New Good Song: Settle Down by No Doubt

Here's a new good song -- "Settle Down" by No Doubt

Today's music charts are flooded with names you hadn't heard a year ago. Some of this output is good, some awful. But regardless, when you reach a certain age, it's particularly comforting to see 15- or 20-year-old acts pop back up on the scene. It says something reassuring about your age, as well as your taste.

Such an act doesn't even need to be one of which you were a fan. Recently, I was excited to see Matchbox Twenty back on the charts. "Oh, goody!" I thought. "Matchbox Twenty!" Then I realized that Matchbox Twenty didn't produce anything good except "Bent." Still I was glad they were back. Odd.

No Doubt similarly popped back onto the iTunes charts recently. And I thought, again, "Oh goody! No Doubt!" No Doubt's remake of "It's My Life" is one of my 10 favorite songs of all time, perhaps even Top 3. And "Early Winter" by Gwen Stefani is in myAll-Time Top 50 as well. But then again, some pretty awful junk has come out of these people. "Hella Good"? Inappropriately titled.

And yet, as it was with Matchbox Twenty, I was excited to see that they are back. And I was further excited to hear "Settle Down" and determine it to be good. Expectations are high when a band has had a 10-year hiatus, and naturally some fans will be disappointed, but this is a good song. It reminds me of what "Hey Baby" could have sounded like if it hadn't been so horrible.

Enjoy!