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Showing posts from October 29, 2017

New feature: TopPopRock Playlist

I've added my TopPopRock playlist into the sidebar of the blog- follow it on spotify to get the latest and best Pop Rock music!

Sad Songs- Kyd The Band Review

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When is their album gonna come out?! We've waited so long, and yet they release another single. Alright, well at least it's good. The music is yet another blend of excellent pop rock guitars and synths, this time backed with reggae influenced synths and beats that were also prevalent on Wishful Thinking. This shows Kyd The Band at its best- plenty of great instrumentals, excellent transition between the choruses and verses, plenty of meaning and great delivery. I'd heard a very primitive early version of this on youtube a couple weeks ago, and this is much better- the same part sticks with me from both, the great line"I can see her smile even when it's upside down". That's kind of the ethos of the song and to a certain extent Kyd The Band- lamenting what's going on, but being eternally optimistic and witty. Kyd The Band has really proved themselves as good over and over, and American Dreamer seems to be propelling tem to the fame they deserve. I'

2-in-1! The Blackout/Go Out Of Your Own Way- U2 Review(s)

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Ah, more song by an aging band trying to revive and reinvent itself. Earlier this year, U2 released You're the Best Thing About Me, which got a lot of fanfare but amounted to nothing. They previewed The Blackout not long after, but it was unavailable until recently. I know it's not new, but I'll review it with this week's Go Out of Your Own Way just because I want to talk about it. The Blackout is an excellent dark, bass driven and slickly produced tune that is destined for alternative radio. It makes very efficient use of everything but The Edge's guitar, and is as far from the verging on wailing that U2 sometimes sinks to. The song makes heavy use of electronics, which enhance it but drives it towards the level of worse The Killers' music. The real star of this is the bassist who gives this a tremendous swaggering cool that The Edge and his guitar aren't physically capable of doing(Bass is unparalleled in cool). Get out Of Your Own Way is similar to

Garage Palace- Gorillaz Review

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When will Damon Albarn run out of ideas? As of now, it seems like never. With yet another new song by Gorillaz that's not a repeat and features another person no one's heard of, I find even more respect for Albarn. He just creates so much, its insane- he probably has more ideas he came up with today than there are posts on this blog. Just wow. The video for this song was pretty good too! This song a collaboratio with Little Simz, a female british rapper who lends this song the no-nonsense relatively speedy, slightly jerky rap that the US could do with more of. I mean, come on- Lil Pump made a terrible song and could barely get it to bet two minutes- tha's how bad US rappers are. Albarn backs her rapid delivery with House-y instrumenatls that of course have a bit of Gorillaz weirdness in them. They work well together, unlike some other Gorillaz songs which had good raps and bad music or the inverse. The song ends(after only two and a half minutes) with an excellently craft

Weekly Playlist- Week of 10/22

The Stakes- The Kents Caroline(I Can't Explain)- The Kents Yellow Bricks- Arctic Monkeys Temptation Greets You Like A Naughty friend- Arctic Monkeys I'll Make It Up To You- Imagine Dragons I Am- AWOLNATION Teddypicker- Arctic Monkeys Heart Of Gold- The Sherlocks

Within Waves EP- The Kents Review

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I just discovered this up and coming Canadian Indie Rock band, and I'm just blown away. How could an excellent Canadian Indie band that would fit well in the same playlist or radio station with everything from Young The Giant to The Neighbourhood or Arctic Monkeys not be instantly popular? Last year's Waking EP was pretty good, but left room for improvement- which is exactly what this new EP is. The EP starts with the stadium but still indie sound that will no doubt land them a contract to be supports on the next Young The Giant or Cold War Kids album, the anthemic From The Start expertly introduces the rest of the record with arpeggiating guitars and a general workmanship and craft rarely found. Caroline (I Can't Explain), a classic Indie pop song, is basically made for the radio, but still excellent with its warm guitars and yearning but still defiant vocals and perfectly timed breakdowns and buildups. I can see it played on every Alternative radio station from here to