Our 2022 last Thanks God Is Friday compilation is here! Bubbly, energetic and trippy, these are the must-play songs for your Friday!
Bluey Green – Cabo
Breezy and upbeat with meaningful undertones coming from a contemplative space, Bluey Green (Mitch Horton) is from a small surf town on the east coast of New Zealand. His music is the refreshing representation of that stylish yet substantial sweet spot. Warm and with a unique laid-back charm, its a genre-straddling blend of chill pop, surf rock and dance, evoking the sensations of the beach, early morning sun rises and late night cocktails with a loved one.
His latest single, Cabo, is his first release with the US-based label The Record Machine. The song is inspired by travel, the desire to escape to a new location, and the longing for meaning. You can feel the breeze in the easy-going indie pop that takes you to the exotic locals he sings about.
Mitch says “Cabo was one of the very rare songs, well, for me anyway, that seemingly just dropped out of the sky., Lyrically, the song is probably the deepest I have dived, trying to express the search for meaning, longing for direction, and a sense of purpose in life. But I like that it doesn’t relate to anything, so I hope listeners will be able to draw their own ideas and meaning from it.“
DOOM GONG – Hour in the Sun
With an untrammeled, overdriven, and warbly sound that can only be described as “Denim psych“, the band DOOM GONG is the denim clad, super duper group from Louisville, KY. The group is an amalgam of fuzzed out guitars, trumpet solos, 60’s inspired keys, and a thumping rhythm section fit with double drummers. Sighting musical inspiration from the likes of Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Grateful Dead and Piero Umiliani, this band ties together musical complexity with an explosive live show full of musical easter eggs and stage theatrics.
Hour in the Sun, released yesterday, is all about savouring an ephemeral moment, like the last few seconds of sunlight before the sun sets, or the last warm days of fall before it gets chilly. This song was a happy accident, and as the band says that Hour in the Sun “almost wasn’t even recorded. We had a little bit of time left after a long recording session at Thunder Sound , in March of this year when we decided to work on an unfinished song idea based on a melody from the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony“.
They add: “We wanted to mix that melodic idea with a laid back, Astrud Gilberto vibe but couldn’t seem to figure it out. We almost gave up on the song entirely until we had the idea to use a worn out vintage organ in the corner of the studio that sounded like a big band from the 1930’s and it was just what the song needed. We hit record and captured Hour in the Sun.“
elison – Fruit Flies
Des Moines indie rock/shoegaze/dream pop duo Elison is Marissa Kephart, lead singer and guitarist, and Scott Yoshimura, producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. The duo formed after Scott produced Marissa’s first-ever song, Meet Me Halfway in the summer of 2021. During that time they found they shared a love for much of the same late 90s and early 2000s indie rock bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo and Death Cab for Cutie. Sonically sweet, melodically vibrant, dreamy guitars and lush atmospheric sounds are highlighted throughout their previous releases.
Holding on or ruminating over what was can be intoxicating, but in all the wrong ways. Elison‘s latest, Fruit Flies, dives into how self destructive romanticising your younger years can be on your present self. “When I started playing music during the pandemic, after decades of wishing I was brave enough to try, I found myself revisiting the girl that ignited the dream in the first place, my sixteen-year-old self” explains singer Marissa Kephart. “Through that process I started questioning the actual growth I previously thought I had achieved“. Fruit Flies tells the story of how after you start to critically examine yourself, despite your best efforts, maybe you haven’t grown or changed as much as you thought you had.
Glom – Pebble
A six-piece band of multi-instrumentalists, Glom is a classic alt-rock inspired, fuzzy alt-rock act formed in Brooklyn, New York. The group started when childhood friends Sean Dunnevant, Peter Beiser, Sahil Ansari, and Jonathan Harwood got together in high school to play Beatles and Strokes covers. Now also including Jordan Wolff and Jonathan Crandall, Glom is gearing up to release their sophomore record, Merit. What you hear is a completely actualized, expertly produced, and incredibly warm collection of songs.
On late October, Glom released Pebble — the third single, and title track, from their upcoming EP due early 2023; both song and record manage the trick of making self-examination and dystopian thoughts feel and sound good. “A lot of the songs are derivative of how hellish our current world is,” explains Dunnevant. “But from a musical standpoint, a lot of this record is happy and upbeat. They’re heavy songs, but you don’t have to feel bad about it.”
Locations – Moves
Locations is an alt-rock duo from Brooklyn, NY. They’re on a mission to unite the working class through engaging music – literally. Each single is attached to an issue and an action, including tackling corruption, advocating for healthcare as a human right, and combating the climate crisis. Circle up and use your power – join Locations in the fight for a better world.
Locations’ latest track Moves is the funkiest and most danceable track they’ve ever recorded: propulsive enough to get a street party started, slinky enough to intrigue, and sexy enough to spark a late-summer flame. But as hedonistic as it sounds, it’s a subtly political song inspired by something serious: a major health crisis suffered by one of the artists in the group. The sidelining and immobilisation of a principal member made all the musicians in Locations reflect on the importance of healthcare and reaffirm their commitment to universal coverage. Moves doubles as an ode to the joy of motion and a reminder that we’re only truly free when our capacity to continue living is guaranteed. Because of that, they’ve raised their voices on behalf of the New York Health Act, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that would guarantee universal coverage in the Empire State. Moves is designed to get the club spinning; it’s also meant to raise consciousness about the Campaign for New York Health, an advocacy group organising to get the NY Health Act across the finish line.
Voodoo Bandits – Drag.
Voodoo Bandits are an Indie Garage Rock/Surf Power Pop band hailing from the Isle of Man, UK. The band describe their sound as a “blue sky riding on a skateboard“, the perfect jam of fuzzy yet clear guitars, distinctive vocals and boisterous fast beats all coming together to make a feeling of optimism and carefree relief. The band take influence from the likes of Wavves, Skegss and FIDLAR to make a sound that is packed with character and edge, unique to their geographical location.
The band are regulars on the UK’s live music scene, having performed in a number of cities up and down the country including Manchester or Liverpool. This year, Voodoo Bandits made their debut festival appearances at Y Not and Kendal Calling followed by major shows supporting Two Door Cinema Club and McFly in their hometown.
Drag. was released on late October and is about failing at a relationship and struggling to overcome feeling like you’re not good enough to fix it. The track was recorded, produced and mixed by frontman Ben Donaldson at his home studio and is the bands third DIY single release of the year following on from previous singles Fuzz My Life and Dave’s House. This track is the bands personal favourite release to date and is one that they love to play together due to its angst vocals, thumping beats and overall head bopping energy.