Images of Heaven by Peter Godwin
Throwing it back to a classing 80s dance cut.
Hey Journal, it’s your lucky day. Yep, that’s right—it’s Throwback Thursday! I don’t do this every Thursday, but when I do, you know you’re in for a treat. This time, it’s a simple share of a particular song that I’ve loved for many a year. It was recently reminded to me, as the melody in “Faded State” by Home Front is a bit similar.
“Images of Heaven” by Peter Godwin. Released in 1982 on the EP Dance Emotions, this was a frequent dance-floor banger, popular amongst wavers and goths alike as it had both haunting melodies and an excellent, simple, and danceable beat. “Torch Songs,” also from Dance Emotions, was also good.
Faded State by Home Front
It hooked me right away with a familiar melody and just kept going.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard a new song that needed to be insta-added to my liked tunes playlist. “Faded State” by Canadian band Home Front is that song.
It hooked me right away with a familiar melody—I’m still not sure what it reminds me of. (Edit: I figured it out. It’s “Images of Heaven” by Peter Godwin.) It has an infectious beat and rhythm that falls right into my wheelhouse: throwback, post-punk, and danceable. They’ve got kind of a Japandroids meets The Cure sound.
They released an EP back in 2021, and it is excellent as well, particularly the single “Flaw In The Design.” I’m excited to check out their upcoming album, Games of Power when it drops.
Brass Bell by Screaming Females
I expected a solid, straight-ahead rock song, and that’s what we’ve got here with “Brass Bell.”
It’s finally the weekend. Let’s rock!
New Jersey band Screaming Females have released a new song, and have a new album Divine Pathways, coming out in a couple of weeks. Upon first listening, I expected a solid, straight-ahead rock song, and that’s what we’ve got here with “Brass Bell.” True to form, this new single exemplifies what they do best, hard-rocking anthems that somehow manage to sound signature and familiar at the same time.
Bonus: the cover art looks like the covers from Ben Aaronovitch’s awesome Rivers of London series. Love that.
Spite by Billy Nomates
At first blush, Billy Nomates, and “spite” in particular, are not the kind of music I typically like.
I’ve shared less music here than I thought I would. Three weeks into this journal, I’m adding my first Most Important Song. Unexpected! And, if that weren’t enough, it’s a bit of an odd choice for me. I first heard Billy Nomates on the fabulous Sleaford Mods track “Mork n Mindy” (Spotify Link). Digging that, I began to dig through her other music and what I found was not what I expected.
At first blush, Billy Nomates, and “spite” in particular, are not the kind of music I typically like. In this particular case, it’s a little too pop; with some other songs, it’s a little too country or a little to slow or some other “little too.”
Those “little toos” might be why I like her, and I like her quite a bit. She’s just to the left of things I don’t typically like, making her music interesting. Kerri had a listen and also liked her style quite a bit, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, and that works quite well in a few ways.
Her new album CACTI is out now, and it’s quite good.