Hate has never sounded this good!

Song of the Week

Screen Shot from “Hate?” Official Live, © Pony Canyon Records

I usually write topical articles, focusing on a particular artist or theme, with links to several music clips or videos.

What I have learned is that many readers skip around and don’t read the whole article. Even regular readers often don’t play all the links. Or they play a few seconds of each link to get a flavor of the band or artist.

I get it—time, busy schedules, other priorities, all that. Now, the people who regularly read my column are generally interested in off-the-beaten-track music, music, or artists that are underappreciated. This includes stuff from outside our main US-UK market, as well as metal and fusion, female artists, and challenging music. I’m assuming you still want that, even if you don’t have time for a full-blown column on a big topic.

So, I’m occasionally going to post a “Song of the Week.” The idea is to keep sharing new or off-beat music, but in small bites so you can fully digest each installment. I'll share just one song, generally something that was only recently published or that I just recently discovered. Let me know what you think.

I’ll start with something recently posted by my favorite band playing today; Band-Maid. I’ve posted a lot on them before, but this performance blew my mind. It is a rowdy, raucous take-down of a dude who has clearly crossed some red lines. It includes one of the funniest, dirtiest dismissals I’ve ever heard in a song. It also contains a guitar-bass duel for the ages.

I posted an earlier performance of this song in my review of their 2023 tour:

Some Say They Are Saving Rock ‘n Roll: Concert Review

This version is from their 10th-anniversary concert, which ended that tour, and it’s the best performance I’ve seen so far. Never has hate sounded so good!

Band-Maid: “Hate?”

(Watch this with the subtitles on — the lyrics are a lot of fun.)