It’s Called Electric Guitar!

Prints “Easy Magic” – I’m not exactly against people putting their music in ads. It’s tacky, but people have got to make a living, you know? It’s exceptionally rare that an advertisement taints a song that I already love — I’m kinda stubborn that way, if I like something it’s almost impossible for me to change my mind about it — and so I only really hate it when songs I dislike end up in ads that I end up hearing all the time. (Perfect example: Remember when “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies was in that car ad, and it’d be on all the time, pretty much every episode of Conan O’Brien for a year back when no one had tivo? That was very painful.) I also dislike how a large chunk of music now is either music from ads, or music that will eventually be in an ad. This song by Prints has a hook that is incredibly crisp, lovely and instantly ingratiating, and so it’s hard to imagine that it won’t be featured in an ad campaign for something or other within a year, especially since it has this sound that sorta quietly whispers “I am smart, stylish, and casual.” Maybe it won’t, maybe no one will be interested, or maybe Prints would refuse, but either way, it still has that vibe, and it’s not even their fault. This is probably how the big companies win — eventually everything we hear will in some way make us think of some totally unrelated product. (Click here for the Prints MySpace page.)

Home Blitz “Hey!” – How’s this for a perfect, brilliant punk rock moment: The band is playing this immediately catchy power pop tune, and the lyrics are very silly but right on. Just after he admits that his guitar cannot “express many different emotions,” the singer stops the song abruptly so that he can “get some gum.” A few seconds later, they kick right back into the tune, but not exactly at the point where they left off. And then — a sweet, sentimental guitar solo that sharply contrasts with the shambling quality of everything else on the track. I don’t exactly endorse everyone taking gum breaks in the middle of their studio recordings, but man, if only every band could sound this alive and present on their albums. (Click here to buy it from Gulcher Records.)