Quick Hits, Vol. 315 (Joyce Manor, Bruce Springsteen, Two Door Cinema Club, Death Cab for Cutie)

Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again.  Another older album that somehow made it into my new music queue.  2014 disc.  Wherever it came from, I'm grateful to those people who got me here, because it is pretty fun.  Super tuneful rock and roll that is both catchy and loud, a little too yell-y at times, and yet makes me bob my head and sing along.  Because I have no clue how this appeared in my queue, I looked them up.  They are a punk band from California who is still making music even in 2022.  The band name came from an apartment complex related to these dudes.  Every once in a while, some The Cure-ass synths randomly pop in these songs, and I find that endearing - see "Falling in Love Again".  "Heated Swimming Pool" randomly sounds like a The Smiths b-side.  Two biggish songs with over ten million streams, but the winner is that "Falling in Love Again" joint at 15 million streams.

Tasty garage rock jangle and thrumming bassline.  Surprisingly good album that I wish I would have known about a decade ago when it first came out!  Definitely going to keep it in the mix.

Bruce Springsteen - Only the Strong Survive.  I know that he has the right to do a classic covers set like this, but it is kind of a bummer to lose out on fresh music in favor of some of these moldy oldies.  Not that they sound bad - "Nightshift" and several of these other covers sound great, his voice is still relatively solid and the backing band gets in to a great groove.  But still, I'd rather hear him write another "Glory Days" than sing some dusty ass song about a Western Union man.  "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" is the top streamer in here, a song by Frank Wilson and a part of Bruce's current concert lineup.  5.7 million.

His concert a few weeks ago was freaking rad - he still brings a ton of energy and excitement and showmanship to the live experience.  Made me really wish that I could have seen him previously, but at least I got one time!  I won't keep this disc around though.

Two Door Cinema Club - Keep on Smiling.  Saw these cats at an ACL several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the show.  The smart combination of pop and rock and 80's danceability was very tasty.  Sadly, this one just never takes off for me, each time I slog through it I don't find any of that joy that I wanted to hear.  It is still brightly lit pop rock that has a lot of bounce, but for whatever reason it rings hollow to me.  The top track is the third - "Everybody's Cool" with 3.5 million streams.

Just never gets all that interesting.  And that video is aggravating to me.  Not a bad song by any means, but just isn't interesting or especially fun.  I'll let this album go as well.

Death Cab for Cutie - Asphalt Meadows.  I wrote a long review of them last year because they came to ACL, and it reminded me of how much I like them.  When I think of the band, I really only think of the old stuff that was awesome, and rarely consider the newer tunes (despite the fact that the new stuff isn't bad!).  Well this feels like another one of those, where the new stuff isn't bad, even if I probably won't move this album into my hierarchy of DCFC albums.  The opener has a great combo of fuzzy guitar riffs alongside really clean harmonies in the vocals.  The top track is in the middle, "Here to Forever," with 6.9 million streams.

Sounds clean, and the lyrics are touching nostalgia that work really well.  As always, Ben Gibbard's voice is a singular one, that sounds different and interesting each time he nails one of those lovely high notes and purely reaches up into his register.  I like it.  If their upcoming show in Austin wasn't at the dumb Germania Ampitheater, I'd totally consider going to hear that one live.