Free!

The Medications have two free mp3s up on their website. They are a Dischord band that, like Q and not U, are breaking away from the traditional sound of the label.

The first thing to notice about these songs is the time signatures. Twine Time is in 5/4 and manages to do so without sounding obvious, or like Take 5. In fact, I had to sit and count just to pick up on the time signature, it didn’t jump out at me at first. Safe and Sorry has a bridge with shifting time signatures that would make Rush jealous, without sounding as irritating or pretentious as those damned Canadians. The time signatures don’t sound forced in either of these songs, and they manage to keep the energy level of both songs up. To me that means that they were really playing these songs when they were recorded, not standing there counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and in their head. The time signatures must feel natural to them, and I like that.

The songs are also surprisingly melodic for a Dischord band. There is no screaming, one could actually sing along to these songs. The bassist and the drummer do an excellent job playing together. All in all the musicianship is impressive on both these songs. They are worth checking out, and free dammit.