I Used to Like Maroon 5 🤷🏻♂️
Shuffle Sundays #75 • Maroon 5, Twenty One Pilots, Florist, Tony Hawk, Here Before A Million, Adriene Hughes, & more.
💽 » Songs About Jane, by Maroon 5
rock, pop • 12 songs • 46 minutes
Ok, maybe you opened this post thinking the title was just a silly clickbait, but I promise that’s not the case. Well… the truth is that, believe it or not, I still like Maroon 5! That is if you’re considering just the first two albums. And if you’re only familiar with their more recent and generic releases, you may be in for a real treat.
20 years ago this month, California-based band Maroon 5 were releasing their debut album, which in my opinion remains their best material after all this time. Songs About Jane (2002) is actually a pretty mature and well-done debut, as the band had already some years behind them under a different name before becoming Maroon 5. While the lyrical content may not have changed all that much, with bandleader Adam Levine singing mostly about his love life, the musical content sure sounded very different back then! Songs About Jane is a (pop) rock album rooted in funky guitars, full-band arrangements, and a great vocal range from its frontman, with at least 4 songs that you’ll probably recognize, although the whole album is truly a great achievement back to back.
I’m always very respectful of bands that go out to explore other genres and mix up into their own sound, but in the case of Maroon 5, is really hard to understand how or why they distanced themselves so much from such an incredible beginning. Similar to Coldplay, I sometimes wonder why Adam Levine didn’t simply end the band and continued as a solo act, as it’s pretty much all about him anyways. But as someone recently mentioned, at least he kept all the band members on the ride instead of putting them on the streets?
🎶 » MTV Unplugged, by Twenty One Pilots
Speaking of bands who continue to experiment with different sounds and genres, I truly enjoyed Twenty One Pilots’ MTV Unplugged. Instead of playing acoustic versions of their hits, they decided to reimagine and recreate some of their songs in strip-down and creative ways. I’m sure this is not the first time someone does that, but kudos to them for pushing their own boundaries.
🎶 » Sci-fi Silence, by Florist
I’m loving the massive Big Thief vibes on Florist’s new single Sci-fi Silence, from their upcoming self-titled album that’s coming out on July 29th. It’s no surprise that Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief’s frontwoman) is the first on the “similar artists” section on Florist’s Apple Music page.
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🧩 » Random Bits
🛹 • Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off is an incredibly inspiring documentary on skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, who went from a skinny kid that everybody laughed at, to becoming the most famous person in the sport of all time.
🎶 • If you’re looking for more music recommendations of not-so-popular (yet) artists/songs, Here Before A Million is a curated streaming site that features the best music videos with less than one million views on YouTube. They are also a newsletter here on Substack.
🌽 • If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I wish you a Happy Summer with the cutest stop motion animation you’ll see today! (via The Practical Polymath)
⚡️ Visual Inspiration
Adriene Hughes is a San Diego-based fine artist who mixes embroidery with her own landscape photographs to discuss the effects of global warming on the environment. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
this week’s new albums I'm curious to check out
Also, new singles from Beyoncé, Spiritbox, Gorillaz, Willow, The Mars Volta, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2022 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
Man, I said the same thing about Coldplay (liking just the first 2-3 albums) and people came after me with imaginary bayonets, lol. Old Coldplay is best Coldplay!
Also, Tony Hawk is one of the nicest people on Planet Earth. He’s often not recognised in public and his Twitter feed has several hilarious examples of that.
Happy Sunday, Leo. See you in my comments on Monday 😄
The new Soccer mommy record is great. I knew "Shotgun" and 1-2 other tracks she'd released ahead of the full record, but wasn't sure if it'd be good all the way through. It is. I would up enjoying it quite a bit.