The band looks straight from the high school garage (I especially like the bassist), but vocalist Brittany Howard’s voice is like a siren.
The video is from the band’s performance on Letterman. If you make it to the end, answer me this: is Letterman’s reaction genuine, or just a good acting job?
I’ll be honest: I don’t know much about The Barr Brothers (except what Wikipedia tells me … so it must be true), but any band that includes a harpist is worth a listen, right?
I was struck from the first note of the sample. It has that calm, cool, singer/songwriter, close-your-eyes-and-relax-because-everything-will-be-alright vibe. Plus any band that uses hand claps and knee slaps is OK in my book. But maybe that’s just me.
I can’t say I’m excited to see John Carter (I’m not), but I am interested in the fact that the Edgar Rice Burroughs character has been around for 100 years and, therefore, is out of copyright.
Ergo, you can read A Princess of Mars and other John Carter books for free on Project Gutenberg (or iBooks or, I assume, Kindle). And you probably should, because if you think about it, the film is brought to you by the same studio that brought you the stinky The Prince of Persia … (For those who care, that’s based on a Tweet I wrote a week ago. For those who don’t, why are you reading parenthetical insertions?)
Other notes: according to reports, the plot of the film
Former Confederate captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is mysteriously transported to Mars (“Barsoom”) where he becomes part of a conflict between the various nations of the planet, whose leaders include Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). Carter takes it upon himself to save Barsoom and its people.
Isn’t this the plot of Planet Hulk? Hmmm … must investigate.
Also, we can also begin to see how Disney is shaping Marvel. The comic book line released a 5-issue short run of John Carter: A Princess of Mars (the main storyline from the film) last year. Like tentacles slowly wrapping around a prey, Disney will eventually crush Marvel to its likeness.
OK, sure this song is two years old, but considering this band releases albums about every four years, I’m right there at the halfway mark … that’s not too bad, is it?
That’s the thing about music. There’s always more you don’t know about music than you do. It’s like thinking you know all about the ocean just because you’ve been to a beach or four. There’s always more ocean. There’s always more music
Selah.
Anyway, check out “We’re Gonna Make It,” from northern California’s Orange Peels. It’s a little rock, a little indie, a little pop … but it’s all good. I found this song while trolling through Amazon. It was on a Minty Fresh sampler, but the song is also free from the band’s 2020 album.
Download it and maybe, just maybe, you can dip your toe into some salty new music water.
Sometimes I look back at my life and just shake my head. For example, I know I was really into music in 1990, but for the life of me I can’t recall how I missed Archers of Loaf.
Last weekend, Amazon had their first CD, Icky Mettle, for $3.99 and, on a lark mixed with a tinge of homesickness for Chapel Hill, I got it. It was raw energy and that distinguishable — though a bit timeless — 90s sound. Know what I mean? The AV Club does.
