New Track Roundup – From the Shelf Edition
By: Christian Hagen
In sifting through submission after submission, I often feel like I have to settle back and remind myself to actually pay attention to the songs that blip across my radar. Usually when this happens, it’s a way to wake myself up to the fact that what I’m listening to isn’t very good. But every once in a while, a song will clamber out my speakers which elicits something I was not expecting.
In recent weeks, releases from fresh young names have been flowing across our desktops like an overrun river bank, and, though most just can’t stay afloat, sometimes it’s nice to drown in the efforts of young, independent artists.
The following tracks aren’t all singles, per se, but each holds a quality that makes me snap out of whatever bored state or reverie and really pay attention, and to my own great benefit.
The Tribe and Big Cats!, “We Gone”
One of the most exciting things about being from Minneapolis is a hip-hop scene that never ceases to surprise. The scene to date has been most noted nationally for emo-rap stars like Atmosphere and Eyedea & Abilities, hardcore-rappers like P.O.S., and of course, Brother Ali. We may soon be adding a few names to that list, with the likes of SIMS, Toki Wright, and now a young group known as The Tribe and Big Cats!.
Unnecessary punctuation and allusions to A Tribe Called Quest aside, The Tribe and Big Cats! hold a casual sort of dominion over their chosen genre, mixing backpack rap with a little extra flair and lyrics about social responsibility interspersed within the shout-outs to their hometown.
On their new single, “We Gone,” the trio (a rapper and two producers), along with guests MaLLy (a rising rap star in his own right) and Claire Taubenhaus, craft a pleasantly nostalgic string swell over a loose, unobtrusive beat, evocative less of a new summer and more a nod to summers past. Tribe rapper TruthBeTold leads the way, though the song doesn’t grab hold quite fully until Taubenhaus’s voice graces the chorus; certainly the rapper is talented, though his flow is not as collected as his counterpart MaLLy, whose Nas-esque style is instantly graspable to a casual listener. Still, the song as a whole shines, and it’s always exciting to hear new voices in the Minneapolis rap scene.
Kenton Dunson, “Firestarter (ft. Ryan Kellie)”
Kenton Dunson is not exactly a typical star-power name; saying it out loud, one is likely to question whether he or she missed a few vowels and consonants. But it’s on tracks like “Firestarter” that one could easily see the potential of Dunson to rise above his clumsily arranged name into some level of pop success.
Dunson is not the smoothest rapper in the game; his lyrics can lack grace and reason, and he seems like he has something he wants to prove. But as a producer, he’s got a strong ear for melody. Ryan Kellie’s longing, soulful refrain slopes through peaks and valleys, twists through a simple piano loop. The swirling noises that surround the chorus make the whole song feel like a grand pop radio hit right out of the gate, like your local Top 40 station has been programming your iTunes. And yet, it doesn’t feel cheap, stupid, or overly fake. It’s a solid take on modern hip-hop/r&b aesthetics, and deserving of lighting a spark in the pop world.
Joey Ryan and the Inks, “The Troubled Poet”
Joey Ryan and the Inks are another Minneapolis artist destined to reach out of their hometown into the indie stratosphere, if for no other reason than their easy-going pop-rock sensibility is at once both finely honed and easily grasped. They have all the marks of a great pop act: brilliantly simple melodies and harmonies, catchy tunes that can stick with you for days, lyrical implacability. The group has been making progressively larger splashes in their local area with each release and new single.
“The Troubled Poet,” the first single from the band’s upcoming Dennis Lane, is pure sunshine rock, a sort of Coconut Records-meets-Guster level of relaxed fuzz and fun. It’s a bright, light treat of a song, a little forgettable compared to some of the band’s strongest work, but still greatly ear-wormy. I will no doubt be singing it all day, long past the point of wanting to. The song bodes well for the rest of the album, and no doubt if it can maintain this level of promise, Joey Ryan & the Inks will be showing up around the blogosphere very soon.