Songs of the Week: September 4-10

Hi! I apologize for taking last week off...I was out of town for a chunk of it. But I'm back, and with awesome tunes for your listening pleasure.


Alkaline Trio: This Could Be Love (Damnesia re-recording) -- Back in July, Alkaline Trio released the album Damnesia, which consists of acoustic and semi-unplugged versions of some of their greatest hits. Well, imagine my excitement when I discovered they did a re-recording of "This Could Be Love," one of my faaaaavorite Trio songs. And, my goodness, it Blew. My. Mind. "This Could Be Love" is kind of a twisted song (listen to/look up the lyrics and you'll see what I mean), and the Damnesia version totally takes on a more sinister, desperate vibe that fits absolutely perfectly. The original recording of the song has a somewhat manic air to it, which is also great, but I really dig the darker tone Alkaline Trio gave it on Damnesia. Gives me chills!

Cobra Starship: You Make Me Feel -- This song was the first single released from Cobra Starship's most recent album, Night Shades. I have lukewarm feelings toward the album as a whole (which will be addressed in a separate post), but I love this particular song. "You Make Me Feel" is typical Cobra Starship--very dancey, synthy, and catchy, with Gabe Saporta's stellar vocals shining through. It has a slight hip-hop vibe to it, which is cool, and the female vocals by Sabi add a nice dimension to the song. As for the video...how freaking cute is Gabe? I swoon.

Avril Lavigne: Smile -- I'm just going to assume you're judging me for the fact that Avril Lavigne is on this list. Let's just acknowledge that and move on, ok? Righty-o. So, here's why I like this song (aside from the fact that it's catchy and has sweet lyrics). Avril's first hit, "Complicated," was my self-proclaimed theme song in 8th grade. Sort of set the standard for my longtime reign as the emo one in my group of friends. Well, a decade later, someone has come into my life who makes me smile more than I thought was possible (seriously, I'm pretty sure if things keep up I'm going to have to relinquish my title as the emo kid). The chorus in this song is very fitting to the situation: "And that's why I smile. It's been a while since every day and everything has felt this right, and now you turn it all around, and suddenly you're all I need--the reason why I smile." It's also kind of cool to have come full-circle with an artist's music. So...yeah.

Matt & Kim: Daylight -- I had heard a lot about Matt & Kim and had listened to a few songs, but for some reason never gave them a very serious listen. Well, the other night they opened for Blink 182's Minneapolis/St. Paul show (review coming soon!) and I was so impressed. Super fun, high energy, interacted with the crowd, and great musically. Across the board, awesome performance. I've been listening to them somewhat incessantly since. And! Discovered while seeing them live that Matt is really cute*. Bonus!

*Sidenote: I am in no way whatsoever one of those people who will listen to a band solely because I think a member of the band is attractive. In fact, I make a very conscious point not to look for pictures or watch videos of the band until after I've listened to them so I don't have that sort of bias in my head.

Adele: Rolling in the Deep -- Vocally, Adele is pretty much the embodiment of perfection. I'm fairly certain the girl couldn't hit a sour note if she tried, and the power with which she delivers her music is earth shattering. As far as female artists go, Adele is what the music industry needs to try to get more of: someone who not only possesses pure talent (no autotune!!!), but who is all about marketing herself based on that talent and not off of gimmicks and raciness. Classic.

Enjoy the tunes, and be on the look out for several more posts coming in the next couple of weeks because I have lots of ideas tumbling around in my head that I want to share with you guys!