2nd Day Crush "From the Nights You Lost Your Voice"

When when singer/songwriter Chris Drizen and met bassist Rick Barrio Dill at a Hollywood Hills party they decided to start a band. Then auditions for a guitarist brought them Rami Jrade and his friend drummer George Lind, and 2nd Day Crush was born. Two years later, we get “From the Nights You Lost Your Voice.” This debut album is a polished slice of indie rock, starting with the opening track “The Victim” — a mix of buzzing guitars and beat heavy rhythms. Similar in sound to Semisonic meets Coldplay with a bit of Green Day guitars thrown in. The next tune, “Put Down Your Guns” is a fast paced infectious melody with an easy to digest chorus and the right amount of modern influences. Other songs have bouncy pop to offset the guitar toughness, like in the great “Something Now” and Drizen’s vocals seems to channel both The Rembrandts and Neil Peart in the song “Better Than This.” My favorite here is “I Want To Be There Again” which is one of the better modern pop singles I have heard this year. Stylistically, the band moves around as some songs will remind me of Australia’s Taxiride, (“Walk Away” and “Watch The World”) full of confidence and energy. Every song here sparkles with quality and professionalism, so there are no throw away tracks here either. A drawback for me is the lack of any type of ballad, as the album is on “full speed” through all 12 tracks. However, this is glossy power pop with modern 21st century sensibility — a true bid for pop radio success.

2nd Day Crush web site | My Space | CD Baby


Listen to “Watch the World”

1970s Pop agony from days gone by


I saw this on the Bolus Blog a few days ago. It listed You Tube Videos for the most painful pop music ever. I disagree here, as all these are basic “one-hit wonders” from the seventies that became extremely uncool to listen to soon after they fell off the charts. To some this is a guilty pleasure, but to most who lived through 1970’s pop music this is torture by extreme pop schmaltz. It’s difficult to differentiate between true badness and an acquired taste.

White Plains “My Baby Loves Lovin”
Terry Jacks — Seasons in the Sun
Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods — Billy Don’t Be a Hero
Captain & Tenille — Muskrat Love
Tony DiFranco & the DiFranco Family — Heartbeat (It’s a Love Beat)
Bobby Goldsboro — Honey
Sammy Johns — Chevy Van
Debbie Boone — You Light Up My Life
The Buoys — Timothy (written by Rupert Holmes, a pop ballad about cannibalism?)
Rupert Holmes – Him (I kinda like this one)
Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Tony Orlando “Tie a Yellow Ribbon”
Charlene “I’ve Never Been To Me”
Coven “One Tin Soldier”
Starland Vocal Band “Afternoon Delight”
Vicki Lawrence “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”
Paper Lace “The Night Chicago Died”

Now if we started talking about painful songs with the worst lyrics… It’s a whole new list – I’ll start it with:
Donna Summer “MacArthur Park” (someone left the cake out in the rain) and I like the Richard Harris non-disco version better.