BAG RAIDERS’ DEBUT ALBUM COMES OUT TOMORROW….in Australia.
No word yet on when it’s going to be released in the US, but until then I’m waiting with bated breath. These guys are great, and from what I can tell by listening to the 30-second song clips available for streaming on iTunes Australia, so is their new album (yes I’m so anxious for the release that it’s come to this).
Bag Raiders craft luscious house/disco/electro-pop songs with an inexplicable knack for getting themselves stuck in your head. Their first single and blog hit, Shooting Stars is a tricky little number: It starts as a slow-burning bower ballad, and just as it ensnares you in it's melancholy web it suddenly hits you upside the head with a chorus comprised of glittering major chords and a vocal line pulled straight from mid-90’s boy-band era pop music. Before you have time to question the overtly mainstream change in tone, you’ve been hooked. At that point all you can think is, I LOVE THE WORLD AND I LOVE THIS SONG.
Honestly I don’t know anyone that doesn’t thoroughly enjoy Shooting Stars. There’s something to be said for feel good, pop-for-the-sake-of-pop music: It’s catchy. Those aforementioned boy bands didn’t make millions of dollars and legions of adoring fans because they thought outside the box; they reached fame and fortune because their music made you feel good. I’m not saying that Bag Raiders lack artistic credibility—they are clearly talented musicians—but their formula works so well because it’s warm fuzzy feel good pop that can appeal to everyone. If Justin Beiber were to cover a Bag Raiders song could it be a Billboard #1? Absolutely. It’s just really, really good pop music.
Way Back Home, the first single off the new album (and the BR-proclaimed sequel to Shooting Stars), employs the same pattern of slow-build-then-in-your-face-pop-explosion, to the same toe-curlingly delicious effect. It's vibe is decidedly more dancefloor-oriented, but is still pop gold nonetheless.
Right Click to Download: Way Back Home--Bag Raiders
*And if for some reason you don't have it, here's Shooting Stars as well. Mmm mm good.
Right Click to Download: Shooting Stars--Bag Raiders
3 comments:
I've listened to the samples too and honestly I was a little disappointed. This is a group thats never released weak material but it looks like theyre about to. Bag Raiders has a few too many not so catchy hooks and even weak vocals in some cases. "So Demanding" sounds good and "Golden Wings" could be too. "Way back home" is perfect. I just can't believe the album has 0 bangers! I think they thought that if they tried to make a new "shooting stars" 11 times that they'd eventually get it. Too early to tell by the clips alone though.
Evan is silly.
Thumbs up Josh.
Evan I think we've gotta wait until we can hear more than 30 seconds...ahem...
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