Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010

Pod Picks for July 29, 2010

Keep your summer groove rolling by checking out the following three new, eclectic tracks we recommend for downloading (legally, of course) to your iPod or other personal media device.

"Jefferson Jericho Blues" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Leave it to Tom Petty to reinvent the sound of The Heartbreakers at 59 years of age. This is the album opener from the band's new CD "Mojo," and it is straight Chicago blues. Driving slide guitar and the love lost lyrics over the shuffling drums - it feels like a cut from a Muddy Waters album in the mid-'50s. Petty still has the gruff voice and his trademark sneer, only he doesn't draw it out, he pounds it forward in a new Petty classic.

"Paris (Oh La La)" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

This is Grace Potter's third album and she continues to carry the torch of the rough and tumble rocker chick - Potter lays down big vocals over bluesy rock - she is like a hard-edged Melissa Etheridge. Her voice is sexy with a take-no-shit attitude. Powerful and playful at once while fitting nicely into a groove pocket, the truth is you could make a Pod Pick out of any of the 13 tracks on her new self-titled CD.

"Right to Complain" by Trombone Shorty featuring Marc Broussard

Troy Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty, is a fixture of the Big Easy with his ability to combine power-chord rock with New Orleans jazz and funk in a blend he refers to as "Supafunkrock." Marc Broussard guests on this track that begs you to take a personal inventory before pointing fingers at those responsible for cleaning up a community. In other words, stop complaining and start doing something to change your condition. The horns are on point, the song is straight forward and the vocals don't interfere with the suaveness of the instruments. This is a timely song during this mess in the Gulf, a call to action for the masses to tart searching for ways to help.