Jerry's Pick: "Hell No"

"Hell No"-Ingrid Michaelson

I've been an Ingrid Michaelson fan going on ten-years now.  Songs like "Parachute," "Be OK," "Afterlife" and "Time Machine" are all still in rotation on my iTunes playlist.  In fact, Ingrid's "Boys Chase Girls" was one of my top-10 best picks from all of 2014.

Well, my favorite bespectacled female indy-singer-songwiter may have just released her strongest pop-single to date with "Hell No..." a you-go-girl break-up anthem that you can dance to.

No doubt "Hell No" was inspired by Michaelson's own recent and somewhat messy divorce.  She told the Huffington Post, “We all have been through being wronged, so we created a powerful break up song. This song is not about one specific relationship but about lots of different relationships and how they culled together into one unified force of anger."

For me, Ingrid's new see-ya-later single is a mix of Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and Avril Lanigne's "What the Hell" with a few dashes of Meghan Trainor's "No" sprinkled over the chorus.

"Hell No" was written by Ingrid in Nashville with country music vets Barry Dean and Luke Laird (Little Big Town, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw).  Michaelson told James Dinh of iHeart Radio, “I just wanted to kind of go outside of my comfort zone and write in this different world and see what happened.”  She added, “I think there is definitely a country feeling to the vibe of the song. It's just produced in such a poppy way but we just had so much fun."

With clever/cute/cutting lines like, "I should've known better/I saw her wearing your sweater/Nice glasses, fake red hair/Just like me," I feel the Parker Posey of Pop may have just produced her first true mainstream breakthrough single.  (By-the-way, the song's yet-to-be-titled parent album -- featuring more letting-go/moving-on themed tunes -- is set to be released this August.  And her self-made Snapchat Filters-inspired music video is below.)

So, go ahead... give it a spin!  I'm sure you too with say "Hell yeah!' to "Hell No!"

Jerry's Pick: "Never Gonna See Me Cry"

"Never Gonna See Me Cry"-Good Old War

Now here's one smooth, gliding power-pop concoction that should have you singing along with its delightfully hooky chorus before this three-minute clip comes to a cold close with a "ha-ha-ha!"

The band is Philadelphia's Good Old War -- a group moniker Frankensteined from members Keith GOODwin, Tim ArnOLD and Daniel SchWARtz's surnames -- who have come up with their most radio-friendly track to date.

"Never Gonna See Me Cry" is fun and clean and genuine and full of lyrical metaphors.  And aside from being skillfully scored, what really stands-out is the song's smartly crafted harmonies.  You'll "Ahh" at their "Oohs."

This very good Good Old War song has been around since last year, but because the band's label is just now getting behind and promoting the trio's "new" single, I just had to give "Never Gonna See Me Cry" five :v) :v) :v) :v) :v)... and zero frowns.

I don't think the alt-indy guys have released an official music video* for "Never Gonna See Me Cry," yet... but you can stream the audio by clicking on the image below.  And, to give you an idea of how vocally talented these dudes are, be sure to audition their library acoustic version, too!  They're both right here!

(*They have! It's below.)