It feels good to be home! I'm not going to lie, I'm quite content to have missed the last few weeks in American music. I really don't need the Biebs whispering in my ear, and if I want someone to call me, I make it quite clear.
Anyway, I returned last Wednesday from a dream five-week romp through Europe -- documented on my personal writing blog -- during which I didn't actually listen to much music as a rule. I wanted to separate a bit from the familiar, and I was actually getting really used to listening to birds tweet instead of phones. But then I remembered the Alabama Shakes released their first big studio album, Boys and Girls, on April 10, and I folded like a hot yoga instructor. I put the album on repeat, and now it courses through my veins like it's always been there. Seriously, Juke Box Hero called it two months ago: These guys and gal are my new favorite band.
Our first video back is a heftier edition, as appropriate for a Full Concert Tuesday. Back in January the Shakes were invited to play their tunes in the Seattle studio of KEXP, and they chose my favorites from the album. If you want to skip right to the heart of this band's music, jump to 14:45 for the start of "Hold On," their lead single and the song they've been shopping everywhere from Letterman to Conan. (They skipped Leno, which makes me happy for silly, spiteful reasons.) Listen to it, and then rewind and start from the beginning. Trust me.
The video also includes a mini-interview in the middle, where the band talks about how they came together just a few short years ago in -- where else? -- Alabama.
I'm also SUPER EXCITED because I've been granted a second year of volunteering for Lollapalooza, Chicago's famed music festival, held the first weekend of August. There are 125 bands performing at Lolla, including the Shakes, and if I can't see them all live, I can at least try my darndest to give the line-up its proper due before I fall to pieces in front of Jack White (Sunday's headliner, oh. my. god.).
I hereby dedicate the summer to artists who will be performing at Lolla, from the well-known -- like the Black Keys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack, the Shins, and the back-from-the-dead Black Sabbath -- to the lesser known, such as artists Juke Box Hero told us about months ago, like First Aid Kit and The Tallest Man On Earth. It's going to be fun.
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