Songs of the Week: September 16 - 22, 2024
“Eddie Vedder” by The Matinee
The Matinee just wants to be friends with “Eddie Vedder”.
On their new tune, named for the grunge icon, singer Matt Layzell shares: “We grew up listening to Pearl Jam. Their album TEN came out at a formative time in our lives, and watching the band continue to evolve and stick it out together has always been something to aspire to. I was in a bit of a rut, feeling like I was attracting nothing but bad luck. The kicker was my car breaking down after a road trip and having to fork out my whole tax return. I took a walk with my dog to the dog beach here in Vancouver and remembered the moment the trouble light came on, which was around the Vedder River. Vedder. Eddie Vedder. I don’t know why, but I just said it out loud, “I wish Eddie Vedder was a friend of mine”. I perked up quite a bit as I realized my day wasn’t so bad sitting on a log, watching the waves. I started thinking about the things I’d ask Eddie if he was there, just chewing the fat with me. Eddie, if you hear this song, let’s grab a coffee sometime—it’s on me.”
The new song is the kind of catchy, roots-rock jam you would expect from the band (and I’ll bet they’re currently pretty happy they didn’t pick the frontman to another ground-breaking 90s Seattle grunge band to sing about).
You can check out the lyric video below, and find the song on their upcoming End of Scene EP — featuring B-Sides to their latest album Change of Scene — which is out November 1st.
Kirk
“If God Is A Woman” by Larkin Poe
I first heard of Georgia-bred, Nashville-based Larkin Poe at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 2019 and was instantly hooked.
This week they put out a new single titled “If God Is A Woman” and announced a new album Bloom, to be released in January.
Of the bluesy new track, Rebecca Lovell says “If God Is A Woman’ was written as a reminder to resist the typecasting of women, both conscious and unconscious. There are many shades of existence, and we had fun painting abstract with this sardonic blues.”
I hope we get more soon from these Grammy winners!
Christine
“Life of the Party” by Housewife
With their third release of the year, Toronto’s Housewife is looking to be the “Life of the Party”.
Though despite the name, the haunting ear-worm is a little on the darker side compared to their latest songs, with Brighid Fry explaining, “’Life of the Party’ is the closest I’ll ever get to making the music 13 year old emo me wanted to make. It’s a totally self pity fest, which is sometimes exactly what you need! I made this song with Mikky Ekko and Aaron C Harmon, and we wrote it about the cognitive dissonance you get between people’s perception of how your life is going versus how you actually feel it's going. I totally love my job, but I think sometimes people make a lot of assumptions about me based on the fact that I’m a musician. People see me on stage and assume that I’m this super confident person living a super glamorous life, and that is just not the case. Once I get off stage, I am a very anxious person who doesn’t like being the center of attention - so I wanted to write a song about balancing people’s opinions of me with how I actually feel about myself.”
No word on a full album from Housewife, but you can watch the lyric video below.
Kirk
“Candles” by Sunset Rubdown
I still sorta can’t believe that we have new music from Sunset Rubdown, but this past Friday, the Vancouver band released their first album in 15(!) years, Always Happy To Explode.
And to celebrate, they dropped their latest single, “Candles”, an upbeat song that started as one of Spencer Krug’s song-a-month project on Patreon in 2020, it was rediscovered and reworked by the band for the new album.
Always Happy To Explode is available now, and you can see Sunset Rubdown as they strike out on tour, starting October 10 here in Vancouver at the Rickshaw Theatre
Kirk
“All Bets Are Off” by Japandroids
It’s less than a month until the final album from Japandroids - with Fate & Alcohol being released on October 18th.
It is bittersweet getting new music from the band but knowing that it’s the end and we won’t be getting a tour for it, but I will take whatever they give me!
The latest track release is titled “All Bets Are Off” and singer/guitarist Brian King shared his journaling/thoughts on the night that inspired the closing track of the album:
“Night off. I could have rested though (of course) I didn't. The crew were on one and the party was well underway when I arrived. The other patrons didn't seem to appreciate our noisy and colourful presence (squares), but the boys were blissfully unaware, hurling hot words at one another and making absurd bets with their per diems, like whether it was possible to light a cigarette with a pistol shot. I knew where this was going and wanted no part of it.
I slunk to a shadowy corner and ordered a cocktail, spur to my jaded spirits. I was gathering material for a book on bar life and it was the perfect place to watch the hungry hearts of Saturday twist towards the blue emptiness of Sunday morning. Poolroom tigers and nightclub kittens, on the prowl for a piece of anything. Cups and lips, quips and quirks, I frantically jotted it all down sparing no detail. Another cocktail? Don't mind if I do! The night was primed and I felt punk.
Seeing her immediately stripped me of my powers. A thousand thoughts, frozen and kept in cold storage, thawed all at once. She was not the same woman I had known, exuding a subtle elegance and sensuality I had never seen before; she looked breathtaking. Every exquisite nuance like salt on old love-cuts. Chicly dressed too, which added to my agony. The imbalance between us was obvious, making me self-conscious. Still, I decided to let it play out. Cue the music.”
Christine
“Fear it comes in waves” by Sunnsetter
Sunnsetter is the latest music project from multi-instrumentalist, composer, and mixing engineer Andrew McLeod, and last week they released their latest single, “Fear it comes in waves”.
The new tune is a raucous song that Andrew says is an examination of “the daily dread or anxiety that just finds its way into your everyday life, in waves, even when you find ways to cope with it.”
Along with the new single, the band announced their upcoming album, Heaven Hang Over Me, which is out November 15!
Kirk
“Armour” by bloom effect
bloom effect is a Vancouver trio made up of members from Argentina and UK, and last week they released the first taste of their upcoming EP Portents,
“Armour” is a shoegaze- y dream-pop vibe, with ethereal vocals from singer Jula Lafit, and you can have a listen below!
Kirk
