Hooked on Pops

If you listen to the radio station, you know I'm more into heavier music. But, I must say I have gotten hooked on two songs that I didn't expect to hook me.

The first is Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out. It's poppy, but it reminds me of the 80's new wave stuff that I listen too as a young teenager. Stuff like Duran Duran, Falco, Flock of Seagulls, Franky Goes to Hollywood. It's not that it resembles those bands, but it just reminds me of the feel I got listening too them.

Another band I am suprised to like is Modest Mouse - Float On..... They remind me of Men at Work. I don't know why, but I really, really dig this song.

Of course, I would never play them on our station, but it's nice to listen to something different. It's even more interesting when the songs are so far outside your norm.

Anything you are listening too, that suprises you?

**COUGH... GAY... COUGH****

Kidding... just kidding, I listen to some wierd crap often. The last 2 days in the car to work I have been listening to that No Doubt greatest hits album... how wierd is that? The remake of Talk Talk's "It's my life" is pretty catchy...

Also this chick pop-punk band one of my friends little sisters was listening to called "Tsunami Bomb" they have this song called "Lemonade" that is good, very reminiscent of Green Day from the Kerplunk album sound.

Then, I probably listen to Less Than Jake on a daily basis and get in a good half hour of Bad Religion or old AFI every other night.

I am with you Atomm, I am kinda digging those two songs... Don't see me buying them... But they are coo to hear on the radio... I mainly just like the way Take me out starts out...

One band that I heard today that suprised me is called The Muse. They are an english trio that is supposed to be the "next big thing" and I didn't expect to like them. I heard their song called "Stockholm Syndrome" and was impressed. The singing and music sound very much like Radiohead but enough different to be interesting.

One other that I haven't listened too much recently, but was pleasently suprised about was Ryan Adams. I don't care much for that "New York" song that he had out a while back, but I explored further and found a bunch of the work he did with Whiskeytown. That is some kick-ass alt-country in the vein of Uncle Tupelo. The man has the heart (and liver) of an old time country singer. Lots of songs about exploring the bottom of a bottle, bad luck, and lost loves. They do a cover of Gram Parsons "Return of the Greivous Angel" with Emmy Lou Harris (who sang on the original recording as well) that just blew me away.

Emmy Lou Harris has a cool voice. I'm not a big fan, but if she's on the TV, I find myself stopping to listen for a few minutes before moving on.

I like AFI, but I really need to pull out some of my older LOA (Life of Agony) songs. I started getting into them the last time I had the station running.

I think Alt-Country gets a bad rap. Some of it is really good stuff. If you get time Sarge, google Red Dirt Rangers. They are a local band that gets a lot of regional attention.

Red Dirt Rangers are real good. So is Cross Canadian Ragweed. They are more outlaw country in the vein of Willy Nelson, Pat Greene and Jason Boland than Alt-country...

Ryan Adams is OK, but he is a dick live. I think Old97's blows away his entire catalog, but I am biased since I am probably the biggest Old97's fan alive.

Old97's are cool too - I heard that they are putting out a new album soon since the singers solo career went pretty much nowhere. I had heard Ryan Adams was pretty much a dick - his music is pretty cool though.

My favorite band of all time has to be Uncle Tupelo (The Jayhawks a close second), the kings of "No Depression" alt-country. I grew up listening to Country music - real Country music, not the pop crap that is out now. Until I was in like 6th grade the most rockin' album we had was a Marshall Tucker Band 8-track (Fire on the Moutain), but we had plenty of Waylon Jennings, Willie, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard. When I was a teen I ran as far from this as I could, but came back to it in college when I heard Uncle Tupelo's "No Depression" album and the Jayhawks "Hollywood Town Hall" - both of which still get a lot of play at my house now 10+ years later.

I'll check out the other bands you mentioned.

Googled the Red Dirt Rangers a minute ago. Turns out they were in a helicopter crash in June and were injured pretty badly. None of them have insurance and so they are in a bad way. 🙁

Holy Crap! I didn't realize that. Man, that sucks........

That's why they haven't played in Norman lately. They used to play on campus corner alot, I've seen em live several times...

Sarge... I was listening to Marshall Tucker Band on the way to work yesterday... awesome.

You should try to get some Pat Greene. He plays with Willy Nelson quite a bit around texas. I've seen em play in Austin before. I really wanted to make it but couldn't last weekend to the Austin City Limits music festival. Pat Greene, Willy Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Old97's, Cross Canadian Ragweed, quite a few others....

The Cross Canadian Ragweed stuff I found sounds pretty good. Wasn't as impressed with Red Dirt Rangers, but I only heard one song. This guy here has a whole bunch of (live) stuff on his website. Only been able to check out a couple of song so far though. will have to continue to peruse this stuff.

On another note (ha,ha) a band that I was suprised I liked was Ryan's Hope which was a band that GreatScott posted about in another thread. I dislike the name, but the music is good stuff.

HAH

Stoney LaRue is on that link you posted Sarge. He is actually pretty damn good, I didn't think he would be on the internet though. He is a Norman, Oklahoma local who plays alot of bars here. I actually "smoked" with him a lot when I first moved here before he got bigger. Download his "Shot full of Holes" song, it's pretty damn good.

outlaw country in the vein of Willy Nelson, Pat Greene and Jason Boland

Shame on you Breaky. How are you gonna credit Jason Boland as outlaw country, and leave out Hank Jr. and Waylon. I do like Jason Boland though. Saw him at the Tumbleweed's College Days Concert last year with Cross Canadian Ragweed and Hank Jr. I really liked most of his stuff. CCR was crap though. But my brother and I waited through them to see Hank Jr., and it was well worth the wait. Course, it was all pretty good until I got hit in the head with an empty pitcher of beer. F-ing Drunk College Pricks!!!

Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See = Excellent!!!

Probably the newest things I actually went out and purchased are "The Darkness - Permission to Land" and "Johnny Cash - America 4 (The Man comes Around)". I love "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", regardless of what other people might think. And you gotta give the guy some credit for rocking the falsetto. And America 4 may be some of Cash's best stuff. I have listened to lots of his stuff (i.e. Boy Named Sue, Folsom Prison Blues...) but his version of Trent Reznor's "Hurt" is incredible. I never was a NIN Fanboy, so that may be why it is so easy for me to give it credit, but even Trent Reznor was moved by Cash's Rendition. It was the whole reason I bought the album. There is a bunch of other good stuff on there to.

And Since this Tread really seems to have gone off track from it's Pop/Punk begining, I gotta throw in my two cents about Tenacious D. I saw them live at the Bricktown Event Center bout 2 years ago. It was the best show I have ever seen. It was just the two of them with acoustic gutairs in front of maybe 1000 people. I love their album, but it really doesn't do them justice. Between Jack's singing and Kyle's guitar, it really is something you should see at least once. Course, I have been a D-ciple since the begining and I was riding a contact high from the large amount of pot smoke in the air, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

BTW: Waylon Jennings is Dead, so it may not have been him at the Austin City Limits Festival.

I was thinking he was dead and that I fucked it up.... someone with a similar name then... can't remember now....

American 4 is a badass album.... One of the reasons I liked Dawn of the Dead so much, the movie we were talking about in another thread, is that the opening track is "When the Man Comes Around" off that album. It fits perfectly with how the story is opened. When that shit hits on DVD we need to get together and watch it somewhere, its a good violent bloody gory flick.

Oh hell yeah!!! I was gonna mention the Dawn of the Dead/Man comes around connection, but I figured I had typed to much already. I loved the original Dawn of the Dead. It is the Definative Zombie movie in my book, so I was psyched for the remake. When "The Man come Around" started during the opening, I knew right then that I was gonna love the movie, regardless of what came after.

Since you guys like the country stuff some check out The Handsome Family if you haven't already. Discovered them earlier this summer and it is some seriously dark country music. I think I posted a link to some of their mp3's in another thread somewhere here. If you can find it, listen to the lyrics to "Falling Rock Hill" and "Too Much Wine".