MASTODONEWS: IF YOU’RE THE KIND OF FAN WHO GETS EXCITED ABOUT SONGTITLES…

Mastodon have announced the titles of two songs which will appear on their new album, and based on both the number of e-mails we’ve received about this announcement and the amount of reporting I’ve seen elsewhere on the internet regarding the announcement, I guess this is news. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love Mastodon. But there’s really no information to be had from song titles, so I don’t see what the big frickin’ deal is.

But if you care and you haven’t heard, the titles are “Blasteroids” and “All the Heavy Lifting.” So there. Let yourself get carried away by your imagination of how those tunes may sound.

More newsworthy, methinks, is that the band has recorded a cover of Z.Z. Top’s “Just Got Paid,” which will appear on the soundtrack for this summer’s sure-to-be-terrible and sure-to-be-a-massive-hit, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. I’d rather hear some original music from the band than a cover, but you’ll never hear me complain too much about any new Mastodon, even if it is on the soundtrack for a movie that has even less chance of being good than the last movie with which Mastodon were associated.

Also news that I don’t think we knew before (but please excuse me if we did and I somehow missed it): the band’s new album is being produced by Mike Elizondo, who has previously worked with everyone from Dr. Dre (he apparently played bass on Eminem’s Dre-produced “The Real Slim Shady”) to Jay-Z to Fiona Apple to Pink to Maroon 5. And this is interesting because if you were hoping Mastodon’s next offering would be a return to their heavier sound of yore, it’s safe to say that you can now go cry into your pillow.

Here’s the original “Just Got Paid” by Z.Z. Top, in case you’ve somehow never heard it before Here’s Mastodon’s Z.Z. Top cover, which is apparently old… oh well, now you have even less reason to care about Transformers.

-AR