Cobra Starship~ “Don’t Blame the World, It’s the DJ’s Fault” & “You Make Me Feel…”

New Cobra Starship is out.  Well at least two songs are out now. “Don’t  Blame the World, It’s the DJ’s  Fault” was leaked a couple weeks ago and “You Make Me Feel…” was released as the first single from their new album.

I have high expectations of Cobra because every album they have released has been a new take on their sound. Their debut album, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets, was powered by the popularity of “Bring It” but was able to stand on its own. Their next release, Viva la Cobra!, was an upgrade in sound and lyrics. The songs are fun, dancy and everything Cobra Stands for. Hot Mess, their most recent release was everything I had hoped for and more. They took a more serious route but still kept the sound that made them.

When “Don’t Blame the World..” was leaked Cobra took it in stride and released the song via their record label’s Youtube. The video was accompanied by a challenge, watch the video and come up with what you think the title of the new album is. Whoever got it first would  receive  a call from them or something  like that. Although the context is over, go watch the video here and see if you can come up with it. (The answer will be later in this post).

The song is catchy and fun but not really anything new.  The song writing in “Don’t Blame the World…” is simple and repetitive. The song would  have more power if there were more lyrics and it felt like they put thought into writing  the song. It is a good listen if your in the mood for a beat.

Snippets of “You Make Me Feel…” circulated the web Sunday. Most were only 30 seconds and weren’t really meaty parts of the song. The song was officially released today on all major digital download sites and I snatched it up right away. It’s not what I expected from them but as the weeks have gone on it has burrowed a special place in my heart and I could even be caught dancing on my bed to it. Here is a link to the lyric video released by their record label, Fueled By Ramen.

I’m not sure what else to say. I hope the album, titled Nightshades, comes out and has better quality song writing on it than the samples we have been given. I am still hold out hope and even if it’s a bust, I will still count them as my first true musical love.

Christofer Drew~ “Mr. Funny Man”

I have a feeling I’m going to be putting out a new post every day until the 12th because I think I see a pattern going on. If I am not mistaken, Christofer Drew is going  to stream a  new single off The  Modern Racket on Alternative Press’s website everyday until it’s  release  on April 12.

The second track is titled, “Mr. Funny Man.” It’s all together simple. Just  Drew and his guitar.  There is nothing special about the song, which in a sea of auto-tunes and  synthesizers is what makes Drew’s new music so refreshing.

What makes this song so perfect it that it seems obvious that Drew has left behind most of his anger so often felt through his earlier songs. He manages sharp lyrics with little to no effort. Unlike the songs heard on Harmony and What is Love? where Drew was using his voice and more complex sounds to get his point across, I for see Drew is going to let his writing do most of the talking on his upcoming EP.

Christofer Drew~ “Livin’ the Dream”

Today is yet another installment of “Christofer Drew amazes me.”

Social networking has led to a lot of undone homework on my part, but it also constantly updates me on new music. Facebook is the latest to do so.

I am tra-la-laing at work and my Facebook auto-updates my news feed to read: Never Shout Never- “Check out the first song from The Modern Racket EP called “Livin’ The Dream.” Dont forget to donate to Charity:Water via themodernracket.com to get the EP on 4/12.” I listened and I am in love still. You can check out the song here.

The song is simple and free. It reminds me a lot of Harmony with very little computer aided music. Just Drew and his guitar. I cannot wait for the new EP.

The Modern Racket will be released on April 12 on the album’s website here.You get the album when you make a donation to Charity:Water through the website. You can also wait until April 19 and buy it from and digital media outlet like iTunes.

I am must say I understand Drew’s move away from the Never shout Never title. It can be hard to make new and evolving music when your 14-year-old fan girls want carbon copies of songs like “Trouble” and “Happy.” I have read interviews with Drew where he says  he is growing as a person and as an artist. He doesn’t want to let anyone down but he doesn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing forever. And most fans don’t take the time to think that Drew was 16 or 17 when he wrote his old songs. He was an immature artist and needs time to progress. I think he is doing just that and his hard-core fans, that like Drew for his music and talent, will stick around through what ever he decides to do.

New Panic! at the Disco

I love Panic! at the Disco an enormous amount and haven’t  been this excited for a new album since Cobra Starship released Hot Mess (for those of you keeping track, it’s been about a year and a half).

First, just hearing there’s a new P!ATD album coming out is enough to get me screaming inside. Secondly, Panic’s record label, Fueled By Ramen, posted a lyric video for the new song “The Ballad of Mona Lisa.”

The song is reminiscent of the days of their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. Although you can hear the difference, it is very clear Ryan Ross is gone and he took The Beatles influence with him, which many fans of AFYCSO will be happy to hear. The lyrics are surprisingly well crafted considering most of Panic’s songs were penned by Ross. The song includes sharp lines like, “A lonely speaker in a conversation, her words are swimming through his ears again” and “If she had the proper words to say, she would tell him. But she’d have nothing left to sell him.”

Along with the lyric video that has been posted, Fueled By Ramen has posted a 30 second trailer for the music video. It doesn’t feature any words just the instrumentals and the whole thing is punctuated by a few seconds of a black-eyed Brendon Urie. His face is creepy and I like it.

Since day one I have been all over this song. The music and the lyrics are exactly what I wanted from them. Each previous album holds a special place in my heart.  AFYCSO is the album that originally made me fall in love with P!ATD. And, when Pretty. Odd. came out, I welcomed the new sound as a point of maturing.

This release marks the first fans have heard from P!ATD since they released “New Perspective”, a single for the movie Jennifer’s Body, in 2009. I think fans that were hurt by the change seen in Pretty. Odd. will be happy to know that is seems like Panic! didn’t skip a beat between AFYCSO and their next album, Vices and Virtues.

Which leads me to some more news. A fellow Panic! enthusiast who goes by the Youtube name PrettyMuchIt, got the opportunity to go to the Panic! show in New York a few days ago. He was kind enough to post two videos on his blog of them performing new songs.

One is a full version of “Nearly Witches” which was originally released as a demo on a Clinton Sparks produced mixtape called “CitizensFOB Mixtape: Welcome to the New Administration.”  Credit was given to a band, no one had heard of, by the name of The Paul Revere Jumpsuit Apparatus. Everyone new it was at least Brendon Urie’s voice. It’s kind of hard to cover up something that gorgeous. From what I can understand of the lyrics, not many have been kept the same from the demo. The song is still wonderful lyrically and musically.

The second song is a brand new one called “Let’s Kill Tonight.” The song is full of energy and watching them perform again is really something. Brendon and Spencer look really happy to be back doing what they love and doing it they way they want to again.

They are both videos from a live show, so it is really hard to make out any words exactly, but I assure you I will be updating with more reviews and more news when I get it.

Their new album releases March 29. It is available for preorder on iTunes and  in several bundles from the band’s website. However the ‘fantastical’ bundle sold out in less than 15 minutes and cost $99.

Owl city- “Peppermint Winter” single

Okay so I know a lot of readers will be all “Owl City is overrated and is just auto tuned garbage” but I genuinely like him. And I liked him before he had all those preteens screaming their little girl heads off for him because “He’s so deep and his songs are so magical.”

With all of that out there, his new single is pretty much over-produced garbage. I’m sorry Adam Young, but this one is a miss.

It kinda feels like he sat down and was like “I’m going to write a Christmas song.” But his brain was like “No. Bah humbug.” And he did not listen to his brain and instead forced this poppy, sugary sweet, musical ‘treat’ onto paper and into a song. (I apologize for the unintended rhyme, but now that it’s there, I like it).

The first lines  are just an introduction to what is to come in the next four minutes of your life. “There’s the Snow. Look out below. And bundle up ’cause here it comes. Run outside, so starry-eyed. A snowball fight breaks out, and winter has finally begun.”

There was a point where I was impressed that Adam Young could produce all of this himself in his basement, but now it  just seems like he is over doing  it and it is not faring well for him.