MANJA – Last Night’s Kiss
Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
MANJA know that there’s no quicker way to an audience’s heart and into their collective memory than through pop hooks.
We tend to overestimate our attention span and memory. Of course, we would. After all, we tend to think in hyperbole about a variety of aspects related to our lives. Asked by a man on the street whether you prefer to listen to compositions that stretch for more than 30 minutes or to a 3-minute single, you’re likely to answer that it doesn’t make much of a difference to you.
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However, unless you are a dedicated fan of progressive rock and jazz, or a student at a public conservatory, you are lying. Even the most technically proficient musicians of old are remembered primarily for their singles if they produced memorable ones. And now, staring at their retirement, these musicians must be glad that they wrote and recorded them in the first place.
MANJA’s “Last Night’s Kiss” is a guitar-driven pop single that’s big on hooks and sentimentality. It’s not unlike the Men at Work or Flock of Seagulls singles. By that, I am trying to say that the song is light and breezy but also easy to remember and to hum along to. Is this important? Well, after all of the drum solos have ended, what will an audience overstimulated by content remember?
Towne & Stevens – Spell of Aging
Similar artists: Blind Melon, Temple Of The Dog, Jane’s Addiction, Goose, Trey Anastasio
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Towne & Stevens are looking to dispel the myth that rockers need to keep away from their anxieties and insecurities in order to keep their audience happy.
The music industry is still able to routinely perform acts of magic. For example, it manages to create billion-dollar grossing tours whenever old rockstars, previously engaged in personal disputes, get together to play their old rockstar music. As long as they stick to the hits and wear the clothes of their youth, things tend to run smoothly.
Both the industry and the rockstars know that approaching mature themes or admitting to one’s weaknesses is similar to a hooker listing out previous STDs before a client.
Still, there’s no greater wisdom than acquired by someone that has battled through life and come out with some bruises and stories. Sadly, most of the time, we are robbed of receiving these tales from our favourite rock stars.
Towne & Stevens have known what rock star success is like; they’ve hung around and even have a sense of humour about everything that’s happened to them, as can be heard on the folk-rock number “Spell of Aging.” Perhaps the most tender admission here is that without the pressure of time, the duo would be wasting their days away idly. That’s not something you’re likely to hear from a teenager, but it is something that belongs on a pop record.
The post Peeling Back the Years: Towne & Stevens and MANJA Reviewed appeared first on Alt77.
