New Music Spotlight #147: All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects are no strangers to the listeners of 101.9 The End, and their brand of pop-alternative tends to work very well for our listeners. The band’s latest single “I Wanna” was today’s Spotlight. From their album When The World Comes Down, “I Wanna” is starting to become a bit of a hit for the band.

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “I Wanna” on AAR’s MySpace page. The band can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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The Men Who Stare At Goats Trailer

This looks so awesome!

Mark your calendars for November 6th, kiddos.

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New Music Spotlight #145: The Heavy

The Heavy is a band from Noid, England (Avoid the Noid!) that are about to release their second album in October. The first single from that album is “Sixteen,” today’s New Music Spotlight. The band combines a retro Motown sound with a hip-hop vocal reminiscent of Goldie or even Tricky. It’s an interesting combination that I’m still not sure about, myself. However, the listeners have spoken, and apparently you like it.

Rosie called in and said, “I’m digging this song!” John said it reminded him of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put A Spell On You.” I can’t really argue with that. Texters had the same mentality. One said, “the heavy kicked ass,” while another said, “interesting sound but I like it.” Fairly positive response for this one.

If you missed the Spotlight, you can hear “Sixteen” on the band’s MySpace page. You can also find the Heavy on their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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New Music Spotlight #144: Noisettes

Noisettes formed in London in 2003 and with their debut album in 2007, What’s The Time Mr. Wolf, gained prominence in their home country and abroad. They are now poised to release their sophomore album Wild Young Hearts (it’s been available in Europe since April). The band’s sound is very retro, if you’re a fan of Duffy, Amy Winehouse or those classic sounding artists, the Noisettes may be right up your alley.

Feedback to the song was more positive than I expected. Mike called in and said, “I thought it was killer. … It’s the kind of stuff that I’m always looking for, something that makes me think ‘Where has this song been for the last 20 years?’” Kortni said she liked it, but wasn’t sure if it fit on the End, and Erin said simply, “That song’s awesome!” One texter, noting the Duffy similarity, said, “I liked it”. And another said, “I really liked that new music spotlight. It sounds like a fifty’s type song with modern guitar.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “Never Forget You” on the band’s MySpace page. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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New Music Spotlight #144: Panic! At The Disco

Panic! At The Disco (apparently they brought the exclamation mark back) has a song on the soundtrack for Jennifer’s Body, the new Megan Fox film. In the movie, Fox is a high school cheerleader who becomes possessed and starts killing her fellow students. Sounds like an amazing motion picture to me! The soundtrack, on the other hand, actually DOES look good. Featuring Hayley Williams (of Paramore), Little Boots, Black Kids and White Lies, among others, there are some good artists on this soundtrack.

Reaction to P!ATD was fairly positive, but not overwhelmingly so. John said, “I thought the song was actually pretty good.” Lena also liked it saying, “it was catchy like their original stuff.” One texter said, “i thought it was really good gonna look that up online”. Keeli texted “really like the new panic song! Kinda bouncy.” While another texter summed up my feeling perfectly by saying, “meh.”

If you missed the Spotlight, you can hear the song on the band’s MySpace page. You can also catch up with them on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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Them Crooked Vultures Is the Most Exciting Band Right Now

What would you say if I offered you a musical soup that included equal parts Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin? How could you possibly deny the tantalizing awesomeness of that recipe? You couldn’t. And any attempt would end in futility.

Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) have gone all Vultron on us and joined forces to fight intergalactic crime!

Or maybe they started a band together.

Either way, the world will never be the same. I don’t know how I could possibly be more excited about a project that I am about Them Crooked Vultures. Someone would have to come back from the dead to get me more excited about a band than Grohl-Homme-Jones. The über super-group has been playing shows, their first was an after party during Lollapalooza in Chicago, in Europe. Most recently they were the surprise headliner for the Pukkelpop Festival.

Hit the jump to check out a performance of “Elephant,” that they started their Pukkelpop set with. But I caution you, the awesomeness may be too much for you to handle. Consider yourself warned.

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Pearl Jam Put Pictures To Music In Video For “The Fixer”

Back when Pearl Jam were just starting to promote their new album, Backspacer (due September 20th), they played a fanclub only show at the Showbox in Seattle. Cameron Crowe, a close friend of the band, filmed the concert and the footage has found a home as the video for the band’s current single, “The Fixer”.

View the video after the jump.

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New Music Spotlight #143: The Avett Brothers

I first started listening to the Avett Brothers in 2006 when I got hooked on the video for “Talk On Indolence” from their album Four Thieves Gone. They are now poised to release their 10th studio album, I and Love and You, on September 29th. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album’s title track serves at its first single. The Avett Brothers will be performing live at Red Butte Gardens on August 25th (tomorrow).

Reaction to this song was mostly positive, but some people didn’t care for it. Clark said the song was “quite nice” and that he “enjoyed it thoroughly.” Fernando said he loved the song. Paige, however, thought she was listening to a country station by accident, which is a bad thing according to her. Texts were similar with Sara saying “I love it!” CJ said, “sounds like a good song, i liked it but it’s something that does not jive with this station.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear the song on the band’s MySpace page. You can also catch up with the Avetts on Facebook, Twitter, and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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Pennywise Lead Singer Leaves Band

I found some bad news when I happened to go to MySpace today and check my blog feed there. I saw two posts from one of my favorite bands: Pennywise. One titled “Statement From Jim Lindberg” and the other “Statement From Pennywise Regarding Jim Lindberg Leaving Band”.

I was shocked to read the title of the second one and immediately jumped in to read them both. It would appear that Jim Lindberg, lead singer of Pennywise for the lion’s share of the band’s more than 20-year existence, is leaving the band.

Neither post gives any reason for Lindberg’s departure, but the statement from the band does say this:

The band has always been about moving forward in life no matter what obstacles stand in front of you. We will begin our search for a new singer immediately. We will continue to tour the world and we are looking forward to writing new music. … We’re looking forward to what the future may bring.

The rest of the band seem to have the intention of going on with out Lindberg. I can’t blame them, no one wants to be forced into retirement. If they want to continue making music together, then they should. But Pennywise will simply never be the same. There are some names that immediately jump into my head as potential replacement singers, not the least of which would be Justin Thirsk. Thirsk is the brother of Jason Matthew Thirsk who was a founding member of Pennywise and committed suicide in 1996 prior to the band releasing their fourth album Full Circle. Pat Ivie, who was the lead singer of 98 Mute, is another name on my short list.

Whether Pennywise even considers either of these guys is unknown, but those would be my first two phone calls.

I’ve had the esteemed pleasure of hanging out with the guys in Pennywise on several occasions, and they’re really great people. I wish them all the best in their future endeavors, whatever those may be.

Lindberg wrote a book, Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life, that was first published in 2007. According to the band’s Wikipedia page, Lindberg is working on a documentary based on his book.

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New Music Spotlight #142: Matt Hires

Matt Hires as been featured a few times on the New Music Spotlight, and the reaction to “Honey, Let Me Sing You A Song” gets more positive each time. Hires comes from the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, the venue that spawned the careers of such artists as Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Colbie Caillat, Eric Hutchinson among others. Hires will be playing a FREE show TONIGHT at the State Room, 638 S. State. The show is 21+.

Reaction to the song, as I said, was really positive. With me broadcasting from the Park City Jazz Festival today, we only took text feed back. One texter said, “wow i was very impressed with that song, i’d love to hear more from matt!” Rebecca kept it short and sweet saying, “love it!” And Jen said, “i like his sound”.

If you missed the Spotlight today, you can hear the song on Hires’ MySpace page. You can also catch up with him on Facebook and Twitter.

What do you think of the song?

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