Putting A Shine On Terraplane Sun's "Get Me Golden"

How can five music-making dudes who occupy space in the beachfront city of Venice, CA possibly go all south of the Mason-Dixon line-sound and blend it with California sun and soul without sounding- what’s the word- ridiculous? Yes, fricking ridiculous. Well, that’s Terraplane Sun for you. These guys are my guys: I  took ownership of them a long time ago (in the most platonic way possible) and am just shy of being able to claim them on my taxes.

Ben Rothbard (singer dude), Johnny Zambetti (guitar, mandolin and awesome hair), Cecil Campanaro (slapping da bass), Lyle Riddle (cool drummer, cool tats) and Gabe Feenberg (like...everything else, seriously) describe themselves as “blues indie rock folk dance soul”: their sound is a little vintage, a little timeless and a lot of awesome as they truly do flesh out blues, indie rock, folk, dance and soul with full blown musicality and a refined rawness that translates fantastically from record to their live show. So here's a song for you that will be on their brand spanking new EP coming out in June. The song: "Get Me Golden." The theme: going for the gold, silly.

Rothbard (or 'Ben' as I like to call him) was kind enough to sum up the song in his own words:

"Golden was written with the notion that if you want something, you gotta go and get it. One thing we've learned as a band and even just as individuals is that very little will fall in your lap and if it does, chances are it won't happen again. I've never been a fan of the lottery and have always been called crazy for saying that I'd give away all the money if I won it. It's always so much more rewarding if you earn what you get and really go after exactly what you want, whether it's love, a goal, a challenge etc...

The song itself was Motown inspired for sure. It's a dancer!"

And who doesn't like to dance? So you read these words, listened to the killer song, did the hand claps because it's a little irresistable and now you're all, "Holy shit, this band's a bucket full of awesome...if you could actually put awesome in a bucket, of course! Where/when can I get some of this live?"

Funny you should ask: if you happen to be in Los Angeles on Thursday 5/30 and attending the Imagine Dragons concert at the Hollywood Palladium, Terraplane Sun just happen to be the opening band so, BAM!, you're welcome. Otherwise, do your duty and stalk them in the usual places like their website, Facebook and Twitter in order to get in their business. They'd probably like that.

By the way, every Thursday night at 11pm EST/8pm PST High Voltage takes over the radio on Dirty Glitter w/ Brody Ramone on WBGU-FM in order to play three High Voltage-approved songs. Tune in this Thursday night and you'll hear Terraplane Sun getting some love.

VIDEO: The Last Internationale Call For "Workers of the World Unite!"

Even though 'folk rock' has been around for years, as genres go, it's a conflicted one as 'rock' and 'folk' have such dissimilar energies and origins. But the merger of the two has gone on to be the impetus of great and highly conscious musical things: see Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan for further.

Today is International Workers' Day and that certain soul of protest, rebellion, social change- as well as good, old-fashioned blues-rooted rock and roll- can be found in the Last Internationale: a three-piece outfit from New York who embrace rawness in sound as well as a spirited esthetic of punk keeping it as real as it is reactive where you wouldn't be far off-base if you drew likenesses to Band of Skulls or the Dead Weather  (with a lot less annoying attitude). Politically minded (they're not above thinking President Obama should be tried for war crimes), wanting to spark a revolution and a primal sound and live show, all things considered, the Last Internationale are already rockers to reckon with.

In their latest video, "Workers of the World Unite!," Delila (vox, bass), Edgey (guitar) and Fernando Silva (drums) tame their usual high energy to shine a light on the plight of farmers and the American dream that doesn't always come to fruition as the images of farming life flicker by while Delila's clarion voice shifts from delicate inflections to powerful surges of demand. Check it out and I dare you to remain unmoved. There's much to like about the Last Internationale and this is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.