Monsters from the Id 怪獣大悪脳

What bridge have I been living under for the past few years? How did I miss these guys?

I went on a bit of a music shopping spree on Friday. I picked up "Swagger" and "Drunken Lullabies" by Flogging Molly. I'm still shocked that I never heard this LA band until recently. (Damn you, Clear Channel for making a radio station that I actually like!) Oh well, at least I finally found them. They play an amazing mix of traditional Irish ballads and jigs, sea chanteys, and punk rock. It's incredible stuff. "Swagger" is a fun, energetic album and even though I've only listened to a couple of tracks off "Drunken Lullabies" so far, it seems to be the same.

Loretta Lynn on the other hand is someone I have heard of, though I can't say I can name a single song by her. (Other than she is the subject of the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a song with the same name.) I'm not sure why "Van Lear Rose" caught my eye on the new releases list but I decided to read some reviews at Amazon and few other places. After several that started out along the lines of "I don't normally like country music but...", I decided to check it out. It's produced by Jack White of The White Stripes of all people. It's quite good. There's a raw feel to the songs that I like I lot more than the overly produced gloss that shines off those few tracks I've heard by Garth, Shania, and those other modern country acts.

I bought several other albums as well but I haven't listened to them yet, so I don't have much to say. But I'm looking forward to them: Eric Clapton's "Me and Mr. Johnson", Aerosmith's "Honkin' On Bobo", Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Fever To Tell" and Toots and the Maytals' "True Love".