Fresh Track: Triptides “Couch Surfer”
Triptides has remained a favorite of Thought on Tracks since our beginnings. Bloomington based and often left coast placed, Triptides remains relevant by offering that certain garage rock sound that makes my knees tremble. While I can’t tell what geographic location they are currently occupying, I can tell you that they just gave us two more free songs recorded in Apartment 3 on a Tascam 488.
Songs “Couch Surfer” and “Sun/Shine” are an extension of the sounds of 2011 release Psychic Summer. Glenn Brigman and Josh Menashe use a drum machine to support a mix of wild, beachy, melodic guitar riffs throughout these two tracks. It is undeniable that Triptides continues to win me over because their expedited release cycle and howling batch of nautical notes. While these songs do not bundle themselves accordingly with the winter woes they allow me to look forward to time in the sun, with my sand covering my toes.
Connect with Triptides via Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp
Written by Brett McGrath
Video: Hotfox “Esplanade”
Yesterday, Bloomington, IN’s Hotfox released the official video for their song “Esplanade” from the album You, Me and the Monster out last year. The video opens with shots from “The Stacks” at IU’s Herman B. Wells library, a scene that at once made me nostalgic and incredibly anxious – immediately thrown back into a caffeine-infused cram session that only college requires. The track is one of the milder efforts from Hotfox’s debut release, an acoustic slow-roll, meditating on the fear that comes with living in a world where the nutters have been given the keys to the nuthouse. “The asylum is waging war upon the streets…” Fortunately, amidst the chaos lies something pure – a phoenix, a burst of color. Heavy stuff for what is otherwise one of the lighter tracks on the album. Check out the video below, shot and edited by Kristine Morgan.
Connect with Hotfox via Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp
Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track: Chad Serhal “30”
Bloomington’s Chad Serhal has been churning out some consistently terrific material lately. He serves as frontman for She Does Is Magic, whose self-titled, debut EP wound up on my Top 5 of 2011 list. Yesterday, Serhal released an album of solo material entitled Golden. The 13 tracks were penned last year and recorded in a single week, kicking off 2012. The album begins with the voice of Edward Bloom from Tim Burton’s 2003 flick Big Fish, saying “And if I were to end up here, I’d feel lucky. But the truth is, I’m not ready to end up anywhere.”
The constrictive nature of a less than fulfilling hometown echoes in Serhal’s lyrics throughout the opening track “30.” The song’s voice speaks to the restlessness one feels with complacency, advising instead that the listener “Get out while the getting’s good.” A sentiment as old as rock n roll. Here, Serhal seems to be justifying his own dream of the aspiring musician as a life worth living, saying, “You have to keep moving / you can’t be confined to your neighborhood / And let the music take you places / you never thought you could.”
By the end of the track, Serhal ensures that he understands that the path he’s chosen will not be easy. To pull this off he returns to Edward Bloom. Now Bloom is being asked by a young child how he could possibly expect to make it without his shoes. Bloom’s reply: “Well, I suspect it will hurt – a lot.” Grab Golden for $5 from Bandcamp. Keep your ears open for She Does is Magic’s debut, full-length LP due to drop on Bloomington’s Flannelgraph Records later this year.
Connect with Chad Serhal via Twitter |Bandcamp
Written by Rob Peoni
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