"Another Bad Night's Sleep" – Silver Seas
From the album Chateau Revenge
Click here to listen to the MP3.
I love this time of year. The sun shines continually, the weather warms. After a long, gray winter color returns and blooms. The ladies shed the dark bulkiness of a thousand layers and massive coats and show us what god gave them, curves included. Now is the time for gardening. Now is the time for long drives for no reason at all. On the weekends the wife and I like to get in the car and just go. Take any old road out of town and see where it leads. With the wind in our hair, the sun on our back and some feel-good rock blasting out there is nothing but goodness to be found.
Silver Seas could write the soundtrack to that. They make breezy, 70's style rock and roll with no intentions but to make you smile. "Another Bad Night's Sleep" is like Jackson Browne covering America. The guitars take you down the road at 70 miles per hour, the jangles put the thrust in your hips. I can feel the wind in my hair already.
The Nashville group's newest release, Chateau Revenge comes out July 6. Until then you can hear more on their website and Myspace page.
"Aint No Surprise" – Leopold And His Fiction
From the album Aint No Surprise
Click here to listen to the MP3.
This past weekend the wife and I took one of those rides for the fun of it and wound up in the Shiloh National Military Park where some 23,000 union and confederate soldiers lost their lives in two days of intense battle. It is a beautiful, scenic park, nestled next to the Tennessee River making it hard to imagine the deluge of horror that it once saw. I'm ashamed to say that I know very little about specific battles of the Civil War and it was nice to get a little history lesson mixed in with my drive.
Leopold and His Fiction make music that would likely fit well within the confines of a Civil War Army. It has a peculiar blend of that old timey sound mixed with modern era hard rock. "Aint No Surprise" sounds a bit like Yonder Mountain String Band if they were being led by Jack White. It's folk music with a rough edge; bluegrass for bikers.
Leopold and His Fiction consist of three members, none of which are named Leopold and presumably none hold any fiction. Their newest album, Aint No Surprise, was produced by Thom Monohan who has also worked with Devendra Banhart and Little Joy. Its out now. You can hear more songs, and watch video on their Myspace page.
"Ready To Go" – Kaiser Cartel
From the album Secret Transit
Click here to listen to the MP3.
The Kaiser Cartel didn't get their name from some secret Russian mafia as you may think, but rather from the last names of the two musicians involved. Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel began writing songs together in 2004 and will release their second album Secret Transit in June. It was produced by Matt Hales and recorded in an old church around London.
"Ready to Go" is the first single from that album and its a road riot. Filled with bright mixtures of bouncing rhythms, beautiful soaring vocals, and plenty of hand-clapping, head bobbing filler noises the song all but dares you to get in the car and find some mountains.
You can hear more tunes on their website and Myspace page.
Be sure to check them out on tour as well:
Kaiser Cartel 2010 Tour Dates
April 10th – Chicago IL @ Schuba’s
April 15th – Dubuque IL @ 180 Main
April 15th – Maple Lake, MN @ Olde Town Creamery
April 16th – Maple Lake, MN @ Olde Town Creamery
April 17th – Nashville, TN @ The Basement
April 21st – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
April 28th – Brooklyn, NY @ Galapagos Art Space
May 13th – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
May 14th – Atlanta, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
May 15th – Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio
June 8th – New York, NY @ Joe’s Pub
June 14th – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
June 15th – Evanston, IL @ Space
June 16th – Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
June 17th – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
June 18th – Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi’s
June 19th – Dubuque, IL @ 180 Main
July 30th – Pittsburgh, PA @ Schenley Plaza (WYEP event)
