photo by Dan Saltzman; photo courtesy of Knyvet

Single Reviews of TELL: “Things to Do When It’s Dark” and “Hate Yourself in the Morning”

You’ve just gotta love this band’s rock ‘n roll sound. Well, I’m not gonna force you, but I sure do! TELL – Jim Foster (lead guitar, backing vocals), David Wildman (guitar, lead vocals, keyboards), Jason Raffi (bass), and Pat Crann (drums) – is an old-school, raucous-raising, rabble-rousing, raw, guitar-based, classic rock-friendly alt-rock band. “Things to Do When It’s Dark” and “Hate Yourself in the Morning” are the band’s most recent singles, its two releases since I reviewed a pair of TELL singles last summer.

cover designed by J. Kaliontzis; image courtesy of Knyvet

The first of these two new singles, “Things to Do When It’s Dark”, was released in November. The dissonance and haunting – or maybe haunted – musical overtones are representative of the song’s message, railing against ICE and, more broadly, the current threats to democracy. Yet there’s a little playfulness in the song, musically here and there in the bridges and verses and lyrically, from a caller ID “Scam Likely” reference that amuses me much more than it probably should to the word choices in more serious lines of lyrics, such as “can’t believe that anyone voted for these fucks.” Though it paints a grim picture early on, toward the end the song turns hopeful – “We’re holding our heads up high. They can’t stop our words and music. We’ve got our sense of what’s right, and we know how to use it” – and then finally defiant – “When it gets dark, we’ll make it ours, we’ll take back our country. When it gets dark, we’ll make it ours, we’ll take back democracy.” Indeed, songs of defiance in difficult times are not just a hallmark of folk singers. Rock bands like TELL enter the fray, too, with entries like “Things to Do When It’s Dark.”

Photo and design by Jay Raffi and edited by Joanne Kaliontzis; image courtesy of Knyvet

The band’s more recent release, “Hate Yourself in the Morning,” which was released just a week and a half ago, is less clearly directed at a particular topic. It’s a song of next-day regret, basically, which I suppose could be construed politically if played directly following “Things to Do When It’s Dark” or not at all politically when spun on its own. “Hate Yourself…” is rough-edged; it’s punk in production value but not in style. It’s really more accurately described a raw garage rock song. And wicked catchy. The opening guitar jangle is an initial enticement. The song’s tone, rhythm, and vocal and instrumental hooks are relentlessly cheerful, even if the lyrics are, shall we say, less so. You’ll sing along with the echo vocal “and when you see me” and with the “na, na na na” bridge vocals. It’s guitar-driven garage rock at its best.

While “Things to Do When It’s Dark” is an impressive, serious work, “Hate Yourself in the Morning,” by contrast, is a catchy earworm. Pairing the two singles in the same review seems a little odd, as the two songs are as different as night and… well, a totally different night. Regardless, if you like your guitar-driven alt-rock raw, well-constructed, and a bit playfully unpredictable, TELL and the band’s two latest singles need to be on your radar.