Miss Derringer would be the soundtrack to a roller coaster ride in the tiny town that Beetlejuice pops out of. If Beetlejuice was made in 2009 and his merry townsfolk were the members that surround frontwoman Liz McGrath. Their album, Winter Hill, was released via Nickle and Dime Records and Triple X Records.
Shangri Las / Past, Present, Future
I love the Shangri Las. They are one of my all-time most influential bands. This song is great because it is so heavy handed. This woman is talking about something terrible that happened to her, and we’re not sure if it’s some sort of assault, or just the horror of lost love. It’s done in this super over the top way and is so sincere it’s great.
Misfits / Where Eagles Dare
The Misfits are one of my all time faves and picking one song is really hard. This song is great because of the chorus. I mean, yelling in all earnestness: “I ain’t no goddamn son of a bitch!” That’s about as cool as it gets. This is probably the first song by The Misfits I ever heard when I was a kid, and I was hooked from there.
Wilco / Radio Cure
This is the only Wilco album I own, and it’s one I lost then re-discovered a few years later and couldn’t believe I’d been without it. This song is great in its somber despair and landscape of noise. It also has great lyrics: “All my lies are always wishes” is about as true and pointed as it gets, in my opinion.
Envy / A Warm Room
This is a great Japanese noise band that everyone should know about. This song builds to an unrelenting drone of distortion that doesn’t let up for seven minutes, all the time punctuated by some beautiful delicate ringing guitar work, and full bore screaming that makes the whole thing the soundtrack to the most dramatic and crazy movie I can imagine. One day someone will make that movie and I will own it in every format available.
Blondie / Rip Her Shreds
It’s almost impossible to pick just one song by these guys. They have have been super-inspirational to me and have been great friends of Miss Derringer. We were lucky to tour with them a while back. This song is just a lot of fun. I love the smirking way Debbie Harry refers to this woman that she obviously despises. And when she says, “Red eyeshadow, green mascara, blech!, she’s too much”, I nearly lose it every time.
Bruce Springsteen / Atlantic City
The Boss! Nebraska is one of the best records ever, and this is just one standout track among many. It tells the story of a down on his luck blue collar guy on his way to compromise his principles in order to make ends meet. The lyrics are sad, bleak and awesome. The stripped down production lets the story really show through and it is just so cinematic. Plus, it talks about mobster stuff, which is always a plus for me.
Chris Isaak / Wicked Game
This is a song most people can recognize by the first note. The long bending guitar notes are amazing and it’s just, overall, a beautiful and moody piece. We were lucky enough to play with Isaak’s guitarist Jimmy Wilsey (who played on and co-wrote Wicked Game) and he taught us so much. An amazing sound and an amazing song.
The Kills / Rodeo Town
This song is a mellow break from the frantic noise of most Kills songs on this album (which I also like) and is a really cool dark song with a David Lynchian-type storyline. I love the low key nature of the whole thing.
Related posts:
- Luke Doucet The Toronto Star called him ‘the best young guitarist...
- Post Honeymoon Post Honeymoon strips bare and slows down the pop...
- James Ford, Simian Mobile Disco Back in the late 90s, James Ford and Jas...
- Roderick Smith, Firekites Firekites, from Newcastle, Australia, have a beautiful album, The...
- Ethan Ward, E-603 Taking the gauntlet laid down by Girl Talk and...
{ 0 comments… add one now }