I’m back! Reviewing my 10 favourite tracks of the last 2-3 weeks?! I’ve discovered some new stuff, and have been listening to some old stuff too! I also realised that, when I update my playlist that I’m not going to be able to IMMORTALISE the top 10 forever, other than with creating a new individual playlist each week, and to be honest, hell with that. So I’m just gonna screenshot it and have the screenshot clickable…
Anyway, BACK TO THE MUSIC. These last… 3 weeks? I’ve been on a King Gizz binge, again. I got into the Gizz around 2 years ago now, so my experience with them is very new in comparison to a lot of other fans. So, I have the lucky experience of experiencing some of their older things for the first time, now. As of… two weeks ago? I hadn’t listened through to each album in the correct order yet. And, last week, I finally did. I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, Nonagon Infinity and Float Along – Fill Your Lungs are amazing albums which I simply HAVE NOT PUT DOWN. So, they will be dominating my top 10 in part 2! Without further ado, the list:
- High Heights – RIIKI
Yet another New Zealander in my list, crazy! This chick is amazing and sounds SOOOO much like wondergirl BENEE. In BENEE’s recent ‘listen local’ playlist on spotify, another song by RIIKI made an appearance which led me to this amazing single! Mellow, kind of soulful and with a sweet, simple pop/RnB beat, some sweet, stabby chords and a melodious, plucky guitar, this track is awesome! With only two officially released songs under her belt, RIIKI is on her way to a bright, wonderful career, especially if she’s already been seen by the likes of BENEE! This track is fun, sweet and everything I want when I’m in the mood for some awesome ‘indie’ pop. - Miscommunication – Concrete Surfers
These guys are awesome! This song, Miscommunication, somehow sounds like something straight out of the mouths of 90s surf rock legends Thirsty Merc, whilst also maintaining a modern, Last Dinosaurs feel. Their vocalist displays an awesome range, going from some high pitched, more pop-like vocals, to thrashy and grungy at the drop of a hat. Their drummer is super tight and the guitars sit super nicely in the mix. Overall, this song from 2017 is a hit and the stuff they’ve followed it up with, despite not hitting the same success as Miscommunication, shows that the band are continuing to surge forward and have improved significantly since the 2017 single. Seriously, go check out Never Understood and Shattered Thoughts by these guys, also BRILLIANT songs. - Tentpole Shangrila – Djo
This song is off Djo, aka Joe Keery, aka Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington’s first solo album, Twenty Twenty. Despite his obvious success in Stranger Things, Joe has also been a pretty sucessful musician, having been a guitarist for the band Post Animal up until 2017. A busy man, and now solo-artist under the handle Djo, he released several singles in early 2019, followed by a full length album in the year’s later stages. From the very first track, Personal Lies (not counting the intro), you can tell that Djo’s previous band and previous inspirations continue to encourage him. Psychedelic rock is something that he must just understand and Tentpole Shangrila is a prime example of this. Rocking a slow, soothing build up, then getting a little weird and superrr spacey towards the middle, Djo’s voice, guitar and keyboard skills are all perfect fits for this genre. If he’s producing these tracks, he’s incredible and if not, props to whoever is because not only this song, but the whole album is an absolute delight to listen to. Sad, happy, scary, slow, fast, the album has it all. Go listen, start to finish, NOW. My writing will be here when you’ve finished. - Wah Wah – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Somehow, and only King Gizz can do this, a song where the chorus is Stu Mackenzie saying Wah Wah wah Wah, wah wah WAHHHHH is one of my favourite this month. Featuring as the second last song on the amazing album Nonagon Infinity, an infinitely looping album, boasted to be the first and only of its kind by the band, Wah Wah begins to tie together (or begin, if you decide to listen to it as the first track?) an absolutely amazing grungy, trippy, Pyschedelic Garage Rock Album and arguably their most popular to date. Ambrose Kenny-Smith, son of the Australian country icon, Broderick Smith, plays the harmonica in a way I’ve not heard anyone else do, (please tell me if you know someone as good because I want to listen to them too) and the album, whilst not their most sonically spacious, is fun, upbeat and was the heaviest that Gizz had gone to date, moving away from their previous jazzy, dreamy album, Paper Mache Dream Balloon. - Float Along – Fill Your Lungs – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
As the title track for their 2013 album, where someone from King Gizz finds a sitar and decides to base an album around it, this album is the first in which Stu Mackenzie’s vocals were very prevalent in the mix and he nailed it. Fusing energised garage rock and sitar loaded melodies, the album is a shining star in the discography, an absolute pleasure to listen to and not something we’ve seen as much of since. I hope they revisit this type of music because this track, as well has Head On/Pill and Pop In My Step are absolutely wonderful, delightful and so easy to listen to. I’d liken to the experience to sipping on cool water after going for a run. Good shit. - I’m In Your Mind – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
- Straightfaced – Spacey Jane
- Sobercoaster – Beddy Rays
- Second – Hope D
- On Our Own – Lime Cordiale
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back in 2-4 weeks, hopefully, with another 10 tracks for you. I hope all 3 of you readers are doing spectacularly. Catch ya!
Connor 