New Music: Willy Moon

I suffer from a terrible  inner conflict when it comes to music. I listen to music from the 50's  and I wish that I was alive back then to be part of that scene. I listen to music from the early days of Rock and Roll and envy people who got to be part of the music and the energy that went along with it. My conflict arises when I realise that people are still making music today, believe it or not. The problem is that music is at it's most exciting when it's new and raw. Music is constantly growing and developing so the energy that teenagers felt at a Chuck Berry concert in 1958 will be extremely diluted if we were to listen to it in a nightclub in 2011. We get our "high" now from the booming hip hop beats and basslines that lie under all of today's floorfillers. If listening to Little Richard on a dance floor nowadays can only really happen at my cousin's wedding how do I get that euphoric feeling that the teenagers of 1958 felt?

The solution to my inner conflict?........Willy Moon.

Willie is one cool cat. He's got the moves, he's got the sharp suit and he's got the voice. His first song, "I Wanna Be Your Man" is to the rhythm of the classic "Bo Diddley Beat" and in true 50's Rock and Roll style it's all over in 1 minute and 49 seconds. For me, what makes Willie Moon stand out from the crowd isn't the fact that he jives and shimmies to a Buddy Holly-esque song, it's the mixing of that classic sound with the ultra-modern production on the track. The song is transformed from a fairly simple surf rock song to a fairly addictive stomper of a song by the backing beat of hip-hop style breaths and claps which give the song a driving rhythm.

His second song, "She Loves Me" continues with juxtaposition of old and new sounds. This song has the surf rock guitars again but now accompanied by an Electronica sound with the vocals cut up synthetically to give the song a great hook on the chorus.

Personally, I'm going to be keeping an eye out for Willy Moon playing live. Should be interesting to see how he gets on. And if it all falls through he can always be a stand in for the lad in Crystal Swing.

Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie"

The Beatles started it, then U2, and now Red Hot Chili Peppers have done it. The video for the Chili Peppers new single was released today showing the band playing to the good people of Venice Beach, California from the top of a building overlooking the promenade and the ocean. "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie" is the first single from their first album in four years, "I'm With You", which will be released on the 29th August.

The band are once again without guitarist John Frusciante who left the band in 2009. He's replaced by the band's touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer who was also a member of Frusciante's side project, Ataxia, along with Joe Lally of Fugazi. He does a decent enough job on this single but Frusciante's absence is noticeable by the fact that the drum and bass driven verses are the strongest part of the song.

It starts off like a vintage Chili Peppers tune with an extremely catchy bassline from Flea which is undoubtedly the hook in this song. Keidis then delivers his trademark choppy vocals and doesn't break from his signature style of bizarre and seemingly nonsensical lyrics. Chad Smith is as solid as ever on the drums and we even get to hear some cowbell throughout. On first hearing the chorus I thought it was pretty weak but it definitely does grow on you with each listen and I imagine it might become a bit of a sing-along crowd anthem at their stadium gigs.

All in all, it's great to hear the Chilis back again and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album in a few weeks.

Watch the official video Here

Music Reviews

If there's any bands out there, signed or unsigned, who want there music reviewed honestly by a real music lover then email me your link or send it to my Dropbox in the left-hand column. It can be anything from a demo to an EP to a full album. All genres are welcome too!