Jerry's Pick: "High Enough"

"High Enough"-K. Flay

I've been under the influence of a certain pop-rock track for a couple of months now and I have to confess, I think this euphonious stimulant's got me hooked. The musical catalyst in question goes under the street name: "High Enough..." the supplier: San Francisco's K. Flay (aka: Kristine Flaherty).

"High Enough" is kinda like if Lykke Li became a member of the Arctic Monkeys... you know, that wonderfully unique impish voice in front of a stable yet grungy back-beat.

But what really pulled me into this alt-indie obsession was K's clever lyrical wordplay, more importantly the song's rolling, steady meter and rapid-fire cadence. 

"The world is a curse it’ll kill if you let it/I know they got pills that can help you forget it/They bottle it, call it med-i-cine but I don’t need drugs..."

Thematically, the brief strung-out vacillating guitar solo just before the middle-eight was a nice touch as well.

Using medication as a metaphor in music ain't at all new, but I'll put "High Enough" as one of the best lyrical examples of the addiction/affection equation since Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music declared "Love Is the Drug" in 1975.

Flay explained to radio.com, "There are so many songs out there about getting fucked up. I think a part of me was asking the question, 'What if I’m already high enough? What if I don’t need anything but what I’ve got?' There are many moments in my life -- whether it’s because of a person or a place -- that I don’t want to feel altered or high or buzzed. I just want to feel exactly what I’m feeling."

You can get "High Enough" off of K. Flay's just-released album Every Where Is Some Where.

Go ahead. Take a hit... before it becomes a hit.

Jerry's Pick: "Adore"

"Adore"-Amy Shark

I'm gonna shine my little spotlight on a song I feel deserves attention, but -- like the protagonist in this confessional -- will probably just be ignored by radio here in the U.S.

Australian singer-songwriter Amy Shark's "Adore" just ain't your typical Top-40 fare; no catchy hook... no bouncy chorus. Instead, Amy offers up an introspective poem that seems to be pulled straight out of a young teen's diary. 

It's a slow, sweet, sincere, sad, brooding, coming-of-age ballad of being stuck somewhere between the hope and heartbreak of young love. Uneasy feelings of longing-from-afar which are accentuated by the wavering notes Amy carefully picks on her guitar.

"Get me a drink, I get drunk off one sip just so I can adore you/I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you"

"Adore" represents those bittersweet emotions of how it feels to fall totally head-over-heels back-asswards in love with someone who barely knows you exist. Just wanting to be close. Needing to be noticed.

"All of my money is spent on these nights just so we can hang out/Squeezing in and out of these dresses/I wanna be found by you/Found by you"

The first three lines are achingly meloncholic. You can just picture this quiet, lonely, shy shoegazer in the vacinity of her secret crush relishing in any form of attention that may come her way.

"I'm just gonna walk home kicking stones at parked cars/But I had a great night 'cause you kept rubbing against my arm"

Shark explained to 13th Floor journalist Marty Duda, "'Adore' was a really, really easy song for me to write. I kind of heard exactly how I wanted it to sound the second I demoed it. It was such a beautiful song for me, and a special song to me... I just had no idea so many people would relate to it." She added, "It's kind of like a play-by-play of a night that I had... but it sounds like a lot of people had those nights."

There's even a bit of quiet possessiveness to "Adore." And although she warns others to stay clear of her man, they're just fantasies played out in her mind.

"Watch me, watch him talk to girls/I'm known as a right-hand slugger/Anybody else wanna touch my lover?"

Yeah, unrequited love is a bitch.

Jerry's Pick: "Feel It Still"

"Feel It Still"-Portugal. The Man

Not only will Madison Avenue tap this song for a future television commercial but I have a feeling we may also soon be seeing "I'm a Rebel Just for Kicks Now" tees, hats, bumper stickers... protest signs.

What makes this brand-new track from the Portland-by-way-of-Alaska trio (who purposely placed a full-stop right-smack-dab in the middle of their moniker) Portugal. The Man so marketable is that the band's latest creation is extremely catchy. "Feel It Still" first entices with a soulful Shaft-ish hi-hat and bold bare-bones bassline before firmly hooking you with its funky falsetto and a heady horn section.

By approximately 30-seconds into the groove, your head and shoulders should slowly begin to engage in tempo with the beat. And, at only about two-and-a-half minutes in length, you get juuust enough to want more.

That's why -- after dozens of repeated listens -- I was able to deconstruct this P.tM addiction and tie it to bits of other songs that were bouncing around in my subconscious.

According to my brain, I came to the conclusion that "Feel It Still" is what happens when you combine equal parts "Mercy" (Duffy), "The Head I Hold" (Electric Guest) and "Please, Mr. Postman" (Marvelettes) in a big ol' blender after hitting the "Smoothie" setting.

Another point. I didn't hear it at first, but it turns out this Portugal. The Man single is a call to action. 

"I'm a rebel just for kicks now, I been feeling it since 1966 now. Might of had your fill, but you feel it still."

Lead vocalist John Gourley attributed part of the inspiration to a Woodstock ticket-stub that belonged to his dad. He said it reminded him that music -- as it did in the Sixties -- has an opportunity "to comment on societal and political unease" and say "something that mattered." The group's music video (below) takes that mission-statement one step further.

"Feel It Still" is just one of the songs-with-substance expected from a yet-to-be-released album aptly titled Woodstock.