Jerry's Pick: "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings"

"So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings"-Caroline Polachek

Remember Chairlift? The alternative band out of Boulder, Colorado produced several songs that are still in recurrent rotation on my iTunes playlist including “Evident Utensil” and “Romeo.” But I’m pretty sure you are familiar with their ballad “Bruises,” a song that got a big boost up the charts in 2008 when it was used in an Apple iPod Nano television ad.

Well, Chairlift split-up two-years ago giving singer-songwriter Caroline Palochek a chance to release an album of material under her own name for the first time in her career (Pang, out last month). And boy, did this girl come through! My pick of the pack was the track with the curious song title.

Turns out, “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” has nothing to do with lame pick-up lines. Instead, think sexual separation frustration served-up in a very cute, playful way. Or as Caroline tweeted, “It’s about a spicy long-distance crush.”

Polachek explained to MTV News, "'You're so hot it's hurting my feelings’ is something I'd actually told someone a week prior, and the phrase just kept playing on my mind. I had a session set up towards the very end of writing this record with a couple friends of mine, and the first melody that came was the melody that's now the beginning of the song. There's something kind of classical about it, but it also reminded me of ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’-era Eighties pop. Just something about the quality of the jumpiness of it. And then I thought, wait a minute, this is kind of the perfect vessel for that lyric.”

This breezy bop begins with stereo-panned angelic “ah”s immediately merged with a bold bass-line that takes you to the opening stanza which establishes her lusty longing.

“Not like I'm counting the days/But it's been twenty-five/You're out there killing the game/But damn, I miss you tonight…”

I sense a little bit Feist mixed with Haim and Imogene Heap over a Japanese House vibe. Polachek’s voice is beautifully bright and bubbly, but I'm also a fan of how she merges the analog and the digital with subtle auto-tuned, vocoded vocals on the refrain.

“I get a little lonely/Get a little more close to me/You're the only one who knows me, babe/So hot you're hurting my feelings…”

She then sums up those frustrations with her two-word acquiesce…

“Can’t deal.”

I also love the little extra touches that at first went by unnoticed. For instance, listen how Caroline interjects gasps and sighs with her vocal delivery -- each succeeding breath just a little deeper -- adding a feel of sexual fluster to her story line. And aside from the alternating coquettish “woo”s sprinkled through the production, there are also Caroline’s lascivious lyrics; “With all the X-rated dreamin'…” “Don't send me photos, you're making it worse…” and a middle-eight that just could be home to pop music’s very first dick-pic reference.

Polachek confessed to PopCrush, “I will tell you a secret, which is that in the bridge, underneath the vocal solo -- which by the way is the first guitar solo I've ever done with my voice -- there is the lyric ‘Show me the banana,’ which you can interpret that one however you want.”

I’m positive Harry Belafonte, Gwen Stefani and Donovan can dig it.

Jerry's Pick: "Me Without You"

"Me Without You"-Mads Langer

Here’s your late-Summer guilty pop-pleasure of the week.

You know, one of those car-karaoke tunes that has you mimicking its percussion with both thumbs thumping on the steering wheel, intermittently reaching to tap your rear-view-cymbal while simultaneously singing out-loud like nobody's watching.

Well, Jukebox Hero... I found another auto-anthem for you!

Consider this spirited sonic score a “Shake It Off,” but without the Taylor Swift, and from a different hemisphere.

Although Mads Langer is considered a major rock star in his native Denmark, his name has yet to trigger a single sonic blip on even the far outer perimeter of Billboard’s rock ‘n’ roll radar.

After a decade-long string of Top-40 singles on his hometown Hitlisten popularity poll, the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter is finally trying his luck to see if his latest creation creates waves on this side of the Atlantic. And Mads’ Danish chart-topper “Me Without You” certainly appears to have a sound shot of worming its way into a few ears here in North America.

“Me Without You” is a charming ode to your better-half; that special someone who completes you but also has the ability to quickly shift your brain and body into out-of-synch mode simply with their absence. It's a theme that's made of Mads' mediocre metaphors...

▶ "ATM with no cash..."
▶ "Guilty, no proof..."
▶ "Treasure under padlocks..."

His lyrics are just as ironic as that Alanis Morissette single, meaning -- of course -- they’re not ironic at all, just a series of sad, unfortunate coincidences sung over a breezy and blithe background. But honestly, who cares?! As a package, this works!

Langer explained to Germany’s TheMellowMusic blogsite, “Music touches me most when it is a little melancholy, but always carries that spark of hope in itself. That's the point I always try to find in songwriting,”

To summarize, “Me Without You” is a light, bouncy, hook-filled three-minutes of fun.

And who says "No" to three-minutes of fun? Yeah... didn't think so. :v)

Jerry's Pick: "Might Be Right"

"Might Be Right"-White Reaper

When it comes to today’s Billboard Hot-100, you may have noticed mainstream rock isn’t represented on the charts as it once was decades ago. You know; bands with a couple of lead guitarists up front with lots of volume, attitude and hair. Sure, they’re out there… you just gotta look for them.

Somewhere in between the dozens of new releases dominated by polished programming, auto-tuned vocals and drum machines, I stumbled upon a righteous rock track that could have easily been a Rick Nielsen arrangement from the late-70s/early-80s.

From my perspective, no one will ever dethrone Cheap Trick as the Best Garage Band of All-Time, but here’s a group of guys from Louisville that are definitely worthy of warming-up the venue as their opening act.

White Reaper’s latest single “Might Be Right” is a damn good guitar-based jam and probably one of rock music’s best examples of 21st century power-pop.  It’s a track that is full of hooks, including really riffy guitar licks paired-up with a killer bass-line. Tony Esposito and Hunter Thompson tap into their love of classic rock to provide mirrored guitar harmonies that immediately reminded me of the ax-work on “The Boys Are Back In Town.”

In an interview with New York’s 104.3 FM, Esposito revealed, "When we started the band, we were listening to all kinds of classic rock. It seemed to be that everybody was doing that.” He added, “In the new song there's just those two bars and everyone's like, 'Oh my God, it sounds like Thin Lizzy!’ It's awesome!”

Good ears, Jerry!

On equal footing with the rhythm section is the song’s spirited vocals featuring a load of lyrics that reflect on a rocky relationship which are all delivered with conviction, a catchy cadence and a cautionary caveat.

“Well my mother told me first, she said ‘when things aren't getting bad, look out… they might be getting worse.’”

Those "things" are looking pretty good right here, right now. Why? Because I have your brand new top bop cued-up and ready to roll!

By-the-way... the moral of this post; Don’t fear the White Reaper.

Jerry's Pick: "The Others"

"The Others"-WhenYoung

The deadliest residential fire in the United Kingdom since the Second World War occurred just two-years ago this month.

The fire -- started by a defective refrigerator on the fourth floor while most residents were sleeping -- spread quickly throughout the 24-story "banjaxed" Grenfell Tower apartment complex in West London. Witnesses reported seeing people trapped inside the burning building, some jumping out of windows to their deaths, others -- some holding children -- switching lights on-and-off or frantically waving and screaming to firefighters below, all desperately seeking rescue.

When the smoke finally cleared in North Kensington, the world learned that 72-residents had died there.

This month I added “The Others,” a new track recorded by a recently formed British-based, Irish trio named WhenYoung. It’s a 4-minute uptempo production of jangly guitars and seemingly jaunty lyrics. It didn’t take long before I was hooked on their refrain interspersed with “AH-Ah-ah”s.

But, after a dozen listens, I became curious about the very first words of the chorus and -- after a Google search -- discovered a concerning layer just beneath the lively instrumentation of this compelling composition.

“Ignorance is peaceful/That’s how the others died, that’s how they’ll die again.”

On June 14 of 2017, WhenYoung lead vocalist Aoife Power was employed by a landscaping company which serviced high-end clients. Aoife explained to DIY Magazine: “On the day of the Grenfell Tower fire, I was working in West London, and I could see all the smoke and ambulances, and it was so sad. I was waiting for the rest of the gardening team to get there, and work just wasn’t going to happen. Seeing everyone on the street, coming out of their massive houses and looking up at this fire in the sky, I was just crying.”

This indignation eventually evolved into inspiration based on what Power deemed an obvious socioeconomic divide.

“Just knowing that all those rich clients in their huge houses live about two roads away from this. The song tackles the ignorance of the community around the area, and how forgotten these people have become.”

Guitarist Niall Burns summarized, “Living in safety should not be a luxury.”

Personally, I fell in love with the power, punk and passion of “The Others,” especially after discovering the message in their music.

WhenYoung effectively uses the word “others” as dismissive much like the pronouns “they” and “them” have often been used racially and -- as utilized here -- by the “haves” to describe and separate themselves from the “have-nots.”

The mood becomes a bit somber and more telling when you arrive at the song’s lyrical high-point -- the middle-eight -- featuring words that take on their uncaring “out of sight, out of mind” narrative.

“Just around the corner, that's a different story/They're the salt of the earth, but not sure what their worth is/Go on and turn the news off/Crying, screaming, shouting/Brushed off your cold shoulders/Show your poor mouth/Forget about it, drink up…”

In context, those last five words are everything.

There are shades of the Ramones and the Clash in the guitar work, but I found comparisons to the Cranberries unavoidable. Like Delores O’Riordan, Aoife hails from Limerick, Ireland… has become a lyrical activist… and clearly retains her Irish brogue when in front of a microphone. Aoife explained to M Magazine, "It's pop and punk and sad and angry lyrically, but musically happy." That seems to be the Irish way.

I feel “The Others” is so good on so many levels you'll find yourself listening to this WhenYoung single "again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again... and again."

Jerry's Pick: "Without a Blush"

"Without a Blush"-Hatchie

First off, I would have chosen a better moniker. For me, hearing “Hatchie” triggers visions of Billy Joe MacAllister and Choctaw Ridge. But later -- after learning “Hatchie” is the stage-name for 25-year old Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist Harriette Pilbeam -- I decided that, yeah… Hatchie (a family nickname) was a better choice.

Like many group names, they may sound a bit absurd at first, but --as you know -- time and success normalizes most everything. And I truly believe most everyone will get to know Hatchie very soon.

The first of her songs that instinctively and instantly made me invest $1.29 via iTunes was “Without a Blush,” a wistful blend of Eighties Brit-pop and Ninties shoegaze.

This five-minute track starts with a steady, breathy beat paced by Hatchie’s languished “Ah-ahh”s over a wobbly bass, distorted guitar riffs and muted xylophone chimes setting up her story of love lost.

You and me, we were destined to fall apart,
Can you believe it's been three years since the start?

Hatchie goes Greek in the second stanza tapping the fate of Icarus to parallel expectations of a relationship that was just too high to realize.

But we couldn't see we were flying close to the sun,
And it didn't take too much time for our wings to melt...

The lead-in to the chorus takes its time getting there and includes a couple of pregnant pauses, the first of which is feigned. But, hang in there, the hook is worth the wait. It’s the second brief break that takes you to pop-music payoff, a soaring refrain brimming with bells and blues.

If I could kiss you one more time,
Would it make everything all right?
Or would it just make me a liar?
I didn’t wanna end tonight, the dream...

I can just picture her singing the words "all right" with bright-eyed optimism, then -- during the end of the very next line -- looking discouragingly toward the floor as she shamefully utters "liar." Her second-guessing is airy and heartfelt and the cadence shifts between halting to haunting to hopeful.

Part of what elevates “Without a Blush” to alt-pop perfection is the song’s industrial-tinged instrumental break which evolves from pessimistic to promising followed immediately by the return of the chorus which certainly soars the second time around.

But there's more! Just as tasty is another brand-new Hatchie track titled “Stay With Me,” both from her album Keepsake, available June 21.

Whenever a new act is introduced to your ears, comparisons are inevitable. For me, I heard shades of Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, Tears For Fears to more recent releases by Fazerdaze, Geowulf and Japanese House. Not one specifically, but more of a smorgasbord of borrowed textures. Hatchie, though, comes away with mixed feelings with such observations.

She explained to 34st.com, ”Sometimes I feel weird about it, because those artists worked hard to hone their sound and discovered a lot of new sounds, and it's easy for somebody now to replicate. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I'm compared to older artists like that, but I will always be flattered and honored.”

Maybe. But I feel it’s just a matter of time until some new act will be tagged as the new Hatchie. She's that talented.

Jerry's Pick: "Are You Bored Yet?"

“Are You Bored Yet?”-Wallows

Think back to your teens. You’re alone with your special someone, not speaking. During this uneasy silence, anxious thoughts are racing through both of your heads all-the-while wondering what the other is thinking. You’re questioning the relationship… analyzing and replaying everything that was said or done in the past.

But you’re both just too afraid to speak.

The SoCal trio Wallows have successfully tapped into this all-too-familiar coming-of-age adolescent awkwardness by taking those unspoken insecurities and converting them into a poetic he-feels/she-feels dialogue of self-doubt and indecision.

"Will you tell the truth so I don't have to lie?"

"Are You Bored Yet?” has it all… wonderful lyrics, solid instrumentation and an infectious refrain. But it took a guest vocalist –  someone who could radiate hopeful naïveté – to create such a dynamic, yet playful vintage-sounding masterpiece.

The female role in this three-minute pop play is performed perfectly by DIY YouTube star Clairo who brought her charming and delicate voice to the mix.

Wallows guitarist and vocalist Dylan Minnette (who also plays the role of Clay Jensen in the Netflix drama "13 Reasons Why") explained to Flood Magazine, “I look at her part as the other person, the other side of the relationship in the second verse. That point of view is way more optimistic: ‘This can work out. We can get through this undefeated.’ But the narrator of the song is too far gone."

The conversation within “Are You Bored Yet?” is beautifully layered over a breezy, synth-laden instrumentation that evokes a Psychedelic Furs “Love My Way” vibe which is anything but boring.

Although this young LA group has been together for the better part of a decade, “Are You Bored Yet?” happens to be one of the tracks off their very first album, Nothing Happens, which was released last week.