Earworms: April 2018

Another month, and another rendition of Earworms. What exactly is an Earworm? Well, an Earworm (in my definition) is a song, album, artist, or playlist that has been stuck in my head all month long. It is something that I cannot stop listening to, and will be my go-to music whether i'm driving, showering or doing my homework. So let's get to it, here are the Earworms for the month of April, 2018.

It's also recommended to have a Spotify account to properly access the majority of hyperlinks contained within the piece.

Black Lips

Current members: Cole Alexander (lead vocals, guitar), Jared Swilley (vocals, bass), Oakley Munson (Drums), Zumie Rosow (Saxophone).

Hailing from Atlanta, this punk & country rock band delivers music that'll make every senior citizen in the vicinity to glare at you with contempt. This rowdy bunch of individuals has somehow made the feeling of smashing broken objects with a bat in the middle of a field into a style of music. Their album Good Bad Not Evil is a happy blend of rambunctious punk-rock and country-rooted tunes, and thus my favorite of the bunch. The record was released in 2007 along with Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo a compilation of live music, sporting music from their other past albums. Past albums include their self-titled album Black Lips in '03, We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow in '04, and Let It Bloom in '05. Their latest album Satan's Graffiti or God's Art? showed evidence of a stylistic shift in the band with the addition of producer Sean Lennon, making the band a tad more melodic, slower-paced and as country as ever. Gone are the days of shock & awe live performances in which they would literally make out with each other & start riots on stage, as they finally have good quality music to back up their punk rocker nucleus. Check out their website to see if the Black Lips are coming to a town near you!

Dr. Dog

Current members: Scott McMicken (lead guitar), Toby Leaman (bass), Frank McElroy (guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), Erick Slick (drums)

The city of Philadelphia has been winning a lot lately. Their NBA basketball team has shown the world their true talent; cementing themselves as one of the most talented young teams. Not to mention they just won the freaking Super Bowl this past February. But there may be another more significant event to happen to the city of brotherly love this year and that would be the release of the new Dr. Dog album Critical Equation. What more can be said about this band? Not only are they prolific in their music production, pretty much creating a couple new albums every other year. And this year has not been any different. Their new album comes with an evolution in their sound, culminating in one of the most polished (in terms of production) records to come out so far for the band. In an interview with John Vettese at NPR music, singer Scott McMicken summarizes their sonic shift in a brilliant sentence: "F*** Dr. Dog". And this evolution can only come from the vast experience that the group has, as the Philly six-piece outfit has been playing together for pretty much fifteen years now. You can certainly feel the cohesion in the new record, as most bands struggle to fit into their new sounds, Dr. Dog pretty much changed it up without a hitch. All I can do now is to shut up and direct you their website. Listen to them, you won't regret it.

Dan Auerbach & The Easy Eye Sound Revue

DAN AUERBACH IS HUNGRY TO CREATE MUSIC AND NO ONE WILL STOP HIM.

Current list of Dan Auerbach's musical creations/involvements:

1. The Black Keys, one of the defining sounds of Indie Rock in the mid-2000's, paving the road for many blues-oriented rock groups to come.

2. He then started to work & release solo music in the late 200's. He now has two solo-albums, the latest one releasing last year, titled Waiting on a Song.

3. He has an intensive background in producing music, working with artists such as Lana Del Rey on her record Ultraviolence.

4. In 2015, when Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney suffered a shoulder-injury, Dan started his side-project (although the term side-project does not do them justice) The Arcs.

5. Last May, he started his own record label called Easy Eye Sound. Supporting artists such as John Prine & Robert Finley. Many country & folk music listeners may already know John Prine, but Robert Finley is much more of a story. Robert was a carpenter in Louisiana until around five years ago, when he decided to finally pursue music. Robert is legally blind and is storied to have walked into the record label building and was signed on the spot once Dan heard his voice. It is a voice that may even rival the Screaming Eagle of Soul himself.

And that brings us to now, where Dan is currently touring with Prine and Finley. They call themselves The Easy Eye Sound Review and are spreading the musical goodness of their collective talents. If his track record isn't enough to convince you to give his music a listen, then you are beyond my help.

Here is a playlist made by Spotify garrettmoon2016 user that features the songs & artists of the Easy Eye Sound Review tour.

Playlist: G-Mix: Russel

To cap off this month's Earworms, we have a playlist specially curated by the Gorillaz band's local possessed individual, Russel. While Russel spends most of his free time smashing the drum set and getting possessed by various people, he also spends a sizeable chunk of it listening to various forms of hip-hop music. This brings me to Russel's playliston Spotify. Not only limited to pure hip-hop, this playlist contains forms of r&b, 90's hip hop, and straight bangers. The range of hip-hop that you'll experience in this playlist will come to no surprise to long-time Gorillaz fans, as we've been listening to Russel inject tasteful beats & rhythms for close to twenty years now.