Hello and welcome back to Three Songs to the Head where we share three songs that moved us, three songs we love, three songs we can’t get out of our heads! Today, we’re featuring Courtney Barnett, Built To spill and Abraham.. and today’s post is written by Seattle songwriter Robb Benson.

Enjoy!

How can I describe how I feel about Courtney Barnett’s music without getting myself in trouble with my wife? Okay… it’s too late, my wife knows. My crush is innocent though, I swear, and there are probably thousands of guys and gals feeling the same way every time they hear Courtney’s music. Perhaps I should skip the part about the young beautiful Australian with the girl next door look and go straight to the Holy Crap this gal writes better rock songs then anyone I know! Courtney has this ability to take me out of my office day job and transform my surroundings into a beach in Hawaii. A storyteller, she has a way of sing-talking some simple life themes into a magical song journey for her audience. She tends to write a lot about ceilings, of all things, like she is often writing at night when everyone has gone to bed and she can’t sleep and it’s perfect. Like the line in the song, “Kim’s Caravan,” “Satellites on the ceiling, I can see Jesus and she’s smiling at me.” This article is too short to explain the blissful and gritty rock sounds this gal and her amazing rock band create, but Courtney Barnett’s new album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit in my opinion is the best record of 2015!

So what does it sound like? Well it is a great mix of Australian Pop and Indie Rock and dare I say classic rock styled brilliance! Perfect, right? Her sweet accent comes through and is so brilliant and perfect with the songs and the stories. Imagine great words, great melodies, gritty telecaster rock tones that we haven’t heard in nearly a decade. Courtney knows how to really ROCK but she keeps it simple in her 3-piece live band set up. She handles all the lead guitar. Plus she is a badass lefty guitarist. Just do yourself a favor and listen to this! Then buy and download all of her stuff. The New York Post just called her “the new Bob Dylan,” and I am totally on board with that quote.

Built to spill is far more than just longevity. Yes, Doug Marsh has captivated my mind and ears for more then 25 years now. In the way back machine it started with his group The Tree People, and then changed my life with early music from Built To Spill’s second record There’s Nothing Wrong With Love. To this day I think of that as the greatest masterpiece ever written. After that, Doug and company continued to tour and release many great records, growing a slow but steady worldwide underground cult following and building what many indie rockers and songwriters would think of as the perfect career path. At one point my own path crossed with the band in Germany and it was massive big deal to just say hello and take a pic with them. So as a fan who has pretty much everything they have released, it was an exciting moment to listen to the brand new album Untethered Moon. Let’s just say it came through and in a BIG way! They sometimes make you wait for it… the first song is the perfect example of this… it moves and sways but takes time to build, but when it does look out! Then the record explodes. Tons of fuzz, so many cool guitar lines it hurts, hooks and melodies that sink in deep into your heart and never let go. Doug is the master of this and his new lineup is just as tight as the previous members. While I’d take C.R.E.B. as my early favorite song from Untethered Moon, There are so many other great songs it’s hard to choose a real favorite.

The band Abrahams’s music was first played to me years back at the Pub at Third Place by Jake Uitti and I was an instant fan. The 5-song EP spun in that wonderful bar for months and I soaked it up like the good beers they have on tap. Every single time it played I would say to the whoever was working, “Who is this awesome band?” They would tell me for the 3rd and 4th and 5th time… That’s Abraham. Fast-forward a year or two… I was being introduced to a new lad guitarist for a band I was drumming in, The Great Um, and his name was Joel Mars. And he was in the band I’d come to love, Abraham! He quickly became one of my favorite local musicians. I miss being his drummer, even though it only lasted a short period of time.

When I finally saw Abraham live I was even more blown away, seeing that they were one of those bands where the members switched instruments mid-set, from drums to guitarist and back again. Who does what? Well their Facebook page doesn’t really go into details on what each member does, nor does the album credits. I guess you just trust that at some point Joel, Ryan Standley and Law Dog are all making things happen in one way or another and it rocks. Keep your stuff a mystery Confetti Western boys… just keep making fantastic amazing music and I will follow! Joel recently sent me a sneak peak of what they’re working on and even though I can’t share it here, I know it’s amazing. Until the next release… crank this kick ass song!