Sounds of Hopscotch 2015 #17: Boulevards

It's that time, y'all. Hopscotch time. Despite being a relative new kid on the festival block, with every year the Raleigh festivus gets bigger and harder to ignore. And I'm delighted to report that after a brief hiatus, your intrepid hostess will be venturing down I-85 to check out this year's impressive musical offerings. The only bummer is that I can't see every band the festival has to offer. These are my Hopscotch picks, imperative listening whether you're going to be in Raleigh this coming weekend or not.

There is catchy, and then there is CATCHY. Local Raleigh dude Boulevards (Jamil Rashad) makes good time get down songs that are catchy as hell, drawing from the 70s and 80s in particular to attain next level infectiousness. "Forgot to Mention" has a bassline evocative of "Another One Bites the Dust," and Rashad's vocals at times call to mind the one and only Freddie Mercury. "You Got to Go" slants more to the funk end of the spectrum, and both songs are impossible to ignore.   




[posted 9.9.15]