Galaxie 500 - Plastic Bird

Sad Mirage

“Rock Candy” is a raucous, guitar-driven instrumental that recalls glam rock, power pop, alt-rock and even some classic rock.

The song is an indulgent but interesting 5 minutes long and is made up of diverse parts, buildups, breakdowns and varying guitar work.

There’s a mix of influences: the glam rock of Sweet and Slade; the transitional power pop of Cheap Trick; nods to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones; and, as always, the guitar stylings of Johnny Marr, an ever-present inspiration for me.

The opening verse, repeated throughout the song, is a driving guitar chord riff that starts the song like a freight train. To ease in, a subtle synth intro was added as a runway.

The verse gives way to a bombastic, building chorus that evokes part of “Birthday” by The Beatles or many Rolling Stones songs.

After the first chorus, the song goes into the first of two bridges (or parts that differ and break from the verse and chorus).

The first bridge, coming earlier than typical in a song, features a rockabilly-style guitar over soulful organ.

After another round of verse and chorus, “Rock Candy” breaks down with a second bridge — a slower, dreamy interlude of soaring, echoing guitars. 

From there, the song returns for a final verse and chorus, including an heavier outro version of the verse to end it.

As you’ll see on this Soundcloud, songs are all over the place, mixing tempos, style and genres. 

My last song, “Social Credit,” was an entirely different dive into slower dream pop. That makes “Rock Candy” an abrupt change of pace but consistent with the exploration of different styles on this account and even some prior harder, faster songs here.

Songs on this Soundcloud are a mix of new, current compositions and songs form my youth redone in a more polished way here. 

“Rock Candy” is an entirely new song developed over recent months.

The song is designed to sound like a band playing together but actually is made up of several studio tracks, some short bits just for specific sections.

“Rock Candy” was recorded on a Spire Studio device using a Fender Stratocaster, Yamaha YPT-300 keyboard, a drum beat from the Quick Drummer app and cymbals added from GarageBand. Synth parts are also from GarageBand. 

The song was mastered in Adobe Audition.

The title and artwork seek to capture the overall feel and glam influences of the song.

Dec. 23, 2025

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