Randomness: New Hip Single, Crazy Good Videos from MS MR and Wintersleep

I can't let you go too long without some new ear candy, but it's been a little slow over the past week and a half, so we'll both have to make do with some random stuff that's piqued my interest of late.

First up is, I suppose, some big news: The Tragically Hip have a new single. Honestly, I'd have posted this a week ago, but I've been waiting for album and release date info. They're being tight lipped about that for the moment, but it stands to reason we'll see something rather soon (July is my guess). Hopefully Murphy's Law takes it from here, wherein I make this post and they announce all the dirt in an hour.

At Transformation feels like an exercise in compromise; the tune rocks harder than most of their recent output, but Gord Downie's lyrics and delivery refuse to take us all the way back to the early 90's. This will likely be a problem for some, but I've always stood by the band despite their stubborn refusal to record Up To Here II, unlike a lot of folks. Realistically, by now no one should get bent out of shape because The Hip graduated from (a really, really good) bar band to (consistently interesting) artists.

Up next is a video I found due to a glowing recommendation by Alan Cross. MS MR is a guy/girl duo whose music isn't normally something I get into. But the NSFW video for new single Hurricane is fantastic:

Finally, the video for Wintersleep's In Came The Flood, first single from fifth album Hello Hum. The song is great, and the video seems like a run-of-the-mill performance vid. Of course, there's more to it than that:

That it has (as of this blogging) a meager 194 views in three days is criminal. So make sure to watch it twice. Hello Hum comes out June 12, but if you want to test drive it, they're hosting a live listening party (and launching pre-orders) Sunday at 8pm (Atlantic) over here.

Comments

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

SOUND BITES

Search This Blog