Song Of The Week: 4/24/11

Song: "Slumbering"

Artist: Samiam

Album: "Soar"

Year: 1991



"Slumbering" is a song about zoning out. Sometimes to get away from the daily grind that is life, you need to just step away and take some time to yourself to just collect your thoughts. Call it vegging out, day dreaming or whatever, it's all about taking some time to escape the realities surrounding you and just taking a moment to breathe. Samiam formed as a band back in 1988. They were considered "emo" before emo was a bad word! As for style, they are very similar to a band such as Jawbreaker. There are some definite punk elements without going full on punk. I just consider them a solid all around rock band. Samiam never quite broke out of the underground when it came to gaining any long term success as a band. Their high point was probably the single "She Found You" which was released in 1998. Even that song only achieved moderate success. Samiam was very much a part of the alternative movement that was a huge part of the 90's music scene. In 2000, following a tour to support their album "Astray", it appeared as if Samiam was going to call it quits. A break-up turned out to be nothing more than a hiatus for the band however and in 2006, they would release "Whatever's Got You Down". This would be the band's last studio recording as of now. From 2006 to 2010, Samiam became quite the touring band. Most of their tours would focus on playing Europe and South America as well as a stint in Australia. They also sprinkled in a few U.S. tour dates along the way. Currently, as of March 2011, word is that Samiam is hard at work on a new album. No release date has been posted yet for a new release however.

Song Of The Week: 4/17/11

Song: "Through My Window"

Artist: Cub Country

Album: "High Uinta High"

Year: 2002



This is a beautifully written song about the one that got away. In the song, the vocalist can only dream about what would have been the perfect life had his relationship with the love of his life survived. Now he just wallows in his own depression and loneliness knowing that that life is nothing more than a fading dream. Cub Country is a country/folk, indie type of band that was formed back in 2000. Cub Country is really the baby of Jeremy Chatelain. Chatelain had been the bassist of Jets To Brazil prior to starting Cub Country. Fellow Jets To Brazil member and legendary frontman of the punk outfit Jawbreaker, Blake Schwarzenbach also helped Jeremy out on some Cub Country material. Some may also recognize Chatelain as the front man for 90's hard rock band Handsome. Far removed from those hardcore days, Chatelain wanted to focus on songwriting and bringing forth a sense of Americana with his new band. A listen to Cub Country's music almost seems to take you out on the plains and plateaus of the western part of the United States. "High Uinta High" started out as a solo project of sorts for Chatelain, but soon more and more musicians would contribute to the project, and especially later projects to give Cub Country an overall band feel. The band would release two more albums, adding some electric guitar elements to what was mostly an acoustic style on the first record. The band's most recent release was 2009's "Stretch That Skull Cover And Smile". Currently, though Cub Country does not tour as much as in the early days of the band due to Chatelain focusing on his family, the band is still very much intact and will continue to be the main vehicle for Chatelain to put his music out to the masses.

Song Of The Week: 4/10/11

Song: "God Is In The Radio"

Artist: Queens Of The Stone Age

Album: "Songs For The Deaf"

Year: 2002



This song appears to be a shot at popular radio nowadays. It points out how radio stations use overkill and repetition to force their opinion on the listeners as to what "they" feel is popular or should be popular. Some bands even tend to fall into the radio's trap in that, when they achieve some success on the airwaves, they start trying to recreate the same song over and over again instead of just being true to their art and creativity. Queens Of The Stone Age formed from the ashes of Kyuss back in 1997. The one constant in the band since it's inception has been singer/guitarist Josh Homme. Through the years the band has been somewhat of a revolving door when it comes to studio musicians, touring musicians as well as contributors from other bands such as the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan. Lanegan, who performs vocals on "God Is In The Radio", has been a long time contributor and off and on again member of Queens. Grohl performed all the drums on 2002's "Songs For The Deaf" and toured with the band briefly on their 2002 tour in support of that album. "Songs For The Deaf" would be Q.O.T.S.A.'s most successful album to date, but success also brought about some turmoil for the band. Long time bassist and musical contributor Nick Oliveri was fired from the band due to a conflict with Homme. This would altar the band's sound a little bit on future albums done without Oliveri. As for style, the label "stoner rock" has been used to describe Q.O.T.S.A.'s sound, a term that Homme does not like at all. The band's music focuses on repetitive riffs, almost robot-like style. In a music world that is often saturated by carbon copies where you can't tell one band from the next, Queens Of The Stone Age is kind of like a breath of fresh air. They really have a style that is all their own and makes them stand out amongst the crowd. The band has released five studio albums to date and, currently, the band has been back in the studio since January 2011 working on a new album. The band has also re-released their second album "Rated R" featuring bonus b-sides as well as a live performance. Josh Homme is also hard at work remastering the bands first self-titled album which is due to be released sometime in 2011.

Song Of The Week: 4/3/11

Song: "Time Flies"

Artist: Puddle Of Mudd

Album: "Life On Display"

Year: 2003



This song appears to be about knowing that there is not much time left in your life and really stressing about it because there is so much left you want to do and you desperately aren't ready to die. Puddle Of Mudd was a band officially as far back as 1992. They would release two independent albums with very little success to the point where ultimately the band would break up. One of their albums found it's way to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst who liked what he heard from the band. When Durst got in contact with Puddle Of Mudd lead singer Wes Scantlin, he was disappointed to find out that the band was no longer. Durst, however, convinced Scantlin to reform the band albeit with new members. The results were the band's major label debut, "Come Clean" which turned out to be a major success thanks to the hit singles "Control" and "Blurry". Puddle Of Mudd followed up the success of their debut album with 2003's "Life On Display". This would begin a trend of somewhat disappointing record sales for the band. They would release two more studio albums by 2009 with moderate success. Though the band did not totally fall off the map, they never achieved the success that their debut album would garner them. Their singles would, however, continue to receive radio play thus keeping the band in the conversation. In 2010, the band would release their first "best of" collection titled "Icon". Currently, Wes Scantlin has confirmed the Puddle Of Mudd should have a new record out by the end of 2011.

Song Of The Week: 3/27/11

Song: "The Reason"

Artist: Hoobastank

Album: "The Reason"

Year: 2003



"The Reason" is a song about coming to the realization that you are not perfect and that mistakes you have made in the past most likely cost you the relationship you had with someone you care very much about. The vocalist cared so much for this person that he's willing to change his ways and become the person she always wanted him to be and perhaps the person she deserves. I get a sense in the song that he is too late and the relationship is over. Hoobastank formed as a band back in 1994, hailing from California. Their style is that of a pop orientated rock band. They draw several comparisons to a band such as Incubus, both in their music and their vocal style. While the band's 2001 self-titled album spawned some radio hits such as "Crawling In The Dark" and "Running Away", it was their 2003 album "The Reason" that really exploded for the band, mostly due to the success of the hit single "The Reason". This song was and is the band's highest charting single, eventually reaching number one on modern rock charts. The band's next two releases following "The Reason" were actually disappointments for the band. Though they weren't all together bad albums for the band, it just seemed they could not cross over with the public the same way "The Reason" did. Perhaps, national radio just decided to move on to "the next big thing" and left Hoobastank behind. Either way, the band is still very much active having released their last studio album in 2009, "For(N)ever". In 2010, the band also recorded an all acoustic album titled, "Is This The Day?". While this album was officially released in Japan, it has yet to be released in the United States for some reason. Currently, lead singer Doug Robb confirmed via Twitter that the band is planning on releasing an album at some point in 2011.

Song Of The Week: 3/20/11

Song: "Days With You"

Artist: Fuel

Album: "Natural Selection"

Year: 2003



"Days With You" is a "relationship destroyed by cheating and lies" type of song. In the song, the vocalist almost puts his love interest on a high pedestal only to find out that her lies and infidelities would be the cause of so much pain and emotional scars for him. Fuel formed as a band back in 1993 and were very much the baby of lead guitarist Carl Bell. Bell handled the majority of the song writing as well as the lyrics for fuel. The band achieved some success riding singles such as "Shimmer", "Bad Day", "Falls On Me" and their most successful radio hit, "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)". They are very much a mainstream rock band much in the same vein as bands like 3 Doors Down. They seem to strive to make that radio friendly, sing a long type of rock music, though they do have times when they try to get a little more aggressive. In 2004, lead singer and original member Brett Scallions left the band. While Carl Bell said that the singer's voice had been giving him problems, Scallions declared that he was not allowed to be a creative member of the band. Bell decided to continue on with Fuel and in 2007, the band released "Angels & Devils" with new lead singer Toryn Green. Green was really just a cheap Scallions imitator and the band definitely lost some of it's luster without it's original lead singer. As Fuel went on a little hiatus, original bassist Jeff Abercrombie hooked up with Scallions and the two went out on tour under the moniker, "Re-Fueled". By 2010, Abercrombie would eventually leave Re-Fueled leaving Scallions as the only original member of Fuel. With a new line-up and after some negotiations with Carl Bell, Scallions was allowed to use the name Fuel for all future endeavors. So far the band has gone into the studio and finished one song called "Headache". Currently, Scallions has stated that he and the band wrote plenty of material while touring and that they should be working on a new album soon.

Song Of The Week: 3/13/11

Song: "Always There"

Artist: Slick Shoes

Album: "Far From Nowhere"

Year: 2003



You can look at this song from two possible viewpoints. First, if you factor in that Slick Shoes is very much a Christian band, the song could definitely be about God's love for you and, if you completely embrace that love, then perhaps you can realize your full potential as a human being. On the other hand, you can interpret that the vocalist is talking about his soulmate of sorts. This person sees in the vocalist what he possibly does not see in himself and it's her unconditional love that allows him to realize all the good potential that he has. As I said, Slick Shoes was a Christian pop punk/skate punk band that formed back in 1994. The most common comparison for Slick Shoes style of music is probably a band like MxPx. Both of these bands got their starts on Christian label Tooth & Nail. In a ten year span, Slick Shoes would release five studio albums along with an EP and a split with Autopilot Off (Cooter at the time). "Far From Nowhere" would be the last full length album that the band would release. In 2004, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. In 2007, after three years away from Slick Shoes, the band decided to reunite and played several live shows, their last taking place in 2008. The band has said that though they would not tour extensively, they would play some shows and had planned on recording a new album. Currently, the status of Slick Shoes is kind of up in the air. It's now 2011, and as far as I know, the band has not played live in a while nor has there been any news of new material set to be released. The band does have a side project called Sigmund, but their releases have also been rather sporadic the last couple of years.