NAILED Songs of the Week #31
“If I get on top and put it in just eleven times”
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Matty Byloos, Publisher and Contributing Editor of NAILED:
"Black & Mild" – The Staxx Brothers
If you've been drunk and/or if you've gone to jail before, then chances are strong you like ZZ Top. If you've done both, or if one of those activities brought you to the other one, then you call ZZ Top simply by the more inspired, insider moniker, The Top. And if, like me, you are one such person, then you know how wise it is never to be taken in by what appears to be simple, blues-inspired rhythm guitar, pocket drumming, and straightforward progressions in songs, because there is always an infinite amount of complexity in what appears to be simple. And that complexity-disguised-as-simplicity is exactly what is so compelling about "Black & Mild," by The Staxx Brothers.
I've said it before that I'm a sucker for narrativity, and when a great song gets coupled with a visual storyline in a music video, it always seems to me that the medium has finally graduated into an art form. With "Black & Mild," I get everything I want in a song and in a video. Clearly, the fun that this band has just being a band and making music together translates well to the screen, whether it's in the lyrics ("If I get on top and put it in just eleven times / Kinda weird, but I ride with it" and "Said her name was Carolina, by the way of North Dakota / She wanna ride in the Chevy Nova, top down feel the / breeze all over"), the body positivity of the near-naked lead singer, or the half-silly half-serious parody of the self-aggrandizing rap troubadour that characterizes his performance. When you find out that Davin Michael Stedman, the band's lead singer, had only one cassette to play in his mother's Walkman when growing up, and then you learn that on one side of said cassette was Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the other was the Chipmunk’s Greatest Hits, you pretty much know all you need to know about where the music comes from. And it's called, the Soul of the Planet.
At 1:32 in the song, the fabulous backup singers known as The Staqulettes make their entrance, and the look on the face of the lead singer is reason enough to follow this band to the end of the earth. Come to Portland, The Staxx Brothers. I will make you all mashed potatoes.
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Guest Editor: Joe Blair, Writer and NAILED Contributor
"Beardy Ghost" – King Melodies
A strange feeling it is, at least for me, when I meet someone and am instantly charmed. It happens from time to time, but I usually end up sitting quietly in a corner lacking the social skills to make a friend. So it was not an unfamiliar sensation when I was introduced to King Melodies. Their 2013 album I Am The Devil revealed a set of beguiling songs with simple lyrics from what I assume are native Svenska speakers, who, when writing songs in English, end up being completely forthright and candid.
Lyrics like “I’m not good, I am bad, I am the devil” are so honest yet esoteric, that they tenderly slap me in my pretentious musical face. The same is true for “Beardy Ghost,” the single off their new self-titled EP. The story of a man who can be standing in a room but feeling invisible is nothing new, nothing groundbreaking. But set to sweet, lush tones, and sung by the stunning gender-neutral voice of a man with unprecedented style, it’s a charmer I’d put a hell of a lot of effort into getting to know. I guess it’s time to work my way out of the corner of this room.
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Carrie Seitzinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NAILED:
"Trippy Gum" – Hinds
Listening to this song for the first time (and then watching the video!) instantly made me feel like the members of this band are my friends. This is a fun summer song for goofing, chilling, cruising, and/or dancing like a nerd. Definitely a day-brightener!
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Shenyah Webb, Arts Editor of NAILED:
"High" – Everything by Electricity
Arpeggiated synth intro, ear-catching guitar melodies, steady bass drum... One by one, all the parts find their perfect place in the mix, just in time to settle down and introduce vocals so ethereal they seem almost too perfect for this world, luring me into the journey I was anticipating. Total nighttime music, reeling with my ceiling fan, taking me on a midnight drive to nowhere, passing headlights with each phrase. Everything by Electricity perfectly builds it up and then strips it down, seamlessly. So sexy.
This is a single released just a couple weeks ago on their Soundcloud channel, highlighting what they have been working on, and I'm really excited to hear a complete album of their mesmerizing music.
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