Today’s songs range from relatively new to a decade or so old. I blame my Rip Van Winkle experience of dropping out of popular music consumption around 1993 as the pressures of academic work increasingly squeezed out other interests. So a lot of my new music is not necessarily new, just new to me.

I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business – Lame Duck

I will admit that my interest in this song initially stemmed from my curiosity about the band’s name. Apparently the moniker has now been shortened to just I Can Make A Mess, which gives off a different vibe. “Lame Duck” is from I Can Make a Mess’ 2011 album Gold Rush. It opens with shimmering U2-like guitar sounds but quickly develops into a pleasant vocally driven tune.  I Can Make a Mess is just one of a number of projects from Ace Enders.

I Can Make a Mess/Ace Enders Facebook

Sleeper Agent – Love Blood

This 2011 song has a host of great hooks but as I kept listening to it I thought it really reminded me of something. But what? Then it hit me: at the 30 second mark the song is strongly reminiscent of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” at the bridge where Debbie Harry sings “In between what I find is pleasing …” only Sleeper Agent have cranked up the speed and the impact of the hook.

Sleeper Agent Facebook

Bob Mould – See a Little Light

Husker Du was one of those bands that anyone interested in the alternative music scene in the 1980s was supposed to love but they never really grabbed me. Too indiscriminately noisy for my tastes. Besides, music was my respite from alienation, not its soundtrack. Mould’s solo stuff I have found more melodic and engaging.  “See a Little Light” is from his 1989 debut solo album Workbook.

Bob Mould website

The Hello Sequence – Everyone Knows Everyone

I love the bleating harmonica that anchors this song, overlaid with smooth vocals that remind me of 1960s groups like The Association.

Hello Sequence Facebook