Song of the day (the new and the old) – 18. Skytone and Felt

Sometimes, music catches you like that.

I’m that old I have no idea what music like this is called anymore. Makes you wonder about the power of words, if the names are so interchangeable and forgettable and meaningless. Ottawa band SKYTONE have no problem with labels though. Ottawa band SKYTONE call their album JangleWaves, and that is what Ottawa band Skytone’s album is. Waves of jangle. Guitars held high, across the chest. Bare knees. Bare knees jangle. In jeans and sneakers.

In recent weeks I’ve been through a heavy dosage of ELO – think of them as a panacea if you want, think of them as hollow to the core if you will but that reveals more about you than them. ELO soothe me. ELO balm me. (Can one be balmed?) Their music is infused with melancholy, it comes de rigour along with the vocoder broken robot voice and perm hairdo’s. So sad. So sad about us. So sad.

I do not know whether this means I am more open to Ottawa band SKYTONE and their rightly named album JangleWaves, but maybe. Sometimes, music just catches you like that. Unawares. Appreciative. Skytone remind of a 1970s I never knew (I was ill in bed) and a sound I never experienced, and by that I mean Ottawa band SKYTONE remind of that lost 1990s band The Webb Brothers.

Maybe it was because I went out yesterday.

Here, have yourself a listen. Thanked me yet? Oh, there’s no need.

Odd now that I think about it. The two bands sound nothing like.

https://skytone1.bandcamp.com/album/janglewaves

Oh wait. You still here? Well you know I hold no truck with male vocals usually, and certainly not ones that reference C86 (an otherwise charming musical ‘movement’ that was mainly spoilt by the preponderance of male over female vocalists) but there’s something about Ottawa band SKYTONE. Sometimes music catches you like that, and maybe I have been listening to a little too much ELO recently…

Hush my mouth! How can I say such a thing. As ex-Shop Assistant David Keegan told me on Twitter yesterday, life is too short not to form an ELO tribute band. Not that Ottawa band SKYTONE have, you understand, or if they have they certainly ain’t informed me of the fact. Here is what they say:

Skytone are Rodney and Darius Doddridge, brothers with a keen ear for melodies that pack more sunshine and warmth per decibel than you would have thought possible. The bright jangle pop tune “Second Hand Shops” and the moodier “Bright and Better Days are available for digital download. Also check out Skytone Live @ The Fishfry, eleven mostly upbeat and summery backyard indie tunes.

Ridiculously bright production, of course.

Oh, and here’s Felt.

See what I did there?