Bayboards How I Wish I Was Cool Review

Do you ever feel as though you are screaming ‘Look at me! Listen to me !’ Just to realise you are whispering to yourself in a dark room. You have so many stories to share and songs to sing but no one is listening.

Bayboards explore this concept of invisibility in their latest single, How I Wish I Was Cool, a guitar infused banger accompanied with a fun video, filmed in their home city, Manchester. It’s a slow burner as it settles you into the song, exploring deeper themes of covering up your true self in order to fit in and still failing to do so. The build up before the anthemic chorus is one that bubbles in your chest, this is a song that was made to be sung- I must admit I was belting the chorus the second time through.

Bayboards – How I Wish I Was Cool (Music Video) June 28 2024

How I Wish I Was Cool is like a bedroom floor anthem that wouldn’t feel out of place at a summer festival this year. You can see the bouncing heads and mosh pits forming in the chorus you can see people causing concern for their housemates as they scream this, falling to their knees on the bedroom floor. This is a song that demands attention and will hopefully be the reason Bayboards finally start gaining the recognition they deserve.

The video for this track is a follow on from a series of music videos where the band are caught in a simulation, trapped by The Mystical World of Bart. In this video they have escaped the simulation but are forced to function as ‘normal human beings’ in order to prepare for their headline show at Manchester academy 2 in November. Get tickets for that here!

We all feel like outsiders but what about when we feel like outsiders to our own lives? stood at the window watching ourselves. You feel as though you are evaporating from your own existence, only worth something if someone is watching your performance. What is the point in your talent when it can not be perceived by others?

Bayboards

Wishing you were cool enough to feel seen by others, to be cared for by others. I wonder how many of us think, “I have so much to offer, what will it take for you to turn your head in my direction? I am searching for that spotlight but it is not looking to shine on me”, but these are thoughts we bury deep, hoping that silence will disguise them and we will shine just as those who are deemed ‘cool’ do, but we all share these thoughts, perhaps its time we started talking about them, perhaps its time we started listening.

What does cool even really mean anyway? Who determines what is popular? If you have a passion, if you have a talent you should pursue it, even if you are made to feel as though you are living an invisible existence, make the noise, drive the dream and live for yourself first.

Speaking about the song the band said “I want people to take whatever they want from the song, it will be unique to everyone’ and isn’t that just the magic of music, everyone’s ears are different but that feeling of union is always the same.

I think fans of this song will also like Get You Down and Moving to America, also by Bayboards which both boast a bouncy beat and follow and booming chorus. Bayboards make songs that boast stories, packing lyrics with meaning and a beat you can move to.

Bayboards certainly are gaining a reputation as being more than ‘cool’ with their energetic live shows fuelled with passion and full of power. On record they offer similar sounds to the likes of Circa Waves, The Black Keys and Sea Girls. Experience this banger and many others live at their up coming gig this October in London. Find out more here.

Dubinski releases new track:New York Arizona and This

Oh where life may take us…

Dubinski by Gary Schwindt

Small Town Dreams in the Big City: The Identity of a Band on the Rise

Described as an ‘aspirational’ track by the band of brothers New York Arizona and This, this song eloquently highlights the struggles of an independent band on tour. It encapsulates the journey of striving for recognition while facing the challenges of dealing with rip-off venues and rivals. The track seamlessly fuses sentiment with a future-focused outlook, invoking a sense of homesick nostalgia and taking the listener on a hope infused tour of what the future may hold.

New York Arizona and This

Lead singer, Eugene, discussed the band’s inspiration for the track ,“driving from Edinburgh to London to play shows with no idea of what to expect. We were DIY and trying to push our touring as much as we could, only to be occasionally ripped off by venues and promoters, or playing to rooms of people that didn’t seem to give a damn about the music or the scene, to then make the long journey back home to Scotland”

We all want a journey, we all want to find ourselves in the faces of other people  and become who we ned to be , but no matter what our dreams say, where our drive takes us can always be diverted unexpectedly, leading to dazzling destinations or dead ends and disappointments. The magic of the mist cloaking the unknown the fizzle of excitement and the crumble of let down 

The juxtaposition between the quiet countryside of Scotland compared to the vibrant nights of Camden town. The bittersweet revelation that it was sort of what you expected but it could have been better. The steady chorus calls out to all the dreamers as it embodies  yearning for more, such as touring the States, attaining worldwide recognition, and transcending the DIY scene to prove their worth to the sceptics 

Dubinski – New York Arizona and This Music Video

Eugene explained this feeling as:

“Eye opening in a bittersweet way. Some expectations were fulfilled and others were brought down to earth, like the magic buzz around hip bars, meeting trendy people, the romantic notion of a city of opportunity paired with the dirty, fast paced, ‘take no prisoners’ atmosphere that comes with a big city. Leaving the DIY scene behind and proving to the unwilling, the ‘too cool to move’ scene kids, that we are worth paying attention to”

Recorded at RAK Studios in London, the band unveiled their eponymous debut album ‘Dubinski’ just last year. Seamlessly blending spiky Brit pop with punky new wave, their music has captivated a diverse audience, earning praise from Earmilk, Daily Record, and Louder Than War. Renowned for their fast-paced alt-rock and exhilarating live performances, Dubinski has carved out a distinct identity, garnering support from BBC 6music and Radio X’s John Kennedy. Their exceptional talent has garnered acclaim from BBC Radio Scotland, Scotland On Sunday, and Record Of The Day, leading to a nomination for best newcomers at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards and thrilling performances on the country’s grandest stages.

Dubinski Downtown Operation.

Small towns and big cities, your dreams gave you the drive and you find the roadmap to where you’re going to be along the way…

Read about their previous track Downtown Operation here.

And what a great track to introduce their upcoming tour, for more information click here:

02 Feb – North Shields, UK – The Engine Room

03 Feb – Stockton on Tees – Ne Volume Music Bar

04 Feb – Preston – The Ferret

24 Feb – Aberdeen – Drummonds

29 Feb – London – The Grace

01 Mar – Nottingham – Bodega

02 Mar – Glasgow – Nice N Sleazy

Stick Season

Stick Season, released a year ago, has seen a revival of folk/country music. It’s gripping chorus the backtrack to many viral TikTok posts. But is this all we are listening for?

Noah Kahan September 2021
Stick Season 2022 Spotify Noah Kahan

Around this time of year we reflect, we revisit the walls that broke our hearts and the faces that tried to fix them. We flick through photos to recreate pleasant days and find lost memories. We dream the days away and find that we would rather rest our head in this other worldly plain. There will always be blurred faces in the backs of our mind, always be those nights when you catch those wandering eyes and you question what if it had been more than kiss? What could be worse than this? Falling in love just to feel like you’ve missed. Something you didn’t have, something you didn’t lose, you learn to live with the decisions you choose.

Stick Season 2022 Noah Kahan Youtube

Our family figurines, just people in positions, we have placed them in to protect us from reality. The lives we lost because of something we found out, everything you’re doing all for someone else. People change because they have to, changed minds and changed lives we can live in our memories but we will not survive. There are the miracles of life and the joys of Christmas and summer but there is also the ‘season of the sticks’ a miserable time of year where life drags out the dirt you have tried to bury.

Noah Kahan June 2023

This song is evocative of campfire nights, of some distant life I am yet to have experienced but I am only really inspired by it’s chorus. There is talent and there is poetry but it feels lost to the rushed tempo, a racing mind too scared to settle on the thoughts that make it run, so it is clever in that sense but it feels undone, taking away the motional impact that a broken heart has, there is no time to settle with the pain, there is just the feeling of running away.

However, I am impressed and amused by the rhyming of sticks with exist and the verse:

‘ So I thought that if I piled something good on all my bad
That I could cancel out the darkness I inherited from dad
No and I’m no longer funny but I miss the way you laugh’

Covered by Olivia Rodrigo on BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge this song has truly got people talking, crying into the cuffs of their sleeves, singing along on drives through the country back to see old friends and family. There is so much pain in poetry but it can be beautifully to listen to as it unites us, an audible force in the face of adversity.

Emotionally intricate but rushed through, maybe we need to be braver and spend a little more time in the ‘Season of the Sticks’ to truly appreciate the warmth of summer.