“Polly Wanna Challenge”:
This week’s Rivals Challenge: “Polly Wanna Challenge” presents a colorful, energetic collection of singalong staples. The new DLC coming this Thursday to the Rock Band Music Store – Bleachers “Rollercoaster” and Sheryl Crow “Soak Up The Sun” – are just as bright and vibrant as Baert the parrot!
The third single off of Bleachers’ 2014 debut album, Strange Desire, “Rollercoaster” is a caffeinated, frenetic jolt of perfection. This “side project” of guitarist/vocalist Jack Antonoff is a fully realized and entirely successful endeavor. Much like its namesake amusement park ride, “Rollercoaster” starts out fast and exciting and maintains that vibe for the track’s full three minutes and 30 seconds. Antonoff has tapped into a formula for ear-candy brilliance: snappy drums, happily tinkling synth lines, insistent and emotive vocals, pulsing bass, and expressive guitar. This is a picture-perfect summer anthem, which reached number 3 on the U.S. alternative charts when it was released. Romantic, uplifting, bittersweet, triumphant – “Rollercoaster” covers every one of those bases as convincingly as the very best 1980s high school movies. Antonoff has noted that, when creating music for Bleachers, he was dreaming about “big guitars and big drums.” Mission accomplished, mate! You’ll find plenty to keep you engaged while playing along with this one (and you may as well just accept that it’s going to be swimming around your head for at least a week, solid).
Strange Desire introduced the world to Bleachers back in 2014 and the group has continued releasing consistently inspired material and performing to packed crowds. Head on over to www.bleachersmusic.com to learn about upcoming live performances, visit the band’s merch store, and hear more music.
Sheryl Crow “Soak Up The Sun” has been on nearly every proper “beach day” playlist since the song first dropped back in 2002. The track is full to near-bursting with a breezy, feel-good summer vibe that’s beyond infectious – qualities that sent it to the very top of both the Adult Alternative Songs and Adult Top 40 charts. Musically, “Soak Up The Sun”is as luminous and radiant as its subject matter. The track starts with some pitch-shifted bedrock tone and pogoing synth stabs, guitars and drums join the mix at about the :16 mark, with Crow’s impossibly lush doubled vocals completing the sonic picture not long afterwards. And then we get to that chorus... Words can’t do justice to the pleasantly ear-wormy nature of this song’s main refrain. Yes, you won’t be able to get it out of your head for a good while; No, you won’t have a single problem with that. While a lesser artist might have trouble conveying the life-affirming, appreciative lyrical content without seeming overly cloying and saccharine, Crow’s earnest likeability drives the message home impactfully. Pop on your shades and play along with this sonic manifestation of everyone’s favorite season!
Bleachers “Rollercoaster” and Sheryl Crow “Soak Up The Sun” are available for $1.99 each.
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*Please note that this week’s DLC tracks will be available for purchase on Thursday, November 3rd.