singemfrc 
Joined: 10 Aug 2007
Posts: 4407
Location: California
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 Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 8:04 pm Post subject: 7/6 DLC: Mom Jeans and Ace Of Bass! |
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| Harmonix wrote: | Infectiously hooky can apply to disparate genres, as Ace of Base All That She Wants and Mom Jeans. White Trash Millionaire convincingly demonstrate! Youll definitely want to pick up this new DLC debuting Thursday in the Rock Band Music Store.
If you were sentient in the mid-90s youre certain to still have the chorus to All That She Wants by Swedish group Ace of Base indelibly tattooed into your consciousness. Even those born well past the initial release-date of the track the first U.S. single from the 1993 LP The Sign are likely familiar with the songs catchy melody and quirky wordplay. Reggae-inflected pop wasnt necessarily new in 93, but Ace of Base brought the formula to the pop charts and the dance floor to a degree previously unheard of. All That She Wants was a truly global phenomenon, topping the charts in many nations around the world and peaking at #2 on the U.S. Hot 100.
Kicking off with a simple but infectious and strangely ominous-sounding keyboard line over a pulsing electronic bass drum, vocals and additional instrumentation are added at around 10 seconds in. After the first vocal stanza, the songs instantly recognizable whistled melodic tag is introduced and then, following the first true verse, at :51 we are treated to the refrain that dominated clubs, parties, and weddings for months and years to come. This is the kind of chorus at which you can throw all the go-to synonyms for catchy and they all apply and simultaneously not really do the relentless earworm-y nature of this melody justice.
The sometimes clunky (and at other times downright bizarre)) non-native English lyrical prowess of the artists were in no way an impediment to connecting with listeners everywhere and in some respects may have actually helped the track. "I think it was to our advantage that English was not our mother language," Ulf Ekberg, vocalist and keyboardist for the band, has said, "because we are able to treat English very respectless, and just look for the word that sounded good with the melody." Hey, its a theory, and you certainly cant argue with the singles success!
Whatever the factors intentional or incidental behind the nearly universal embrace of All That She Wants, ultimately what Ekberg and singer-songwriter Jonas Berggren created was a taut 3 minutes and 31 seconds of no-frills pop gold. There are enough unique elements within, be it the occasionally unintentionally amusing lyrics, the at-times incongruously sinister sonic backdrop, relentlessly driving beat, or brightly textured synth flourishes, that this track is at once approachable, but reveals more and more upon each listen. Whether revisiting this hit from your past or checking out Ace of Bases 30-year old tour de force for the first time, youre sure to have this hooky, danceable banger in your head for days!
White Trash Millionaire, from Mom Jeans. third album, 2022s Sweet Tooth, is a hard-hitting banger that leans into the bands youthful influences from those genres. If youve been following the Berkeley, California quartets career and creative evolution, this newer material seems to be a byproduct of both a growing comfort in their collective skin and diminishing interest in establishing/defending artistic or street cred. Frontman Eric Butler has even said of their and his growth on the album, I didnt [used to] wanna think that I was a normie and maybe Im not, but parts of me definitely are. Parts of all of us in this band definitely are, and were okay with that.
As well they should be! One of Mom Jeans. immediately apparent strengths when they emerged on the scene in the mid 2010s was their relatability and with songs like White Trash Millionaire they up that factor well past 10. Lyrically the track explores the nearly universally relevant themes of both navigating the early or at least early-ish days of a relationship while separated by distance and trying to keep it together amidst the uncertainty of such times. Musically, the track mines familiar songwriting tropes and devices, but comes up with an end-product that is decidedly singular. After an intro of Butler singing plaintively over strummed acoustic guitar, at the 14-second mark, someone (likely drummer Austin Carango) shouts out the punk rock call to arms (two-three-four!) and then were off to fast-paced energy.. Adding to Carangos snappy, relentless drums are the pulsing, confident bass of Sam Kless, Bart Thompsons fuzzy and precise guitar work, as well as Butlers own guitar. The songs soaring refrain is introduced at the 35-second mark and the melody and rhythmic accents really hit the mark. At 1:38 Mom Jeans. adds their secret weapon: horns! Half the band also play brass instruments on top of their more traditional rock instrumentation with Butler on trombone and Carango on trumpet and the added sonic color really fills out the arrangement in a satisfying manner. Throughout the track there are also multiple moments of gang vocals, but these truly have to be the most upbeat gang vox on any song in the larger rock milieu ever put to tape. These bright, smiley group vocal moments are about as far from oi or hardcore as you can get!
Eric Butler has said, Ear candy is the goal, so Sweet Tooth is the record. As White Trash Millionaire convincingly demonstrates, the band succeeded in reaching their stated goal. Do yourself a favor and check out this furiously catchy scorcher which manages to cram quite a lot of content into just over two and a half minutes of fiery performances and relatable lyrics. |
Available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, and PS5:
RIVALS SEASON 32 SEASON PASS - ( $24.99/ $24.99)
Entitles purchaser to all 17 songs released between now and August 16th!!)
For some reason the XBox Season pass is again not available on the web store
(Most tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation systems approximately 3 days after listed date)
** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **
Note: As of this post, above tracks marked with are available for the Xbox One/Xbox Series X and tracks marked with  are available for PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5; these tracks are not compatible with Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii.
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PSN: singemfrc
Twitch: singemfrcps |
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