There’s No Escaping From The Soul Inside

Downtown “Nowhere To Hide” – The melody and general feeling of this song is very late 60s/early 70s (think Todd Rundgren or the first few solo albums by The Beatles), but the textures and effects scream “late 90s/early 00s.” The result is a song that feels closer to Oasis’ numerous rewrites of “Hey Jude” than the Beatles, and more like Phoenix than old AM radio. This is not a problem for me. I have a soft spot for that slick late 90s sound (I am certain that it will one day be fetishized by nostalgic collectors, musicians, and engineers from my age group), and so this track ends up feeling twice as mellow and comforting as it would already. (Click here to visit the official Downtown website.)

zZz “Lucy” – Dutch keyboard sleaze! I’m very glad that someone out there thought that it was a good idea to mix ? and the Mysterians organ rock with GVSB smarm and a dash of electro. For most of the song, the singer seems to be wandering around in the vincinity of the microphone muttering something about a girl named Lucy, but once the chorus kicks in, he slips into “drunken crooner” mode and the rest of the tune plays out like a heartfelt but somewhat inept karaoke session. Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! (Click here to visit the official zZz website.)