Hello Procrastinators!
Here's a list of the most uplifting songs for you to embarrassingly sing and dance to. Enjoy!
Fun - We Are Young.
A song all about the night before, cue drunken singalongs.
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now.
An absolute classic that makes you feel like you can conquer the world.
AC/DC - Back in Black.
The lyrics aren't exactly too uplifting, but once the riff kicks in, it's impossible to not try and be Brian Johnson.
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer.
WHOOOAA WE'RE HALFWAY THERE.
U2 - Beautiful Day.
They may be insufferable twats, but this is an absolute tune.
Oasis - Wonderwall.
Same situation as U2, except the Gallaghers are even bigger twats.
Vampire Weekend - A Punk.
You have no idea what half of the lyrics are but it's the perfect singalong tune.
Blink 182 - All The Small Things.
An absolute classic - who doesn't know the words?!
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations.
Incredibly cheesy but we all love a bit of cheese.
Elbow - One Day Like This.
Synonymous with austerity era Britain, after all they only want one day like this.
Connor
Hello Procrastinators!
I've been trawling through newly released music and albums to find you the best new album of the week - your new favourite album! The best of the best. It's not a title that comes lightly.
Smoke and Mirrors - Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons, surprisingly, only have two albums. It feels like they've been releasing songs for years and haven't stopped to take a breath. Most bands take ages to create their second album but Imagine Dragons are different from the rest. They've bounced straight back after just a few short months' hiatus and their material is brilliant. It's experimental, it has ups and downs of quiet and loud, it has amazing vocals, melodic guitars and catchy beats.
Amazing to listen to while you're studying or predrinking.
Highlights are: Shots, I Bet My Life, Warriors
9/10
Jess x
Hello Procrastinators!
Here's a mix of guilty pleasures, downright awful music and cheese-infested tunes to take you back to the good ol' days of the nineties.
Spice Girls - Wannabe
If you're a girl and you didn't make a band with your friends to sing this song, did you have a childhood? Also bonus points if you were appointed Scary Spice.
Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
Who else thought it was a woman singing until well after the song died out?
Barenaked Ladies - One Week
Try and sing and rap along. Go on. Dare you.
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Spelling "you" wrong was soooo edgy back in t'day.
Jojo - Leave (Get Out)
This girl makes me feel bad. She recorded this song at 13. At 13 I'm not sure I could even tie my shoelaces yet.
Christina Aguileria et al. - Lady Marmalade
Singing along we all thought we had the talent of Christina, didn't we?
Get out your hairbrush and party like it's 1999!
Jess x
Hello Procrastinators!
The Arctic Monkeys are one of the hottest properties in music at the moment: headlining festivals such as Leeds and Glastonbury, embarking on a worldwide tour and releasing another number 1 album. There's the rise, but also the fall. Through their Americanisation and re-branding of the band they have alienated their original audience: the British youth.
Yes, every band has to change and evolve to remain successful, but Arctic Monkeys seem to have forgotten their original identity. They now live in sunny LA, not dingy ol' Sheffield, a move which Alex Turner defended by saying that "LA is built on rock 'n' roll". True, but this just remonstrates how they've forgotten where they've come from.
Well, haven't they just grown up? I hear you wail at me. Their recent antics suggest not. The now infamous Alex Turner acceptance speech at the BRITs screamed out a desperate attempt to be different.
The original Arctic Monkeys were different without even making a conscious effort to be. Their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, exploded onto the scene and revolutionised British rock with its 'we don't give a fuck attitude'. The music had little meaning or moral message, it was about lads getting pissed, prostitutes, chavs, etc. and that was its brilliance. Pure unadulterated simplicity. Compare that to the most recent album, AM, which features a crescendo of different instruments and sounds, whilst also sounding remarkably similar to each other. It lacks soul and charisma, don't get me wrong some of the songs are very good, but as a lifelong Arctic Monkeys fan, it just clouds me with disappointment. It sounds like most generic indie/rock bands out there at the moment, not the genre-splitting Arctic Monkeys of 2005.
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| 2005 Alex Turner |
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| 2015 Alex Turner |
Then there's the front man, Alex Turner, once a scrawny northern lad with voice-breaking vocals, but now he's an international superstar and sex symbol, pursuing well-documented relationships with the likes of Alexa Chung and Arielle Vanderburg.
The Arctic Monkeys are experiencing unprecedented levels of popularity and commercial success at the moment. But this is amongst adolescents and hipsters, not their original group of fans. It's now 'cool' to like them, so now you see people clad head-to-toe in merchandise but the only song they know is Do I Wanna Know?
So, gone are the days of dodgy, but brilliant rhymes, like 'sumet' and 'stomach' and enter the days of deep, meaningful lyrics. Yuk. I wonder how long it'll be before they turn into Coldplay?
Connor x
