What is Peabody High Listening To?
The content grind never stops here at the Tanner Times. For this week's Friday article, I asked some PVMHS students a simple question: What have you been listening to recently? Give some of these a listen --- you may find something that you like!
Tristin Hubisz
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
The Dead Weather is an alternative/psychedelic rock band featuring Jack White, formerly of The White Stripes. I've been listening to this album, in which White serves as the drummer, as well as co-lead singer to Allison Mosshart. The album encapsulates White to the fullest, showing his confidence as a musician, as well as his ability to take risks with his lyrics and artistic style. Yet he and the remainder of his band still manage to make those risks come out on top. For specific songs, check out "The Difference Between Us" and "Die By The Drop."
Zach Stark
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
Recently I've been listening to Billy Joel's lesser-known albums, such as 52nd Street and Turnstiles. Also, I've been listening to some Vanilla Ice, because why not.
Meeghan Bresnahan
"The I Love You Song" from 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Some of my favorite songs are the ones that really make you feel something, and this one really does. It's sung by Olive, one of the contestants in the eponymous spelling bee, who upon being made to spell a word that means "wildly unrealistic," imagines her absent parents saying they've always loved her, which has never happened. It's a super-sad song in an otherwise funny show, and the emotion is what makes it so great. Plus, the harmonies between Olive and her parents at the end really make it incredible.
"Wings of Freedom" by Epica
I know hardly anything about Attack on Titan, which this song was inspired by. But I love Epica, and I listened to this song, and I love it so much. There's just so much going on, and while it's not one of their deepest songs (they get really, really deep in some of their albums), it does have a good message about fighting for what you believe in. It's exhilarating, although I know some people probably won't feel the same, since symphonic metal isn't exactly the most popular genre. But I love it.
Jenny Santos
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
I've been listening to The Smiths constantly. They're an 80s band with depressing lyrics. And the lead singer is an *expletive omitted*. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Santos didn't specify which album, but let's be real, The Queen is Dead is far and away the Smiths' best.)
Audrey Gabriel
Little Green Cars - Ephemera & The National Parks - Until I Live
Ever since school started, I've been loving the bands The National Parks and Little Green Cars. Both are rather obscure indie artists whose songs fit perfectly with the changing seasons, and have this really chill, acoustic vibe --- great for drives to school in the morning or the last couple bonfires with your friends.
And finally, my own listening selection...
Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
Between early August and now, I've listened to Joanna Newsom's Have One on Me start-to-finish twice --- the second time just for good measure --- and revisited my favorite parts more often than I'd like to think about. Newsom is a harpist/singer-songwriter with a near-legendary indie reputation, and she's never been better than she is on this album, a two-hour, three-disc behemoth --- not an easy sell, I admit, but I promise it's worth your time. Gorgeous harmonies on every track, unbelievably lush orchestrations (the harp virtuosity on display here gives an entirely new depth to the word "arpeggio"), all helmed by Newsom's eternally strange vocal performance. And that's not even mentioning the lyrics on this thing, which are as quaint and puzzling as any poetry you've ever read ("Mr. Daddy Longlegs, they are at it again!" gets belted on the title track). It just might be one of the best things ever pressed onto vinyl then bootlegged onto Youtube.
(This article obviously owes a lot to Connor Murphy’s discontinued Songs of the Week column, although unlike Murphy I didn’t restrict submissions to only songs, nor do I have any plan to continue this weekly.)