If you can call it a problem, one problem about trying to be a proper blogger is that I get quite a few of e-mails. Various press releases to check this or that out. If really there were only enough hours in a day to check it all out, much less have the drive to write something that does the subject proper justice if it is good or bad.
Case in point a couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail about the latest single from duo Nat and Alex Wolff. The brothers first established themselves from the Nickelodeon show, "The Naked Brothers Band." Television show under their belts, the brothers have upped their game and are making a lot of noise with their debut album, "Black Sheep." Reception of the album has been positive as their sound is reminiscent of their influences like The Killers, Coldplay and their biggest influence, The Beatles.
Listening/watching their latest single "Illuminated," those echoes ring very true. Halfway through the clip, Nat swings the guitar that made me think he was about to trash the set like Nirvana did at some MTV VMA show so many years ago. Their last single from the album, "Thump Thump Thump" which the music video featured Abigail Breslin (yes the girl from "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Zombieland") was a song about love that anyone young or old can relate to. With "Illuminated" touches the question of identifying who we are and living to our respective full potential. It reminds me of Simon Spire's song "Liberate Your Love," and by now you ought to know my thoughts on that song. Their choosing to branch out and create an identity beyond their television show years has resulted in a very promising debut. Those that supported the brothers from the start of their television days have embraced the growth and new direction towards a mature tone and not the bubblegum pop route. Upon further look at Nat & Alex, it reminded me of another teen band that is making some damn good music years above their age, Smoosh.
If anyone recalls my songs of 2010 post, you will see the sisters from Seattle were on the list with their song "The World's Not Bad." Check out the clip below of them performing said song for the Seattle station 90.3 FM KEXP. Tori Amos and Neko Case would be proud of these girls.
Where Willow Smith, Selena Gomez, and Justin Beiber continue the beat of teen pop acts (all snarky disposition towards them aside) we have amazing talents like Nat & Alex Wolff and Smoosh. The way these young bands are establishing themselves, I can't help sense that it echoes the way some ambitious kids from England did so many generations ago. I'm not going to say that Nat & Alex and/or Smoosh will make a cultural impact the way The Beatles did, but all signs point to these musicians already making some great music now, and will continue to do so ten, twenty, maybe thirty years down the road. Or however long they choose to keep it going. We live in the present with a limitless offering of music and our respective opinions on who we vault as our favorite musicians, kids like Nat & Alex and Smoosh are holding it down and doing so very well in the grown ups world. In some ways better than said grown up colleagues. Should the next wave of talented musicians be spearheaded by these kids, then the future is looking pretty bright.
Nat & Alex (official website)
Smoosh (official website)
Case in point a couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail about the latest single from duo Nat and Alex Wolff. The brothers first established themselves from the Nickelodeon show, "The Naked Brothers Band." Television show under their belts, the brothers have upped their game and are making a lot of noise with their debut album, "Black Sheep." Reception of the album has been positive as their sound is reminiscent of their influences like The Killers, Coldplay and their biggest influence, The Beatles.
Listening/watching their latest single "Illuminated," those echoes ring very true. Halfway through the clip, Nat swings the guitar that made me think he was about to trash the set like Nirvana did at some MTV VMA show so many years ago. Their last single from the album, "Thump Thump Thump" which the music video featured Abigail Breslin (yes the girl from "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Zombieland") was a song about love that anyone young or old can relate to. With "Illuminated" touches the question of identifying who we are and living to our respective full potential. It reminds me of Simon Spire's song "Liberate Your Love," and by now you ought to know my thoughts on that song. Their choosing to branch out and create an identity beyond their television show years has resulted in a very promising debut. Those that supported the brothers from the start of their television days have embraced the growth and new direction towards a mature tone and not the bubblegum pop route. Upon further look at Nat & Alex, it reminded me of another teen band that is making some damn good music years above their age, Smoosh.
If anyone recalls my songs of 2010 post, you will see the sisters from Seattle were on the list with their song "The World's Not Bad." Check out the clip below of them performing said song for the Seattle station 90.3 FM KEXP. Tori Amos and Neko Case would be proud of these girls.
Where Willow Smith, Selena Gomez, and Justin Beiber continue the beat of teen pop acts (all snarky disposition towards them aside) we have amazing talents like Nat & Alex Wolff and Smoosh. The way these young bands are establishing themselves, I can't help sense that it echoes the way some ambitious kids from England did so many generations ago. I'm not going to say that Nat & Alex and/or Smoosh will make a cultural impact the way The Beatles did, but all signs point to these musicians already making some great music now, and will continue to do so ten, twenty, maybe thirty years down the road. Or however long they choose to keep it going. We live in the present with a limitless offering of music and our respective opinions on who we vault as our favorite musicians, kids like Nat & Alex and Smoosh are holding it down and doing so very well in the grown ups world. In some ways better than said grown up colleagues. Should the next wave of talented musicians be spearheaded by these kids, then the future is looking pretty bright.
Nat & Alex (official website)
Smoosh (official website)
3 comments:
aww loved this article and Nat & Alex of course!
Loved the article, but you spelt "Illuminated" wrong, you put "Illuminate". But other tha that I loved the article.
i love nat and alex!
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