Top 5- Neon Trees

This is it, guys.

I’m going into this completely blind. No idea what to expect.

This’ll be fun!

Here’s some quick background, because why not?

Hopefully, you all recall last week’s post, in which I briefly (not really) talked about Believer. Both the song and the film. Anyway, that’s where I heard about these guys. I believe (see what I did there) at one point in the trailer there’s a brief clip of the singer, Tyler I-don’t-know-his-last-name-it’s-either-Green-or-Glenn talking to people at a concert.

And that, ladies and gentlemen and aliens, is who we’re doing today.

I’m feeling pretty optimistic about this one, because while digging around on Google Play, Wikipedia and the Internet In General, I found that these guys got a whole lot more attention after opening for- you’ll never guess who- you’ve probably guessed- The Killers.

Fingers crossed.

As always, the YouTube audio is linked to the title, so all you have to do is click/tap it. I, on the other hand, have to try to remember how hyperlinks work.

Today’s song list goes a little like this: Everybody Talks, Animal, Sleeping With A Friend, Songs I Can’t Listen To, and Lessons In Love (All Day, All Night) (feat. Kaskade).

It goes a lot like that. That’s the list.

An-y-way…

Coming to you today, straight from your phone or computer or whatever you’re reading this on, it’s the one, the only, the people I’ve been trying to force myself to listen to for ages, it’s the… Neon Trees!

Everybody Talks

Daaaaa… daaaaa… daaaaa… daaaaa!

I would like to appreciate the coughing to the beat there.

Anyway, this song starts off good, with the guitar. It’s pretty bouncy.

And then we hit the chorus, and oh I know this song.

‘It started with a whisper’ in this song. ‘It started out with a kiss’ in Mr Brightside. Coincidence? Probably. But it’s a fun parallel. However, I can’t tell which relationship ended out better. It was most likely this one.

If anyone can spot the potential B-52’s reference in this song, well done.

I can’t tell if A) I know this from Believer, B) I have listened to these guys and I just have amnesia, which is unlikely but possible, or C) I’ve somehow heard this song before. I’m gonna go with A here, because I think the ‘It started with a whisper’ was one of the concert clips.

I like this song. It’s bouncy, so that’s fun. It’s not too repetitive, which is a plus, and there’s something about it that makes you want to kinda bounce. Not quite as compulsive as the bounce part in Human, but still pretty compulsive. This is also probably pretty fun to hear live. Just imagine, a lot of people screaming ‘IT STARTED WITH A WHISPER’.

It’s a different kind of energy than, say, Say Amen. Overall, it seems more light hearted and bouncy.

I really, really like typing the word bouncy.

Bouncy.

Animal

Before we begin, here is a visual joke.

Now we can begin.

Oh, yeah. We like this. The guitar might even be an Inexplicable Happy Moment.

It’s energetic, but with a different kind of energy to Everybody Talks. Wilder. Appropriate, really, given the title.

Listen to the words. The meaning is pretty easy to guess. Eh. Saves me the job of writing that out.

I like this song a lot, and that is definitely an Inexplicable Happy Moment.

‘The world is quiet’ all my fellow Series of Unfortunate Events watchers will get the joke I’m trying to make here.

This is increasingly giving off Imagine Dragons vibes, but different. However, on the second ‘I won’t sleep tonight’ after the second chorus, I have a feeling I’ve heard that particular screaming tune before. I can’t remember the song though. Oh, well.

This song’s less light-hearted, but still good.

I’m liking these guys more and more as we go on.

Sleeping With A Friend

I surprise everyone, including myself, by not making a joke about the title.

The single cover is certainly interesting. (The image in the audio). So is the one for the full album, which is four people sitting on a brain. Neon Trees is gloriously weird.

Going into this song, that’s definitely an Inexplicable Happy Moment. This might be my favourite out of the three I’ve done so far.

‘I don’t go out’ I relate, dude.

Listening to this song, it sounds like this guy just doesn’t care, or cares too much. ‘I’m scared, but if my heart’s gonna break before the night will end’, ‘It’s a risk to even fall in love’, and ‘I don’t go out, much like I used to, something about the strangers and the noise’ all point to a slightly darker hidden meaning behind this song. Maybe it’s about wanting to be close to someone, but being too scared to ‘even fall in love’.

That was deep. I really do surprise myself sometimes.

I would like to point something out.

• All my friends were glorious- Panic! At The Disco, Victorious.
• All my friends are heathens- twenty one pilots, Heathens.
• All my friends, they’re different people- Neon Trees, Sleeping With A Friend.

I have found the parallel.

Which of those do you relate to more?

Despite the evident meaning in this song, and the slightly less evident one, this is still my favorite of the list so far, just because it’s a new kind of energy. I know I talk about a song’s energy a lot, but let’s stop and think for a moment. In Everybody Talks, we had a more light-hearted feel. In Animal, it was more mature, more wild. In this song, it’s erring more on the side of pop music, and I like that. Variation.

Variety is good.

I say this while having three (potentially four, if this works out) artists that I listen to.

Ah, well. That’s what this blog is for.

Songs I Can’t Listen To

I think we all have these songs. Some because they’re too depressing, others because they remind you of something you want to forget, some because you hate them.

Mine is The Clock Was Tickin’, which is a Brandon Flowers song, which I can’t listen to because it’s so freaking depressing. Honestly, I barely acknowledge its existence anymore.

Enough about me.

I’m genuinely not sure why I’m so excited about this song. Maybe because it sounds like it might be slower than the other three.

I should probably start it and find out.

Here we go.

I like the low-level guitar in the verse. And throughout the song.

Tyler, dude, are you okay? Because it really doesn’t sound like it.

I love the guitar solo, and this entire song. New favourite on this list! Yay!

This song is sad, but it’s also amazing. The meaning is pretty clear: whoever this song is about isn’t around anymore, and it’s talking about how the singer can’t listen to the songs that they listened to together, because the memories are too painful.

In the next verse, it’s asking if the other person still listens to those, whether it’s alone or with someone else.

*cries into next week*

Lessons In Love (All Day, All Night) (feat. Kaskade)

Who is this Kaskade person?

We have an interesting situation here. On YouTube, we have both ‘Lessons In Love- Kaskade ft. Neon Trees’ and ‘Lessons In Love- Neon Trees ft. Kaskade.’

If this is all this Kaskade person singing and Neon Trees in the background, you get a bonus song because that doesn’t count. If Kaskade just sings backup or whatever, no bonus for you.

Let’s see.

Okay, that bass though. That there is awesome.

I am identifying that as Tyler I-do-know-his-last-name-now-it’s-Glenn singing, so no bonus for you.

Also: More bracket titles! Yay!

At this point in the song, I understand the brackets.

I like this song a lot. It’s more like Panic! At The Disco than the others on this list, once again showing variation.

Variety Is Fun™

I can’t hear the Kaskade, so maybe I’m dumb and that is Kaskade singing, but oh well. It’s still a good song.

Conclusion

Well.

I apologise for not having written much for the individual songs as opposed to my previous posts, but I’m going into some blind and some not. The ones I don’t know will have less writing.

My verdict? I like it. As I’ve said before, it’s not all the same style of music, and that’s not a bad thing. I reckon it makes it into the very (not really) small group of artists I like. Maybe I’ll do a continuation post down the line.

Nobody knows.

Honourable Mention: Songs I Can’t Listen To

I really, really like this song. Seriously. It’s been on repeat for the past few days.

If I’m particularly bored this week, there may be a non-top-5 mid-week post, so look out for that one.

Since the Neon Trees were the victors this week, American Authors will be next week’s post.

Please comment your opinions, and tell me which of the ‘All my friends’ lines you relate to most. Please? Pretty please? *puppy dog eyes*

Reference Count: 5

Killers References: 2       

Imagine Dragons References: 1

TV References: 1

Other Music: 1

Now, I have to go. Destiny is calling me.

Bonus Killers Reference complete.