DISCOVER 365: Days 356 & 355

I haven't truly cheated yet on completing this countdown unless you consider skipping required posts to be cheating. However, in order to wrap up the Bowling Green theme and give you a chance to listen to 365 albums this year, I'm going to combine two albums into one post because they're listed more to prove a bigger point than they are to highlight the individual album. It's not because the albums or the bands aren't excellent or their talent unbelievable, it's just that I haven't listened to either enough to probably give it the justice it deserves considering how impressed I am after only a few listens of each.

After posting on Cage the Elephant last night, I kind of wondered to myself all day if I was making them bigger than what they really are to those with no Bowling Green ties. And then I logged onto the iTunes Store to find this banner at the top of the main home page:

Not only did this help me get over whatever it was I worried about, but it also helped me realize that maybe there is some substance to that hushed comparison I've been hearing and reading about: that the Bowling Green, Kentucky of the 2000's and 2010's is starting to look an awful lot like 1990's Seattle. For those of you that didn't blow your brains out and/or decide that I have no credibility after reading that last sentence, please know that I'm not saying Cage the Elephant is the new Nirvana or Sleeper Agent is the new Pearl Jam. I don't believe in making those types of statements (though you'll probably find me making those statements over the course of a year), just as I would never say anyone from Harold Miner to Kobe Bryant is the new Jordan. There will never be a new Jordan just as there will never be a new Nirvana. But a new Seattle is not out of reach in terms of a high concentration of bright, new bands coming out of the same centralized location, or, as in this case, coming off the same bar stage.

One band from one town would realistically be labeled as a shot in the pan or fluke; two bands could even be seen as a coincidence. But three or more has to be seen as something special. no matter the size of the city but ESPECIALLY if the town has less than 50,000 people even when school is in session. Two more of the Bowling Green bands that blow this thing way past coincidence are listed below: Mona and Morning Teleportation.

Artist: Morning Teleportation
Album: Expand Anyway


Impressive probably isn't a strong enough description. I'm always blown away by a front man who can also pull off lead guitar duties without ever missing a beat. When those duties require the licks and fills this guy is throwing out there, I'm liable to use a stupid phrase like "blown to smithereens" because "blown away" just doesn't cut how taken aback I am by the talent at that front mic. Combine that with catchy melodies and lyric delivery that makes you want to shout along, this band may have more than what it takes to be the biggest of all four of the highlighted bands in this series.


David Letterman was pretty damn impressed:

Year Released: 2011

# of Tracks: 12

Label: Glacial Pace

Best Lyric and Best Track: I don't want to make a call on either category without giving them all a chance to fairly hit me in time




Artist: Mona
Album: Mona - EP

I'm not going to even try and look over the obvious here: these guys will remind you a lot of Kings of Leon. They've been called the new Kings of Leon by people who remember what the old Kings of Leon used to be like. They've opened for Kings of Leon prior to Caleb losing his mind again. But damn it, Kings of Leon are pretty friggin' good for a bunch of guys who should be no better than average based on their background, so I always consider being compared to them as one heck of a compliment. Plus these cats already have their own Vevo channel on YouTube so that's got to say something. And not to experience-drop like it's hot, but I met their bassist at the bar on another random night at Tidball's and had no idea who in the hell he or Mona even was. I thought he was just another guy with an overinflated sense of how good his band was and used how down-to-Earth and approachable he was as evidence to prove that point to myself. Why would anyone who's as big as he claimed to be just randomly strike up conversation? I was right about one thing . . . he was definitely down to Earth and approachable. I was, however, wrong about another thing . . . his sense of how good they were could have actually used some inflation.

Check out their appearance on Later .. .with Jools Holland, BBC's version of Last Call with Carson Daly:

Year Released: 2011

# of Tracks: 4

Label: Mercury

Best Lyric and Best Track: I don't want to make a call on either category without giving them all a chance to fairly hit me in time