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benthemusicalbeard · 4 years

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18 Jun 2020

Evening reader. Or greetings for whichever time of your day you find yourself reading this.....I always have trouble starting these posts! Anyway, three more songs this week to let into your lives. Please give them a little listen and if you’re keen on a particular song then enjoy what other material the artists have to offer.

First up this week and a side project for the band Vulfpeck (featured in previous posts) who have called themselves the Fearless Flyers. Vulfpeck themselves are a funk band from Michigan who have released four studio albums preceded by four EP’s since their formation in 2011. Their sound is just about the funkiest thing going, favourite songs of mine being ‘Back Pocket’ as well as instrumental efforts ‘Fugue State’ and ‘Dean Town’. In 2018 Vulfpeck’s record label released an EP by the ‘Fearless Flyers Quartet’ consisting of Vulfpeck bass player Joe Dart, Vulfpeck touring guitarist Cory Wong as well as drummer Nate Smith, and Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lattieri. The EP’s opening track ‘Ace of Aces’ sets the stall out early that this is a platform for each contributor to show off their individual skill sets. Catchy and funky in equal measures the EP continues with what should probably be their flagship song ‘Introducing the Fearless Flyers’ which sets off at a frantic pace with drummer, guitarist and bass player alike jamming their way through a brilliant funk concept track. The EP also features creative funk versions of ‘Under The Sea’ and ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ which are very in keeping with the almost improvisational nature of the EP. The follow up EP in 2019 entitled ‘Fearless Flyers II’ is more of the same from the group with similar assistance from contributors. Last week the group released their third EP entitled ‘Tailwinds...’ and things have been turned up to eleven! The first two tracks are slightly tweaked versions of songs from the first EP with opening tracks ‘Nate Smith Is The Ace of Aces’ and ‘Introducing Delta Force’ having something a little extra on the originals. The track I’m sharing is the final track from the five song EP, another updated version but this time of a Vulfpeck EP track. I’m hopeful at some stage they find enough studio time to create an album as for fans of Vulfpeck, Fearless Flyers are just that bit funkier, sharper and captivating to listen to.

Fearless Flyers - The Birdwatcher - https://youtu.be/gBpawgFnTjo

Second this week and new music from Travis. Not everyone's cup of tea I appreciate but their brand of soft indie rock now enters it’s fourth (FOURTH!!) decade since their debut album ‘Good Feeling’ landed in 1997. I was always a fan of Travis as I found their songs catchy and loaded with feel-good factor at a time when they were competing for airwaves with Coldplay who were just coming to prominence around the turn of the century. Travis’ second album ‘The Man Who’ from 1999 was a huge success, singles ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ and ‘Turn’, so much of a success in fact that at the 2010 Brit Awards it was runner up as Best Album Of The Last 30 Years to Oasis - (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, and that’s quite an album! The 2003 album ‘12 Memories’, which is a very underrated album in my opinion, was a change of direction for the band with songs covering the light topics of domestic violence and the invasion of Iraq, all in the aftermath of drummer Neil Primrose suffering serious spinal injuries in 2002. More recently, singles taken from the two latest Travis albums have been a little lacking in something. The sound hasn’t developed much since The Man Who so the band relies heavily on the catchiness of it’s tunes and the sing-a-bility of it’s lyrics. I’m happy to report that their new single ‘A Ghost’ is both those things. Annoyingly catchy and with a brilliant video with artwork from lead singer Fran Healy. As a band who graced my teenage years I’m glad to see them back. Like an old friend I haven’t spoken to for a long time, I’ll happily sit and listen to what they’ve to say, or in this case, sing to me.

Travis - A Ghost - https://youtu.be/9gArvGIQHdU

Finally this week and another band from my teenage years, more specifically the lead singer of that group that I saw live many years ago and have always been a fan of. The band are Supergrass and their lead singer is the king of the sideburn, Gaz Coombes. Supergrass songs were always enjoyable to listen to and the more upbeat the song then the more popular it seemed to be, adequately proven by their top songs on Spotify which contain amongst others the classic hits ‘Alright’, ‘Moving’, ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’ and ‘Sun Hits The Sky’ which are full of energy, brilliant toe tapping Britpop which endeared them to millions. Gaz Coombes decided to release solo material as Supergrass went into hiatus (a musical furlough scheme if you will) in 2010. He has released three albums to date and this week I have been enjoying the second and third of those albums having purchased the first, 2012′s ‘Here Come The Bombs’. At this stage I’m unsure as to why follow up albums ‘Matador’ and ‘World’s Strongest Man’ passed me by but I’ve given them a listen this week and have enjoyed them enormously. ‘Matador’ was a more mellow and slower paced follow up to his debut album than many were expecting but songs like ‘The Girl Who Fell To Earth’ provide enough of Coombes’ magnetism to make them enjoyable nevertheless. With ‘World’s Strongest Man’ Coombes has developed further his style with more focus on the production and musical details instead of a verse followed by a big bold Britpop chorus. Standout track for me ‘Walk The Walk’ shows Coombes at his creative best which leads us back to Supergrass who came out of hiatus in 2019. Some of my favourite bands of recent years have had to develop their sounds to evolve as a band but when I listen to Coombes and the way he has progressed musically there is always that bit of me itching to dance around like a chump to Supergrass. We will see what direction they decide upon for any new music they have in store for us.

Gaz Coombes - Walk The Walk - https://youtu.be/KGBpBZu4hfk

Posting completed. For those keen observers I appreciate this post is a day late but there were power issues on my laptop last night, in that I didn’t have any as with the rain I came home to a power cut which was bad news for an already depleted laptop battery......anyway! Until next time, stay safe. x

#fearless flyers #vulfpeck #travis #gaz coombes #new music #new songs #playlist #music #Songs #Spotify

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