCloud . The band's success with their debut EP led to the group signing with RCA records and releasing their 2017 debut record, About U. In May 2021, the band announced that they had signed to Phoebe Bridgers ' Saddest Factory record label. The group recently released the single " Silk Chiffon " which features Bridgers singing a verse. The song is one of the group's few singles to chart on Billboard , peaking at #35 on the US Alternative chart.  KEEPIN' IT LIGHT LIKE SILK CHIFFON. I think I first heard MUNA in the awkward teen comedy Alex Strangelove , a story about a high school senior who is struggling to understand his sexuality. All the members of MUNA identify as queer, though, as a lyricist lead singer Katie Gavin often avoided pronouns in the group

  Cruel to Be Young was one of my college albums. I wrote a bit about the two Jonezetta albums back in January.   Rather than being an '80s/ Killers sounding album, the band went '70s/laid back, hippy sounding music. According to Randy Torres episode of Labeled, the inspiration behind this album was The Shins , which was another college favorite of mine. While Aaron Sprinkle and Randy Torres may have had a great time making this record, it may have been the demise of Jonezetta as fans were expecting something catchy and dancy. Interestingly my college friends liked this album, but not their debut, but my hometown friends, loved Popularity and couldn't get into Cruel to Be Young. Jonezetta's follow up album reminds me of my youth--being 21 years old at its release, and how cruel it was to be a young Seventh-day Adventist. ALL THE DIFFERENT REASONS WHY YOU SLEEP ALONE . I’ve railed on purity culture so much without giving any person anecdotes. I speak from experienc

  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. These days lots of bands are getting back together. Some are doing 10, 15, 20 year anniversary tours (or live streams). The age of COVID has been pretty kind to old music, but not so much to new music. The music of my teenage life is now the music of today, but I'm not sure if they can get the kids on board. After finishing Look Homeward Angel, the semester en