It just goes to show that being tone deaf, unable to sing, and unable to write and perform a song doesn't mean that your dreams of being in a band have to be put aside. Honestly, these guys might be regular old deaf. If so, more power to them.

Go for the gold, guys!

Check out that ripping guitar solo. Also, great use of Futura for the title at the front. Wicked smart choice.

Thanks, Tiffany!

Palate cleanser after the jump. (continue reading...)

I've been listening to Pulp for, oh, about a million years. The This Is Hardcore/Different Class duo were some of my most listened-to records between '98 and '00. It was a period where heavy metal music was stagnating under the ridiculous weight of Nü-metal and I started to explore lighter music. I got way into the pop and other rock coming out of the British Isles, bands like Blur, Supergrass, Pulp, Gomez, Radiohead. These guys and girls were carrying the torch of classic British pop rock music in the vein of The Kinks or The Zombies or any number of other bands. They were writing catchy as hell tunes with a light-hearted sensibility that nevertheless held a tiny shade of darkness below all the major chords and joyful harmonies.

No band exemplified that light/dark condition like Pulp did on 1996's Different Class. The record features a bunch of upbeat poppy tracks propelled by Cocker's sharp, biting lyrics. The songs are filled longing and remorse and shame expressed with witty jabs, all bouncing along to a brisk, danceable beat.

Then they released This Is Hardcore in 1998 which is Different Class's sleazier, darker, less poppy older brother. Lacking the supreme dancey-ness of its predecessor, it's also a whole lot darker. No, that's not exactly right. The darkness is a lot more apparent.

Neither record is better than the other. They've been in heavy rotation in my listening habits for a long time and I'm still not sick of them. What I think I really love is that the songs are like Jarvis Cocker having a conversation with the listener, like he's telling us a story. He allows his thoughts to linger and spread and chooses the right word even if he doesn't rhyme.

I could write a whole bunch of other stuff here, but I won't. Just listen to the music.

Ok. So, I'm a fan. Doy. You would think that I would have seen all their music videos, right? Me too. But until yesterday I hadn't seen a single one. What the hell is that about? At the very least, I guess it's because when I became a fan of Pulp there was no place like YouTube to see all their videos. It was an age when MTV no longer played videos and there was no good way for me to see the videos a medium-sized British band were making.

Well, now I've got YouTube, so I can watch whatever I want! I present to you, dear reader, every decent Pulp video I can find.

Enjoy!

Because it's been a few days since I posted anything at all and this song is undeniably awesome. You disagree? I DISAGREE WITH YOU!

I mean, how fucking killer is the sax solo? So fucking killer.

Dear Ke$ha,

Two things.

1 - I'm having a hard time typing Ke$ha for some reason, so from here on out it'll just be Kesha.

2 - I liked you better when you were called Uffie. Oh zing! See what I just did there?

Sincerely,

The Black Laser.

PS - I'd like to stop hearing this song everywhere. If you could do something about that and then get back to me, I would appreciate it.

This is very nice. I like all the colors in the video and the richness of the electronic audioscapes. Yeah, I totally just wrote that.

I sent these to my friend Gardner earlier and we couldn't decide if this was real or some elaborate performance. The consensus right now, based almost solely on the horrible tattoos of the frontman, is that it's real.

REAL.

Did you get that? Real. Holy living fuck. And you know what? Even if it isn't real, it's so fucking brilliant that it's STILL amazing.

This shit is too awesome for words. I can't even begin to list off all the things I love about this. The closest thing I can reference is Tripmeister Eder Tutenchamun's "Goa Goa MPU, Ja!" or Deichkind's body of work.

Check out their website. Die Antwoord

I need more music like this. Who can help me out?

Thanks for adding this bit of brightness to my life, Boing Boing!

Pretty sweet, metal as hell video. The song's a little spastic, but overall it's pretty damn cool. This seems like a band that is really going to come into its own on their second record. I look forward to it. A lot of potential here and a sweet video.

I don't know what it is about these guys, but I am totally in love with this. I only checked out the video out of curiosity, but these guys totally kill it. Maybe it's the way these guys, deliberately or not, nailed the updated 90s metal feel. Maybe it's just nostalgia for the metal of my youth washing over me. Maybe it's that I can understand the words, but the band is clearly aggro as hell. It's as if 90s hardcore and Southern Metal had a baby and that baby was awesome. It's heavy, it's thick, it's crunchy, it's punk, it's metal, it's fresh.

Seriously, best new band I've heard in a while. I can't wait to pick up their record.

And the video is pretty rad too. I usually HATE videos with lots of performance, but the silhouette against the projection thing is really working for me. Amazing.

Did I say that I liked this yet? I do.

Say what you will, I think Evergreen Terrace is an awesome band. Over time, they've been shifting from a good, if not exactly unique, hardcore band, to a totally rocking hard edged rock band. This song is a perfect example of that evolution. I also like that the dude who does clean vocals doesn't sound like anyone else and totally avoids the whiney emo-tinged wailing you find so often in sub-par bands who imitate but do not innovate. Devil Wears Prada, I'm looking at you.

And isn't the name "Evergreen Terrace" totally awesome? 10 points if you get it.

Dream Evil is an awesome Swedish power metal band and this video is suitably cheesy. It rules.