#**This should have got more buzz. Very Spotlight-esque. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

clumsyclifford · 3 years ago

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OKAY. how about "This wasn’t meant to be a date, but we’ve had such a good time and now it’s 2 a.m. and I should really go home…" with ur teacher alex/ambiguous office job jack? (or any version of jalex) (we just love jalex in this house)

well hello, she said casually, nine months later. thank you for the excellent prompt, sorry it took me so long to get to it, but you can thank yourself for that too considering going to ssf is what inspired me to finally write this one. bellawritess clumsyclifford pictures is proud to present: the tshirt jalex meet-cute :)

read here on ao3

Later, Alex learns that the boy at the barricade who’d elbowed Alex in the face trying to snatch the thrown guitar pick out of the air is named Jack.

“I’m so sorry,” Jack says for the millionth time, even though Alex has laughed it off every other time. He laughs it off this time, too.

“Seriously, it’s fine. And hey, you caught it.”

Jack holds up the guitar pick, triumphant. “I did catch it,” he says. The blink-182 logo flashes its dead and frozen smile at Alex. Alex finds himself smiling back, though not so much at the pick.

The leaving crowd parts around the two of them. Headlights flood the night, filling the street before them with light and noise. There’s a line of cars backed up further than Alex cares to imagine. Those at the front must have left the show significantly before the set was over. Quitters.

“What I didn’t catch was your name,” Jack adds. His lips quirk, like he’s proud of such a smooth line.

“Alex,” says Alex. “We should probably get out of everyone’s way. Are you waiting for someone, or…?”

“No, no, I came alone.”

“Yeah, me too. Was supposed to have a friend but he bailed on me last-minute.”

“Seriously? Bailed on a blink concert?”

“I know, right?” Alex grins. “Eh, whatever. If he’d been here you probably never would have elbowed me in the face and then we’d never have met.”

“But I would’ve never elbowed you in the face,” Jack says. “Don’t you think you’d have preferred that?”

“Not if it means we’d have never met.”

Jack’s smile slowly grows. “Fair enough. Did you know there’s a 24-hour diner literally five minutes from here?”

“Oh, man, I like the way you think,” Alex says, shoving his hands into his pockets to protect them from the cool late-night breeze. “I didn’t want to sit in this traffic anyway.”

“And I don’t blame you.”

“Well, lead the way,” Alex says, nodding down the sidewalk, and he falls into step with Jack as they both start to walk.

The Tastee Diner is charmingly diner-y — neon lights, stools at the bar, the whole nine yards — and, more attractively, it’s mostly empty at this hour. It’s past midnight, later even than Alex’s usual bedtime, but between the buzz from the concert and Jack the attractive stranger across from him, he’s not really feeling tired. If he’s going to flush his sleep schedule down the drain, a post-concert Friday night seems like the best time to do it.

And Jack is really cute. So that helps.

“Breakfast,” Alex says reverently when they’re seated. “Oh my God, a fucking giant waffle.”

“Wow, everything you say makes me like you more,” Jack says, leaning his elbows on the table. Alex glances over the top of his menu but Jack’s eyes are focused on his own menu on the tabletop. He’s smiling a little. So is Alex.

“It’s a giant waffle, Jack! How the fuck do I say no to that?”

“You don’t. This table is pro-giant waffle. At the exclusion of anything else.”

“You’re damn right it is,” Alex says. “Do we also happen to be pro-chocolate milkshake?”

“We’re pro-vanilla milkshake.”

“Ew, seriously?”

Jack rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know, how can I like vanilla when chocolate is right there—”

“Yeah, how can you?” Alex reaches over the table and covers Jack’s hand with his own. Their eyes meet. Very seriously, Alex says, “How do you look at yourself in the mirror, you monster?”

A beat. Jack chews his lip, clearly trying not to smile. “With great difficulty,” he says. He’s humoring Alex, but sincerity sparkles in his deep brown eyes. His earnest gaze holds Alex’s and he doesn’t pull his hand away. After a moment, Alex does.

“Well, if I looked like you I’d never stop looking in the mirror,” he says instead, and brings his gaze back to the menu. A laugh escapes Jack.

“You can’t turn it off, can you?”

“Turn what off?”

“Your flirty brain-to-mouth pipeline?”

“I could,” Alex says breezily. “I choose not to.” It feels like a subtle rejection, a quiet dig, but it’s hard to be sure. Jack’s smirk seems to suggest otherwise.

The waitress comes by to take their orders of two giant waffles and two milkshakes — chocolate for Alex, vanilla for Jack, though Alex is sure to give Jack a judgmental look as he’s ordering. When she goes, Jack laces his fingers together and leans back in the booth. “So,” he says. “Your name is Alex, you’ve got fantastic music taste, and you seem to be more or less my age, but that’s about all I know about you. Are you from around here? What do you do? Likes, dislikes?”

“Are you trying to build me a dating profile?”

“That wouldn’t be very opportunistic of me, would it?” Jack smiles innocently. Alex’s heart gives a little leap. “I’m trying to get to know you. You know, like any normal stranger would if they found themself at a diner with another stranger.”

That’s fair. They are effectively strangers, although Alex can think of a shorter word to describe what they’re doing right now. He glances around at the jukebox-esque machine bolted to the wall next to their booth, at the empty swivel stools at the bar, at the marble tabletop where Jack is absently tapping his fingers. The decor of the diner is very classic, and he and Jack, both dressed in blink merch and black jeans like the perpetual emo teens they’re no doubt trying to emulate, stick out like sore thumbs.

However unintentional, it sure as hell feels like a date to him.

“I’m from Baltimore,” he starts. Jack lights up.

“No shit! Me too.”

“Really? Whereabouts?”

“Well, I work by the harbor.”

“No shit, I work in Highlandtown,” Alex says excitedly. “Highlandtown Middle. I’m a teacher.”

Jack whistles lowly. “That’s fucking awesome. What do you teach?”

“Music,” Alex says, and Jack groans, although he’s smiling as his hands move to cover his face.

“Of course you do,” he says.

Alex tilts his head. “What, are you not a fan of music teachers? That’s insane.”

“No, no, it’s not that, it’s just.” Jack laughs. “Of course the hot guy I meet at a blink-182 concert is a middle school music teacher. I feel like God is punishing me for refusing to play anything but bad drums in middle school band.”

Alex also laughs. Being called a hot guy by a hot guy is making his stomach do gymnastics. He’s too old for his stomach to be doing things like that, but his stomach clearly doesn’t care. “Well, if I’d been your teacher, trust me, you’d have been playing solidly mediocre drums. But I’m sorry you feel that way.”

Jack’s hands fall to his lap. “I’m sure I’ll get over it,” he says with a slanted smile.

Alex swallows and grins. “So did you look up surrounding diners before you came, or are you just…inexplicably familiar with Silver Spring geography?”

“I come to a lot of concerts here,” Jack says, nodding in the general direction of the venue they’d just vacated. “Venue’s awesome.”

“Yeah, it really is. Honestly, I’m still amazed that you caught that pick.”

“I have a lot of practice. From aforementioned many concerts.”

“I can see that.”

“Trust me, it’s a very specific skill. I’ve got awful hand-eye coordination,” Jack says with a chuckle. “My dream of being the youngest Oriole inducted into the Hall of Fame was crushed at a young age.”

Fizzy champagne fills Alex’s chest. He can’t stop smiling. “Fuck yes, you’re an Orioles fan?”

“That’s my team,” Jack says, looking excited. Possibly at the prospect of meeting another person who’s equally interested in both music and baseball. That’s why Alex is excited, anyway.

“It’s my team,” he says enthusiastically. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, they fucking suck—”

“Oh, no, yeah, they’re the worst—”

“But I’d take a bullet for them. I happily go down with ‘em every year.”

“Yeah, they’re my boys,” Jack agrees. “Here’s hoping this season is better than every single other one.”

“Yeah, all my fingers are crossed, but between you and me I don’t have a lot of faith.”

Jack shrugs and nods. “It’s good for my ego to be so loyal to such a bad team. Keeps me humble.”

“That’s the best attitude I’ve ever heard,” Alex says, and Jack’s smile is so radiant Alex could swear he can feel the glare off the shiny marble tabletop.

“Between ‘All The Small Things’ and ‘Going Away To College’ how the fuck am I going to choose ‘Small Things’?”

“Yeah, but it’s such a classic! ‘College’ is, like, emo and…emo.”

“No more emo than ‘I Miss You’ —”

“That one is a classic—”

“I’m not saying it’s not, I’m just saying ‘College’ is their best song and it deserves its spotlight.”

“That’s ‘Feeling This’ erasure and you know it.”

“Besides ‘Feeling This,’ but they always play ‘Feeling This.’ I stand by what I said. I’d swap ‘Small Things’ for ‘College.’ Deal with it.” Alex tongues his milkshake straw into his mouth. “Your turn.”

Jack glares at him for another long moment, like he has to properly make his point about it. “Fine,” he finally huffs. His gaze shifts sideways, off into the distance like he’s thinking, and he swirls his own straw around his milkshake cup. Alex can kind of see his reflection in it. While Jack is thinking, Alex quickly checks his phone.

(21:47) Rian Dawson: How’s the concert? Fuckin bummed I couldn’t make it :/

(21:48) Rian Dawson: Hope you’re having a good time anyway. Text me whenever you get home so I know you didn’t die or get trampled by a mosh pit or whatever the case may be.

Alex smiles and turns off his phone again.

“I feel like I can’t choose a song off Enema now that you did,” Jack mumbles.

“You can,” Alex says. “It would just be kind of a lot of Enema.”

“No, but Enema is a legendary album. I’d go to a show that was literally just all of Enema.”

“Why were you complaining about ‘College’ then!”

“I’m not complaining about ‘College’ itself, I just would never trade it for ‘Small Things’!”

Alex scoffs. “They play ‘Small Things’ all the time. I’ve never seen ‘College’ live. I’d literally kill.”

“Oh my God, I know what I’d do,” Jack says. “‘Shut Up’ instead of ‘Down.’ That’s the only thing that could make this set list more perfect.”

“Ohhh,” Alex says, “that would be fucking sick. Imagine two thousand people just shouting ‘shut the fuck up, she said’ at the top of their lungs.”

“I cannot think of anything cooler than that.”

Alex hums thoughtfully. “So you went with Take Off Your Pants instead of Enema in the end.”

“Alright, don’t get it twisted. If I could add the entirety of Enema to the set list, I would. But if I only get one song, it has to be ‘Shut Up.’ More Enema is never a bad thing.”

“Why wouldn’t you trade ‘College’ for ‘Down’ then?”

“Because that was your set list move, and this is mine,” Jack says. He slaps the table. “Yeah. This is the answer. Someone get Mark Hoppus on the line, stat. I have to tell him I’ve figured out the formula for the perfect set list.”

“‘Shut Up’ live would be awesome,” Alex concedes. “Good move.”

“What can I say, I have extremely good taste,” Jack says airily.

Alex snorts. “Okay, Vanilla Milkshake.”

“You’re just afraid to taste it because you know deep down that it will be better than your chocolate one,” Jack says, pointing his straw accusingly at Alex. Drops of milkshake fall onto the table. Alex sweeps a napkin over the mess.

“You had an advantage over me, though,” he observes. “You said your favorite blink song is ‘Feeling This,’ which was already on the set list. My favorite song wasn’t, so my hands were kind of tied.”

“It’s among my favorite blink songs,” Jack says. “I have many. Most of which are set list staples, yeah. But that’s on you for only having one favorite song.”

“Wait, what? You can’t have many favorites, that defeats the whole point of having a favorite.”

“I can have multiple favorites, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“No way, man. You only get to have one favorite. You can have second-favorites or close favorites but there’s always one that’s better than the rest.”

“Sorry to burst you bubble, Al, but I have more than one favorite blink song,” Jack says, shrugging. “I also have more than one favorite color and more than one favorite food and more than one favorite song.”

Alex shakes his head through Jack’s speech. “I reject this out of hand.”

“You can’t.”

“Well, Clearly Enema is your favorite blink album.”

“Tied with Take Off.”

“Seriously?” Alex narrows his eyes. “Come on, there must be one thing you have just one favorite of.”

“Yeah, there is,” Jack says. “My favorite movie is Home Alone. No other movie comes anywhere close.”

Of course it is. Alex grins and inclines his head in accordance. “That…is extremely good taste.”

“Thank you,” Jack says graciously, and slurps loudly from his milkshake.

The next time Alex checks his phone, his brain takes a moment to catch up. “Holy shit, it’s already one a.m.?”

“Oh shit,” Jack says, checking his phone as well. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

That adage has never felt more true. Slowly working through giant waffles and milkshakes while exchanging questions and random conversational topics with Jack has been the most fun Alex has had in a long time. Diners, he muses. There’s something about diners. Time feels frozen within these walls, and Alex kind of wants to stay in the time bubble forever, laughing with Jack until the sun comes up.

He could do it. Tomorrow’s a Saturday. Nobody works on Saturday, not even Jack at his “boring office job” (his words).

But he knows there’s a reason that nothing gold can stay. It wouldn’t be valuable if it lasted forever. The night will crystallize as something special in Alex’s memory, but it can’t do that until it ends. And it has to end eventually.

“We should probably go,” Alex says reluctantly. Jack nods once.

“Yeah,” he says. He signals for the check and looks back at Alex. “My treat.”

“Uh, no way. I’m paying.”

“Nope, not happening. I will elbow you in the face again if I have to. I’m paying this check.”

“Jack—” Alex wavers. Jack looks so insistent, eyebrows raised like he’s daring Alex to argue, and there’s nothing to do but smile. “Okay. If you insist. We’ll call it even for you assaulting me earlier.”

“Exactly,” Jack says, and he happily accepts the check when the waitress hands it to him.

“Did you guys get everything you need?” she asks the two of them.

Alex glances at Jack, but Jack’s scanning the check. “Pretty much, yeah,” he tells the waitress. She leaves them with the check, and they vacate their table to go pay it at the front.

Alex wonders what someone might think if they saw this table. Whether anyone could even begin to illustrate the story of the night using only two empty milkshake cups and two plates that formerly held waffles. It would be impossible. Not even Sherlock Holmes could work this one out.

Alex smiles. They’re a fossil in amber, preserved in memory. Even if it turns out not to be a date, Alex knows he’ll look back on tonight fondly, and he can count on this exact same smile every time he does.

Jack finishes paying and turns to face Alex. One arm outstretched, he says, “Shall we?”

Alex links their arms. “After you, good sir.”

They’re laughing as they leave in a glow of neon light.

“This is me,” Alex says, gesturing half-heartedly at his car. They both stop short behind it.

“Ah,” Jack says, nodding. “So I guess this is where I leave you.”

Alex swallows. “I’m glad you elbowed me in the face,” he admits, which sounds strange to say out of the blue. “I had a good time tonight.”

“What, at the concert?”

Jack is obviously teasing, but Alex doesn’t mind being more clear. “Actually, I think I had more fun after the concert,” he says, smiling a little. “You’re good company, JB.”

Jack smiles, and if Alex isn’t mistaken, he’s also blushing. “Same to you,” he says. “Despite your wrong opinions about the set list.”

“I hate sounding like a cliché,” Alex says, ruffling a hand through his hair. Jack cocks his head. “But, um, I’d like to see you again. If that’s okay.”

“So okay,” Jack says. “And totally plausible, considering we apparently live within twenty minutes of each other.”

“True,” Alex says. “The universe really wanted us to meet, I guess.”

“Thank you, Universe, for putting Alex in harm’s way,” Jack says solemnly, looking upwards. Alex laughs. “Can I have your number?”

“Yeah, yes, of course.”

Alex recites his phone number for Jack to enter into his contacts. “I promise I’ll call,” Jack says. His gaze flits around Alex’s face like it can’t find a good place to land. He drags his index finger diagonally over his chest. ��Cross my heart and everything.”

“I have to ask,” Alex says, shifting on his feet. “Were you— was this supposed to be a date?” He hesitates; maybe that’s the wrong question. “Was it a date?”

“For the sake of anniversaries, let’s say yes,” Jack says. Immediately his face puckers in regret. “Pretend I didn’t say that. I’m— my brain gets ahead of me.”

“No, it’s all good.” It’s more than good; there’s a horde of butterflies in Alex’s ribcage that won’t fucking quit, not now that he knows Jack is thinking of anniversaries when this is only maybe their first date. A person who is not only anticipating a future for them but preparing to celebrate it. So far, so fucking good. “You’re a practical thinker. I can appreciate that.”

“And I appreciate that you aren’t deleting your number from my phone even after I just said that to you,” Jack says, grinning. His grin melts away when he sighs. “I should go. It’s late.”

“Yeah,” Alex echoes. “Late.”

“Please drive safe,” Jack says seriously. “If I’m the last person to see you before you die, that’ll make me look really bad.”

Alex laughs. He likes that Jack keeps making him laugh. His friends make him laugh, too, but Jack makes him laugh in a different way, like he can’t stop himself. Like the delight refuses to stay trapped.

“I promise to drive safe,” he vows. “I owe you a date. I would hate to lose the chance to impress you.”

“Oh, wait, that reminds me.” Jack reaches into his pocket and presses something into Alex’s hand. It’s the guitar pick, warm from Jack’s pocket. “You’ll probably use it more than me,” Jack explains, ducking his head. “You know, being a music teacher and all.”

“Oh,” Alex breathes, flipping the pick in his palm. “That’s, um…thank you. Thanks. I’m…”

“Yeah,” Jack says, licking his lips. “Of course. Um, okay, now I really should go. But like I said, I’ll call.”

Alex nods, still staring at the guitar pick in his hand. His head snaps up and he breaks from whatever trance he’d fallen into. “I’m counting on it,” he says, stepping closer to Jack. He hears Jack inhale as he leans closer, brushing his lips to Jack’s cheek.

When Jack speaks, it’s a hoarse whisper. “I had a good time too, you know.”

Alex leans away and starts walking backwards to the driver-side door. “Good,” he says, smiling warmly. He’s not really trying to smile so warmly but he can’t help it. “Get home safe, Jack.”

“Yeah,” Jack says. “You too, Alex.”

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chorusfm · 7 years ago

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In the Spotlight: 50 Bands You Need to Hear in 2018 (Part Two)

Today we’re happy to bring you part two of our “In the Spotlight” feature. We’ve got another group of artists that we think are worthy of your time and ears. Our contributors have made their picks, put together blurbs, and pulled out recommended songs. If you missed part one, you can find that here. Lost in Society by Deanna Chapman The first time I heard Lost In Society, I knew I’d be listening to them again. There aren’t too many current punk bands that I really get into, but this trio is good. “Creature” is the first song that they’ve released from their upcoming EP, Eager Hearts, which is due out on May 25th. They’re a band that you won’t want to miss out on. I can’t wait to hear the EP in full. Recommended Track: “Creature” RIYL: The Menzingers, Green Day, Hot Water Music Tape Waves by Jason Tate Tape Waves have this laid back breathy vibe that I find the perfect compliment to cold nights. These are songs with vocals that blend into their surroundings and feel light and airy but with an ominously haunted texture. The band released Here to Fade in 2016 and are gearing up to release their new album, Distant Light, on June 6th. Recommended Track: Nowhere RIYL: Field Mouse, Day Wave, Copeland Courtney Marie Andrews by Craig Manning If you read Chorus.fm, you probably know Courtney Marie Andrews best as the female backing vocalist on Jimmy Eat World’s Invented. In the years since, though, Courtney has been gradually garnering attention for her own music, culminating with the release of her latest album, May Your Kindness Remain, earlier this year. It’s a remarkably well-sung LP, giving ample showcase to Courtney’s big, empathetic voice. From the gospel-laced title track to the Counting Crows-esque “Kindness of Strangers,” the album feels like a vintage folk classic from first listen. Sneak Kindness into a stack of records between Carole King and Joni Mitchell and you can probably fool people into thinking it’s a forgotten gem from 1971. Recommended Track: “May Your Kindness Remain” RIYL: Joni Mitchell, Carole King, First Aid Kit Madeline Rosene by Anna Acosta In the current climate (musical, political, or otherwise) a bit of levity can go a long way. LA based singer-songwriter Madeline Rosene’s acerbic wit and honest storytelling takes everyday situations and tales and translates them to song in the most delightful way imaginable – this listener challenges anyone listening to hear “Drunk Text” not to cringe in lighthearted shared embarrassment over the predicament posed – such the better if you get a chance to see it live. Rosene is a refreshing change of pace: the music is relatable and approachable in all the right ways. Expect to see more from this songwriter in the coming months, and check out her new music video in the meantime. Recommended Track: “Drunk Text” RIYL: Pink, Sizzy Rocket, The Summer Set Hooded Menace by Jake Jenkins Hailing from Finland, Hooded Menace perfectly and precisely blend the genres of death metal and doom metal with such force it threatens to knock you off your feet. Their latest effort, this year’s Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, is the strongest offering of their career. Further expanding their sound to incorporate tinges of post and sludge metal, Hooded Menace create massive, walloping songs that pack a huge punch in all the right places. The riffs are technical but not overtly so, the pacing of the album never leaves a dull moment, and they switch from death metal riffage to doom metal dread effortlessly, often blending the two in a smear of thick guitars and heavy distortion. They came out swinging early on in the year with the best album the genre has to offer so far; as such the rest of the metal world has a lot to live up to with Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed. Recommended Track: “Cascades of Ash” RIYL: Spectral Voice, Gatecreeper Amy Shark by Jason Tate Amy Shark has found some early internet buzz with her song “Adore,” but from what I’ve heard of her upcoming debut album, Love Monster, she’s got the chops to write songs that could make her a household name. They’re the kinda songs that feel perfectly suited to find their way into a scene in the latest hit TV show while also sliding into an infectious summer playlist. Recommended Track: “I Said Hi” RIYL: Vera Blue, Broods Illuminati Hotties by Drew Beringer Sure, the first thing you might notice about Sarah Tudzin’s band is the wild band name Illuminati Hotties. But once you hear how incredibly infectious the music, you’ll understand that only a wild moniker like Illuminati Hotties is suitable. Releasing their debut album, Kiss Yr Frenemies, this spring via Tiny Engines (the most eclectic indie label alive in 2018), Illuminati Hotties offer cutting takes on debt, anxiety, and relationships beneath chipper bops and fuzzed-out dissonant rock in the vein of Mitski. So yeah, the name is a little goofy but Tudzin has the charisma and more importantly the songs to back it all up – underneath these breezy anthems is a lot of simmering growing pains and real talk. So don’t sleep on Illuminati Hotties because Frenemies has the potential to be one of the very best albums released out of Tiny Engines’ storied discography. Recommended Track: “Cuff” Kraus by Aaron Mook Kraus is a bedroom project, which is impressive for a number of reasons – the first of which being the project’s production quality. His most recent album, this year’s curious Path, is abrasive, but in a way that sounds meticulous and intentional. The project seems equally as smooth when it wants, as if somebody threw Sigur Ros and Deftones into a blender with a few pedalboards for good measure. At its most expansive, the songs of Path sound as though the world around them is burning down, paired with breathy vocals just above a whisper and only occasionally soothed by cool, ocean-like reprieves. Whichever path the project takes, it’s clear that sole songwriter Will Kraus has a completed vision for each new prickly shoegaze release under his name. Recommended Track: “Bum” Now, Now by Jason Tate Now, Now have been around for a while now and we’ve posted about them for years. However, it’s been six years since they last released an album and their new album, Saved, almost feels like an entirely new band. It’s also one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. It’s incredible. So, for that reason I think it’s more than fair to call attention to them once again and make sure they’re on your radar. If, for whatever reason, you’ve been sleeping on this band, you’ve got time to go check out their spectacular back catalog. And if you’re already a fan, it’s time to start getting very excited for their new album. The album combines smooth pop-melodies with hauntingly personal introspection. The songs explore growing up, mid-adulthood, sexuality, and mix the ridiculously catchy with various forms of electronic experimentation. This combination of heartbreakingly sad and poignant moments over catchy music reminds me so many times of Jim Adkins and Jimmy Eat World. There’s just something about simple words telling grand stories that that draws me in. Recommended Track: “SGL” RIYL: Tegan and Sara, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World City Calm Down by Mary Varvaris Australian 4-piece City Calm Down are here with their stellar sophomore album Echoes In Blue, which opens with the soaring, heartbreaking “Joan, I’m Disappearing”, where vocalist Jack Bourke laments lost love and is immediately captivating. City Calm Down then turns up the dial with the spectacular “In This Modern Land”. The band employs horns, and the light use of synths complement Bourke’s rich baritone voice. Album highlight “Distraction/Losing Sleep” follows, and is easily my favourite track. Drummer Lee Armstrong takes things up a notch, and the warm guitar tone creates striking, melancholy melody. “Distraction/Losing Sleep” is incredibly relatable, as Bourke joins the rest of us adults who are “bored to death and only 29”. Echoes In Blue seems top-heavy upon early listens, but with time, songs like the gorgeous, Trouble Will Find Me-lite “Kingdom” grow on you. “Kingdom” is the perfect indie rock song. Bourke continues to tell stories we all connect to, crying, “you said I should have opened my eyes / I was terrified of what I might find”. Triumphant, massive single “Blood” follows, and while it’s a very catchy song, it falls on the too repetitive side. But, where the album has small weak spots such as blending together and some songs being too repetitive, it certainly ends on a high. Album closer “Echoes In Blue” is eerie, strange and dramatic. The song slowly builds, beginning with creepy electronics, then introducing gentle keys as Bourke serenades us. Electronic drums and double tracked vocals lift the song even more in the second verse. “Echoes In Blue” is a mournful note to end on, with Bourke defeated, weak and grieving; “all I hope is that you will make it through the night / better that you’re leaving now / you’re better in the light”. The title track is the most experimental song here, and an incredibly strong album closer. I look forward to where City Calm Down go next – this is an album that sees a band who have hit their stride already, and they’re booming with confidence. Recommended Track: “Echoes in Blue” RIYL: The National, Joy Division, The Cure Ashley McBryde by Craig Manning What’s the best way to start a record? Most artists go for something big, barnstorming, and catchy. The opener is the “don’t bore us; get to the chorus” of the album format. If you don’t grab listeners right away, you are going to lose them. But one of the things that makes Ashley McBryde’s debut LP Girl Going Nowhere such a magnetic listen is that she trusts her fans to be patient. Make no mistake: McBryde is perfectly capable of writing big singalong hooks. Her first album is full of them, from the fittingly titled “Radioland” to the lovelorn “American Scandal.” On the album’s first song and title track, though, McBryde strips things down. More than half of the song is just her voice and an acoustic guitar, and it cuts through you like a heartbreak song can cut through a half-empty bar at 1:00 a.m. It’s a song about chasing your dreams, even when everyone tells you that you’re going to fall on your face. And it’s a song about how good it feels to prove the naysayers wrong. “I hear the crowd, I look around/And I can’t find an empty chair,” McBryde sings in the chorus. “Not bad for a girl going nowhere.” It’s a perfect opener not only because of its patience and restraint, but also because it makes you feel like you’ve been rooting for McBryde’s underdog story for years. Not many artists can fool you into thinking you’ve been listening to them for 15 years when you’ve only been listening to them for 15 seconds. Recommended Track: “Girl Going Nowhere” RIYL: Miranda Lambert, Janis Joplin, Lydia Loveless The Longshot by Adam Grundy The Longshot are a 4-piece punk band fronted by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. On their debut LP Love is for Losers, Billie Joe has crafted an easy to digest 70’s pop-punk sound with polished production. Recommended Track: “Chasing a Ghost” RIYL: Foxboro Hottubs, The Ataris, Against Me! Lucy Dacus by Trevor Graham Lucy Dacus is a treasure. She’s been making waves in the indie rock pool since her debut release on Matador in 2016 — a deceptively weighty beacon of warm, southern-tinged charm that might have you think she’d already been in the game for years. Her eagerly anticipated sophomore effort, Historian, is an expansive, powerful exhibit of a multifaceted twenty-something with a heart fixed to leave a mark on yours. Revealing a more refined textural template to paint herself into, Lucy explores themes of passionate rebellion, the tenderness of heartbreak, the struggles of creativity, and the unexpected catharsis in confronting mortality. And while even the most somber melodies often drip from her mouth like honey, the sweetness in delivery never detracts from the emotional sincerity permeating every line. The musical backdrops notably accentuate this notion at every turn, as Lucy’s masterful songwriting ensures her lyrics a home that match their intensity at any level. As a result, we have playful string arrangements, crushing distorted climaxes, spacious ambient stillness, and straightforward indie pop songs all occupying the same space. Lead single “Addictions” is claimed by the latter of those categories, as a bubbly track about repeating mistakes and owning up to it — but not before declaring the blame to be shared. Toss this one on on a sunny afternoon and take the ride. Recommended Track: “Addictions” RIYL: Angel Olsen, Margaret Glaspy, Laura Stevenson Not on Tour by Jason Tate Not on Tour have a sound that harkens back to the day when pop-punk bands played as fast as they could and let the melodies try and catch up with the instrumentation. None of the songs on their last album, Bad Habits, crack two minutes, but they’re full of hooks, guitar riffs, and a sound that makes me think about summers spent on skateboards. Recommended Track: “Write it Down” RIYL: Mute, A Wilhelm Scream, Lagwagon Jon Latham by Craig Manning Listening to Jon Latham’s music is like being hypnotized. Most of his songs are lengthy slow-burners. On his 2017 LP Lifers, there are only eight songs, but five of them go on for more than five minutes. Where less talented songwriters really make you feel the runtime of those longer songs, though, Latham makes them go down like a shot of the smoothest whiskey you’ve ever tasted. His songs are potent and emotionally hard-hitting, but there’s also something intensely comforting about them. Lifers plays like a long and lonely road trip through heartland America. Songs like “Learning Now” and “Tennessee Dime” seem to stretch on for miles, as far as the highway shooting out of sight. But Latham’s talents coalesce most clearly on “Yearbook Signatures,” a track about how the right song can bring back people who exited your life so long ago you almost forgot about them. Pour yourself a drink, play the song loud, and take a trip back to your past. Recommended Track: “Yearbook Signatures” RIYL: John Moreland, Noah Gundersen, Tom Petty The Aces by Adam Grundy The Aces are an 4-piece all-female band from Provo, Utah with a sound that immediately grabs your ears and attention. On their debut album, When My Heart Felt Volcanic, they showcase incredible musicianship with pop sensibilities. These steady climbers have toured with COIN and X Ambassadors and are making a name ofor themselves faster than the hooks can hit you. Recommended Track: “Volcanic Love” RIYL: The 1975, HAIM, Paramore POP, ETC. by Jason Tate POP, ETC. have been making music under this moniker since around 2012. Most recently they’ve been releasing what they call “infinite singles” and just putting music out when the inspiration strikes. These songs continue the tradition of the ridiculously well-crafted pop-rock music the band explored on 2016’s Souvenir. This is the kind of rock-tinged-pop-music that I wish we saw more of these days. It’s well-crafted and catchy, but there’s also a weight behind the songs. Recommended Track: “Your Heart is a Weapon” RIYL: Ra Ra Riot, Coin, Bad Suns LANCO by Craig Manning As a fan of “high-brow” country music by the likes of Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson, I think I’m supposed to roll my eyes at LANCO. That’s certainly what the country purists would do. But I can’t, because LANCO writes the kind of hooks that send wrecking balls through my cynical defenses. I tend to think of this band as the Boys Like Girls of modern country music. Just like Boys Like Girls, LANCO write verses and pre-choruses that are catchier than most bands’ choruses. And just like Boys Like Girls, LANCO have the innate ability to conjure up the spirit and freedom of a perfect summer night. It says something that “So Long (I Do)” is my single most-played song of the year so far when it’s not even summer yet. If you crafted a pop-country song in a laboratory, I’m pretty convinced you couldn’t come up with something as flawlessly catchy as that one. No wonder a few LANCO songs popped up on Taylor Swift’s most recent Spotify playlist. If anyone knows great pop-country, it’s Taylor. Recommended Track: “So Long (I Do)” RIYL: The Killers, if they made a pop-country record --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/features/in-the-spotlight-50-bands-you-need-to-hear-in-2018-part-two/

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