Right Hand On My Heart

“Pete FM” is my new personalized station on Rdio. You can choose among five different settings – from one end of the spectrum, “Familiar”, to the other end, “Adventurous.” It takes the songs in your collection and the songs you’ve been listening to, and formulates a playlist based on your choice between the two ends of that spectrum.  This Pandora-like music discovery feature is nothing new, but it is another great way to get out of your musical rut and discover something new.

And wow, did Pete FM spring a great new (to me) one on me yesterday: a six year old tune by Athens, GA band The Whigs.

The song is “Right Hand On My Heart,” and it smokes! Nothing manufactured or synthetic about this one – it starts with a pounding bass drum and snare, and quickly launches into a rocking guitar/bass riff. Singer/guitarist Parker Gispert’s vocals hit the cool spot for me – especially during the verses, as the last word in each line extends just a bit and trails off. That badass vocal delivery on top of the get-in-your-car-and-crank-this-shit-up power trio groove makes “Right Hand On My Heart” one of the best tunes I’ve heard in some time.

The tune is from their 2008 album Mission Control. Listen & watch: