Quick Hits, Vol. 133 (Trinidad James, Violent Soho, Big Thief, Brent Cobb)

More great work on diving deep into the world of the festivals from Rob Mitchum.  Interesting questions he is asking here, about diversity between festivals and historical changes over time.  Love this stuff.  Although, his comment about sexual diversity, I feel like ACL is chocked damn full of woman-centric bands.  Hold please, going to go waste a bunch of time... and there we go.  Of 113 different artists on weekend one's poster in 2016, I counted 23 that are woman only (20.3%) and 18 that are mixed (15.9%) for a total diversity of 36.2%.  That maybe isn't a perfect analysis, as I'm not counting the fact that Chris Stapleton's wife sang with him on stage, because his "band" seems more like just him as a dude, and other similar cases.  But it shows that ACL is up in the top 5 or so with the other fests listed in that article at about mid-30's percent.  We'll see how they stack up once the official lineup comes out in a bit.

Trinidad James - The Wake Up 2.  I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt because of "All Gold Everything" from 2013, and "Just a Lil' Thick (She Juicy)" (which is awesome and I still sing it to myself all the time - SHE AIN'T FAT BRA!  JUSSALITTLE THICK!) but this mixtape is a bunch of misses to me.  The album opener is named "Taylor Swift," apparently solely to get search engine hits, because the only time her name is mentioned is in reference to her and Miley Cyrus making a movie (I think because they are so high from his super awesome drugs?)  I dunno, this song is not good.  Most of these songs have guests doing verses, but other than Makonnen, none are people of any note.  The most popular track from the album is, not surprisingly, the one named after the most popular artist in the world, likely from desperate fans who wish she was on Spotify or from dumb kids who don't know any better and try to play it before realizing their large mistake.  But the second most popular is "Henny Cup$," and although it isn't much better, I don't want to give this jackass any more plays for that other song.

Blah blah blah.

Violent Soho - Hungry Ghost.  I recently reviewed their most recent album (Waco) but had never heard this older one, which everything I read about said was the true hit from their catalog.  Aussie band, with a deep and true love for the 90's grunge rock/alt rock scene in their tunes.  I love it.  So much fuzz.  Walks the line between Fugazi and Nirvana and, like, the Offspring or something, in a pleasing way.

That shit makes me want to bum rush a huge crowd of people gathered for the World's Strongest Man competition and fight them all to the death using only my forehead.  I would very much like to jump up and down while that song is playing and get punched in the arm by a stranger beside me who is having the best time ever.  When "Fur Eyes" came on, I could swear that it is a cover song.  Something like R.E.M. or the Replacements or Pete Yorn.  No, I'm hearing the Smashing Pumpkins.  It is "By Starlight" from Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness, where Corgan sings about "dead eyes" over and over.  It is even the same inflection and notes on the two matching lines.  Weird that these things are stuck in my brain.  Anyway, this is a legit song of their own.  This whole album is my kind of stuff.

Big Thief - Masterpiece.  No clue where I found this album, but this is a pretty solid album of indie rockers with a very good female vocalist.  It bounces between upbeat rockers and more tender, introspective sounding tunes.  I like the upbeat better, but I like the lead singer so much that I don't mind either.  The top track is "Paul," which has 2.1 million streams.  Pretty good for an indie band.

"I'll be your real tough cookie with the whiskey breath, I'll be a killer and a thriller and the cause of our death."  Some legit Bonnie and Clyde shit going on there.  But sang like a torchy love song, despite the fact that homegirl is a gangster.  Oooh, oooh, Tiny Desk! Hooray for the Tiny Desk!

That stuff sounds really really good.  I'd love to hear them play someplace intimate and small and just sit back and enjoy the sound.

Brent Cobb - Shine on Rainy Day.  Oh yeah, this is the good business right here.  If you've been sucked into the timeless country wormhole of Sturgill and Jamey and Stapleton, as I have, then this is going to taste smooth like Tennessee whiskey.  Smooth guitar work, solid, accented vocals, and loads of good stories like "Down in the Gulley" about his grand-dad making moonshine.  Or the lyrics in "Diggin' Holes," about his failures in love and how he ought to be workin' in a coal mine or oil field because he's so good at diggin' holes or workin' for the railroad because he's so good at leavin' town. The top track is the title track with 1.1 million streams.

Spare song, simple as can be.  But so damn pretty is hurts your heart a little bit.  I'm a fan of this album for sure.