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Readers who know me will know of my opinions of the music scene. I’ve not listened to the charts in over a decade, if I listen to the radio is it radio 2 on the work commute but that is only a last resort if I don’t have a CD or my iPod on me.
I’ve just got so sick of the music scene, I’ve even reclassified my favourite music genre from ‘Rock’ to ‘Classic Rock’ as modern rock music has gone the way of pop and is either screaming grunts that make no sense or too soft-rock ballady. I blame it mostly on TV “talent” shows and just generally getting older. I haven’t brought any new music from any bands I’ve not heard of, in fact the only music I’ve added to my iPod in forever has been the latest Foo Fighter album and a couple of old AC/DC albums I was missing. I’ve not bought a new CD…until now
Again, those who know me will know that I have a few favourite bands, one of those is my obsession, Wheatus. Thanks to them, I was introduced to the Army of Freshmen. The Freshmen have become one of my all time favourite bands, their live shows are a joy to behold and they are fronted by one of the friendliest men in rock, Chris Jay.
Good music is out there and whilst I’ve given up looking, I do support those I feel deserve it and AoF are one of those bands. So when a KickStarter for their new album came online, of course I was going to help them out. Their latest album ‘Happy To Be Alive’ arrived on Tuesday and I’ve not stopped listening to it since.
What you get are tracks that sound alive and make you want to bounce but really listening to the lyrics you get a story of love courted, life lost and legacies left. Music, like poetry, is mostly down to interpretation and conjecture and you can find meaning in almost anything if that’s what it says to you. I won’t go into a breakdown of the record, but I implore you all to at least check out the video from one of the tracks, ‘Ava’.
My personal favourite from the album so far has to be “We’ll Always Have Forever” which is the final track.
“And in a hundred years, if we’re still here / They’ll build a statue in the park, where kids go to after dark. / And they won’t know what it’s there for, who we were or what we stood for / Features faded from the weather, but we’ll always have forever.”
And doesn’t that just sum everything up? No matter what changes around us, some things will stay the same, be it a statue in the park or a piece of music. We might not know what it meant or means to someone else, but it’s there for us to admire or dislike. Forever.
www.armyoffreshmen.com
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