Quick Hits, Vol. 73 (Eagles of Death Metal, Tunrpike Troubadours, Baroness, Panic! At The Disco)

Eagles of Death Metal - Zipper Down.  Of course, by now, everyone knows about the Eagles of Death Metal.  Stupid asshole terrorists attacking their show in Paris has put EODM on the map for all the wrong reasons.  Before all that had gone down, I had heard of them because of Josh Homme's involvement in the band but never paid them much mind.  I think I listened to Death by Sexy and dismissed it because it wasn't as hard as the Queens.  In the aftermath of the attacks, one moron preacher called out the attendees of the concert, saying they had it coming because they went to see death metal.  Idiot.

Instead, this music is a loooong way off from death metal.  Its more of party rock, goofing around with rock and roll stereotypes.  Check the lyrics on "Silverlake," which joke about all the cool kids going to a "tight" show in Silverlake, and contain the laments of a super cool hipster trying to get into the show.  This is just fun rock that you could dance to.  They've got two popular tracks off of this album, one because it is a sweet cover (Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer") and one because it is getting covered.  "I Love You All the Time" has now been covered by a bunch of other artists (Florence + the Machine, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, etc.) for the Play it Forward campaign, which benefits the victims of the Paris attacks.  Here is the original:

The Florence cover is my favorite of the ones I have heard.  But regardless of all of that, this album is fun music.  The third track has riffage borrowed from the Queens of the Stone Age, which I always approve of, and its an overall fun album.

Turnpike Troubadours - The Turnpike Troubadours.  Odd to name their third album after the name of the band.  Seems like a first album move to me.  But whatever, I found these guys when listening to the bands for ACL in 2014 and liked the sound a lot.  Pretty classic americana sound heavy on the fiddle.  Their second most listened-to track on Spotify from the album, the opener "The Bird Hunters" is a good one, but I'll give you the most listened-to track, "Down Here."

Definite classic sound, along with a video of small town rodeo cowboys.  Relaxed vibe and likely a good singalong track.  And my favorite piece of the album is the Old 97's cover "Doreen."  I like the 97's well enough anyway, but this is a good cover.  I'd also point out "Ringing in the Year" as a standout track.  Solid album.

Baroness - Purple.  Not sure why, but when this album first came out, Spotify only allowed access to three songs.  Now that the whole thing is available, I've jammed it a few times.  This is thick, meaty metal, not quite as hyped up as Red Fang and not quite as dark as Mastadon, but in the wheelhouse both of those inhabit.  The one song on here that has cracked a million streams on Spotify is "Shock Me."

I think the layering of the guitars, drums, and bass over one another sounds great in that track, and it sounds a lot more commercially approachable than I expected for their music after listening to the Yellow & Green album in the past.  "Chlorine & Wine" even has some Pink Floyd flourishes among the sludge.  I've enjoyed listening to this one, but I don't think I will actually keep it around for future.

Panic! At The Disco - Death of a Bachelor.  I've been thinking for a while about how I need to do a post about my guilty pleasures.  I find it humorous sometimes when I find out things that other folks like, or when people find out that I like some embarrassing things.  That is a post for another day, but I am reminded of it because I feel some shame for enjoying this album.  But there it is, I enjoy this band.  I still find it weird that they signed to the same label as Fall Out Boy - you'd think that each label would want their own emo ironic pop rock band, and wouldn't want to double up.  Like Jive signing the Backstreet Boys to compete with RCA's signing of N'Sync.  Or something like that.  But Fueled by Ramen doubled up on this sound, and I have trouble telling their songs apart, and so my enjoyment of Fall Out Boy has leaked over to this band as well.
Anyway, the lead single from this album samples the B-52's Rock Lobster, which is an awesome slice of sacrilege that I find myself fully approving of.  Here is "Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time."

I found myself saying "Champagne, Cocaine, Gasoline, and Most Things In Between!" under my breath all weekend long last weekend.  I should feel ashamed for dogging on Sam Hunt's lyrics...  I will say, though, that the first four songs come out like gangbusters, and then the album lags a little bit for me once they ratchet down into lounge singer or 90's swing revival mode (title track, "Crazy=Genius," "Impossible Year"), but I still enjoyed the trip.  I won't keep it around, but still, good effort.