popwreckoning

After completing a successful headlining tour in support of their most recent album Real Ghosts Caught On Tape, Fake Problems have announced plans to hit the road with Hellogoodbye, as well as a co-headlining tour with The Swellers. Fake Problems have developed into one of today’s most exciting acts and will undeniably see them continue to attract new music fans who are looking for something fresh that maintains a complete sense of originality.

Be sure to catch them at one of the numerous summer dates below:
Hellogoodbye, Fake Problems, Fences, A Great Big Pile of Leaves

7/12 – St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
7/13 – Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
7/14 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
7/15 – Birmingham, AL @ WorkPlay Theatre
7/16 – Louisville, KY @ The Vernon Club
7/17 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
7/18 – Urbana, IL @ The Canopy Club
7/19 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
7/20 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
Fake Problems, The Swellers, Daytrader

7/22 – Dekalb, IL @ The House Cafe
7/23 – Kalamazoo, MI @ The Strutt
7/24 – Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s
7/26 – Covington, KY @ The Mad Hatter
7/27 – Akron, OH @ Musica
7/28 – Altoona, PA @ The Club Car Cafe
7/29 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
7/30 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft at the Chance
7/31 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Lounge
8/2 – Providence, RI @ Club Hell
8/3 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s
8/4 – Manchester, NH @ Rocko’s
8/5 – Hamden, CT @ The Space
8/6 – Jermyn, PA @ Eleanor Rigby’s
8/7 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
8/8 – Washington, DC @ The Red Palace
8/9 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel
8/10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
8/11 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre

For information visit www.sideonedummy.com/bands/fake-problems

Indie pop act Hellogoodbye has announced a winter 2011 headlining tour. The tour starts January 21 in San Luis Obispo, CA, moves East and returns to the West Coast for a final date on March 2 in Anaheim, CA.

Joining the band know for their quirky electro pop songs will Gold Motel (featuring former Hush Sound member Greta) and Now, Now Every Children. From January 21 to February 13 joining the tour will be You, Me and Everyone We Know. From February 14 through March 2, Jukebox the Ghost will open. The tour hits Lawrence, KS at the Bottleneck on February 19.

Tickets for the tour can be found at www.hellogoodbye.net. The band’s second full-length, Would It Kill You? is also available on the site and orders made before December 31 will come with a personalized holiday card from the band.

You can also download  an mp3 of “Getting Old” from Would It Kill You? for free here.

Tour Dates:
1/21 @ Downtown Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA *
1/22 @ Troubador – Los Angeles, CA *
1/23 @ Rhythm Room – Phoenix, AZ *
1/25 @ Cambridge Room – Dallas, TX *
1/26 @ Stubb’s – Austin, TX *
1/27 @ Warehouse Studio @ Houston, TX *
1/28 @ Parish – New Orleans, LA *
1/29 @ Phineas Phogg – Pensacola, FL *
1/30 @ Masquerade – Atlanta, GA *
2/1 @ The Social – Orlanda, FL *
2/4 @ New Brookland Tavern – Columbia, SC *
2/5 @ Greene Street – Greensboro, NC *
2/7 @ Jammin Java – Vienna, VA *
2/8 @ First Unitarian Church – Philadephia, PA *
2/9 @ Highline Ballroom – New York, NY *
2/10 @ Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA *
2/11 @ School of Rock – S. Hackensack, NJ *
2/12 @ Mr. Small’s – Pittsburgh, PA *
2/13 @ Mod Club – Toronto, ONT *
2/15 @ Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH ^
2/16 @ Eagle Theatre – Pontiac, MI ^
2/17 @ Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL ^
2/18 @ Blue Moose – Iowa City, IA ^
2/19 @ Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS ^
2/20 @ Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO ^
2/22 @ Complex – Salt Lake City, UT ^
2/23 @ The Venue – Boise, ID ^
2/25 @ El Corazon – Seattle, WA ^
2/26 @ Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR ^
2/28 @ Slim’s – San Francisco, CA ^
3/2 @ Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA ^
* w/ Gold Motel, You, Me, And Everyone We Know, and Now, Now Every Children
^ w/ Jukebox The Ghost, Gold Motel, and Now, Now Every Children

While listening to Miniature Tigers‘ Tell It To the Volcano, the two adjectives that seemed to stand out the most in my observations were awkward and endearing. Ironically, the latter adjective was used to describe their debut EPs, Black and White Magic by music magazine Death +Taxes. I wish not to sound repetitive, but I don’t honestly think there is a better way to illustrate this band verbally.

They’re cute, quirky, and comical (musically, that is…I’ve never met them personally to be capable of assuming so), and all of the typical adjectives associated with their roots. Two years prior to the release of their aforementioned dual disc EP, Rolling Stone gave them a nod on their list of the “25 Hottest Bands On MySpace.” Not to classify them as a “MySpace band” or anything to that extreme, but let’s be straight; MySpace has helped a lot of bands make it big and many of them sound stylistically similar to Miniature Tigers. Examples include Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, and Plain White Ts….you get the picture. It’s not that they are essentially the same, they just noticeably came from a similar mold. It’s not just the catchy indie-pop tunes, it’s the “awkwardly endearing” quality.

Their lyrics are heavily sardonic (similar to the aforementioned Say Anything), laden with extraneous metaphors, and over dramatized exaggerations. Their instrumentation, however was very difficult to throw myself into. Maybe it’s their somewhat mellow nature; whimsical and slightly redundant, punctuated by often strange noises (very Hellogoodbye-esque, except Hellogoodbye is a bit more up tempo and diverse), but they just didn’t personally get me going. If you happen to dig the typical “MySpace indie” sound, then I would definitely recommend this album to you. The band has been recognized by various publications, including SPIN magazine’s “9 Hottest New Bands Playing CMJ 2008″ and has toured with the likes of Ben Folds and Popwreckoning favorite Kevin Devine, as well as substituting their own lead guitarist with Phantom Planet’s Darren Robinson in the earlier part of this year.

The band is currently touring to promote the album.

Track listing:
01. Cannibal Queen
02. Like Or Like Like
03. Dino Damage
04. Tell It To The Volcano
05. Hot Venom
06. Tchaikovsky & Solitude
07. The Wolf
08. Giraffe
09. Annie Oakley
10. Haunted Pyramid
11. Last Night’s Fake Blood

Miniature Tigers: website | myspace | @ electric factory | @ jackpot

I must confess the first thought that went through my head when I arrived at the Beaumont was “Damn. I’m old.”

Hanson‘s “Use Your Sole” tour, which featured Steel Train, Sherwood and Hellogoodbye, attracted a crowd of girls, aged 12 to 16, and women aged in the early 20s to mid-30s. There were a few dudes at the show, too.

The ladies in the crowd were in high spirits through the entire show. The girls’ hair flailed, and heels clomped as they shouted and cheered in sheer joy. The fans’ screams reached an all time high when Hanson took the stage.

Now, I’m not a fan of Hanson’s music, but I must admit the band earned the loud adulation it received from the crowd.

I was a bit shocked when Hanson walked on stage.

I mean, they were all grown-up.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised by the band’s mature look, but the last time I saw a photo of Hanson, the guys’ were much younger and grungier.

On Friday evening, Isaac Hanson (guitar, bass, piano, vocals) wore a white shirt with a slim, black vest and tie, and Taylor Hanson (piano, guitar, drums, vocals), wore a fitted, black shirt. Although I wasn’t able to see what Zac Hanson (drums, piano, guitar, vocals) was wearing, I can report he had a mass amount of energy. He got up from his drum kit a few times during the performance and ran around the stage to get the audience moving.

Hanson started off its set with “Worlds Of Fire,” then “Blue Sky.” Both songs were upbeat, and elicited thoughts of bright, crisp aired mornings and happy times.

During the third song, “Where’s The Love,” many of the girls in the crowd began to dance (and push through the crowd, bumping into whoever blocked the path they choose. Grr). Whenever the band sang the lyrics “round and around,” many females made swirly hand motions and jumped up and down.

The band then began playing the sweet “Strong Enough To Break,” which incorporated light, airy guitar sounds.

After playing “A Minute Without You,” the band launched into “Great Divide,” which had a Maroon 5 groove.

Hanson’s music has changed a bit over the years. While they’re still very pop on some tunes, many of the band’s new songs have a bluesy feel. The musicians seem to be writing more passionate lyrics, too.

During the last half of Hanson’s set, the band played “Been There Before” and “Hey.”

“Hey,” which came from the band’s 2004 album Underneath, had a light country rock feel, while “Been There Before,” which came from the 2007 album The Walk, had John Mayer guitar influences, and was filled with rich keyboard chords.

Hanson ended the show with its big pop hit, “MmmBop,” and the feel good, “If Only.”

So, what did I learn after attending a Hanson show?

1) The guys in Hanson are talented musicians, and are still able to write fun, rompy music.
2) The band has a loyal fan base who enjoyed the new and old material.
3) The band is doing a heck of a lot of good for the world.

Set list:
Worlds On Fire
Blue Sky
Where’s The Love
A Minute Without You
Great Divide
Carry You There
Strong Enough To Break
Cecilia
These Walls
Watch Over Me
Waiting For This
Crazy Beautiful
Hey
Been There Before
Hard To Handle ?
MMMBop
Lost Without Each Other
Something Going
If Only (update: listed, but not played)

Hanson: website | myspace
Take the Walk: website

Photo by: Joshua Hammond

Kansas City’s synth-wielding duo, Audiovox, recently released their self-titled debut Audiovox. Audiovox, a simple, but aptly named album is exactly how the name makes it sound: some audio samples mixed with that characteristic  vocal sound of many electronica albums that give vocals a bit of a metallic twang.

The album is a clean, well-mixed album filled with electric pop ditties. The main word that pops into my head is “cute.” An obvious comparison would be to other synth and percussive groups like Hellogoodbye and Playradioplay, but as I listened to the first song “Breaking Up Is Breaking Out,” the more surprising comparison, yet accurate comparison would be to 90s Christmas tunes like “Wonderful Christmas Time.” I make this comparison to the musical nature of the tunes, not the lyrical nature.

Before brushing this album off as a simply fun, but fluff album, I do encourage giving the last few songs a listen. Audiovox’s “A Cautionary Tale” and “Mortimer” are some of the best songs on the album. “A Cautionary Tale” has a grungy start, but explodes into a pop melody that makes you want to jump and dance. “Mortimer,” as the name makes it sound, takes the record in a surprisingly darker turn, showing that Audiovox has greater range than one may originally want to give them credit for.

Tracklisting:
01. Breaking Up Is Breaking Out
02. Ready Aim Fire
03. Runtime Error 3:58
04. A Cautionary Tale
05. Sleep Schedule
06. Mortimer

Audiovox: website | myspace

If you have missed the Nightmare of You tour in your city, start kicking yourself now. You may have just missed the best show of the summer.

Brian Bonz (minus the Dot Hongs) kicked off with his angelic, but devilishly powerful voice accompanied by acoustic guitar. He accented his chord progressions by alternating taps and slaps on the body of the guitar to create a rich percussive effect. As he teetered between Fleet Foxes sweet to Kevin Devine power, Bonz made an excellent impression as he showcased some of his new album’s songs. When it came time for him to end his set, he broke out a cover of Broken Social Scene‘s “Super Connected.” It’s something that I’ve heard him do before, but it just gets better and better, especially when you consider that there are like a bajillion of them on stage for the song and Bonz delivers the whole tune perfectly all on his own. In fact, all of his songs were written for full band, but on this tour Bonz has done an excellent job working them into solo arrangements.

I stepped outside to grab some air before the next act, Plushgun. I rushed back once I heard their danceable synth riffs filter outside. When I came in, I was surprised to see that everyone had a glow stick and everyone was dancing to the band’s toy xylophone melody. At a glance, it would be easy to write them off as another cutesy, but silly band like Hellogoodbye, with their tight pants and sunglasses at night. However, upon a closer look, these Brooklynites proved they had some serious skills. They guys switched around instruments, got the crowd moving, had some really clever lyrics and the drummer just absolutely killed it with one of the most impressive drum solos that I’ve seen in a long time. After already impressing me enough, the singer took the show a step further asking, “You guys ready to have a dance party for real?” Before jumping into the audience and busting out some moves. Plushgun was a lot of fun and I can’t wait for them to come back through on a headlining run.

It would take a really strong headliner to follow up the two amazing opening acts, and though I had seen Nightmare of You before, I must admit that I was nervous if they could meet that challenge. I had overheard that singer, Brandon Reilly, was sick. In fact, he was so sick he didn’t join the rest of the band for the interview he was supposed to do with us, and when I saw him walk through the venue, I knew he had seen better days. I doubt the sweltering Kansas heat was helping much either. So knowing these conditions, I really didn’t expect much from his performance. And I would have excused him.

Fortunately for Kansas, Reilly still delivered. They got off to a bit of a rocky start, but once they found their groove for “Days Go By,” the band was jamming. Quite literally. I was quite surprised by the many instrumental breaks and intros that they added to many of their songs. They were done quite tastefully and instead of dragging like some jam bands tend to do, these nicely reiterated themes and allowed individual musicians in the band to shine. Not that solo breaks were necessary when songs like “I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard” already nicely highlight instruments like the bass.

To add even more flavor to their music, NOY was joined on stage by Bonz for several numbers, usually for the new songs off Infomaniac. While songs from their folksier first album will always hold a firm place in my heart, I am excited to hear the new album when it drops August 4, 2009–especially after songs like “Gavi” blew me away.

So if you sat at home this particular Tuesday, seriously, kick yourself. Then do your self a favor and go buy music from all these bands or go look them up.

Set List:
Experimental Bed
The Days Go By Oh So Slow
In the Bathroom Is Where I Want You
You’re Very Dear to Me
Gavi
I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard
Ragga
Thumbelina
I Think I’m Getting Older
My Name Is Trouble
Amsterdam
Heaven Runs on Oil

Nightmare of You: website | myspace

Photos by: Joshua Hammond

Bonnaroo Day 1: Thursday, June 11…

Bonnaroo, or the Roo as some like to call it (although Colin Meloy will tell you that anytime anybody calls it that, a kitten dies), is unreal if you have never been to a camping music festival. The festival is just as much about what happens off the stage as what happens on it. In fact, sometimes what happens out in the crowd or the campgrounds is even more interesting than the music you hear on stage.

I’m not sure you can even properly prepare for something like this fest. After having checked the weather 800 times and all the lists of what to bring and what not to bring, I thought we would be more than prepared. We even left a day early to make sure we’d get a good campsite. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us. A hailstorm caused us to crash outside of St. Louis and we weren’t the only ones who had problems. Delta Spirit didn’t make it to Manchester in time and had to crash land outside of Dallas. Fortunately, the festival promoters, Big Hassle Media, and crew, were flexible and quickly helped find a new time and a stage for the band to play after their struggles to make it successfully to Tennessee. Unfortunately, for us PopWreckers, we couldn’t very well ask the festival to hold off on some of our favorite artists playing Thursday until we got there so we missed acts like Julia Nunes and White Rabbits. Not that arriving in Manchester in time for those acts meant anything. To claim a campsite and get into Centeroo, the main grounds for the festival, you still need to get there like 8 hours early. Also, there are several entrances, and somehow we beat some of our friends in after they had been sitting in line for hours. Granted, I would not be surprised if they weren’t accidentally behind a parked car somewhere and didn’t realize that it wasn’t moving for that reason. So that brings me to lessons 1 and 2:

Be patient. You will be waiting in a line of cars for hours just to get in for camping and you will see many give up and start walking into the grounds. It helps if you already have car snacks so you aren’t tempted by the overpriced vendors lining the streets.

Don’t pick up hitchhikers. People will try to hitch a ride with you into the campgrounds. Don’t let them. You don’t know what they’re carrying and they do search your cars before letting you in the campgrounds.
Now, I’ve never been camping in my entire life and here is where I made my other major mistake. I thought tents took like 5 minutes to set up, but after Joshua and I struggled with my family tent, an army guy took pity and tried to help, and I called my father who annoyingly asked if we had tried looking at the instructions, we finally gave up. Fortunately, our kind neighbors from Alabama took pity on us and loaned us a far easier tent to set up. The festival has people from all walks of life, but the one thing I can say that everybody I have met here have in common is that they are all super nice. Lesson 3:

Practice your tent or camper set up before you come. Trust me, it will save you from looking like an idiot later.

A camp somewhat set up, we were finally ready to venture into the actual festival portion. Walls of RVs and tents soon broke into new walls of port-a-potties and vendors selling everything from tie-dye to arepas (a delicious, but greasy, fried corn and cheese sort of patty). A giant ferris wheel served as our navigation point to an entrance where we saw our first real signs of drugs and the nastier side of the festival. A bad trip had a man seizing already by the entrance to the fest and security struggled to keep people moving past. So, lesson 4:

Drugs are bad. I know, I know, this is supposed to be stoner fest, but that shit was scary. So don’t do it. Seizing on day 1 does not look like fun. Also, you should not be surprised like the girl in front of me at the check-in was when security takes away your shrooms. This fest is actually trippy enough without the aid of drugs.

Security took awhile to get through, but so far that has only been an issue for Thursday. Once inside Centeroo, we learned that it wasn’t much different than the campsites with the exception that there were now stages. There were still walls of port-a-potties and vendors and people were camped out already at their favorite stages. We wandered for a bit and saw a lot of people throwing their hands up for Murs as we made our way over to This Tent for our first band: Hockey.

Hockey was a band I didn’t know much about, but after watching their singer dance around with a sweatband singing tunes that would make fans of Hot Hot Heat, Head Automatica and Hellogoodbye go crazy for, I was hooked. Throw in a huge instrumental build up with extra drums and keys and you have a great set. Hockey even surprised by throwing in some jazzier elements and they are definitely one band I can’t wait to hear more from in the future.

We jumped from Hockey to catch the crew in Portugal. The Man over in That Tent. It was a bit of a walk, but considering these guys came all the way from Alaska, it was worth it. This band’s unique vocal blend that I almost want to compare to Zeppelin without actually saying they are Zeppelinesque. There’s a yowl quality and some crazy guitar riffs. They also had this really cool effect made from unplugging and replugging the guitar that almost made it sound like a strange accordion.

We quickly learned lesson 5:

Wear good shoes and be ready to walk. We spent most of Thursday navigating through the throngs of vendors and people going from This Tent to That Tent and wearing out really quickly.

We went from Portugal. The Man back to the hipster-loving Chairlift. The usual the threesome were sometimes joined by a fourth person giving them the freedom to have more backing vocals or more guitars. Once the singer let down her hair, the set really turned into a dance party as she sang popular tunes “Bruises” and “Evident Utensil.”

For those under the tent, the party was non-stop. For those not as lucky to be a part of this set, they were battling the greatest problem of having an outdoor festival: the weather. As foretold in the forecast, it was if all hell broke loose and rain just poured down on the grounds, quickly turning the sandy grass into a muddy mess. As I began sinking into the ground even under the comfort of the tent, I was forced into taking off my flip flops for fear I lose them and standing in the mud. I somehow worked my way up to the side stage area where the ground was a little more firm before watching my final act of the night. But lesson 6:

Pack a poncho. I know they’re a silly looking, but they are handy.

Crappy weather couldn’t keep spirits down and the hipsters (and the hippies) continued to dance when buzz band Passion Pit took the stage. This band owned the night as lead singer Michael Angelakos jumped between vocal ranges and got the audience singing along. Highlights of the set were “Live to Tell Tale” and my personal favorite “Sleepyhead,” which sounds like the Shins if they had tons of caffeine. Angelakos and the band claimed to be nervous in front of their largest crowd ever, but with how confident they sounded once performing, it was hard to believe that just moments before, Angelakos was nervously pacing backstage with a towel over his head.

Passion Pit Set List:
Better Things
Make Light
Let Your Love
I Got Your Number
Little Secrets
Live to Tell Tale
Fold in your Hands
Moth Swings
Sleepyhead
Smile Upon Me
The Reeling

In an attempt to beat the second wave of weather, we left after Passion Pit only to discover Bonnaroo at night. Immediately outside of the tent were large flames coming out of a strange mix of a seesaw wickerman. Further along, giant lightning bug decorations guided our way to the fountain in the festival’s center before a violin solo from the Zac Brown Band distracted us into watching another band for a few moments. After the guy finished flying across the strings we decided to jet as well, but alas. All these distractions proved to be big time stallers and we soon found ourselves trapped in another monsoon. This is when we learned our final lesson of the day. Lesson 7:

Know where your tent is located!!!

I can’t even begin to stress how important this lesson is. We thought we knew how to get to pink balloon 8, but they had lowered the balloons in the weather and we had left through a different exit and didn’t know any of the streets through the campsites. We could have taken one of the golf cart taxis, but didn’t know how to direct them to our camp. After wandering through mud, rain and tents we finally discovered our camp much later than we intended and crashed after our the crash course that was Bonnaroo Day 1.

And so ends our first day at Bonnaroo. Look for Day 2 and photo posts to be added soon!

Bonnaroo: website

Photos by: Joshua Hammond

The best aspect of music is progress. You can’t continue to move forward, if you don’t have something ground breaking to bring to the table: One hit wonders have a name for a reason. Hence, the beauty of the underground. There are no standards, no rules, no obligations. Merely yourself, your bandmates, a couple instruments, and some possibly incriminating substances with which to create the dream of music you’ve always conjured. An excellent example of a band taking advantage of the freedom of the underground is Intricate Machines, an experimental, indie-rock band with roots in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Their current self-titled EP was recorded in a cramped San Francisco apartment with all of the instruments the band could scrounge (sleigh bells, synths, keyboards, etc). They grasped the best of both San Francisco’s underground (psychedelic and experimental rock) and Los Angeles’ underground scene (electronica and indie-pop). Although their sound is not particularly my cup of tea, it is a direct reflection of the bands’ unadulterated love of music and interest in it’s progression into different and more varied approaches.

“Try Something Else” was by far the greatest song on the album. With somewhat of a HelloGoodbye feel due in part by the digital keyboard lilting throughout the song, accompanied by Kings of Leon-esque drumming, and some extremely interesting transitions. I also enjoyed “No Feet”, which distinguished itself from the rest of the album with its dominantly acoustic melody.

While this is Intricate Machines’ second effort to skyrocket into the limelight, the album can only be justified by personal perspective. You may like it, you may hate it. But regardless, they’re touring at the end of July, and their EP is out now. Go check ‘em out kids.

Intricate Machines – “Try Something Else”

Tracklisting:
01. Ocean Sky
02. City Hums
03. Try Something Else
04. Bad Sample Rate
05. Kill Them All
06. With You Within
07. No Feet

Intricate Machines: website | myspace

Tommie Sunshine is one of those artists that fit into a multitude of categories; producer, DJ, remixer, songwriter. Yet despite his long list of talents he is best known for and most talented at creating dance remixes of popular songs. The amount of remixes he has done flows onto pages and pages, so here is but a sliver of his work. I certainly suggest listening to as many as you can.

website | myspace

Fall Out Boy – Dance Dance

So I’ll admit that Fall Out Boy isn’t really my kind of listen. I’ve personally found their style of rock generic and uninspiring, yet even I can’t deny that their blend of pop and punk on Dance Dance is pretty catchy. It’s got a lively drum line, fuzzy, yet typical guitar riffs and far searching vocals, that all miraculously come together to form a listenable melody.

Fall Out Boy – “Dance Dance”

website | myspace | Folie A Deux review

“Tommie Sunshine Remix”

Though the original could be forgotten easily, Tommie Sunshine ensures you take his remix seriously. The vocals are made clearer, stronger and more adult like, if you will. The rest of the song is thrown to the dogs and replaced with a lot that is better. Tommie Sunshine starts off by slapping on an electronic buzz and dub into the song, which continues throughout. Synths and syncopated beats are added, as are break beats, which are fleshed out in the verses. The highlight comes at the chorus though. Where the lyrics/vocals of the original are already catchy, strapping on four to the floor house beats does wonders. In Tommie Sunshine’s hands this song transforms from an emo-esque high school whine to a gloomy, and moody love lost plea.

Fall Out Boy – “Dance Dance” (Tommie Sunshine Remix)

–

Hellogoodbye – “Here (In Your Arms)”

So can this song be classified as cheesy pop? It makes me laugh to think so. But it’s so good, so catchy, so fun, and has so much more than cheesy pop numbers do. Well, either way, there was a point in late 2006/early 2007 where you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing this song or even worse, having it stuck in your head. It’s a simple song really; slow at parts, then picking up pace with a fast dance beat, auto-tune on danceable vocals, and the lyrics are just really sweet. It’s a summery, euro-pop special.

Hellogoodbye – “Here (In Your Arms)

website | myspace

Tommie Sunshine Remix

Tommie Sunshine keeps the main melody intact for this one, which makes sense, since it’s already danceable, but he transforms it slightly by using distorted synthesizers, which throws in much needed grit to the song. That is really the highlight of the remix, it’s simple, yet it changes it so much. The chorus adds a pulse effect coming from a synthesizer. There are no down tempo parts to this mix like the original, so the song keeps on going with the electronic/house flair that it has.

Hellogoodbye – “Here (In Your Arms)” (Tommie Sunshine Remix)

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Blondie – “Heart of Glass”

Heart of Glass is of course one of the most famous songs of all time. Rolling Stone ranked it as #255 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Though Blondie was a forefront band in the New Wave music scene, this is a pure Disco track, which caused much stir when it was released, as the band was accused of selling out to the popular Disco genre at the time. Either way, it’s a great song, with Debbie Harry’s vocal coos and sexy sighs. The pop/click/staccato intro is sublime and only bettered with the jump in of the dream pop guitars and synths.

Blondie – “Heart of Glass”

website | myspace

Tommie Sunshine Remix

If you’re going to take on one of the greatest songs of all time, you better do it right, and with no surprise, Mr. Sunshine does just that. This remix is incredible. It totally transforms the song, melding the disco aspect of the original with the house music of today. It starts with a funky, bassy, riff, soon met with a hard-hitting floor beat and then a really, really cool, lush, opulent and laser-like/dreamy disco/electro beat. The song is sped up overall and just stirs you out of your seat. It’s impossible to sit still while listening to this. This mix bubbles and moves and Debbie Harry’s sighs are prominently focused on.

Blondie – “Heart of Glass” (Tommie Sunshine Remix)

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The Killers – “Somebody Told Me”

Not much needs to be said about this band or this song. This is their upbringing, their Vegas influenced track of Sin City and the The Strip. It is gritty and fueled with sexual energy. The track is stamped with The Killer’s early signature of crashing guitars and fly by synths. The song, at the same time, manages to be fun, edgy and mysterious.

The Killers – “Somebody Told Me”

website | myspace | Day & Age review

Tommie Sunshine Remix

When a song is this good, there isn’t really much you can do with it. I’ve heard plenty of remixes of Somebody Told Me and none compare to the original, and so is the case with Mr. Sunshine over here, though it’s still a good listen. He extends the song, adds in electronic handclaps to a story like intro he creates. The track is slowed down, but the fast pace of the original is what makes it a powerhouse in any case. Fuzzy and distorted synths and guitars are layered on and the final product is complete.

The Killers – “Somebody Told Me” (Tommie Sunshine Remix)
Photo: Krijn van Noordwijk