Snapped Shot

I've got an early-morning appointment tomorrow morning that will have me away from the computer until later, so until then, I figured I'd share some musical discoveries with you. I'll hopefully be back early in the afternoon!

For the longest time, I had thought that rock on radio was dead. Most of the stuff that I have heard lately was the same old grunge "too cool for the room" garbage that's been playing since '93. So it's much to my surprise to discover that there are two bands out there that have single-handedly resurrected the genre!

The first band, The Automatic (known here in the United States as "The 'Automatic' Automatic" for copyright reasons), truly get the Rules of Rock Radio:

1. Keep it Simple Come up with short, pithy lyrics, and repeat them often. The catchier your hook, the better the song!

2. Don't Be Preachy The hallmark of "Grunge" rock is a tireless festival of preaching, be it about ending war, or about the environment. We get it already! It doesn't get any more original or urgent if you've been preaching the same junk for 10 years. The thing is, the best rock songs ever played on the radio don't really say all that much.

3. Harmony It's not just the name of some stoner hippie chick from back in your parents' era: if your songs include a touch of harmony, they'll go a long way to becoming timeless. I think the Beatles have proven this rule well enough, at least before they became drug-addled old men.

I highly recommend that you hop on over to Amazon (see the above-right box thingy) and pick their album up immediately. You won't be putting it down anytime soon, if you truly enjoy a dose of good old-fashioned yet somehow quite modern radio rock.

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Virginia's Pride and Joy: Mile High School

I'm very proud to say that the second band I'm sharing with you hails from my very own Commonwealth of Virginia, from historic Yorktown and places thereabout. These guys rock. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that these guys are the best band to come from Virginia since John Smith still lurked around these parts! We ran into Mile High School at the Automatic Automatic's concert in D.C. this past weekend, and they are totally ready for radio rock. In fact, don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself: If you are a fan of classic radio rock, give the following track a try. I promise you'll like it!



If you do like it, be sure to hop on over and check out more on their site. Their first album, Life of the Party, is available for preorder, and is scheduled to be released sometime in September. If you enjoy supporting up-and-coming Virginian artists, I can't think of a more deserving bunch than these guys!

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I hope y'all have enjoyed this little diversion from our ordinary fare! Feel free to chime in down in the comments and let me know what you think, or if you know of any other bands that are ready to resurrect radio rock!