HALLELUJAH THE HILLS, “People Keep Dying (And No One Can Stop It)”

HALLELUJAH THE HILLS, “People Keep Dying (And No One Can Stop It)”

From the rolling guitars carrying us through suburban houses and hospices to Ryan H. Walsh’s growling vocals that eventually erupt into throat-shredding yells, every part of this song feels ready to burst. It makes sense, because Hallelujah The Hills’ “People Keep Dying (And No One Can Stop It)” is grappling with a sad existential fact: with life, comes death. Everywhere they turn, from “the pages of a book nobody read” to “the corners of a song nobody needs,” the chanted chorus returns with the only honest answer: people keep dying and no one can stop it. Still, the Boston band exports us to another dimension in this track and releases that bubbling tension with never-ending guitar licks and expertly layered theremin throughout.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #110 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Good Trauma “21 Days”

Good Trauma “21 Days”

Eli Raymer is the artist behind Good Trauma – I don’t think Eli Raymer understands how happy his music makes me. I really like pop music and people who understand hooks and melody and classic song writing. Eli plays drums for just about every badass band in the Asheville underground music scene – and when he writes songs he writes these catchy heartfelt pop songs. It is wonderful music. Even if the subject matter is a little darker – the passage of 21 days he spent isolated, in hospital, waiting to heal and get his life back. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #107 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Bad Molly “Lucy Furs”

Bad Molly “Lucy Furs”

The direct reference to “Lucy Furs” and the dank atmosphere of this country ballad, the country of abandoned crossroads at midnight, embraces the darker side of music. This is a song that Kieth and Mick would have been happy to drag up from the basement of Mansion Nellcote. Rich reverb drenched guitars and Peter Elwell crooning about the lady of the song watching life roll on by from a fuzzy distance. The classic almost doo-wop female backing is perfect. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #107 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Secret Shame- Dissolve

Secret Shame- Dissolve

Local Asheville band Secret Shame, released an album in 2019 that not only brought them into the NYT spotlight with rave reviews, but brought on a wave of new followers and a deeper awareness to the bands roots and honest sharing of the behind the scenes life of its members. Lyrically and musically, a beautiful tribute to the human landscape; exploring both the light and the dark. Their new album Pure, released this past June once again showcases the bands dynamic range of sound, think mid 80’s Cure and post punk, but by no means to be pigeonholed into one sound. Their track Dissolve, had me swept up in a joyful fury the moment the sound cane in. Where New Order left off in the hearts of many, including my own- Secret Shame picks it right back up. The band sums up their sound to “dark post punk”, giving way to a sound very much echoes the lyrical and musical sounds of mid 80’s Cure. This band is good, I mean really good. Honest about their direction and meaning behind their sound. Where they are headed, we are surely to follow.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #107 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

THE GHOST WOLVES, “End of It All”

THE GHOST WOLVES, “End of It All”

“End of It All” sounds like it’s from a different world, filled with foreboding images and poppy doom. Taking cues from cabaret rock, The Ghost Wolves have made a carnivalesque tune, full of lyrical nods to plagues and witches that beckon you in with an off-kilter rhythm. The haunting vocals and tight harmonies layered over echoing drums lend an eerie atmosphere to the song, but the heart of this sideshow spectacle is the pumping organ that plays throughout. Piercing vocalizations that make up the second half of the song are another highlight, and a good metaphor for the song as a whole; tumbling over one another in a dizzying and intoxicating mix, they draw you deeper into this macabe funhouse mirror of a song before disappearing like a ghost.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #107 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

SHEHEHE, “Sorry You Love Me”

SHEHEHE, “Sorry You Love Me”

Shehehe’s “Sorry You Love Me” starts with a bang, as barely-bound harmonies hover above barreling drums and glam rock guitar. The first line sets the terse tone for this sweaty headbanger, shouting “I don’t know if I love me, but I love you!” before eventually diving into a “Kids In America”-tinged chorus. Shehehe’s sunbaked orchestration works really well for this three minute thrasher, with “whoa”s cascading over the heavy rhythm to supply plenty of grit to the Athens band’s bright sound.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #107 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Hex Girls – “Cats With No Teeth”

Hex Girls – “Cats With No Teeth”

Hailing from Cedar Falls, Iowa comes the 5 piece band, that is Hex Girls; not to be confused with the “fictional female eco-goth rock band” who made their first appearance on an episode of Scooby Doo.

Reviews of the bands sound have likened them to Iggy Pop meets The Talking Heads and I can get behind that. Pulling from an array of genres ranging from “protopunk, Psychobilly   and glam, to new wave and Motown”, their debut album released in December 2018, shows the range of vocal and instrumental talents they posses. Lead singer …is it Fischer? Having a hard time finding this Cat With No Teeth

sounds like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground that one went willingly down the rabbit hole to on long nights with visions of all things under the sun. 

The potent glam rock sounds the band possesses with their solid bass and guitar mixed with the vocals and transport themselves to a night at CBGB’s, listening to the Stones or the Stooges, mixed in with a night of raucous play, beat style poetry and a yearning that keeps the solid reviews coming and a second album on the very much anticipated horizon.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #106 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

L’RESORTS, “We Don’t Make Love”

L’RESORTS, “We Don’t Make Love”

Kitsch and heartache combine in the poppy and surprising “We Don’t Make Love” from Milwaukee supergroup L’Resorts. Gentle slide guitar accents evoke the dreamy haze of a summer vacation, while a marimba spine and cozy harmonies soften the forlorn lyrics like a Vaseline lens. Still, when they sing “Look at me I’m dying/But we don’t make love”, the melody’s nontraditional resolve hits with the sting of an acid-tongued power ballad. L’Resorts meld these heavy emotions with 60s pop airiness to make an upbeat take on a downer of a relationship.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #106 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

13AGH3AD, “Spinner”

13AGH3AD, “Spinner”

13AGH3AD’s “Spinner” is a song that would shine under a blacklight. This might be easy to assume given the single’s kaleidoscopic cover art, but from its opening reverb the song is inviting you to invert your expectations and succumb to its hypnotic groove. Swirling guitar licks leave psychedelic fingerprints on the group’s grunge-y sound, and the rattle of surf rock drums practically begs for a dark and smoky room to get lost in. It’s a heady combination, fueled by chant-like vocals and a prog-rock bridge that dilates the beat to its breaking point before snapping back for a sharp exit.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #106 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.