Have you seen the new Ford 2011 Mustang ad. In particular, have you heard this ad? The music rocks, and it took me a while to track down who performs this song. It is by “Band Of Skulls”, a band name I am familiar with and placed on the “must listen to sometime soon” section of my brain. With the Mustang commercial getting so much airplay, I finally caved in, and queued up their debut album “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey” on my Grooveshark account (which reminds me, I need to do some housework on my blog – that now-extinct LaLa link needs to be replaced).
Band Of Skulls formed a couple of years ago in London, and released their debut album a year later. They are currently on tour in the U.K., following some recent show dates in the U.S. where they supported BRMC. Their music in intriguing – a mish-mash of blues-rock, brit-pop and Classic Southern Rock. Think Jack White crossed with Supergrass crossed with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. An odd mix, I agree, but there is something in there that works, I just can’t get my head around it yet. Here’s hoping I will by the time The Band Of Skulls bring our some more music!
As I stated yesterday, there’s probably no better band that brings you the soundtrack to the Summer than The Beach Boys. “Bluebirds Over The Mountain” isn’t the typical Summer or surf-song that you would match with The Beach Boys, though as with pretty much any Beach Boys song, it is full of Mike Love and Carl Wilson’s beautiful harmonies. I’ve lost count of the number of songs the group released that contained birds… there’s this one, which is a cover of Ersel Hickey’s 1958 rockabilly classic. And there’s two others I know of… “Little Bird”, “At My Window” – are these all in response to The Beatles “Blackbird”?!
Summer In The City. Great song, not so great city.
I apologize for the lack of posts recently – an unusual occurrence has arrived in my neighborhood… Summer! You’ll not see any Summertime Blues here, no Winter Hymnal, none of that. From here on out it is wall to wall sunshine, the stuff oranges live for. Summer songs in the 60’s had that something else, don’t you think? Who else had a Summer hit anything better than the classic Beach Boys formula, which were repeated countless times… maybe there is one song – Summer In The City, by 1960’s folk-rock group “The Lovin’ Spoonful”. The band managed to create a welcoming image of downtown, in the heat of Summer. Blazing sidewalks, glaring heat, sweltering humidity – there’s no place I’d rather be on a Summer day…. ermmm….
I was wrong. Malta did not even make a showing in Saturday night’s 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. But, I was correct in one thing – the U.K. entrant finished dead last, collecting only 10 points! Only four countries gave the U.K. points in the televoting (Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ireland), showing how popular Britain is nowadays across Europe. Hurrah!
I have a feeling inside that Germany takes this competition very seriously – and probably seeded the vote by sending coachloads of voters to less populous European countries (you can’t vote for the country that you are voting from). Germany scored the maximum 12 points from nine countries – including Switzerland, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Wait a minute… I’m noticing a trend there of Scandinavian countries. What is it with trashy Euro-pop music and Scandinavia!?
The lyrics in this song a so… so… full of meaning. “Like a satellite I’m in a orbit all around you”
Crikey folks – it is that time of year again – the Eurovision Song Contest!! The BBC web site places Azerbaijan (thank you, ctrl+c) entry, “Safura” as one of the favorites to win this year’s competition, with her song, titled “Drip Drop”. This probably will mean the song ends up with nil-points and the entry from Malta will take over and steal the show. Just to show how serious the BBC are with this contest, they have selected the ever-flamboyant Graham Norton to host their live coverage. You know what would be really good – if the Iceland entrant could somehow eclipse what Finland did in 2006, and tie in the Eyjafjallajokull (again, thank you, ctrl+c) Volcano into their song!
And the U.K. entry? This year, all hope lies with Josh Dubovie, with the song “That Sounds Good To Me”. Dubovie also shoulders the added burden of having the longest odds ever for a U.K. entrant to win the competition.
One of my friends recently saw Alberta Cross live in London and recommended I take a listen to them. And am I glad he did, as the band is awesome! Volume’s Voice could become a regular feature on my blog. But back to the band.
Alberta Cross released their debut full-length album in 2009, and have been toured the UK and USA extensively, opening for bands such as “The Dave Matthews Band” and “Them Crooked Vultures”. Their sound is a refreshing blues-influenced brand of rock music, most akin to The Kings of Leon. Other cited influences are as diverse as Neil Young, The Band, Sonic Youth, Nick Cave and Motown. Alberta Cross are fronted by Swedish-Anglo duo Petter Ericson Stakee and Terry Wolfers, were formed in London, and are now based in Brooklyn (according to an interview the band did with Inflatable Ferret, their name is an anagram – of what, I don’t know…).
Weezer, in 1996 knew what hot was, and so do I, with Summer arriving a little early where I am. Temperatures approaching the 90’s (they should be in the 70’s), and it isn’t even June yet! El Scorcho was the first single off of their second album, Pinkerton. Commercially, it flopped – and though I do like Weezer, I can see why. The song is all over the place, with everyone competing with each other in trying to sound as off tune as possible. The title of the song originated from a packet of hot sauce found at fast-food Mexican chain, Del Taco – a randomness that is totally the norm for Weezer (you only need to hear “Pork & Beans” or “The Sweater Song” to affirm this).
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Crikey folks – it is that time of year again – the 
