Though I'm not a huge fan of Foster the People, I still enjoy them every not and again, and love when I hear the song "Pumped Up Kicks" come on the radio. Now I can enjoy the band on a whole new level.
Released literally no more than 30 minutes ago, Ratham Stone's cover of "Pumped Up Kicks" puts a whole new spin on an already classic song. With Adam Lipinski's dynamic lead vocals and core instrumentation by twin brother Andrew Lipinski as well as members Joe Hodgin, Daniel "DPak" Pacchioni, and Andrew Meffettone, Ratham Stone's cover leaves little if anything to be needed. The rhythmic team of Pacchioni (bass) and Meffettone (drums) creates a pule-laden backdrop for the dual vocals of the brothers Lipinski as Hodgin (lead guitar) leaps forward in short, melodic bursts. Great cover, great band, definitely more to come front here guys. Check it out!
Something about this cover is just amazing, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's the brilliant instrumentation, or the phenomenal voices of Alex Goot and Chad Sugg. Whatever it is though, this cover is fantastic and simple undeniable. Check these guys out, you won't be disappointed.
Just another sick collaboration from the same core groups of musicians that brought us a cover of Seether's song "Broken." Released just a few weeks ago, this collaboration just serves to further the future of where music is going. Sick instrumentation, great vocals, and n awesome new song dynamic. Check it out.
It seems like I've watched this video hundreds of times already and it still gives me chills. When I first found this video on Youtube (completely by accident mind you) I was shocked, intrigued, and most of all, excited for the new possibilities it creates. The video? A full-band cover of Nirvana's "Come as You Are." But that's not the cool thing. What's so brilliant in this rendition of Nirvana's classic song is that every one of these musicians is in a different area of the country (or the world!) and they put this collaboration together completely through Youtube and the internet. I'm reminded of the musical group Florence + the Machine, where the only real member of the group (as in Nine Inch Nails) is English singer Florence Welch. Using a rotating roster of musicians, Welch creates new sounds for every song and album, assuring her music to be some of the most experimental and unique in the modern music world.
Now I'm struck again by musicians taking this idea one step further. Gone are the days of the traditional studio where tracking is done and laid down as one band member plays and the others wait outside. With the tools of the internet and sites like Youtube and Facebook, we've entered a new arena of music collaboration that is sure to be of mind-blowing proportions. As I could say very poetically, I have seen the future of the music industry, and it's the internet.
The first of these collaborations that you have to check out is the cover of Nirvana's "Come as You Are." Featuring the musical talents of Niloy63 on lead vocals, jtodd900 on guitar, jakamake on drums, and with production and bass by tydogg2443 (yes, I only know these guys by their Youtube screen names, and I'm not phased at all by that), this cover of "Come as You Are" is one of the best I've ever heard. Ever.
The intro riff by jtodd900 and tydogg2443 is just as crisp and gripping as the original, albeit with a more prophetic twist to it, like Kurt Cobain's spirit is playing the chords itself. Novoselic's bass-vibe is completely ingrained in tydogg2443's bass rumbles, and as jakamake chimes in on the cymbals, it's eery to be listening to this as a cover; it almost sounds like the original.
But what pushes it over the top for me is Niloy63's vocals: gruff, serrated, and perfectly tuned for the song, Niloy63 could very well be the next great post-grunge vocalist to come out of the underground. His voice gives me chills as I can hear Cobain's wails in the chorus just before jtodd900 talks control and swoons into a blurry and surreal guitar solo. If ever there was a cover to put on a Nirvana tribute album, this is it. In the year of the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, there is nothing so surreal and epic as finding a cover that embodies completely Nirvana's soul and power.
But the cover of "Come as You Are" isn't the only cover by this group of musicians that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. A couple of them also participated in a cover of Seether's song "Broken," which featured Amy Lee of Evanescence on guest vocals. For this cover, the lineup is TheTellTaleHeart25 on lead and acoustic guitar, Niloy63 on lead vocals, jtodd900 on rhythm guitar, chusma0 on lead female vocals, tydogg2443 on bass, and jakamake on drums. Again this cover blows me away. The collaboration between each of the musicians is so tight and easy that the flow of the cover makes it seem like their original composition.
The acoustic plucks by TheTellTaleHeart25 showcase a soft touch that builds to a blasting crescendo by the guitar solo later on, and with crashing rhythm support by jtodd900, the guitar section of this song is commendable at worst. At best, it's a tightly-knit flurry of notes and chords that takes me away in a storm of sonic progression. The rhythm section, made up once again of tydogg2443 and and jakamake is pulled-together to create a rushing and blasting feel at all the right parts of the song. Supporting the vocals of Niloy63 and chusma0, the guitar and rhythm sections of the collaboration are brilliant.
Just on top of the instrumentation are Niloy63's and chusma0's intertwining voices that create a fluttering tapestry of epic proportions. With Niloy63 adding to the song a gruff and edgy vibe, chusma0 lets loose with a crashing wail that exhibits this girl's incredible talent. If I were in need of a female vocalist for my band, this would be the first girl I'd go to.
Other covers like one of Audioslave's "Like a Stone" (featuring jtodd900 on guitar again, tydogg2443 on bass (and with production credits), Wannabesi on lead vocals, and jakamake on drums) and one of Alice in Chains' "Rooster" (also with tydogg2443 on bass and production, Pinner420420 on lead vocals, Craigman65 on lead guitar, and DCdrummer25 on drums) showcase just how far these new collaborations are going. What's most exciting, though, are the possibilities that I see jumping from these covers and collaborations. Now, artists can collaborate with each other, with anyone, no matter what the distance or obstacles. Soon the reality will be that artists are collaborating in musical and production projects all over the world, the the guitar player in Boston, the bassist in Johannesburg, the drummer in London, the singer in Toronto, and the producer in Los Angeles. The exciting new possibilities just over the horizon are mind-boggling: soon we'll see a new explosion of music the likes of which could never have imagined.
A new era has arrived. The music market we once knew will be history, replaced by a global music market-exchange system where any and every type of musical expression will now be given full coverage. Artists will now find each other and begin the create volumes of music with each other leading to forms of artistic expression not seen on such a level since the Renaissance. This is a new Renaissance in musical and artistic creation, and I can't wait to see what comes from it. This is going to be brilliant.
Hey guys, check out this newest cover by that Canadian siren, Cloé Beaudoin. I'm as psyched as anybody for the new Evanescence album. As a huge fan of the first two albums, Fallen and The Open Door, I was stoked to hear the newest single front Evanescence's upcoming eponymous album, "What You Want." Now Beaudoin has again transformed a song and laced it with new levels of acoustic brilliance! Check out her cover of the new Evanescence song "What You Want" now!!
It's been a little while since we heard from Cloé Beaudoin, but this Canadian siren is still going full-force. Now she's back with new covers of songs from the most recent albums by Simple Plan and Red.
For Simple Plan, Beaudoin's decided to cover their song "Astronaut" from their most recent album Get Your Heart On!. Beaudoin's breathy vocals rise to their greatest peaks as she belts out the choruses and I love the way she's done this acoustically. Everything works, and, as usual, Cloé Beaudoin has come back with a cover I love. Check it out.
Yet today, Cloé Beaudoin unveiled another cover for us. This time, it's Red's song "Lie to Me (Denial)," from their most recent album Until We Have Faces. Here, Beaudoin showcases her vocal strengths as well as her proficiency on guitar by taking a new song and making this one of her instantly classic covers. If there's one thing she does right, Beaudoin knows how to rework the song so it translates to everyone. Listen now!
As it's been a few days since I've updated (sorry guys, but life happens lol), I thought I'd get an early start on the weekend with a group that seems to have both extreme exposure and no exposure at the same time. Ironic, huh? Well I guess that's what comes from posting music on a number of different sites that all have different exposure numbers.
Anyway, enough of this. Enter Five Hour Flight, a pop-punk quartet from down south in Tallassee, Alabama. Now although I just moved from Atlanta to Boston for school, and spent a long while getting to know the rock scene in ATL, I must admit I really didn't believe that there was all that much running around the South rock-wise beside southern-rock and post-grunge. And yet here I find a group that marches to the beat of a different drum, so to speak. Composed of Patrick Mullins (bass and lead vocals), Jordan Cunningham (lead guitar and vocals), Dylan Baker (rhythm guitar and vocals), and Clay Amason (drums), FHF has a unique sense of what they think pop-punk could and should be: namely a sensible blend of catchy lyrics and melodies married to crunk beats and rhythms. One of the things I love best about Five Hour Flight is their completely shameless acceptance of their pop influences. There are so many artists nowadays who try to move away from the pop label (though it clearly applies to their music) because it's apparently become "uncool" to have a song that is pleasant to listen to. I must admit, I too was for a long time adverse to pop because it equated in my mind the over-played single that is run to death and everywhere. Despite ruining the song (a truly tragic end-result, I'm sad to say) this over-playing just takes away from the credit and clout of the music, while at the same time producing legions of would-be fans who are sick of hearing the song everywhere they go (and they're right). It seems that pop has now become a stigma, and now if you happen to create music that is radio-friendly somehow you're a major corporate sellout.
Yet Five Hour Flight slide right by this little hiccup that seems to snag a number of artists who are almost afraid of the label. Case in point, though, are the couple of tracks that FHF have, as of yet, uploaded to their Youtube channel. Playfully strutting forward with tracks such as "Until November" and "No One's More Useless Than Aquaman," these boys from down south know what they're doing and prove it at every turn. "Until November" is a strong start for FHF: the catchy pop-punk intro tumbles right into the piano of the first verse, something I am not at all expecting, and I love it. But then Cunningham and Baker step forward with palm-mutes that build on the rhythmic taps and kicks of Amason on the drums. And as Cunningham's and Baker's guitars start getting louder, Mullins' strong smooth vocals shoot from the speakers, and it's clear that this guy knows what he's doing. His bass lines are solid, and lock nicely with the guitar riffs (which enter an odd though altogether pleasing progression after the second chorus) just before the piano comes in again so send off Five Hour Flight with a fantastic finish to the song.
If nothing else, no one can say that "No One's More Useless Than Aquaman" doesn't have a great title. To any comic fans out there (Marvel or DC, it doesn't really matter) you all get this joke, and FHF score points here with me for just genuine creativity and good-natured comedy. Yet the upbeat title of the song is augmented by a catchy and polished rhythm that I can't get out of my head. Mullins' voice here has a certain dynamic with the guitar riffs and bass lines that I can't quite put my finger on; all I know is that I like it. Amason's drums are scaled back here, and for those not paying attention, they can easily be taken for granted. But I'm paying attention, and I can hear that his playing is tight and coordinated, a strong backbone for the stop/start riffs laced over one another by Baker and Cunningham. Clearly a radio-friendly song that still has great summer-drive-with-the-top-down appeal, "No One's More Useless Than Aquaman" can only help these guys get to where they wanna be. Whereas some songs become a liability later on, I can't ever see this being the case here, and if I ever see these guys live (and I hope I will), this is one I'll definitely wanna hear.
At the end of the day though, I have to be quite honest: was it their originals that drew me to them in the first place: no. Their originals are fantastic, but those came later. No, I found the Five Hour guys completely by accident on Youtube as I was searching for cool covers of classic songs, and boy did I get a shock. When I heard Five Hour Flight's cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," I had chills and was absolutely floored. Many have attempted to make a decent cover of this song, and many have certainly failed. I've even heard it argued that this song is so classic, so amazing, that covers simply don't do it justice. While that may be true on a number of levels, if covered correctly, there could be whole new dimensions to it, so I kept hoping I would find one. The cover on Glee was brilliant (I'll be honest I've watched a few episodes--it's just a good show), but it was professionally done and very produced. The cover lacked a certain kick, a certain messiness that would make different than anything I'd ever heard before. Yet that's exactly what Five Hour Flight do on their pop-punk cover of one of the most classic songs of all time: shake it up a bit. Beginning with a gorgeous note progression by Cunningham, I already have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to be something different. Then Amason starts to build in on the drums and Baker starts filling in with riffs that add the punk to the pop in this cover. Mullins' voice is perfect pitch and oh so sweet on top of the building instrumentation behind him. His bass lines add to the impending power of the song, but what comes next is what does it for me. That first high note comes, and Mullins hits it like he's been singing this his whole life. The result is otherworldly and wholly irresistible. At near 100,000 views on Youtube, I'd say that I'm not the only one who thinks so either. Five Hour Flight's cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" will soon be a classic in the punk underground, and I won't leave any FHF show without hearing this in an encore. The precision with which the Flight crew execute this masterful number is epic, and if any hope for the future of pop-punk exists, these guys are certainly a big part of it.
Bottom line? These guys have uploaded just a few songs up until now, but they each have something to cheer for. Kicking and packing punches that will have you jumping for hard-rock joy, FHF's songs blast out in crescendos of addictive passion and dripping in pop-polish. For those who yearn for more, Five Hour Flight are here, everyone take notes.
Sounds Like: All Time Low, Hit the Lights, Cartel, Fenix*TX
Key Tracks: "Don't Stop Believin'," "No One's More Useless Than Aquaman," "Until November"
Hey all, sorry it's been a long while, but life happens. In any event, I'm back today with a great post on Cube41. I hadn't really heard from these Italian alternative rockers for about a year now (I know! a long time, but here they are again), but it seems that their time has been spent well: they're working on a new album, and have just released the first single and video on Youtube. Now, from the start, I'm way curious to see what these guys have got: their last music video for their song "Nasty Mind" (from the second release of their previous album, PLAY) was sick, and the song itself has crossover potential written all over it. You may remember that it's got a crunching guitar riff and bass line, as well as wicked strobes and vocals that blast forward in brash fury and alternative attitude. The drums, too, are exceptional, providing a rhythm that is altogether addictive. Listen here for a refresher:
But now the Cube guys have returned with something completely different, and I must admit that in the beginning, even I am confused. The first release from the as-of-yet untitled new album, a cover of Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us," seems an odd choice for an Italian alternative-rock band whose last video threw back to artists like Shiny Toy Guns and Nine Inch Nails. The video, too, is weird in the truest sense of the word. Simply a flash mob with the desired choreography and totally minimalist, Cube41 themselves don't even make an appearance in front of the camera, and even the song seems drawn back a little. Though the video is just a girl in a studio demonstrating the choreography to Cube41's new rendition of a Michael Jackson classic, the video is at first a disappointment as it's so far from what I saw in the "Nasty Mind" video. But then it dawns on me: these guys have evolved; grown in artistic musicality and performance direction; they don't need a front shot in a video to establish their dominance over the track. I listen once, twice, three times, four, and then it becomes addictive; Cube41 have succeeded here precisely because they've done away with the superfluous effects of their last video and focused solely on the music. The "video" then is just a transport by which Cube41 can debut their new song to the public. In it, I at first think it's Michael Jackson himself singing, expecting some dramatic change to happen any moment now. But then I realize that this is them, this is Cube41; they have succeeded in their cover so brilliantly that I couldn't even tell it was a cover. They own this song and with the intrepid vocals laying staunchly over reverb guitar, and a bass/drum combo that makes the song.
The video of the flash mob in the main square of Cube41's hometown, Verona, Italy, is a powerful sight. In addition to having the power of an unexpected performance, when coupled with Cube41's cover of the Michael Jackson's classic track, the song takes on a guise it had never donned before. Is the cover minimalist? Yes. Is it odd and unexpected? Yes. Does it work? Yes! Yes! Yes! Cube41 have triumphed in their stripped-down cover of a Jackson classic, and prove that they can hold their own against the King of Pop while at the same time nodding to his legacy. Do they really care about us? I don't know, but after this cover, they should.
One of my tightly-held beliefs with regard to the world music community in general is that it's truly heartbreaking how much talent is out there. There is so much talent, in fact, that I'm finding hard to keep up with the new artists I want to premier here and the vets that just keep pumping out treasure after treasure of artistic triumph. Case in point (again!), Cloé Beaudoin, that Canadian-French siren from the snow-drift clutches of eastern Canada. Beaudoin's covers of "World So Cold," "21 Guns," and "Screaming Bloody Murder," as well as her original pieces "Rest in Peace (RIP)" and "Deliverance," are all five-star tracks if I ever heard any. They grab you and shake you, and don't let go even a little until you're wiped out and waiting for more.
Yet one thing I love about Beaudoin as an artist is that she relishes a challenge and revels in her versatility. Whereas her covers before of Three Days Grace, Sum 41, Green Day and Evanescence all broadcast Beaudoin's hard-rock side, and her original "Rest in Peace (RIP)" in particular shows her deep edge, Beaudoin can just as easily decide to let down her guard a little and surprise me yet again.
I suppose it really should no longer be a surprise when she unveils a new cover that is as far removed from post-grunge and hard-rock as any, but still carries the same punch that the others do. Premiering just a couple of hours ago, Beaudoin's new cover, an updated take on Bobby Darin's classic song "Beyond the Sea," exhibits once again how this siren from the north with the fiery voice can blow us all away.
To be truthful, I'm not as familiar with this song as I was with "21 Guns," but still I used to hear it playing in the house from time to time. A melody from a bygone time, "Beyond the Sea" is almost Big Band-ish, a throwback to Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, and other singers who perfected the love ballad. Here, Beaudoin trounces the opposition yet again, and delivers a unique and breathy performance that would have even the most die-hard of Darin fans intrigued. Though not her usual choice in style, Beaudoin nevertheless shines on this song. Definitely a triumph for Beaudoin in its unique placement as a Big Band song covered by an alternative/acoustic musician, "Beyond the Sea" takes on new life in an era when such songs are not heard so often anymore. My favorite song for the day, Cloé Beaudoin does it again. I can't say that I'm even the least bit surprised.
It's been a little quiet on the Vancouver front for NewRockNews43 lately, but Mass Undergoe have decided to change all that with a little cover of a classic song. Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" was classic and amazing the first time I heard it: Stevie Nicks' voice was strong and determined, and Mick Fleetwood's guitar was driving and solid.
But that's the original version of the song at this point. Now this classic track gets an alternative update as Mass Undergoe make sure that the guitar chords, still driving and forceful, are filled with post-grunge sneer, and the vocals, still melodic and catchy, are painted over with a pop-punk slick that makes them irresistible. I still listen to Mass Undergoe periodically for some of their tracks like "I Saw You on a Rainy Day" and "This Abundance of Truth" which still rock harder than ever. But while those tracks start of with a post-grunge lick of the bass under David Isbister's alternative-style vocals, "Go Your Own Way" is presented on the backs of catchy guitar chords mixed with smooth pop-punk vocals. While MU didn't write it, every time an artist covers a song, especially one as classic as Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" they leave their stamp seared into the flesh of such a brilliant piece. Alan Calimba's palm-mutes lend a certain perplexity to the opening seconds of the song, and the minute that Brandon Lazeby kicks in on the drums and enters with Marino Mestrovic on bass, this version of "Go Your Own Way" is immediately different from the original. And to top it all off, Isbister's voice is just choice when the chorus rolls around: strong, smooth, and full of energy and attitude.
If their own particular musical quirks weren't enough to set their version of the song apart from all others, Mass Undergoe sweeten the pot by throwing in a few more surprises. The dynamic group-vocals during the choruses just make this song irresistible, and are immediately some of my favorite things about this song. But something else seems out of place at first, though it soon makes its way into the line of my favorite new things about this version of the song. Following the second chorus showcasing the vocals of the entire band, Mass Undergoe change it up, dropping the classic rock skeleton of the song and opting for a ska-punk rhythm and vocal set. Lasting less than a minute, this brilliant change-up is one of the greatest new things about this cover; it's catchy and clever, and blasts right back into a post-grunge rhythm that feeds directly into the classic rock sear of the last minute.
And then before I know it, it's over. The only way to describe this song is brilliant. I wish very much that I could find a studio version of it to post here, but the only video on Youtube is a live performance with Mass Undergoe tearing this song up. Don't despair though, the live version is pretty good for the non-professional quality, and the blasting chorus is still clear and powerful. The studio version, meanwhile, is on Mass Undergoe's Myspace page (here http://www.myspace.com/massundergoe), so if I was you, I'd high-tail it over there and check it out. Mass Undergoe have covered "Go Your Own Way" like it's never been covered before, and in their version, the song grows in ways it's never seen. If I was Mick Fleetwood, I'd wanna shake hands with these Mass U guys, because they just made one of the most classic songs in American history all that more amazing.
Up until now, the couple articles I've written here on Cloé Beaudoin have been on her original work: her acoustic ballads "Deliverance" and "Dying Awake," and of course her acoustic and full-band versions of her epic song, "Rest in Peace (RIP)." Yet this Canadian siren has more talent than I ever could have imagined as I review her back-catalog of videos on Youtube and take a look at some of her new uploads. It seems that many artists start out doing covers and the real test for them comes when they move from covering songs to writing their own original material. Yet sometimes, it is more intriguing to watch the motion in reverse, as once an artist has developed their own style through original work, it becomes interesting to see how they interpret another artist's music.
In the back-catalog, among covers of Linkin Park and Paramore, I find a year-old cover of Green Day's "21 Guns." When I first heard this song in May of 2009, I knew it was going to be huge: an epic ballad than sets the tone for the whole 21st Century Breakdown album. It's that one song that seems transcendent: full of life and rebirth all at the same time. Yet it grows in a whole new way when I listen to Beaudoin's cover of it. It has that same transcendent quality as the original, but there is something intense in a different way, almost as if the romance is coming from the other direction; whereas it was Billi Joe calling in the original, here Beaudoin is the one returning, and so lends to the song another level that it didn't have before.
But that was a year ago, and to write about something a year old isn't exactly cutting edge. Yet Beaudoin has in the past week uploaded to new acoustic covers that just amaze me. A couple weeks ago I came across a new post on her Facebook fanpage alerting of a new cover, and so on a curious note I checked it out. A cover of Three Days Grace's new song "World So Cold" off their most recent album, Life Starts Now, the cover seemed odd at first: Beaudoin slows down the tempo and draws out the lyrics in breathy slight-pauses. But the minute she gets to the chorus, the speed immediately quickens, and she shoots it up, belting out the Amy Lee-style vocals that drew me to her originally. Just closing my eyes and listening, I know that this cover is special: there's just something about her breathy vocals married to the hardcore minor chords she plays on her guitar. I am at once addicted to the chorus and play it again and again.
Yet even her Three Days Grace cover isn't the newest thing Beaudoin's done, though she only uploaded it no more than two weeks ago. This past Wednesday, Beaudoin uploaded yet another cover for my entertainment pleasure. This time it was a cover of fellow Canadians Sum 41's new single "Screaming Bloody Murder" from their upcoming release. Switching tracks from the post-grunge to the pop-punk, Beaudoin demonstrates again just how versatile she is and can be. Garnering just under a thousand views in just over four days, the cover showcases again Beaudoin's self-aware romantic vocals glued to an addictive melody and rhythm. The amazing pipes I have come to know Beaudoin for are prevalent and fit dynamically with the melodies she belts from her throat. I know this is a Sum 41 song and I am a huge Sum fan myself, but I must say in all honesty that if this was a Beaudoin original, I wouldn't be disappointed in any way. As with her cover of "World So Cold," Beaudoin slows down the tempo and then shoots forward during the choruses, lending to an already addictive track a certain sense of unique ambiguity that makes this song all the more impossible to turn off or turn down.
Crystal clear from her covers as well as her originals, Cloé Beaudoin has that unique ability to transform and adapt herself to fit into any genre or style she wishes. It goes without saying that this song will be on repeat for the foreseeable future on my computer. Beaudoin continues her string of triumphs with this cover: most successful, most addictive.
As it's been a few weeks since I've updated (sorry guys, but college is hard lol), I thought I'd start off the new year with an artist that captured my attention so completely when I first heard his music that I have literally been listening to it for months now. I must admit though, rarely is a cover of a song done that propels not only the original artist back into the spotlight, but also has the potential to open the door for an entirely new talent. While it has happened before, as in the cases of Van Halen's cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" and Marilyn Manson's cover of the Eurhythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," it's more of a rare treat than a common occurrence. Yet every once in a while an artist comes along with a cover that is so unique and different from the original, while still maintaining the magic that the original possessed, that it's impossible not to take notice. And that's where I find myself today: listening to a cover of a song that was great to begin with, but now seems otherworldly.
An acoustic-pop/electro-pop answer to the guitar-driven pop-punk groups occupying so many of the top spots on Purevolume, Hello, Astronaut is a sound full of possibilities in the vein of Owl City and Never Shout Never. The brainchild of 18-year-old multi-instrumentalist Jordan Palmer, Hello, Astronaut finds home and comfort in the pop-happy melody that comes from Palmer's keyboards and the chorals chimes of his voice. Surely Palmer's hamebase of Fresno, California must be going nuts with his songs pervading the atmosphere. One thing I'm sure of is that whatever fans he has in his hometown, they are going to be his biggest supporters, coming out to every show and doing what they can to show their support. And who could blame them? With melodies like these and a voice like the one he has, Palmer is sure to be on the same fast-track to notoriety and success as were Owl City and Never Shout Never before him.
Hello, Astronaut's sophomore EP, The Only One EP, is a collection of feel-good pop and relatable lyrics with enough rhythm to give a little extra kick to the tracks. I particularly love the intro to the song "Say Goodbye." A ukulele chord set owing to influences from Never Shout Never and Train, "Say Goodbye" immediately gears up and takes off as the ukulele strings fade out and the piano and drums come in. Palmer's voice is complemented perfectly by his double-tracked vocals in the background, giving an overall feel of choral tenacity to a track that shines because of it. With a melody and rhythm that is contagious to say the least, "Say Goodbye" is most certainly one of Hello, Astronaut's premier tracks. Sometimes it takes artists a number of albums and EP's to really find their sound. Yet there are other times when some artists can hit it out of the park on one swing, and Hello, Astronaut has certainly found a way. Whether this was a song Palmer worked on for a year or one that came to him in the middle of the night I have no idea, but one thing I do know is that whatever he's doing, it's working. Definitely one of the tracks that will be on my "most-played" list all week.
As "Say Goodbye" fades out, "The Only One" starts up, and from the start the rhythm and tone in this one is different. Here, Palmer has opted for an acoustic guitar over a ukulele for the intro, lending a more rock feel to the song. At just under 3:00, "The Only One" is most certainly the rock song on Hello, Astronaut's EP, showcasing power chords and palm-mutes sandwiched between catchy choruses and melodic verses. Palmer, however, has maintained his vocal power, dynamic in his tuneful presentation of his choruses with such an infectious air that I can't help but sing along. As Palmer winds down a bit towards the interlude, his keyboards continue to rock me back and forth in a wirldwind of melody and grace. "The Only One" has certainly earned its place as the title-track of the EP.
And yet, the song that drew me to Hello, Astronaut in the first place is neither on the the Only One or Paper! Snow! A Ghost! EP's, nor is written by Palmer. It's Palmer's cover of Vanessa Carlton's 2002 smash-hit "A Thousand Miles" that really floors me. The piano intro is just as soothing and melodic as in the original, but as the keys drain out, Palmer bursts in with a techno beat and electronic chimes that send this song to another world. His voice is nothing but pure pop brilliance, and his rearrangement of the song keeps the brilliantly written backbone and tune while at the same time exploring new territory in the pop-punk and electronic-rock arenas. The mix of Owl City-like beats and chimes coupled with Carlton's original lyrics and string arrangements makes this a slamdunk for Palmer. Hello, Astronaut's version of "A Thousand Miles" up for free download on the Hello, Astronaut Purevolume page will undoubtedly take the music community by storm. This remake is a viral hit if I ever heard one, and with this cover in pocket, Hello, Astronaut has struck musical and commercial gold. Certainly one of my favorite songs this month and for the next few, Hello, Astronaut's cover of "A Thousand Miles" speaks volumes to what Jordan Palmer is capable of.
With two EP's and a number of singles under his belt, Palmer should have no trouble at all accomplishing the feat of getting onto next year's Warped Tour, at the very least. Beyond that, I see him doing nothing short of following the path of Owl City and Never Shout Never, going national, and eventually international. Hello, Astronaut most definitely has what it takes to be the next pop viral sensation. Absolutely someone I'd bet on.
Sounds Like: Owl City, Never Shout Never, Tain, Forever the Sickest Kids
Key Tracks from The Only One EP and Covers (respectively): "Say Goodbye," "The Only One," "A Thousand Miles"
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