Todd Binder - “Lions”

Virginia-born, California-based songwriter Todd Binder has nailed our indie-rock niche with his freshly brewed, raw and gritty concoction, “Lions.”

There’s a relentless, hard-hitting beat that drives this track forward, taking no prisoners as it instantly enraptures all who hear. Layers of delightful fuzz are planted by the guitars, covering the entire arrangement in a powerful grit that is simultaneously reminiscent of The White Stripes and early Queens of the Stone Age, a sound we have been seeking since our blog’s inception.

“Lions” is equal parts indie rock and psychedelic, and we cannot, for the life of us, decide which part we love more. Binder’s vocal chainsaws its way through the production, deliciously over-driven, yet with enough clarity to catch glimpses of his emotive falsetto. Fans of garage rock will marvel at the song’s overall ‘70s aesthetic, rolling in all of its vintage glory, yet somehow firmly placed in the now.

For just over three and a half minutes, “Lions” will rock the ever-loving hell out of you, while also hinting at a sort of deep, melancholic contemplation. This is most apparent in the brief, dynamic break on the final third, which allows us time to quickly catch our breath before the track once again completely saturates every inch of the sonic space.

The track was “recorded and mixed completely in analog - eschewing modern-day tricks like autotune and copy/paste - at the legendary Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco, CA.” If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times: nothing beats the sound of analog. Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get dirty– “Lions” is going to break you in half.

-HD