The Sound You Should Know: Courtney Barnett, Shopping & Big Grams

Journalists and bloggers have a responsibility to keep the public in the loop. For the most part we get that right. You know what going down in parliament and with the #FeesMustFall movement. Even over the ocean, in the land of the free, it’s public knowledge that one of the Umpa-lumpas is now running the Willy Wonka factory that is the USA.

Music on the over hand is a different domain. When it comes to local we are covered. New bands are given platforms and our radio stations are filled with new amazing sounds, but when it comes to the overseas this is not the case. We only hear about bands after they break several glass ceilings and have started making waves. This makes me feel uneasy.

Running Wolf’s Rant has been amazing enough to allow me to share new bands, artists and innovations with you every two weeks. This is Sound You Should Know. So without further ado, let’s jump into it:

Courtney Barnett: If you crawl through Pitchfork and Rolling Stone posts daily you’ve probably heard of her. She has performed on Saturday Night Live, cleaned up almost every Australia music award show and yet so little people know about her. The Aussie rocker has been making big waves in the overseas. She’s best known for her rambling honest lyrics about anxiety, panic attacks and socially acceptable behaviour. Clear example of this is here song “Nobody really cares if you don’t go to the party”.

She doesn’t fit into the typical female rock mould and this makes her even more appealing. Her 2015 album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit landed her the 20th spot on the Billboard chart.  Crank up her track, “Pedestrian At Best” below to get an idea of her sound.

Other tracks to crank up: “Avant Gardener” and “Dead Fox”.

Shopping: The post-punk Brit rockers have been around since 2012 and have 2 albums under there belts. Their unique sounds has hints of electro-clash band Le Tigre. The smooth bass line accompanied quick guitar tickles just work! Rachel Aggs , the vocalist, oozes rock ‘n roll.

Her voice is one thing that I feel rock is missing out on, not to mention her the clash-like guitar dance moves. Having said that unlike most bands the vocals are layered underneath the music. Shifting the focus. Crank up their track “Straight Lines” below to get an idea of their sound:

Other tracks to crank up: “Why Wait” and “In Other Words”.

Big Grams: I discovered this amazing combination or a electronic rock band Phantogram and Outkast rapper Big Boi earlier in this week. The trio release their EP in September 2015 (yes, I know that’s more than a year ago). Each track on the EP is inspired by the 7 deadly sins. Their is even a a rap performance by Sarah Barthel on “Goldmine Junkie”.

In partnership with Adult Swim and Run the Jewels the trio released an 8 minute long music video. The music video is a combination of the song: “Born To Shine” (featuring Run The Jewels) and “Run for your Life”. The animation it’s self was crafted by Awesome INC. Check it out below:

Well, there you have it, the first edition of The Sound You Should Know on Running Wolf’s Rant. Feedback about the artists / tracks featured here is appreciated, so leave a comment if you have something that’s on your mind that you wish to share.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.