I should note that I could not find any chart or report anywhere proving this newscaster correct, so I probably didn’t hear right in the first place.  I did find this, which is almost as bad, but it doesn’t matter.  I was disgusted just at the thought of this actually being true.  Once the shock went away I wondered if this is what “rock” is supposed to be these days?  Nickelback isn’t fucking rock!  They’re not even worthy of being anywhere in the vicinity of the label of “rock.”  I shudder to think that this is what the kids these days are listening to. 

Hence this Music Byte.  I thought I’d try to remind you all that there are still good rock bands out there, even if they don’t play them on Z100. Although they might play Kings of Leon on Z100 – I wouldn’t know because I don’t listen to that crap. My point is that Kings of Leon could TOTALLY kick Nickelback’s ass.  Any day.

If you can’t tell yet, I love these guys.  I could listen to their newest album, Only By The Night, over and over and over again and never get sick of it. Seriously.  And I do.  Often.  You can’t help but become mesmerized by lead singer Caleb Followill’s voice, and the songs just transform you to another place and time and, well, that’s what I look for in my music.  To be swept away.  The band is made up of four relatives, three brothers and a first cousin, and Only By The Night is their fourth full-length release.  While they come from Nashville, the three brothers (Caleb, Nathan, and Jared) are the sons of a traveling preacher and were home-schooled by their mother.  Because of the way they grew up, they’ve reported that they were very much sheltered from music, and therefore are only finding their true musical influences in recent years.  That fun fact just makes them all the more talented in my opinion.  I bet fucking Chad Kroeger grew up listening to the classics, and he still sucks.  So there.  Another fun fact?  Each band member goes by his middle name and they all share the same surname (Followill).

You may or may not have heard of them, as they’ve been more successful over in the UK, but they seem to be doing quite well here also.  They’re headlining Madison Square Garden on January 29th, and when I searched for two tickets “No tickets could be found.”  Bummer.

Anyway, I like these guys so much I’ve decided to do something CRAZY and give you two introductions.  The first, one of my favorite songs on the album:

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

And the second is a bonus.  But really more for my benefit than yours since I think the singer is so fucking delicious looking I really really just want to BITE his ribs. This song is just too sexy, I’m sorry.  I mean, read the lyrics yourself if you don’t believe me:

Sex On Fire

Yummy.  

If you’d like to become friends with Kings of Leon, you can go here.  If you’d rather become a fan, go here.  If you want to read their Wiki page, go here.  Here’s their bio.  And if anyone has an extra ticket or two to the show at the Garden, ummm yea email me.  STAT.

I have to admit that when the five of them took the stage I was a bit skeptical, but it could have been because I was practically blinded by the amount of neon clothing I saw them all wearing.  They hail from Seattle, and even though they claimed it was their first time ever in NYC, I could’ve sworn that they walked right off Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.  As soon as they started playing, the crowd went wild and it was nearly impossible for me to stand still.  I was overwhelmed with the need to dance my ass off, and jump up and down screaming for a band I’d heard about forty seconds of.  As I looked around me I noticed that I wasn’t the only one; everyone was into it.  I remember feeling relieved that there were a lot of other people making total fools of themselves.  It was FUN.  

Here’s one of my favorite songs of the night, “Sophisticated Side Ponytail.”  I feel the need to point out that the girl, Clare England, is not the lead singer of the group.  But her emergence from behind the synth bass was super refreshing and a healthy dose of comic relief:

I agree with the Village Voice that there really is only so much of these guys you can take, as I learned the hard way by listening to the entire album on repeat for three days after seeing them.  However, I think they’d be good to have in your pocket in case you ever need to liven up a boring party or you want to dance around your apartment should you be so inspired.  Of course, if you have the opportunity to see them perform live you will not be disappointed.  

Their debut full-length is titled “Glistening Pleasure“.  They say it’s “because it glistens and is very pleasurable,” but I like it because it reminds me of an old friend of mine who always pronounced words that started with “l” like “gl.”  It makes the play on words that much funnier to me.

To become friends with Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head you can go to Facebook or MySpace.  To read their blog, go here.  If you want a little background on them you can go here.  Unfortunately they don’t divulge how they came up with that awesome name, so if anyone has any theories or insight, please post them in the comments.

You may remember I told you I attended the release party for Sikamor Rooney’s self-titled record at the Mercury Lounge.  If you don’t, just scroll down a bit and I’ll remind you.  Anyway, I showed up a little late, thinking I had some time before the band of the hour started their set, assuming they would be the final band to play. Well, I was wrong.  They played first.  Is it customary for bands who are having record release parties to play first?  Everyone knows people show up late to everything, shouldn’t that band play last?  Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Because of all of this, however, I only was able to listen to a couple songs of their set, kicking myself the entire time for not getting my ass in gear a little sooner. Fortunately, I know people, and was able to get my hands on a CD. Good thing, too, because I’ve been having a lot of fun with these guys.  

To have a listen go here.  There were no YouTube videos that had decent sound quality, so you’re going to have to not be lazy about this and just click the damn link.  You’ll have fun, I promise.

PS – Thanks to the sis and her super-cute-but-WAY-too-young-for-me-friend!  I had a blast!

Anyone who knows me knows I love any music that has a chick and a piano.  Certain albums or songs from Fiona Apple or Tori Amos have gotten me through some serious times, both good and bad.  More recently, however, these old standbys just weren’t cutting it in helping me handle the enormity of my current situation.  My sister recommended that I listen to Adele, so I checked out a few Youtube videos, and downloaded the album.  I have to give my sister credit for this one; Adele is just what I need right now.  And while the following video may not directly relate to the way I am feeling lately, some of her others do, and that’s good enough for me!  

If you want to see if Adele will be your friend, go here.  For her blog, tour dates, and other fun stuff, go here.

PS – I know technically this is a chick with a piano that someone else is playing, but close your eyes and pretend people! Pretend GODDAMMIT!