#AOTW- Milky Chance

Well hey there everyone!!!! How fat do we all feel post-holiday season full of stuffing ourselves with roast beast and figgy pudding? For me the answer is “quite fat”. It’s 2014. That’s coming up on 10 years since high school. That’s a weird thing. Also realizing that I might need glasses. Total bummer. Enough about my woes, let’s get into it. It’s a new year so let’s start it off by getting goofy. I’ve found a band. They are good. Big issue with them: every fucking interview I try to watch has them speaking German. Where do they get off? Being all German, who do they think they are?

Sometimes if you’re speaking French or maybe a little Spanish, I can slow things down and kind of understand, but German…no way. Not a chance in hell. How was I supposed to know? The whole album is in English.

Last time this happened to me was when Phoenix (French) went and recorded a great record in English. That basically shot them to the top of the charts worldwide. Savvy business move by them frogs. How you gonna make it big if the Tweens in Sacramento haven’t the darndest idea what you’re singing about. I’m assuming the debut album from this week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK was done under the same pretenses of “If we speak it in English the dullards in America (GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD) will jump on board”. THIS WEEK’S ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Milky Chance.

Milky Chance is a German based duo comprised of Singer/ Songwriter Clemens Rehbein on vocals and guitars with Philipp Dausch accompanying him…on DJ? As a DJ? Yeah as a DJ.

An odd duo combo but in this day and age I feel like everyone has a DJ. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of DJing going on here though. Homeboy is just playing some loops and samples to go along with Clemens’ guitar and vocals. Their songs blend a mix of folk and pop with accents of electronic every now and again. I consider them to be a less poppy Citizen Cope or more electro G. Love & The Special Sauce. I may be dating myself with those references but it doesn’t matter. The music is danceable. If you’re a white chick that’s kinda stoned you’re gonna prolly dance your face off. Not really hard dancing. Mostly that “standing and swaying” thing you guys do. Bottom line, Milky Chance is pretty fun and laid back. Let’s start with my favorite song of theirs Flash Junk Mind.

His voice is a bit mumbly as he flows through his lyrics. Reminds me of that Weird Al line where he makes fun of Kurt Cobain for not singing coherently.

“It’s hard to bargle nawdle zouss

With all these marbles in my mouth”.

The melody is simplistic for sure, the mellow guitar with plucking and that lil’ electro backing beat paired together is pretty damn nice. Simple. Simple is good. I like simple. Sheet cake is simple and it’s delicious. A cheeseburger is perfect. That shit is simple as hell. That doesn’t keep it from being any less enjoyable that some Veal Oscar.

Many of the songs have a distinct reggae vibe. Normally I’m not a huge ‘ggae guy but I’m willing to make some exceptions. Usually it’s in the realm of Toot’s and the Maytals, Bob Marley, or Fat Freddy’s Drop. Those are some crews that take reggae tunes to a new level. I wouldn’t go out on a limb and call this “next level” but it definitely has something that you will find yourself bobbing your head to. Here’s Stolen Dance.

We are gonna close out with one of their party songs. Guy is totally mush mouthed on this track but I can’t stop listening to it. Maybe we will never hear from these guys after this album, but who cares. They’re racking up Facebook likes and youtube views so maybe there will be more. Here’s Sweet Sun. I listen to this song and can’t believe he’s not a stoner from Philly. He’s some dude from Deutschland. Weird world. Enjoy!