Clap for the guillotine: At The Drive In is back

By Robert Dean

This is not a drill: At The Drive In have released new music and it’s amazing. I cannot write an objective piece because it would be bold faced bullshittery. Seriously. If there are any bands that marked a significant evolution in my musical tastes, At The Drive In’s Relationship of Command is a seminal record that changed everything for me. I am a diehard At The Drive In nerd.

On Governed by Contagions, we’re seeing a sleeping tiger emerge from its slumber. While sure, we saw fascinating glimpses of madness during the The Mars Volta years, it was always At The Drive In we were waiting for. And to see them back was wonderful in the live context, but to know they’re writing music again? Jesus take the wheel. Not only is the song one that holds water in their greater catalog, a harken back to the In Casino/Out days, but it's also got a vicious tenor that offers the listener so much to fantasize about as the new record, or maybe just some songs trickle in. 

If you don’t get the chills when lead singer Cedic Bixler-Zavala screams, “that’s the way the guillotine claps,” and then that off-timed clap? You’re not human.

Either way, At The Drive In, are back and boy howdy, this fanboy couldn’t be happier.

Get Governed by Contagions here free - http://www.atthedriveinmusic.com

Best Songs of 2016: Beyond the Top 10

2016 was a bad year for music. So many legends lost. And it was a slightly down year for albums (to be fair, the past 2-3 years were so stellar, it's hard to compete and unnecessary to complain). However, it was a really good year for songs. Here are the tunes just beyond my top 10 that I feel need recognition - Look closely, some don't have videos. There are, of course, many others I enjoyed through the year, but for me this is the cream of the crop. Farce the Music's top 10 songs of 2016 will be posted tomorrow. ~Trailer

No particular order.

Blackberry Smoke (ft. Gregg Allman) - Free on the Wing


Margo Price - Hands of Time


 Erik Dylan - Fishing Alone

Jack Ingram - Blaine's Ferris Wheel


Brent Cobb - Country Bound


Charles Bradley - Changes


Rob Baird - Horses


Western Centuries - Off the Shelf

Larry Hooper - Cry Me a River

Lydia Loveless - More Than Ever

Caleb Caudle - White Dove's Wing


Sturgill Simpson - Call to Arms

BJ Barham - Water in the Well


Amanda Shires - Pale Fire


Chance the Rapper - No Problem (feat. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz)


Randy Rogers Band - Things I Need to Quit

Kelsey Waldon - All By Myself


Beyonce w/Jack White - Don't Hurt Yourself

Gojira - Stranded


Tedeschi Trucks Band - Let Me Get By

Quaker City Night Hawks - Mockingbird

I'm Sorry, This Exists: Christmas '16 Edition

This is all real merchandise (and other oddities).

Let's start with something I'm glad exists.... a Merle Haggard "ugly Christmas sweater"

Luke Bryan tumbler. Perfect for sipping Lime-a-ritas.

Brantley Gilbert pajamas with "Bottoms Up" on the ass. For your side chick.

A BG brass knuckles Christmas ornament. For when the cousins erupt into a brawl over who gets to play the PS4 next.

Gross.

Chris Lane socks might be your fix. I don't know why, but maybe.

If she wants to get "Nailed" this Christmas, these are for her!

The Average Joes comic book series featuring Colt Ford, The Lacs, and all your least favorite hick hoppers. I assume their arch enemy is Captain Irrelevance.

Class up the damn joint with this Fireball cornhole game. Probably not officially licensed.

Sam Hunt tank top with Bleeding Cowboys font! Yay!

Luke Bryan ugly Christmas sweater. Make it stop.

Grammatically incorrect Luke Bryan lyrics tattoo
(which are the actual lyrics)

Another kinda awesome item. A Janie Fricke snapback. On eBay!

Truck decal ... perfect stocking stuffer for that kinda racist uncle.

Best Songs of 2016 Spotlight: Tedeschi Trucks Band - Let Me Get By

From Let Me Get By.

Song Premiere: Caroline Reese - Airshow

Today we've got a song premiere from Pennsylvania songstress Caroline Reese. Caroline grew up outside Reading, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia where the rust belt meets Amish country. Her mom ran a horse farm and her dad sold antiques, both facts which certainly inform the old-soul tendencies in her songs. She and her band, the Drifting Fifth, deal with vulnerability and trying to move on in life and love on the new album.

She and the Drifting Fifth have toured nationally and opened for Grammy nominees and winners including Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile. Reese has also opened up for americana stalwarts John Hiatt, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Corb Lund, and the Secret Sisters.

We're premiering "Airshow" from Reese's forthcoming album Tenderfoot, out January 6th. It's a bouncing, twangy pop-rock tune with the longings and explorations of adolescence pumping through its veins.

Reese says of the song: "The lyrics in 'Airshow' were inspired by a World War II re-enactment in my hometown every year and a Rainer Maria Rilke quote that I heard the songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard say to the audience - 'Our fears are like dragons guarding our most precious treasures.'

The narrator is probably in her late teens, and the story is about being that age in a county fair or carnival setting and looking for trouble. The music, like the narrator's night, has highs and lows. But I wanted the end of the song to feel like taking off in a rocket ship underneath that final line, 'Fears are dragons, fears are M-16's.'

Enjoy!