Did you know we currently live in the summer of saxophone? If you don’t read long thought pieces on music critics’ Tumblrs like I do in my free time (what a life!) you may not have noticed this new discussion point popping up. Yet two of the biggest songs of this season make the once uncool instrument vital again – Lady Gaga enlisted the late Clarence Clemons to provide a big ol’ sax solo for “The Edge Of Glory,” while Katy Perry brought out some ironic saxophone farts for her far-less enjoyable “Last Friday Night.” Heck, 2011 might as well be the year of the saxophone – Colin Stetson made one of the most powerful albums of the year with mostly saxophones, while my current album of the year grabbed the sax and other instruments associated with soft rock to craft an earnest and, above all else, gorgeous long player that probably won’t be knocked off my pedestal anytime soon. Thanks Destroyer!
Miila And The Geeks have been using the sax from their inception, yet new track “New Age” sticks out in a year full of saxxy time (sorry) for sounding creepy instead of catchy. This song isn’t quite as by-the-throat as the group’s previous stuff – “New Age” sorta lingers around in the shadows sizing you up instead of going for your pressure points. Miila coos creepy game over a locked in guitar line and beat. “New Age” thrives because of THAT SAX…it darts around the song like a gremlin, unpredictable and unsettling, breaking up an otherwise set-in-place sound one squonk at a time. This one works in a similar vein to She Talks Silence – even a simple sound can be twisted into something lonely or strange with just the right touch. Gaga milked the sax for joyous release, Perry for laughs, Stetson for sheer force and Destroyer for pure prettiness…Miila And The Geeks find something slightly disturbing in it and rub dirt on an instrument having a bit of a resurgence. Watch the video below.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wAFZRl1_0E”]
Via J-Rock Explosion who is killing it.