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Friday, November 14, 2008

Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow

"Twenty minutes in the hotel bar then I slip into your girlfriend's jeans"

I'm a week or so late on this, I know, but I just realized that despite putting them in my end of the year countdown last year, I've never given Girls Aloud the daily pop post love. The fact is, they're consistantly one of the most amazing, genre-bending pop groups around and a shoe-in for best girlgroup ever. Their new album doesn't quite reach the highs of the last two, but there are still a lot of highlights. Miss You Bow Wow is perhaps the higlightiest. It's just a bundle of hooks, one after the other in military precision. You think you've gotten to the best part of the song and then it gets better...and it keeps going like this. I am continually amazed that the girls (and more importantly, the team behind them) can release pop of this high calibar year after year after year.

Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here!)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Crash Tokio - Good You Are

"I've been waiting here for you to be by my side"

This German band has an indie pop sound that reminds me of a lot of groups I've featured on this blog. There's a bit of the Alpine, the Feeling, Pop*Star*Kids... I could go on and on. They've got some amazing songs, though. Definitely check out their single, Girls Can Dance. Just as good, though, is Good You Are, which opens up their most recent album Heads, We're Dancing. It's very danceable while still sitting nicely in that indie/pop/rock genre that everyone seems so fond of. "College rock," I guess you'd call it. But it's poppy college rock, so there you go.

Crash Tokio - Good You Are (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here!)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Nickelback - Something In Your Mouth

"Every sugar daddy hitting on her all night long"

I would have never thought in a million years that I'd be posting a Nickelback song on alienhits. I've spent the past few years railing against them and the fact that US radio has deemed them the only "rock" act worth playing. I hated Photograph, and despised Rock Star. Then again, I've liked some of their earlier stuff (especially Chad Kroeger's Hero) and was impressed with the poppiness of their latest single. More than that, though, I was curious about their new album because it's produced by Mutt Lange. I love Lange's work with big rock bands, and some of the stuff on this record is actually...gulp...pretty good. Something In Your Mouth opens the record and it's a completely sleezy party song--just what this band needed. Ultra-catchy and singalongable (though it's pretty raunchy, so keep that in mind when out and about :), it's everything that Nickelback should be. I may just have to start tolerating them again...and that honestly hurts to type.

Nickelback - Something In Your Mouth (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Preorder the album here!)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Pony Pony Run Run - Boy/Girl Surrender

"Call me all night"

I am not a fan of Pony Pony Run Run's band name. It's just too long and ridiculous. But, forgetting their name, the music is excellent. It's retro synth-rock in the Killers mold, but with more of a dance edge. In that way they're not unlike amazing Manchester band Daggers, though of course not nearly as good (who is?). They're from France, but they don't really sound like it. They've got a lot more energy than most of their peers, which in my mind is a very very good thing. Boy/Girl Surrender is my favorite Pony Pony song so far. I can't discern most of the lyrics, but the melody is ace and I love all the little electronic blips that twist the verses around. They're probably the most exciting up-and-coming French band out right now.

Pony Pony Run Run - Boy/Girl Surrender (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Listen to more here!)

Monday, November 10, 2008

The Crash - It's Contagious

"Dance with me tonight"

After watching The Crash's brilliant video for the even more brilliant song Still Alive on PPG's blog, I realized that I had been introduced to a potential new favorite band. As I listened to more material from the band, I discovered that, even though they've released four albums, there's really only a dozen or so tracks that I really liked. It's kinda disappointing, but not when a handful of those songs are 100% amazing. Their 2003 album Melodrama, in particular, contains the flawless trio of Still Alive, It's Contagious and Flash. All three contain those amazing Van-Halen-Jump-synths that I love so much. If all their songs sounded like these three they probably would be a favorite of mine. As it stands, though, they're definitely in my top three Finnish groups and Still Alive is the best song out of Finland ever.

The Crash - It's Contagious (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here!)