Tag Archives: Alabama Shakes

Quick Reviews: Team Me, Alabama Shakes

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TEAM ME- TO THE TREETOPS!

Sufjan Stevens brought something completely new to indie pop in 2005 with Illinois and plenty of artists have tried to capture to that sound since then. The debut album from Team Me, To The Treetops!, tries to match certain aspects of Sufjan’s music while making things quite accessible. The songs presented are all quite bright, infectious and poppy with some great vocals that remind me of MIKA at times and there’s been nothing this optimistic sounding this year. To The Treetops! really shows in it’s compositions, once you take away the poppy vocals, there’s really something worthwhile here.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10.

ALABAMA SHAKES- BOYS & GIRLS

The much anticipated debut from this Athens group didn’t really grab me by surprise, and that’s a really good thing. Their EP from last year was near perfect, and those four songs are repeated here. Nothing on Boys & Girls isn’t revolutionary or experimental, Alabama Shakes relies on their ability to play three to four minute old school blues-soul music. “Hang Loose” and “Goin’ To The Party” really shine with their throwback sixties soul that brings Smokey Robinson to mind. “Hold On” and “You Ain’t Alone” are best tracks with Brittney Howard’s vocals in the front and taking her place along with other greats in female rock vocalists.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10.

Don’t Forget The Songs: 5 tracks

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This week I’m going to try something a little different. I didn’t feel like writing out several paragraphs on one song, so I’m just going to throw a handful of tracks out there that I’ve been listening to this week. Most of my week has been taken up by listening to The Beach Boys’ SMiLE Sessions and I’m still not done listening to them. So here’s a few songs that I’ve been listening to this week:

LOU REED- PERFECT DAY
This song is one of Reed’s best, and I needed to listen to this after that catastrophe called Lulu to remind me that at one point Reed really was a fantastic artist, and his vocals on this track are perfect.

THE BEATLES- PAPERBACK WRITER
Paul’s bass makes this track.

SUFJAN STEVENS- CASIMIR PULASKI DAY
I’ll just be really honest here and say the change in weather has been fucking with my mood a lot this week, and I ended up really crushed by this song a few days ago.

SHARON VAN ETTEN- A CRIME
There’s just something about the lyrics of this song… damn.

ALABAMA SHAKES- YOU AIN’T ALONE
“Are you scared of wearing your heart out on your sleeve? Are you scared of what people are gonna think?” One of the best tracks of the year. Perfect vocals.