Drawn Ship - Glass Eye

Favorite lyrics: If that glass eye should see, I'll poke it out again so you're as blind as me.

There's definitely a dark mockery of the original nursery rhyme in this song. It sounds like it's trying to put you to sleep, but with words that are twisted and brutal, sung in a comforting way. The music is slow and sociopathic, a mix of monotony and sleepiness - but it's brilliant, because it's as dueling in its comfort and creepiness as the lyrics are.

Glitter Pox rating: 80% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Husky - History's Door & Dark Sea

Husky is a band that has a lot of stylistic range, so we're featuring

two songs that are equally fantastic in different ways.

Favorite lyrics for History's Door:

Two hearts burning

On a hillside turning

Round the blazing sun

History's Door has a more folk band quality, the echoing vocals resonating slowly, playing off the instrumentally faster melody. There are parts of it you want to hear in the sunlight and parts you want to listen to in pitch black - it's a song that manages both sides of emotion simultaneously, which isn't entirely easy to find.

Favorite lyrics for Black Sea:

We were once just children staring up at the stars

When did we grow older and become so very far?

It's almost like the silence in Dark Sea is as powerful as the sound; you can feel all the spaces in between words as if the lulls were made from their own instrument. It's like pulses of music, a heartbeat of intensity and quietness. There's always a fading note, so it's never really 'silent,' but instead a kind of eternal background buzz.

Glitter Pox rating: 77% contagious

Hope you catch it,

The Glitter Pox

Yellow Ostrich - Whale

Favorite lyrics: Whale, swim with me whale / We will go far into the sea / You will take me onto your back / Never look back, never look back

The tribal-sounding drumming that starts off 'Whale' sets up one of the best simple intros these ears have heard, with the tambourine adding a kind of flippant jerkiness - the warmest cold shoulder music can give. The beginning is medium-paced, followed by a slowdown and then a crescendo of instrument-panic, leading into soft vocal  "oh's" like the beginning - a loop that makes you want to listen to the song over again in a neverending string of play buttons and skewed whale noises. It's differently organized than most songs, the contrast and the seemingly chaotic order making it an anarchic anthem in that it doesn't follow any kind of music law; the lyrics/singing and the melody isn't something you would think to pair together, if you had heard them separately - unless, of course, you were Yellow Ostrich - but the way it fits together is pretty magnificent. These guys think outside of musical standards and it creates something really different and entirely enticing.

Glitter Pox rating: 95% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Eastern Conference Champions - Hurricane

Favorite lyrics: I hear it coming, it sounds like a hurricane. In the lungs of the sun, where a breath weighs a ton.

If this song is a hurricane, we seriously would run the hell outside every time it got windy. The lead singer has his own unique tone, on the raspy edge of destruction and lullaby, and the music nags and tugs at you until you give in; it's like it's trying to purposely rile you up and get under your skin. This particular hurricane is a storm you want to be perpetually lost in.

Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Peder ft Anne Trolle - White Lilies

Favorite lyrics: my bare feet ease the dirty floor / lilies growing inside the room / mother of nature is dying soon

Sultry and creepy, you can pretty much feel the ache of the guitar and the sharpness of dirty piano keys on your fingers. It's a slow song, but it breeds dirty thoughts. The bass eats your heart at its own leisure; you can feel its teeth sink in with every chew. The vocals are a mix between Poe and Lily Allen, that dark and toying combination of vocal puppet strings, like the lingering sound of the notes make you move by the hand of someone else.

Glitter Pox rating: 87% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Alice Gold - Runaway Love

Favorite lyrics: You'll find you can't tear your eyes away
Later on you can tear it off anyway...

Alice Gold's deep voice is powerful, and in Runaway Love she uses it well alongside the higher-noted chorus. It's kind of mismatched in range, but it works incredibly well. You can pretty much feel the adventure in this song, an underground party in Paris or coffee on a balcony in Berlin. It has that constant feel of anticipation, like that moment when your plane lands or when your hand is on a doorknob to a place you've never been. It's so charming, it honestly makes you want to run away.

Glitter Pox rating: 75% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Eagle Winged Palace - Timber

Favorite lyrics (by ear, so hopefully these are correctly heard): yes your magic show mesmerizes me

The aggressive musical start to this song fades into an almost Aztec sound, an exotic mix of style whose culture you want to fall into. The vocals begin in an edgy undertone, followed by a kind of medieval female backup that goose-pimples your arms. And the lead singer has a modern Tom Waits vibe, so the choir it's paired with is a sound you normally wouldn't hear; it gives it a spacey, art festival feel. Like something you'd hear while walking through a bazaar, running your hands over woven carpets dyed in ink pots. It has this weird blend of cultural sound that is completely appealing, a combination of different sounds and genres. It seems like Eagle Winged Palace is a group filled with people who each have their own individual music style, and the blend of it all works really well.

Glitter Pox rating: 61% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Noah Gundersen - David

Favorite lyrics: I try to wash my hands for you every night / lest you find my strangling fingers wrapped around tight

The music in 'David' is as strong as the story it tells. The cello playing alongside the guitar is auditory brilliance, a bittersweet sound that surpasses just a catchy chorus. And the vocals are just as quietly strong. Noah Gundersen has one of those shaky-tinged passionate voices that plays gorgeously well with the mix of strings in the background, both vulnerable and solid. This whole song has that gritty southern tone that makes artists like Justin Nozuka stand out.

Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Viva Brother - Time Machine

Favorite lyrics: she said that prayers were water / she said that I can't swim

Viva Brother has kind of a classic-sounding rock taste, but the lyrics and chorus are so ridiculously catchy that it's original in it's familiarity. It reminds you of a million different bands you can't name, like a mix of Crash Kings and the beginning of the True Blood intro paired with some kind of infamous rock sound. It's all backed by some BAAAAAASSS, capitalized because even though you listen to it over the speakers, you can still feel it in your gut like you would if you were hearing it live. Lyrics wise, it's very Doctor Who-ish and very very belt-able.

Glitter Pox rating: 80% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Innocence Mission - Happy Birthday

Today, The Glitter Pox is officially one year old! Since January, we've posted reviews for over 100 songs we've loved, done interviews with some great bands, and been to a ton of amazing shows. We thought we'd celebrate with this Carpenter-esque birthday song. The Innocence Mission has a really mellow, pretty sound, and Happy Birthday is a very involved song for as quiet as it is. It's perfect for a classy celebration, and we wouldn't give you any less.

Hope you have a great 2012, you poxy people!

-The Glitter Pox