If It's Too Loud...

It's been a while since we've heard from Los Angeles based Rare Hearts. The musical moniker of Mexican-American artist Joe Rojas just released a new single, "Good Mantra." With a title like that, it kind of needs to be a positive song and this one definitely is. I had compared his previous music to other power pop artists in 1997 and "Good Mantra" gets a little more current than that. It still has a very Fountains of Wayne style to it, but add in a little early Arctic Monkeys and you'll have this sound. Rojas has crafted one of the most positive and appealing songs of the year. Normally that would repel me, but Rare Hearts just have enough natural charm to keep me listening happily. Joe Rojas says of his new single: "'Good Mantra' has to be one of my absolute favorite songs I’ve ever written. With a positive and empowering message; it’s all about looking in the mirror, accepting and loving ourselves wholeheartedly. Realizing that our imperfe...

Photo by Jay Braley Back in June we brought you "Good Times" from Rare Hearts, the musical project of Mexican-American singer-songwriter Joe Rojas. Rojas is back with a new single, "Tough Guy." I compared the last song to bands like Weezer, Superdrag, Fountains of Wayne, etc. "Tough Guy" still has that poppier side of alt-rock thing going, except this one if even bigger and more pop. It sounds like Rojas is shooting for the stadiums on this one, and I'm getting vibes of bands like Muse or Placebo, but filtered through Self... if that makes any sense. It's a different sound than we previously heard from Rare Hearts, but if you like "Good Times" there's a lot for you to love about "Tough Guy." Joe Rojas says of the new song: “'Tough Guy' was such a fun song to write, perform, and come up with a music video for. There was such a flow to the creation of the video and even the song when first written. For me, this song em...

Photo by Jay Braley Rare Hearts is the musical project of Los Angeles based, Mexican-American singer/songwriter Joe Rojas. His latest single, "Good Times," is a giant 90's style alt-rock song. It's reminding me a ton of some of my favorites from the mid 90's, with a huge chorus, catchy as hell everything, and giant, crunching guitars. If you remember this time period, this is going to make you think of those post grunge bands that bordered on pop like Weezer, Superdrag, Nada Surf, Fountains of Wayne, etc. If "Good Times" came out at this time of the year in 1997 this could have easily been the song of the summer, despite it being a break-up song, or possibly because of that. Joe Rojas says of the new song: “A powerful way for getting over a breakup is to reminisce those good times that you had because there are more to come.  It’s easy to fall into the perception of, ‘Oh this is treacherous, and I’m never going to have that again,’ but it’s the opposite....