Orange Slices! (an intermission)

You all thought that was a band, didn't you?  Hell, it may be a band.  I bet there is some band in Florida playing tween punk pop calling themselves Orange Slices and singing a song about summer love.  Whatever.  I figured that, with about 45 reviews under my belt, I'm likely at the first quarter mark and thought I'd recap some of what I've seen here.

New Stuff I Had Never Heard of Before But am Now Excited About Award (the Woah! Award):

1. Blackberry Smoke.  I want to go back to listening to these dudes.  If my initial impression means anything, then I really want to see them play this faithful jam of southern rock.
2. Turnpike Troubadours.  Same here.  Excellent alt-country that I'll want to revisit.
3. Hozier.  I woke up singing that Take Me To Church song yesterday.  Awesome tune.

Old Stuff I Knew I Liked and I Was Right So Good For Me Award (the Yup. Award):

1. Real Estate
2. Spoon
3. Gaslight Anthem

Stuff I'm Kind of Sad I Liked Because I'm Uncomfortable Not Being Extremely Cool at All Times, Which Means Hating Anything Vaguely Popular (The Dammit! Award):

1. Iggy Azelea's Fancy.  I don't want to like her.  I think I'm not supposed to like her.  But I found myself listening to this song again yesterday, and then was involuntarily reaching my hand up to act like I was steering a wheel while singing the hook.  Dammit.  I think I can trace this irrational like back to my shameful enjoyment of Gwen Stefani's solo album that ended up just being a massive ad for her new clothing line.
2. Chromeo.  I think they are playing a joke on me.  Those two dudes can't really be seriously that funky, right?  Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell are going to pop out of their bodies on stage and laugh and I am going to be crying in an interview room for a new HBO reality show called Chromeo, the Funky Con.
3. Skrillex.  I'm 37 damn years old.  There is no way I am still suppose to want to hear aggressive bro-ey music.  Grow up already, right?  Nope.  Although I'm sure the wife would disagree, this is the universal sound that all humans must enjoy and feel deep in their clenched fists.

You Are The Weakest Link (So Far) (The Worst! Award):

1. Lana Del Rey.  I thought long and hard about the Q Brothers taking this award home, but I feel like that might legitimize them in some way.

OK.  Only about 3,478 bands left to listen to.  I'm gonna make it.