“Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron – A Song Feature

 

      Lord Huron showed their Rock-aligned skills in a collaboration with actress Kristen Stewart – “Who Laughs Last.” It’s an adventure from the “standard” Lord Huron sound, so much so that it’s only when Ben Schneider voice is heard at 2:11 that the identity is revealed. About the single, Schneider commented:

  “I didn’t know Kristen previously but I’d been a big fan since seeing her work with Olivier Assayas, which my wife introduced me to. I kept hearing her voice when I was writing this song and just thought “what the hell, I’ll reach out and see,” thinking it was a long shot. But she said she was interested so we met up and hit it off talking about books, movies and music. She immediately got what I was going for and had great ideas to boot.”

 

     The press material related to the single interestingly explains:

  The track once again finds Lord Huron evolving at lightspeed. With Stewart in the driver’s seat, they traverse a lonely and lost highway soundtracked by a rumbling palm-muted bass riff and a high octane beat. The groove picks up as samples of garbled news broadcasts echo in waves over strings. While she grips the wheel, Stewart’s poetic spoken word chills. At one point, she confesses that staring at an oncoming storm “made me feel something I never felt before…something between awestruck and horrified…I kept my eyes on the long white lines.” Turning on a dime, the momentum picks up and frontman Ben Schneider’s vocals take hold around a hard-hitting hook, “You don’t remember what I said, but you’ll remember what I did.”

 
     “Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron

LYRICS OF “Who Laughs Last” (feat. Kristen Stewart) by Lord Huron
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
After three hours at the wheel, I found myself beyond the borders of my experience
From there it was one alien world after another
Ghost towns, painted deserts, hamburger stands, neon temples
Canyons carved by patient rivers
Craters gouged by giant hunks of rock flung from who knows where
The headlights quit somewhere around mile 400
But I drove on through the darksome night
Pedal down to the floor, windows wide
Strange words repeating, repeating, repeating in my head
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
And I drove like hell
 
Above me shone a terrifying number of stars
Spelling out the cold indifference of the universe
I tried to stare at the road ahead
I saw a huge storm far off on the horizon
Dark and crawling with lightning
Just looking at that churning mass
Set in all that immense emptiness
Made me feel something I'd never felt before
Something between awestruck and horrified
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
And I laughed like hell
 
Chorus: Ben Schneider
I'm gonna leave that city far behind and get a long, long way from there
I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me and don't know where to put it
Now that I've left that place I feel like someone for the first time in my life
You don't remember what I said, but you'll remember what I did
 
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
I found no solace on the radio
Nothing but crackpots and static
UFOs and white noise
Scripture and garbled frequencies
I tried to switch it off, but the dial snapped in my fingers
The volume lodged at a distorted maximum
So loud, I never even heard the sirens
I gripped the wheel and stomped the pedal
I said a meaningless prayer through my gritted teeth
I kept my eyes on the long white lines
I laughed like hell
 
Chorus: Ben Schneider
I'm gonna leave that city far behind and get a long, long way from there
I've got a burning feeling deep inside of me and don't know where to put it
Now that I've left that place I feel like someone for the first time in my life
You don't remember what I said, but you'll remember what I did
 
I sure like the feeling of an endless road
My life is still a tale untold
I gotta stop believing in a long-gone past
If nothing stays forever, who laughs last?
I sure like the feeling of an endless road
I'm tired of doing what I'm told
I know that life is fleeting and it all goes fast
If no-one lives forever, who laughs last?
 
Kristen Stewart, spoken-word
Who laughs last?
Who laughs last?
Who laughs last?

“Cotton Mouth” by fanclubwallet – A Song Feature

     “Cotton Mouth” makes a compelling case against rushing to judgment after only the first minute of a song. At the start of the single from fanclubwallet, the guitar has an appealing urgency, but the song is dimensionally limited, even after the vocals begin. Then, shortly after the one-minute mark, instruments enter, with the percussion joining around 1:21 to provide texture-enhancing low-frequency foundation.
 
     Fanclubwallet is a musical project fronted by Hannah Judge. She is joined by Nathan Reid (bass), Eric Graham (guitar), and Michael Watson (drums, production, and mixing).  They are based in Ottawa, Ontario.
 
     “Cotton Mouth” by fanclubwallet

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fanclubwallet
Website: https://www.fanclubwallet.com/

Lyrics of “Cotton Mouth” by fanclubwallet
Everyone is wondering when I'm gonna do
The next best thing for them
But what's the next best thing for you?
 
I've got cotton in my mouth
I can't seem to get it out
Oh no
 
If you asked me how I felt yesterday
Well, I wouldn't know
But I know every day's the same
 
I've got cotton in my mouth
I don't wanna spit it out
Oh no
 
I sunk into the living room chair
Now everybody's looking at me
Everybody's there
 
She's got cotton in her mouth
She can't seem to get it out
Oh no
 
Those were better times
But werе they better at all?
Now еverything's so similar
I don't know what to call it
 
When there's cotton in your mouth
You just wanna spit it out
Oh no

“Ain't Quite Right” by Still Blank – A Song Feature

      The heartbeat of “Ain’t Quite Right” lies in its driving rhythm section and a vocal delivery that leans more rhythmic than melodic. The song by Still Blank has a boiling frog effect—not because the temperature gradually rises unnoticed, but because the listener might not realize the intensifying energy from the already charged beginning to the electrified presentation at the 2:30 mark.  
 
     The vocal skills of Still Blank are showcased starting at 3:30, after the final verse is completed and the “ain’t right” assertion carries the song to its conclusion. The band is the duo of Jordan (“Jordy”) Fleming and Benjamin (“Ben”) Kirkland. Jordy described “Ain’t Quite Right” as follows
  “We wrote the song around Christmas in rainy Manchester while listening to a lot of Sonic Youth and PJ Harvey. Usually, Ben leads the music and I work on lyrics and melody, but this one flipped. We wanted it to feel on edge—building tension. The lyrics explore a dysfunctional relationship where both sides are suffocating, and neither can let go. The guitar almost talks back to the vocal, responding with this jarring energy that adds to the unease.”
 
      This is the second release from Still Blank, joining “What About Jane,” which is described as a Grungy, Folk-inflected reflection on identity, societal perception, and the expectations we’re forced to confront to uncover who we really are. That description does not touch on the Shoegaze contributions of the song.
 
The bio of the band explains:
  “Still Blank’s sound was born from unlikely roots. Jordy grew up immersed in the natural rhythms of island life in Hawaii, gigging at weddings and fundraisers by her early teens while drawing inspiration from Hawaiian traditions and the deep solitude of Kaua’i. Ben, raised on Manchester’s rich musical legacy and early pub gigs with his dad’s band, developed a taste for ambient textures, citing The Durutti Column and Vini Reilly as formative influences.”
 
     “Ain't Quite Right”

Lyrics of “Ain't Quite Right” by Still Blank
I lay down, I watch her breathe
My senseless lamb of ecstasy
I’d peel your mind
And snatch all of your dreams
 
She would fall in the dirt if she saw me betray
So I’ll cover my tracks and I’ll wash em away
Although It ain’t quite right
It ain’t quite right, you say
 
Ain't quite right
Ain't quite right
 
You bite my tongue, a palm to cheek
I choke your brain in naked sleep
Oh it ain’t quite right
I know It ain’t quite right
 
In the burning silence, peel my eyelids
Slam the door I’m locked outside
But in a minute you’ll say don’t ever leave me alone
 
Alone (Repeating)
 
Ain’t quite right (Repeating)
 
Storm out of the car and into the kitchen
China flies against a picture
Eyes on fire, words spewing hand grenades
 
Reach for the knife, go and take my head
But it’s not my life as your breast turns red
And now you ain’t quite right
Oh It ain’t right
 
I know it ain't quite right
Oh it ain't right
 
You know it ain't quite right
Oh it ain't right
It ain't right

     “What about Jane” by Still Blank

“Say Goodbye, Tell No One” Compared to “No, Surrender”

 

      While the single from Kathleen Edwards is fresh, it carries a degree of familiarity. “Say Goodbye, Tell No One” stands on its own and it stands tall. And we probably stand alone in making the assertion that the song shares notable characteristics with our favorite post-2000 protest song – “No, Surrender” by Justin Currie (released in 2008).
 
     To avoid immediate conflict in the comparison, we point out that both sets of lyrics are intelligently crafted reflections on human complexities. But it is more difficult to defend the position that the vocal inflections and vocal tempos, which are key to communicating both lyrical messages, are similar. These similarities are most apparent by focusing on the Kathleen Edwards’ verse that starts around 2:37. Even the melody fluctuations touch upon “No, Surrender.”
 
     Edwards’ song addresses the need for relationship termination. It is time to “Say Goodbye,” but keep it quiet (“Tell No One”). The instrumental bridge (beginning around 3:38) features a strong guitar solo.
 
   Similarly, “No, Surrender” proposes surrendering. But Justin Currie presents a litany of political, societal and religious objections and observations. It’s a shotgun approach to voicing protest. I doubt that anyone agrees with all of the observations, but Currie’s delivery entices listeners to consider their own positions on topics. Separately, “No, Surrender” features string instruments, rather than a guitar solo.

 
     “Say Goodbye, Tell No One” by Kathleen Edwards

Lyrics of “Say Goodbye, Tell No One” by Kathleen Edwards
People change, people grow
You can take it in stride or slam a door
You can go quiet, yeah, you can run
Say goodbye, tell no one
 
The easiest thing for me would be
Get someone to speak for me
Get somebody else to tell you how I feel
 
The hardest part about the truth
Saying something that might hurt you
The hardest part about a lie
You can't outrun it if you try
I was always good to you
You can get blisters from your favorite shoes
You can go quiet, you can run
Say goodbye, tell no one
 
Hеre's the truth wrapped up in a lie
I never cared, I never tried
I don't miss you and I never cried
It didn't hurt me when you took their side
 
The easiest thing for me would be
Get someone to speak for me
Get somebody else to make all my meals
Get somebody else to tell you how I feel
 
Find someone else when it doesn't come easy
To clean up the mess, to get up early
Find someone not to judge you
When you did something that you can't undo
 
The hardest part about the truth
Saying something that might hurt you
The hardest part about a lie
You can't outrun it if you try
Well, I was always good to you
You can get blisters from your favorite shoes
You can go quiet, you can run
Say goodbye, tell no one
 
The hardest part about the truth
Saying something that might hurt you
The hardest part about a lie
You can't outrun it if you try
I was always good to you
You can get blisters from your favorite shoes
You can go quiet, you can run
Say goodbye, tell no one

     "No, Surrender" by Justin Currie

Lyrics of “No, Surrender” by Justin Currie
Big Mac's for the fat
Low cal wraps for the call center battery hens
Japanese snacks for the choice-spoilt citizens
Caviar kickbacks for the citadel denizens
Airport shoeshines servicing the suits among
The little silver stereos and hand-rolled cheroots
First class passengers file on last
After the scum are packed in with their tax-free loot
 
Checkout calamity, you're cheated out of loyalty points
Ten more years at this joint you'd be home and dry
Beggars beat 'round the cash machines
But you just slip between them with the usual lie
Terrible tales of kidnapped kids keep you focused
On the family and filling up the fridge
Neighborhood watchers shop dole dodgers
Stick their semis on the market and start racking up the bids
 
Should you stand and fight?
Should you die for what you think is right
So your useless contribution will be remembered?
 
If you're asking me I say no, surrender
No, surrender
 
Constant growth, the cancerous cure
A swarming race of profiteers ensure
Cheap cars for the rich, cheap lives for the poor
Cheap weeks in the sun, free drinks at the door
Puerile propaganda plugs up the TV
Keep folk following the money so they'll never be free
Keep them swallowing the swill, the celebrities, the pedophiles
The immigrants invading from the camp over the hill
 
War talk, the big debate, foot soldiers in the capital
Liberating new kinds of hate
Cum-shots of human dots caught in the spotlight's glare
He dies who dares
Fatuous fast-trackers sneering at the shelf-stackers
Little Middle-Englanders can't stand the backpackers
Fortress freedom, come on in
Take your chances, you might win
 
Should you stand and fight?
Should you die for what you think is right
So your useless contribution will be remembered?
 
If you're asking me I say no, surrender
Surrender, surrender
 
Sunset beaches, security patrolled
Keep out the undesirables who don't accept the code
Equal opportunity to live in total poverty
Execute the ignorant, incarcerate the slow
Car caressing managers choking up the avenues
Brain-dead patriots standing in salute
Paperwork raining again and again
So that billionaires can claim there's an enemy to shoot
 
Pill pushers, door steppers, personal goal shoppers
Lifestyle trend setters, meditating mind benders
Hare-brained share sellers pumping out stocks
'Til you're choking on a chain-letter avalanche of dross
God squads crawling through every country
Tracking down fools who are bullshit hungry
Blinded by divinity, followers fall into the man-traps
Set along the Wailing Wall
 
Athletes compete in grand charades
While tanks flatten streets and a nation laughs
Visa holders gape at the changing guards
And creeps bribe bums to take their photographs
Film fans flock to the latest schlock
Blockbusters block out even the vaguest thought
Bankrupt schools grind out fool after fool
Then feed them to a system where idiots rule
 
Polling booths, phone votes, bogus questionnaires
You get a say as if anybody cares
Joe Public doesn't wanna play
So liquidate his life as he looks the other way
Don't get sick, don't get wise
Or they'll gut you with a justice where everything is lies
March down Main Street, complain if you want
But it's twenty years straight for the losers at the front
 
If you're asking me I say no, surrender
If you're asking me I say no, surrender, surrender
Just surrender, just surrender, surrender
Just surrender, just surrender
 
Surrender, surrender, surrender

“Return The Day” by Dog Race – An EP Feature

     Dog Race, a band based in the UK, recently released the 5-song EP “Return The Day.” Our favorites tracks are “Return The Day (Colours)” and “It’s The Squeeze.” But referring to the EP in general, the band explained that it as:
  "A soundscape born from sleepless nights, intrusive thoughts, and the quiet war between the mind and the world around me. Each track pulls at the threads of cultish beliefs and everyday expectations, exposing the weight they place on someone already battling inner turmoil."

      The members are Katie Healy (vocals), Jed Finkelstein (drums), James Kelly (guitar), Will Macnab (bass), and Dillon Willis (synth). Their sound is easily distinguished from other songs featured on Indie Obsessive. The band is from England, but they show German influences, and as evidenced in “Return The Day (Colours)” and “It’s The Squeeze,” lyrical chants are a strength of Dog Race.

     “Return The Day (Colours)” by Dog Race

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dograceband/
Bandcamp: https://dograceband.bandcamp.com/
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dograceband?
 
Lyrics of “Return The Day (Colours)” by Dog Race
Count the stars getting out the shower
Boiling point, looks like a hot poached salmon
Finger the pink, beside the belly button
The curtains are catching a tan this Sunday
 
The Lord dimmed the virgin-stained windows
The sheet magenta, now a sheet of pale dogwood
I'd like to report a bad batch, act pronto!
My tears keep whispering I should be serenity
 
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
 
Pause the hand, circling the hour
The chestnut stain has wilted to a sweet timber
Finger the stitch, between the cord patch pockets
The ceilings are holding a mass this Sunday
The Lord dimmed the virgin-stained windows
The sheet of marine, a sheet of ancient
I'd like to report a bad batch, act pronto!
My tears keep whispering I should be serenity
 

I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
I'll try to return the day at the checkout counter
My colours are not working, my colours stopped working
[Repeating]

     “It's The Squeeze” by Dog Race

Lyrics of “It's The Squeeze” by Dog Race
How many studies, have aided your dysfunction
I’m in pain over here, and I can’t get a dog’s attention
It's a mutual understanding, that your bluey takes the winning
And I must download a squeezy app, to cure my suffering
 
Oh no, he won’t leave me alone
I owe my life to him, it’s just the situation
If a park run makes me bleed and cry
Then why suggest a marathon
I call it alone time with fiber glass insulation
 
I know that it’s my fault, but then it’s not
But then it is, but then it’s not, but then it is again
 
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
 
A budding rose bush is bursting into season
European nightcrawlers are itching for a feeding
Sawflies haunt the rosa peace, they ponder what is destined
She wonders if she’ll ever breed or shortly follow nature
 
Oh no, he won’t leave me alone
I owe my life to him, but it's just the situation
If I wage a war with life, I’ll never make a parent
I call it alone time with pesticide chrysanthemum
 
I know that it’s my fault, but then it’s not
But then it is, but then it’s not, but then it is
But then it’s not, but then it is again
 
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It’s the squeeze, it’s not the love
It's not the love [Repeating]

"All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights – A Song Feature

 

     This is a story of initially overlooking a song’s appeal—though not one of missed opportunity, since we eventually recognized what we had missed.  Caroline at Clarion Call Media gave us an early heads-up that Smokey Brights would soon release “All In Who You Know,” the first single from their upcoming album, “Dashboard Heat.” The 11-track album is set to drop on September 26, 2025. We immediately enjoyed the song, but it took a second encounter to fully open our ears.
 

      The instrumental highlight of "All In Who You Know" is from the Yamaha “keytar” that is shown in the embedded picture. It’s likely that this Yamaha SHS-10 is set in its Rock guitar “voice,” based upon the wail heard at the 46-second mark.  The instrument is held by Kim West, who also provides the lead vocals. The other members of Seattle-based Smokey Brights are Ryan Devlin (vocals/guitars), Luke Ragnar (bass/vocals), and Nick Krivchenia (drums).
 
      The final 30 seconds of the song are also noteworthy. "All In Who You Know" sequentially moves from a “banger” to Neo-psychedelia and then a near-religious delivery, before a final moment of self-congratulation.

     The lyrics of the song are included at the bottom of this post. Cleverly, Smokey Brights refer to "All In Who You Know" as “The world’s first anthem for mutual aid via petty theft - this synth-laden banger punches up at celebrities and egg barons and reminds us that the power to push back lies in small acts of resistance that can happen anywhere, even the grocery store checkout line.”

     "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokeybrights/
Website: http://smokeybrights.com/

Lyrics of "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights
Cereal for dinner, Thursday night
Grab some one percent from the Shop ‘n Rite
Thought about some cheap red wine
But my shift was slow, and tips were light
 
I picked up a magazine
Smokin' hot celebrities
They're just like us, but not like me
 
Guess it's all in who you know
 
Jo bagged the milk, and we caught up
Her kids, her folks, the rent, her boyfriend Doug
Talked about the rising price
Of stupid shit, of getting by
 
She ran my card, declined again
But she waived me through, cause she's a friend
 
Yeah, it's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
I said I'll buy you a beer, after your shift
You can't borrow the van, but I'll give you a lift
I mean, what's a job really worth to you?
If you see a friend, just wave ‘em through
 
It's all in who you know
It's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
So who do you know?
Who do you know?