Monday Morning Stories With Mookie - Episode 131

The Time Mookie Listened To The Band "Halestorm"

This may seem like an odd story, but I seriously cannot stop listening to this band for some reason right now.

About a month ago I was exchanging instant messages with one of my co-workers out east, and we were ranting back and forth about whatever bureaucratic B.S. we were dealing with that day. Suddenly the topic turned to music when she asked "Hey, have you ever heard of Halestorm?" I told her I didn't think so as the name didn't sound familiar.  She said "I'm sure you've probably heard one or two of their songs. They are from out this way and are pretty popular here.  You should check them out."  Then she sent a link of the video that is posted here.  In it is Lzzy Hale (that's how she spells it) - the lead singer in Halestorm, and country star Eric Church. I instantly thought I would hate it since its country.  Wow was I wrong. The song - and especially Lzzy Hale - ROCK.

At my earliest convenience I checked into the two CD's that Halestorm has out, and WOW.  They have been on auto-repeat on my headphones and in my car ever since.

The first CD is the self-titled "Halestorm" and it comes out of the gate hard.  At first I wasn't sure about the music because to me it is too "clean" sounding.  By that I mean the music sounds too studio-perfect and clean. The rock music I grew up on had an edge to it and sounded rough on purpose. However, once I got past that quirk, I quickly decided this band knew how to get stuff done. The first three songs: "It's Not You," "I Get Off," and "Bet You Wish You Had Me Back" are my personal favorites.

After playing the crap out of that CD, I checked into their 2nd album titled "The Strange Case Of..."
WOW again.  This one is awesome, and is currently in constant rotation right now.  The song that has the hook on me right now is called "Here's To Us." It's a boozy rocking ballad about toasting the good times and the bad.  The songs that I had previously heard - "I Miss The Misery" and "Freak Like Me" - were ones I heard on my overnight third shift gig and always forgot to look them up when I got off work. The songs vary from Lzzy singing a tender love ballad with a beautiful voice, to ones where she has a gravelly screaming bitch voice that rocks.  If you like what you see in the attached video, you should definitely check them out.  Rumor has it they have new album coming out late 2014 or early 2015.

I will definitely be picking that one up, and will be on the lookout for Lzzy and gang if/when they come to my area on tour.