Quick Hits, Vol. 155 (Hurray for the Riff Raff, Beachheads, Shakey Graves, HAIM)

Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator.  Huh.  I mean, what does that band name sound like to you, just first impression?  If you thought the first song would sound like an acoustic Americana thing that resembles The Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang" and Edie Brickell's version of "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," then you have the predictive capability of Professor X mixed with the musical acumen of the guy from High Fidelity.

That was "Living in the City."  I fully expected some sort of power pop dance music, instead I get Rihannon Giddens vibes on these tunes.  And St. Vincent.  Quite good actually.  Got a good bit of weird world rhythms on songs like "Nothing's Gonna Change That Girl," and "The Navigator," which sounds like the Buena Vista Social Club backing up Fiona Apple.  You know what else sounds like Apple?  "Pa'Lante," the almost album closer, with just simple piano chords and Alynda Segarra's exhortations to "stay out the way and be something, do your best, fuck the rest, and be something."  Surprisingly good album.  Give it a chance and see what you think.  I'm gonna hold on to it.

Beachheads - Beachheads.  Another album that has somehow made its way into my new music list without any indication of how it weaseled its way in there, but this time it is great news.  This is excellent power pop guitar rock stuff, like The Replacements listened to a bunch of Foo Fighters to get just a touch harder.  Bright pop rock stuff, like the album opener "Moment of Truth," which has about 127k streams on Spotify.

Really a fun tune.  Basic stuff, but fun and sunny.  The opening also makes me think of Teenage Fanclub, like the start of "Metal Baby."  I have that album on the brain right now though.  Anyway, yes, I like these dudes.  They have no bio on Spotify, but all their related artists are weirdly lettered names like "Hvitmalt gjerde" (for reals), so they must be Norwegian or something.  Whatever dude, I like this album.  Here is one more track, just because I just watched the video and now I want to include it here.  This is "Una."

Only 2588 views for that YouTube video, and the only comment is someone named Max Mustache, 7 months ago, saying "Huh...?"  I'm intrigued by that comment.  Whatever, even if no one gets this, I do and I like it.

Shakey Graves - Shakey Graves and the Horse He Rode in On (Nobody's Fool and The Donor Blues EP).  Wins the award for longest, weirdest album title of anything I've reviewed recently.  Weird stuff.  I saw Graves play the AllATX benefit show the other night, and he was fantastic.  Such a cool sound, all alone on the stage, playing the kick drum and guitar parts himself while still managing to sing lyrics on time.  I feel like I can barely chew gum and walk, and this guy can somehow sing complicated lyrics as three of his four appendages do different things at the same time.  For the most part, this album sounds like he is still doing that same thing, with electric guitar, kick drum, and his voice as the only sounds.  Oh, and some tambourine too, which I suspect he is also doing.  A few other additions here and there, but they are few.  With only those instruments, the sound is spare throughout.  No song makes his top ten on Spotify, and although I think my favorite is "Wither," with its creaky, ringing background and vocal overdubbing (kind of like Car Seat Headrest in tone), I'm gonna give you the top track, "Nobody's Fool," which is the only track on here to break a million at 1.5 million.

Holy shit, yes, he is also doing the tambourine.  So literally, he has left hand doing fretwork on the neck of the guitar, right hand plucking and strumming the strings, right foot doing drum rhythms, left foot doing tambourine rhythms, and also singing the lyrics.  Truly an amazing thing to be able to handle.  I like bits and pieces of this album (which appears to be the combination of two old EPs), but overall it is uneven and I'll just stick to his 2014 album.

HAIM - Something to Tell You. Nothing much has changed for these ladies, they continue to make funky pop soft-rock tailor made for a dance party where the lyrics frequently have more rhythm in them than seems possible.  Loads of good harmonies.  The best tunes on here are the fun jams, and less so the introspective, softer ones.  Like "You Never Knew," I can do without that little Magic 95-esque item.  Give me more of the high energy ones like "Want You Back," the album opener and most popular track from the album with 23.7 million streams.

That is an arena-ready, but very pretty, slow builder with some introspective lyrics.  I can imagine seeing this one live and being compelled to dance along during the chorus and then awkwardly going back to just standing there, swaying and nodding my head, when the verse comes back in.  *nervously looking around to see if anyone noticed how my shoulder-shimmy-hip-thrust devolved into a awkward head bob*  And for a simple ass video (Description for the studio execs: We are going to walk down a street and make tiny movements along with the music, we may also dance, barely) I was sucked in and wanted to see the entire thing.  I find the band endearing, I love the backstory of having played in a family band and now doing the full thing.  I enjoy most of these tunes - especially "Little of Your Love" - but I'll say that these tunes flirt with full on jamminess, but they always hold back right at the last second.  Subdued when I want them unleashed.  But I'll admit that even the slow burners like "Night So Long" are quite lovely.  Days are Gone is better, but this is solid.