Jack Kays - Get A Job

 

1. Who is Jack Kays? 

Jack Kays is some image savvy, whiny little bitch with cheap ink and wealthy parents, pretending that he's had it hard in life because he once slept in the basement. He makes mostly pop punk songs, comes from Cincinnati, has been making music since 2013, and has recorded one album. 

2. What's Get A Job all about? 

Green Day doing Good Riddance. Or Remembering Sunday, Yellowcard or The Wonder Years playing a vaguely catchy acoustic departure from their usual emo/pop punk. Get A Job is that song. It's summer playlist filler for holiday drives to rivers and lakes. Fish and chip wrapper. It does have a few good lines in it though. 

3. Which bands have influenced Jack Kays? 

I don't know. He has mentioned he had a hardon for Blink-182 as a kid, rocks a David Bowie T, and there is a bit of Against Me! about him to my ear; probably the bit where he/she cut off his/her dick. 

4. Who do Jack Kays sound like? 

honestav, Dashboard Confessional, Boxcar Racer, and Jimmy Eat World. 

5. What have people said about Jack Kays music? 

"Emotional depth shrouded in simplicity" - District Fray. 

"Blending the catharsis of punk and emo with rugged acoustic folk - All Music. 

"Emotional serenades and pop punk tinges" - Punk Rocker. 

"You say I need a job,'

Well I hate working for a guy like Bob,

Who can't get laid so he takes it out on me"

Beng Beng Cocktail - Fucking Rudeboy

1.    Who are they?

Beng Beng Cocktail are an acoustic ska-punk band from France. They were formed in 2007 and Fucking Rudeboy (Jan’17) is the lead single from their third album Like A Brother (March’17).

2. What kind of tune are they rocking?

An acoustic ska-punk song with Eminem-speed delivery in the first verse, gang vocals in the chorus, and all underpinned by some insanely badass bass. Fucking Rudeboy is a perfect rabble-rouser for shouting along to at a concert.

3. Who do Beng Beng Cocktail sound like? 

The Stupid Stupid Henchmen and Violent Femmes. 

4. What have the press said about Fucking Rudeboy? 

“A fucking barn-burner” – YouTube Comments.

“Insanely badass bass” – The Best Indie Songs.

“Gets the blood pumping” – YouTube Comments.       

5. Which bands have influenced Beng Beng Cocktail?

Their main influences are Rancid, NOFX, The Toasters, Leftover Crack and Big D and the Kids Table.


6. Why should I listen to Fucking Rudeboy?

Because you love ska and a football chant. Because bass is your thing.


7. What are Beng Beng Cocktails best songs? 

Give Why Hip Hop Doesn't Rhyme With Hope a listen. 


8. Any more words? 

No, go get your skank on.  

“Where have you been, where are you going?”

Built To Spill are an indie rock band from Boise, Idaho. They have been together since 1992 and recorded eight albums. They sound similar to Pavement, Spoon and Modest Mouse. Built To Spill are influenced by Dinosaur Jr, Neil Young and Camper Van Beethoven. Never Be The Same was the second single from their eight album Untethered Moon (2015). Never Be The Same is a mellow, rock'n'roll song with a sticky bass note riff.

“I know you got something,

Everybody wants to know”

Great Caesar - Hey Mama

1.    Who are these lovelies?

Great Caesar are a socially conscious indie rock band with a brass section that sashay out of Brooklyn, New York.  Hey Mama (March’16) flows off the Great Caesar E.P. Jackson’s Big Sky (March’16).


2. What’s the tune like?

Hey Mama starts out a soulful acoustic song, vocal led and dripping in emotional resonance. The brass lightly brings up the rear and the instruments blend slowly in. No fear. The vocal only breakdown sends a frisson down your spine and then the band and brass dime out and Hey Mama becomes transcendental. Ticks all the boxes.


3. Who do Great Caesar sound similar to?
 
Operation Every Band have their finger on the pulse with The Decemberists, Bronze Radio Return and Hey Marsailles. Throw in The Lumineers if you must.


4. What is the good word from the press?

“An uplifiting ode” – Nerdist.

“A compelling emotional performance” – My Space.

“Simple and stark” – Ear Milk.

5. Who put the lolly in Great Caesar’s music?

Great Caesar are influenced by The Beatles, Paul Simon, Elton John, Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons and The Dave Matthews Band and have sent some love to Sufjan Stevens. The band also have a background in ska.
 

6. Why should I give Hey Mama a crack?

Great Caesar have played prisons and talked to the folk in there and Hey Mama is the good oil from those visits. Compelling musically, spiritually and emotionally. Frontman John Parker has said the EP is “our first real statement.” Real is exactly what Hey Mama is.
 

7. Do Great Caesar have any more of these treasures?

Hey Mama stands head and shouilders above the rest. Don't Ask Me Why is popular.

 

8. More words fool?

John Michael Parker, band frontman, said the coolest thing about the difference between being a musician and a doctor in this interview.

 

“I wanna be where a boy can be free,

But I’ve got time that I owe the state”

It would be rude to go past The Lumineers for the second innings. The Lumineers are an indie folk rock band from Denver, Colorado by way of Ramsey, New Jeresy. They are crazy popular and their debut album The Lumineers (2012) went to number two in the Billboard Charts, sold a million half and the single Ho Hey (2012) topped the charts and sold two million plus. Cleopatra (March'16) is the second single from The Lumineers second album Cleopatra (April'16) and is a cracking tune about a woman The Lumineers came to know through “...a friend. “She drives taxis and is this badass lady – she’ll pick you up at the airport with a cigarette hanging out her mouth and a beer can between your legs.”

 

“Damn your wife, I’d be your mistress just to have you around”

 

 

Johnny Lloyd - Hello Death

1.    Who is this rocker?

Johnny Lloyd is an indie rocker from South London. He used to front for the successful London indie rock band Tribes (2010-13). Hello Death (Feb’16) charges off his solo E.P. Dreamland (May’16). Mr Lloyd has already contributed a short player Pilgrims (2014) to muscial posterity.

 

2.    What flavor of brilliance is Hello Death?

A haunting indie rocker on the acoustic that rocks out at the end. Hello Death rewards a few repeat listens. Not instantly catchy, a slowburner and the sexy part of the song is right at the end. It takes a few listens to fully appreciate the magic, enjoying the verses with the knowledge that even better is to follow. The dividends are there for the patient.


3.    Who does Johnny Lloyd sound like?

Johnny Lloyd has been compared to Bruce Springsteen.

Hello Death recalls the indie rock anthem by Live Lightning Crashes.


4. What have the cut and paste bandits got to say about Hello Death?


“An introspective offering that features Lloyd’s signature hush, melancholic sound” – Pigeons and Planes.

“Raw new solo track” – Focus Wales.

“Introspective, honest and personal” – CDNX.

5. Which bands is Johnny Lloyd influenced by?

The bands that put the lustere in Johnny’s leather jacket are Led Zeppelin, Motown, The Velvet Underground, The Horrors and The Vaccines.


6. Why should I give Hello Death a listen?

Hello Death is a prime example of indie rock dealing with the topic of death with aplomb and the rock out at the end raises the hair on the back of your neck.


7. Does Johnny Lloyd have any more bangers?

Happy Humans (2014) is excellent.


8. Any more words about Johnny Lloyd dear scribe?


Jamie T and Hugo White of The Maccabees produced the new E.P. Dreamland.

Johnny Lloyd has been on fluffer duties for The Mystery Jets, Jamie T and The Maccabees.

“I'm taking back the old me,
Pulling him out of the dark”

Slippery seconds is from Lime Cordiale an indie pop rock band from Sydney, Australia that started in 2009. Lime Cordiale have been called a “roots infused electronic pop band” and Not That Easy (Oct’15) described as “a perfect summer jam” and “refined strong and deliberate.” Not That Easy is a stand alone single and great indie rock.

“I'm taking back the old me,
Pulling him out of the dark”