Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes "Better Days"

I always laugh to myself when I see this---and I'll try not to pick on any one group here, as this scene exists across many, many demographic groups.

You see a person.  And they really stand out in the crowd.  Something about the way they dress screams "I'm an individual!"  Maybe it's a particular, unusual haircut or jewelry.  Or a hat.  Or just a way of wearing their pants.

They are making a bold, individualistic statement.

And then you see them join a group of friends, and the friends are all dressed the same.

Like, you saw the first guy and he was wearing a vest and you thought, hmm, you don't see to many dudes wearing vests these days. and then you look at his friends and they're ALL wearing vests.

That's what trends in music can be like.  At first, you hear a band that is doing something different.  Then suddenly, 10 bands who are doing the same thing show up.

I've already written a bit about the Mumford And Sons burnout that many listeners are crabbing about.

And they are a part of this larger trend we're caught in the middle of right now.

Some friends have referred to it as "the group singing thing" but I'm otherwise not sure if it has a name.

But aren't there suddenly a dozen bands that give off a quasi-messianic vibe, thunderously strum their acoustic instruments and have the whole band join in to sing the chorus?

The Head And The Heart are a great example of this sound.

And let me say, It's a really great sound.  On the one hand, I totally love this trend.  Because I appreciate the sincerity of the singing, the democratic feel of the group-ness, the uplifting nature of it all.

But as a programming . . . yeesh, there's a lot of it.  Just to name a few:

The Lumineers
The Lone Bellow
The Kopecky Family
The David Wax Museum
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes
The Low Anthem
Hey Marseilles
Fleet Foxes

I have to say, there isn't a stinker in the bunch.  I think these are all solid, respectable bands.  Real musicians with real passion.

But, as a programmer, you just can't play them all.

There are many parts to what we do.  MVY has some classic rock.  We play some jazz-influenced artists.  Harder rock.  Folkies.  Some Blues.  And R&B/Soul stuff.  But the recipe calls for a little of each.

When the new music pile skews heavily to one side, unfortunately, some good bands don't make the cut in deference to the overall sound.

The Edward Sharpe track (in the video below) was the most added song to radio stations across the country, when the numbers came out Monday.  But MVY probably won't add it.  Why?  We've got a lot of stuff on the air that is similar.

And following the Jack White corollary, there's no sense hopping in bed with a band unless we think we're going to follow them for years and albums to come.

So while "Better Days" is likely to go on to do well across the country, it won't be in the MVY mix.

Because seriously, we can't all wear vests to the party.


Hear the song on Youtube.