Songs of the Week XV

Songs of the Week is back! Hopefully everyone was able to reacclimate well to school without their favorite source of music. But despair no longer! You can again rely on your weekly dose of Songs of the Week. As usual, we can always use your submissions: in the comments or to me on Facebook. The playlist is here and the archive playlist is here.

Sean Cox:

Somos - Alright, I'll Wait

Easily one of the most unappreciated bands I know of next to bands I've seen posted in the past (notably Titus Andronicus) This band hails from Massachusetts and has seen a few uneventful tours they weren't the headline of. Catchy and light, this track will get stuck in your head and you will be humming it as you're walking around. The soft post-rock band has a certain style that is difficult to place. They tour with similar post rock and emo bands, but don't line up with their tour mates the young pop punk bands Modern Baseball and Knuckle Puck.

I was lucky enough to see them on tour and they put on a good show. Not too memorable but after looking over their music I came to really like the album "Temple of Plenty" However, I chose this track off the bands upcoming album "First Day Back" because it shows the places they're going. Many bands associated burn out after their first album for me. Modern Baseball failed to really captivate me after "Sports" and further Rock/ Pop Punk bands like the Front Bottoms and The Wonder Years really only have one album that has kept me a fan. However, this track, "Allright, I'll Wait" is well paced, fun, and easy to get into. A lot of the heavy stuff that can be associated with the genre like Foxing's newest release can really drag down a lot of listeners. I found this track to be another impressive notch under the bands belt, and a sign of what is to come.

La Dispute - St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Blues

Now going in, I know this track, and this band, will not be for everyone. Even Rock and Hardcore fans hold certain grudges with La Dispute. The Hardcore Post Rock band from Michigan is hard hitting and is definitely not for most audiences. If the stereotypes with hardcore can be put aside, and this track can be dissected from a poetic standpoint, this is one of the most powerful pieces of poetry found in music.

There is too much to be said about this track and those who know it will already know what I mean. All I can say is that if you can get over the hard hitting vocals, this piece is a thing of beauty. I'll dual link this to another quite poetic song by Listener called "Wooden Heart" that would be for any lovers of this track, since Listener is a little less well known.

Listener - Wooden Heart

Wooden Heart is personally one of my favorite poems from a lyrical standpoint. Once again, It isn't about how the song is being presented in this one, but what is being presented, the best thing to do is to sit back and take in what has to be said.

Natasha DaSilva:

William Singe - Hotline Bling

I love this cover of Drake's Hotline Bling. I can't really describe why. There is just something about his voice that makes this cover brilliant.

Twenty One Pilots - Guns for Hands

Its Twenty One Pilots. Enough said.

Twenty One Pilots - Goner

Yes. "Another" TOP song. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are amazing artists and Goner is such a moving song. I have actually listened to this so much these past few weeks.

"I've got two faces and blurry is the one I'm not." *insert passing out emoji here*

Joe Fialkowski:

Grand Funk Railroad - Some Kind Of Wonderful

It's just what I was listening to right now.

Kyra Bresnahan:

John Debney - Phantom Manor Suite*

I want to nominate this song because I was listening to it on repeat earlier. Every time I have some heavy duty studying to do, I put it on repeat because it helps me clear my head. Technically, it's just a collection of music from a ride at Disneyland Paris but it's honestly so beautiful that I consider it my favorite song.

Fernando Francisco:

Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

I enjoy it because it reminds me of school.

Becca DuBois:

Alessia Cara - Here

This song is basically about someone who is very anti-social and shy. She talks about going to a party and not wanting to be there, but her friends dragged her there. It's a song that proves that it's common to be shy and socially awkward.

Meeghan Bresnahan:

Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo - The Phantom of the Opera* It's another Phantom song, but I love this pairing. And that random Japanese Phantom in the end. Just. Sierra and Ramin.

Bullet for My Valentine - You Want a Battle? (Here's a War) My sister wanted me to put one of my metal songs on last time I did this and shock everyone, but I didn't. But I listened to this song again today, and I really like. So there we go. Metal.

Come to Your Senses from tick, tick...BOOM! by Johnathan Larson Oops more Broadway. How I found this song is a long story, but I love it, and I have been listening to it and singing it a lot today.

Richard Moore:

Galactic Empire - Star Wars Main Theme

It's Star Wars... What more do you need?

Connor Murphy:

Palehound - Dry Food

This song is one of the best post breakup songs I've ever heard. Ellen Klempner uses the line "You made beauty a monster to me" to very accurately summarize the feeling of heartbreak, defining it as something that takes away what you once found beautiful. It's a very relatable song that still manages to use some complex metaphors to convey its message.

Palehound - Cushioned Caging

I usually try to avoid doing multiple songs by the same artists, but I'm super excited about this band because they're relatively local and there's a good chance I'll end up working on the music video for one of their songs with my film school. Another song that alludes to what is likely the same breakup, this one is less of a breakup song, and more of a song about pouring yourself into someone and therefore losing who you are. It's a sort of warning, rather than an expression of grief at the loss of a relationship. This song details the story of someone who wanted to grow up too fast and ended up rushing into a relationship, letting it define them, and therefore losing much of their identity when it ended. I feel an incredibly strong connection to this song because of its similarities to my own experiences.

Langhorne Slime & The Law - Past Lives

Perserverance. Living multiple lives. Everyone has it in them to keep going, and keep fighting through whatever happens, even if it means starting again with a new life. A great song that has me realizing I'm drawn to songs about perserverance.

*This song is not in the Spotify playlist because it was not on Spotify.