- I have a Twitter now, if you'd like to stalk me for whatever reason.
- Up is a really great movie that you should definitely see if you haven't already but I don't have the energy to type about what makes it so good for very long. Suffice to say: it's funny, it's heart-warming, it's surprisingly emotional at times and the animation looks fantastic.
- To continue with the series of posts I started yesterday:
Get Bizzy - Lil Wayne feat. Gudda Gudda
Unlike a good amount of Wayne's material, I can't mount any sort of logical defense as to why I like this. He jacks one of the worst recent rap hit beats (V.I.C.'s "Get Silly"), slobbers all over it in an auto-tuned drool, loses the freakin' beat a couple of times and then hands it over to no-name Gudda for a godawful guest verse. I guess the reason I have it is that it makes me laugh; the boasts and threats here are so "WTF, mate?" that you can't help but laugh. I mean, insulting people because they take Tylenol,and as the first line, no less? Saying you look like there's "red barf" on your neck, and as a boast? I don't know what drugs Wayne was on when he recorded this, but they must have been freakin' awesome. It's not a good song by any stretch of the imagination (not even on a technical rapping level, as Wayne sometimes is) but it is a strangely fascinating one.
Faster - Manic Street Preachers
Probably the best pure piece of song off of one of my favourite albums (the Manics' The Holy Bible); "Faster" functions on two distinct, but equally important, levels. On the surface, it's a hammering piece of strident hard rock goodness, accentuated by the sneaky glam hook in the chorus. The guitar riff is instantly memorable, the rhythm section keeps a deceptively simple, muscular pace and James Dean Bradfield's vocals have such a popped-vein intensity, he could be singing about cupcakes and it would still register as the most emotionally wrenching topic ever. But, the thing is, the words he's singing are equally as interesting as the band's delivery. Of course, if you are at all familiar with the Manics, you know the sad story of guitarist/lyricist Richey Edwards and his disappearance after the recording of The Holy Bible, so, I won't continue to beat that dead horse here. But, I will say that, if one removed the music and cut out the second chorus repeat, I believe that the lyrics could stand on their own as free verse. An exquisite jumble of slogans ("Self-disgust is self-obessesion"), self-aware angst ("I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing") and flat-out nihilism ("Man kills everything"), it paints a fascinating, if disturbing, picture of its writer. And, yeah, okay, it probably gains a few automatic points from me for name-dropping Sylvia Plath (and right after Norman Mailer, no less!) in the chorus, but, still. The kind of cryptic lyricism on display here is throughout the whole of The Holy Bible but this is the one song where the music doesn't feel subservient to it (and give Bradfield a lot of credit for hemming Edwards' words into something of a coherent melody). It's a great album all around, though. And see if you agree with me about those lyrics.
Have You Forgotten - Red House Painters
A complete 180 from the Manics intense, cryptic and LOUD nihilism is this song by premiere sensitive-indie-dude Mark Kozelek which is likely the definition of open-heart sincerity; it's pretty much the most soft-spoken and charming love song you'll ever here. The words scan like the kind of thing a high school guy would write for the girl he's had a crush on since they were in elementary school (right down to the out-of-place curse words) and Kozelek sings it with such an earnest, untaught ease it's easy to overlook the occasionally clunky lines (he rhymes "nice" with "nice" at one point, natch). Of course, it's emotional cat-nip for the kinds of guys who feel this way themselves (no comment on whether that applies to me) and the girls who wish most guys were "more sensitive", but sometimes we all need this sort of music. It's as comfortable as a fluffy pair of slippers and as calming as a cup of tea or a summer wind. And thank god it hasn't been co-opted (yet), as one of the official "songs to learn on acoustic to pick up chicks".
Monday, June 22, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
GOT MY FIRST REAL SIX-STRING
So, on my MP3 player I have a bunch of albums and a folder of podcasts but I also have a folder called "Other" which contains a bunch of random songs that I don't have the full album of. The contents of this folder change pretty frequently so, in what I will try to remember to make a recurring feature, I'm going to go through the folder and talk about some of the songs and why I like them. This time, I'll discuss all of them but in future installments I'll only cover the new stuff:
Cold Days From The Birdhouse - The Twilight Sad
One of the more unfortunately named bands of the past decade, but no less great for it. Their album, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, was one of my favourites of the year it came out but this song, the opening track has an appeal all its own. The way the Twilight Sad combine these seemingly disparate elements (folky slide guitars and accordions, shoegaze guitar swirls, U2-esque hammy choruses and staunchly Scottish vocals) is inspiring and I love the way the song goes from bubbling whisper to strident scream in its four-minute run time. It isn't in a rush, it takes its time going where it needs to and it's all the better for it.
Feel Good Drag - Anberlin
This is one of those songs where you kind of have to ignore the lyrics; which are a jumble of emo narcissism and off-hand sexism with one kind-of clever line ("Everyone in this town is seeing somebody else"). Focus instead on that chunky, heaving guitar riff that makes this whole thing work. It carries this through those lyrics, the overly shiny production and the singer's melodramatic delivery. The bridge is also kind of wonky, but it leans hard on the immortal "quiet verse, loud chorus" formula which will, when done well, never get old for me.
Hot Revolver - Lil Wayne
Already dedicated an entire post to talking about how great this song is.
Ironic - Alanis Morissette
Yeah, yeah, none of those lyrics are truly "ironic" (rain on your wedding day just sucks, for example) but that isn't why this is good. It's essentially a grunge song given a layer of high-pop gloss and while that may sound like the worst idea ever, Alanis cuts through that shininess with that defiantly untrained voice of hers and makes it all great. I also particularly love those little wordless vocal runs at the song's beginning.
You Learn - Alanis Morissette
Once again, the words are kinda iffy; depending on what sort of mood you're in they can seem genuinely inspiring or like motivational speaker crap. But some things here aren't so malleable; that hip-hop-ish drumbeat, the heavy bass groove, Alanis' endearing vocal ticks and the ghostly back vocals are always there.
Like Eating Glass - Bloc Party
The yelping vocals might put a few people off, but this one of those songs that I think almost anyone could get into. The choppy dual-guitar attack, the nervy rhythm section, the gigantic chorus, the abundance of hooks; Bloc Party could have made a million more albums just like Silent Alarm and I would've bought every single one but, unfortunately, they didn't. They went off, discovered electronic music and made one decent album and one terrible one. Oh well, we'll always have a record full of their nervy post-punk-meets-arena-rock anthems. Best part: the moment the second verse kicks in with "I can't eat, I can't sleep" and the second guitar coming in.
Summer Of '69 - Bryan Adams
I propose that this be the new Canadian national anthem: it's made by a Canadian, pretty much everyone knows all the words to it and it's infinitely catchier than "O Canada". Moreover, this thing just explodes with energy and life; yeah, the lyrics are dopey, working in every teenage cliche, but they're also kind of endearing for that dopiness. And that thick guitar riff, Adam's husky vocals and basically every part of the song being a hook should erase that anyways. Whenever this comes on the radio, I crank it up; it's one of those songs.
Boys Of Summer - Don Henley
I fucking hate the Eagles and this is the only song even vaguely associated with them that you'll ever hear me say a positive word about. The sound is, in a lot of ways, the embodiment of 80's cheese, but that's kind of intentional to create a disparity with the nostalgic lyrics. And the song really does sound like summer, too: full of empty space and possibility but also sort of foreboding. Henley's vocals do get a bit whiny on the chorus, but I can forgive that. Bonus points for the really good video. Avoid the pop-punk cover by the Ataris at all costs, as it replaces all that masterful empty space and varied instrumentation with a grinding guitar attack that does the song no favours.
D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune) - Jay-Z
Has Jay-Z become hip-hop's grumpy old man? Maybe, as he's dissing the most popular technique in current rap, calling out Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy and making Frank Sinatra references all on the same track. He gets in some good digs, although I think the message is wasted effort, and drops some really good lines ("This ain't a number one record/this is practically assault with a deadly weapon") but the real star here is No I.D's beat. Combining stomping drums with wailing funk guitar and saxophone honks, he's given Jay the perfect base for his rant. And, it might just be me, but I think this is the type of beat (lots of live instruments, rock-influenced) that Jay-Z sounds the best on (think "99 Problems", "Threat", "Pray" or "Success").
When You Were Mine - Prince
Probably my all-time favourite Prince song, and not just for the way the lyrics tie sexual freakiness in with genuine emotion. The herky-jerky new wave rhythm remains oddly funky, the chipping guitars, while paper-thin, are a nice addition, the keyboard that comes in for the chorus just ups the catchiness. It's particularly impressive when you consider that prince himself played all the instruments and did all the vocals (including the masterful backups) on this thing. Best part: When the song drops to just the guitar and Prince's voice after the instrumental bridge. (Sorry about the crappy quality live video, it was all I could find. It's a pretty good performance, though.)
A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
I'm not huge on soul music (though, strangely I love when rap songs work in soul samples) but this song is really something special. A million people have written a million times about how good this song is, so, I'll share a personal anecdote. The first time I heard this song was over a crappy portable radio that was half-tuned to the station, in shitty ear bud headphones, while walking knee-deep in a river. It was awesome.
Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
I think that Top Gun is kind of sucky but it has one of the more amazing soundtracks of its era, full of cheesy 80's goodness, of which "Danger Zone" is the pinnacle. It's basically the perfect "pump you up" song, great for workouts and such; I listen to it every morning to get ready for the day.
Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep
This song hits a lot of big, obvious buttons for. The strummy guitar, the big hand claps, the poetically meaningless lyrics, the softly delivered lead vocals, the massed backups; it's like it it was made specifically for me. Also, they're Canadian group, and they opened for Pearl Jam! I wish all of their songs (most of which are not folky at all) were like this, they might be my favourite band of all time then.
Cold Days From The Birdhouse - The Twilight Sad
One of the more unfortunately named bands of the past decade, but no less great for it. Their album, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, was one of my favourites of the year it came out but this song, the opening track has an appeal all its own. The way the Twilight Sad combine these seemingly disparate elements (folky slide guitars and accordions, shoegaze guitar swirls, U2-esque hammy choruses and staunchly Scottish vocals) is inspiring and I love the way the song goes from bubbling whisper to strident scream in its four-minute run time. It isn't in a rush, it takes its time going where it needs to and it's all the better for it.
Feel Good Drag - Anberlin
This is one of those songs where you kind of have to ignore the lyrics; which are a jumble of emo narcissism and off-hand sexism with one kind-of clever line ("Everyone in this town is seeing somebody else"). Focus instead on that chunky, heaving guitar riff that makes this whole thing work. It carries this through those lyrics, the overly shiny production and the singer's melodramatic delivery. The bridge is also kind of wonky, but it leans hard on the immortal "quiet verse, loud chorus" formula which will, when done well, never get old for me.
Hot Revolver - Lil Wayne
Already dedicated an entire post to talking about how great this song is.
Ironic - Alanis Morissette
Yeah, yeah, none of those lyrics are truly "ironic" (rain on your wedding day just sucks, for example) but that isn't why this is good. It's essentially a grunge song given a layer of high-pop gloss and while that may sound like the worst idea ever, Alanis cuts through that shininess with that defiantly untrained voice of hers and makes it all great. I also particularly love those little wordless vocal runs at the song's beginning.
You Learn - Alanis Morissette
Once again, the words are kinda iffy; depending on what sort of mood you're in they can seem genuinely inspiring or like motivational speaker crap. But some things here aren't so malleable; that hip-hop-ish drumbeat, the heavy bass groove, Alanis' endearing vocal ticks and the ghostly back vocals are always there.
Like Eating Glass - Bloc Party
The yelping vocals might put a few people off, but this one of those songs that I think almost anyone could get into. The choppy dual-guitar attack, the nervy rhythm section, the gigantic chorus, the abundance of hooks; Bloc Party could have made a million more albums just like Silent Alarm and I would've bought every single one but, unfortunately, they didn't. They went off, discovered electronic music and made one decent album and one terrible one. Oh well, we'll always have a record full of their nervy post-punk-meets-arena-rock anthems. Best part: the moment the second verse kicks in with "I can't eat, I can't sleep" and the second guitar coming in.
Summer Of '69 - Bryan Adams
I propose that this be the new Canadian national anthem: it's made by a Canadian, pretty much everyone knows all the words to it and it's infinitely catchier than "O Canada". Moreover, this thing just explodes with energy and life; yeah, the lyrics are dopey, working in every teenage cliche, but they're also kind of endearing for that dopiness. And that thick guitar riff, Adam's husky vocals and basically every part of the song being a hook should erase that anyways. Whenever this comes on the radio, I crank it up; it's one of those songs.
Boys Of Summer - Don Henley
I fucking hate the Eagles and this is the only song even vaguely associated with them that you'll ever hear me say a positive word about. The sound is, in a lot of ways, the embodiment of 80's cheese, but that's kind of intentional to create a disparity with the nostalgic lyrics. And the song really does sound like summer, too: full of empty space and possibility but also sort of foreboding. Henley's vocals do get a bit whiny on the chorus, but I can forgive that. Bonus points for the really good video. Avoid the pop-punk cover by the Ataris at all costs, as it replaces all that masterful empty space and varied instrumentation with a grinding guitar attack that does the song no favours.
D.O.A (Death Of Auto-Tune) - Jay-Z
Has Jay-Z become hip-hop's grumpy old man? Maybe, as he's dissing the most popular technique in current rap, calling out Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy and making Frank Sinatra references all on the same track. He gets in some good digs, although I think the message is wasted effort, and drops some really good lines ("This ain't a number one record/this is practically assault with a deadly weapon") but the real star here is No I.D's beat. Combining stomping drums with wailing funk guitar and saxophone honks, he's given Jay the perfect base for his rant. And, it might just be me, but I think this is the type of beat (lots of live instruments, rock-influenced) that Jay-Z sounds the best on (think "99 Problems", "Threat", "Pray" or "Success").
When You Were Mine - Prince
Probably my all-time favourite Prince song, and not just for the way the lyrics tie sexual freakiness in with genuine emotion. The herky-jerky new wave rhythm remains oddly funky, the chipping guitars, while paper-thin, are a nice addition, the keyboard that comes in for the chorus just ups the catchiness. It's particularly impressive when you consider that prince himself played all the instruments and did all the vocals (including the masterful backups) on this thing. Best part: When the song drops to just the guitar and Prince's voice after the instrumental bridge. (Sorry about the crappy quality live video, it was all I could find. It's a pretty good performance, though.)
A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
I'm not huge on soul music (though, strangely I love when rap songs work in soul samples) but this song is really something special. A million people have written a million times about how good this song is, so, I'll share a personal anecdote. The first time I heard this song was over a crappy portable radio that was half-tuned to the station, in shitty ear bud headphones, while walking knee-deep in a river. It was awesome.
Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
I think that Top Gun is kind of sucky but it has one of the more amazing soundtracks of its era, full of cheesy 80's goodness, of which "Danger Zone" is the pinnacle. It's basically the perfect "pump you up" song, great for workouts and such; I listen to it every morning to get ready for the day.
Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep
This song hits a lot of big, obvious buttons for. The strummy guitar, the big hand claps, the poetically meaningless lyrics, the softly delivered lead vocals, the massed backups; it's like it it was made specifically for me. Also, they're Canadian group, and they opened for Pearl Jam! I wish all of their songs (most of which are not folky at all) were like this, they might be my favourite band of all time then.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
NOBODY ON THE ROAD, NOBODY ON THE BEACH
- The Hangover is a fun little comedy; it's nothing too big or spectacular but it keeps up its brisk energy through all of its, fairly short, running time. If you've seen the commercials, you basically know what to expect, it's a film about a wild night in Vegas and the morning after, with everything that entails, but, for the most part, the film stayed away from gross-out gags and kept firmly in the realm of absurdity, buddy banter, or slapstick. This is a good thing because the film doesn't use its R rating as an excuse to pile on nudity or potty humour, not to say that that sort of thing isn't in there but it's used sparingly and intelligently. The film also has an excellent, if B-list, cast who know how to give this thing a deft comedic touch; whether that means Bradley Cooper's smarmy jerkiness, Ed Helmes' henpecked shtick (by the way, his bitchy, overbearing girlfriend was funny but points out the problem that most of these movies have in handling female characters) or Zach Galifrankis' off-the-wall absurdity. It's probably the best of Todd Phillips' movies, though I haven't seen Old School in a while, and I think he's one of the guys who gets how to do stupid comedy correctly, so, that's a meaningful, if slight, compliment.
- I'm planning to re-watch all of Lost up to this point over the show's hiatus to see if I can "pick up" anything that I may have missed the first time around. If I do notice anything I think is critically important, though I doubt will, I'll be sure to post it.
- This is really a thing that need no further mentioning but, man, that New Moon trailer is awful.
- Terminator Salvation is good but it's sort-of overly grim, there's no chance for even a bit of humour to poke in through the dark, post-apocalyptic, world (which, to be fair, is pretty immaculately constructed). That's kind of disappointing because I think that the first two Terminator films, let's try to forget about the third, were some of the most successful action pictures in terms of integrating comic relief into their fabric. Also, Christian Bale is still doing that friggin' Batman-voice, I seriously hope that that's not going to be his "thing" from now on because he's a really good actor who I'd hate to see get stuck in one-note performances (though, the trailers I've seen for Public Enemies do assuage my fears a great deal). Sam Worthington is a real discovery, though; he's consistently great in this thing, even when forced to spout some pretty absurd dialogue. The other actors didn't really hit me one way or the other, expect that I thought Moon Bloodgood was a little weak, Common always sounded like he was about to break into a rap, Helena Bonham Carter was in there for roughly five seconds and Anton Yelchin's American accent is weird. Good action throughout, with great special effects and effective camerawork. I would be happy to revisit this world for the inevitable sequels, though I wish that those films won't be so self-serious. Even still, for a guy who's only other credits are some football movie and the Charlie's Angels films, McG did a good job here, and if you're in the mood for some action, and you've already seen Star Trek, I'd recommend checking this out.
- I'm planning to re-watch all of Lost up to this point over the show's hiatus to see if I can "pick up" anything that I may have missed the first time around. If I do notice anything I think is critically important, though I doubt will, I'll be sure to post it.
- This is really a thing that need no further mentioning but, man, that New Moon trailer is awful.
- Terminator Salvation is good but it's sort-of overly grim, there's no chance for even a bit of humour to poke in through the dark, post-apocalyptic, world (which, to be fair, is pretty immaculately constructed). That's kind of disappointing because I think that the first two Terminator films, let's try to forget about the third, were some of the most successful action pictures in terms of integrating comic relief into their fabric. Also, Christian Bale is still doing that friggin' Batman-voice, I seriously hope that that's not going to be his "thing" from now on because he's a really good actor who I'd hate to see get stuck in one-note performances (though, the trailers I've seen for Public Enemies do assuage my fears a great deal). Sam Worthington is a real discovery, though; he's consistently great in this thing, even when forced to spout some pretty absurd dialogue. The other actors didn't really hit me one way or the other, expect that I thought Moon Bloodgood was a little weak, Common always sounded like he was about to break into a rap, Helena Bonham Carter was in there for roughly five seconds and Anton Yelchin's American accent is weird. Good action throughout, with great special effects and effective camerawork. I would be happy to revisit this world for the inevitable sequels, though I wish that those films won't be so self-serious. Even still, for a guy who's only other credits are some football movie and the Charlie's Angels films, McG did a good job here, and if you're in the mood for some action, and you've already seen Star Trek, I'd recommend checking this out.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
HOLD UP, LET ME FIX MY HAT
- Lil Wayne's "Hot Revolver" might just be my favourite pop single of 2009, if it continues to be as dull a year for those things as it has so far; at any rate, it's the best one so far. Why, exactly, is a bit hard to say but it comes down this: I really didn't think the guy could pull it off, and he did. When I first heard Wayne was making a "rock album" (which is now looking ever more elusive and nebulous), my first thought was "uh, why?" followed by "it'll probably be awful". And "Prom Queen", the album's first single, seemed to confirm my trepidation: "Prom Queen" is a horrifying car-wreck of a song; a pile-up of Wanye's auto-tuned gurgle, some of the most over-processed mall-rock guitar skronk I've ever heard, a hammering rhythm that plays to none of the guy's strengths as a vocalist, an abysmal attempt at a chorus, some really bad attempted-emo howls and a lyrical conceit that's both over-used (a girl turned you down and then later regretted it? You don't say!) and entirely removed from what Wayne is comfortable with (mostly making typical hip-hop sex/drugs/money talk interesting and funny via clever metaphors/jokes). It would be unlistenable if not for that fact that it's kind of fascinating in its way and speaks to the fact that Wayne, while I don't doubt his sincerity in wanting to make rock music, has a very warped and vague understanding of what he's trying to do. About the only thing I do like about "Prom Queen" is the music video, which gives us the image of nerd Lil Wayne, which is hilarious.
If "Prom Queen" fails because it can't reconcile what it wants to be (a rock song) with who its performer is (a rapper with a shaky understanding of rock, who can't sing that well), "Hot Revolver" succeeds precisely because it does reconcile those things. It does this by taking rap elements and rock elements and stitching them together in an interesting, and, more importantly, sonically tasty, way.
First, the rap stuff: the chorus isn't sung by Wayne, but rather by song producer Dre (not to be confused with Dr. Dre). This is very good because I really don't think Wayne's voice is made for hooks that aren't simple chants/repeated phrases; he's got too oddball of a vocal timbre to do that, but he's perfectly fine in the verses here, bobbing and weaving with the beat (more on that in a sec) in way that reminds you he's a rapper but isn't exactly rapping. The other thing about Dre chorus is how, in typical hip-hop fashion, it provides contrast. When a chorus in a rap song is sung by a person other than the rapper, it's usually because the chorus is a counter-point or a complimentary element, in lyrical terms, to what the rapper is rapping about. Usually, this means that the chorus is taken by a R&B guy or gal to more explicitly express whatever feeling that the rapper is talking about. But, here, its use is very interesting and plays into the lyrical conceit of the song in a more inventive way (the lyrics are something I'll talk about in detail later). The use of auto-tune also keeps this "rap", in a certain manner, as Wayne clearly, and justifiably, doesn't feel enough confidence to sing without it as a rock singer, even one who doesn't have a conventionally good voice, would. Thankfully, though, unlike "Prom Queen", he doesn't overdo the auto-tune to the point where he sounds like a robot , it just provides a slight trailing effect on his voice. In fact, at one point, Wayne does drop the effect entirely; for the second verse, the song dissolves into a a quick drum machine-lead portion, where he raps a quick bit before the guitars come back in and he goes into a semi-croon. It's a neat trick that shows his range in a way that doesn't draw attention to itself. There's some other little elements (e.g. the fact that Wayne's first words on the song are the quick "young moolah, baby" sonic signature he's been saying on every song in the past while, the use of the term "shorty") that remind us of the rap-roots, as well. Finally, the lyrics, which are the pivot point for the rap and rock elements, are pretty standard issue rap braggadocio, at first glance. Summary, Wayne's on tour and a fucks a girl who tries to make it more serious but he just wants a fuck-buddy. Sort of horrible, but nothing too out of the ordinary, right?
Well, here's where things gets interesting: where a rap song would stop there, because this is "rock", it doesn't (let's not get into why that is, exactly, because it could be an entire series of blog posts by itself). In the third verse, Wayne calls his lady friend and she won't pick up, so, he goes to her house only to find that she ended up "cheating" on him, leaving him hurt and angry. And that Dre chorus I mentioned earlier? It's kind of like Wayne's buddy going "dude, this girl's nice and really likes you, what the hell are you doing here? She's not gonna want to be with you at all if you keep being a dick like this". It's kind of boldly self-effacing and that's really cool because it cuts though the macho bullshit that's present in a lot of mainstream rap while not sacrificing swagger or a sense of fun. And Wayne, while not aloud due to format to be quite as zany with his lyrics, does get a little of his trademark zing in there (he calls his mode of transportation a "spaceship", for example).
Sonically, too, this thing just kicks. The beat is a bass-heavy bit of stiffed-legged new-wave-y rock, with little synth swirls puttering around at times and galloping guitar-crunch coming in for the chorus. Importantly, unlike the loudly pounding "Prom Queen", "Hot Revolver" knows how use both sonic space and dynamics for pop effect; the chorus wouldn't be half as catchy as it is if those guitars were there in the entire song.
In short, "Hot Revolver" deserves a much bigger audience than what it's got and I really can't see why it only peaked at #33 on the Billboard charts. Maybe it's excess ill will from "Prom Queen" or something but, still. This could cross Wayne over into even more markets, if promoted properly; it's catchy, brash and fun without being offensive (in fact, there's no cursing in the song other than two barely audible "ass"s and a "damn") and it's danceable without being just club fodder.
If Wayne can stick to material like this and stay away from more "Prom Queen"s then I'm really gonna love Rebirth. Strangely enough, the only other song to come off the album is "Fix My Hat" which is a pretty standard "Lil Wayne spazzing out" song that doesn't have a whole lot to do with rock (in fact, it has an 80's hip-hop feel with its basic, 808-heavy beat) but is still pretty good stuff. I don't claim to understand how that man works but he's capable of great things from time-to-time, so, let's hope he'll bring it all together here.
If "Prom Queen" fails because it can't reconcile what it wants to be (a rock song) with who its performer is (a rapper with a shaky understanding of rock, who can't sing that well), "Hot Revolver" succeeds precisely because it does reconcile those things. It does this by taking rap elements and rock elements and stitching them together in an interesting, and, more importantly, sonically tasty, way.
First, the rap stuff: the chorus isn't sung by Wayne, but rather by song producer Dre (not to be confused with Dr. Dre). This is very good because I really don't think Wayne's voice is made for hooks that aren't simple chants/repeated phrases; he's got too oddball of a vocal timbre to do that, but he's perfectly fine in the verses here, bobbing and weaving with the beat (more on that in a sec) in way that reminds you he's a rapper but isn't exactly rapping. The other thing about Dre chorus is how, in typical hip-hop fashion, it provides contrast. When a chorus in a rap song is sung by a person other than the rapper, it's usually because the chorus is a counter-point or a complimentary element, in lyrical terms, to what the rapper is rapping about. Usually, this means that the chorus is taken by a R&B guy or gal to more explicitly express whatever feeling that the rapper is talking about. But, here, its use is very interesting and plays into the lyrical conceit of the song in a more inventive way (the lyrics are something I'll talk about in detail later). The use of auto-tune also keeps this "rap", in a certain manner, as Wayne clearly, and justifiably, doesn't feel enough confidence to sing without it as a rock singer, even one who doesn't have a conventionally good voice, would. Thankfully, though, unlike "Prom Queen", he doesn't overdo the auto-tune to the point where he sounds like a robot , it just provides a slight trailing effect on his voice. In fact, at one point, Wayne does drop the effect entirely; for the second verse, the song dissolves into a a quick drum machine-lead portion, where he raps a quick bit before the guitars come back in and he goes into a semi-croon. It's a neat trick that shows his range in a way that doesn't draw attention to itself. There's some other little elements (e.g. the fact that Wayne's first words on the song are the quick "young moolah, baby" sonic signature he's been saying on every song in the past while, the use of the term "shorty") that remind us of the rap-roots, as well. Finally, the lyrics, which are the pivot point for the rap and rock elements, are pretty standard issue rap braggadocio, at first glance. Summary, Wayne's on tour and a fucks a girl who tries to make it more serious but he just wants a fuck-buddy. Sort of horrible, but nothing too out of the ordinary, right?
Well, here's where things gets interesting: where a rap song would stop there, because this is "rock", it doesn't (let's not get into why that is, exactly, because it could be an entire series of blog posts by itself). In the third verse, Wayne calls his lady friend and she won't pick up, so, he goes to her house only to find that she ended up "cheating" on him, leaving him hurt and angry. And that Dre chorus I mentioned earlier? It's kind of like Wayne's buddy going "dude, this girl's nice and really likes you, what the hell are you doing here? She's not gonna want to be with you at all if you keep being a dick like this". It's kind of boldly self-effacing and that's really cool because it cuts though the macho bullshit that's present in a lot of mainstream rap while not sacrificing swagger or a sense of fun. And Wayne, while not aloud due to format to be quite as zany with his lyrics, does get a little of his trademark zing in there (he calls his mode of transportation a "spaceship", for example).
Sonically, too, this thing just kicks. The beat is a bass-heavy bit of stiffed-legged new-wave-y rock, with little synth swirls puttering around at times and galloping guitar-crunch coming in for the chorus. Importantly, unlike the loudly pounding "Prom Queen", "Hot Revolver" knows how use both sonic space and dynamics for pop effect; the chorus wouldn't be half as catchy as it is if those guitars were there in the entire song.
In short, "Hot Revolver" deserves a much bigger audience than what it's got and I really can't see why it only peaked at #33 on the Billboard charts. Maybe it's excess ill will from "Prom Queen" or something but, still. This could cross Wayne over into even more markets, if promoted properly; it's catchy, brash and fun without being offensive (in fact, there's no cursing in the song other than two barely audible "ass"s and a "damn") and it's danceable without being just club fodder.
If Wayne can stick to material like this and stay away from more "Prom Queen"s then I'm really gonna love Rebirth. Strangely enough, the only other song to come off the album is "Fix My Hat" which is a pretty standard "Lil Wayne spazzing out" song that doesn't have a whole lot to do with rock (in fact, it has an 80's hip-hop feel with its basic, 808-heavy beat) but is still pretty good stuff. I don't claim to understand how that man works but he's capable of great things from time-to-time, so, let's hope he'll bring it all together here.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
ONCE I THOUGHT I KNEW, EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW, ABOUT YOU
- I don't have a whole lot to say about the movie of Angels & Demons except that it's a decent, semi-grown up summer thriller that's a lot better than the Da Vinci Code movie. Basically, it captures the book very well (despite a few minor additions and omissions), for better or worse. This means that all the pros (the fun, connect-the-dots plotting, the enjoyably twisty narrative, the genuine suspense, the good pacing) and all the cons (the barely-there characters, the illogical situations, the hackneyed attempts at social commentary, the flat self-seriousness) from the book are present. Though, in the movie's favour, you don't have to deal with Dan Brown's clunky prose style while watching it. Tom Hanks (with a much, much better haircut and a thankful lack of double chin) is a good fit for Langdon, even if his academic asshole routine gets grating at a certain point, and Ewan McGregor is nicely hammy as the interim pope. All of the other actors really make no impression one way or the other, staying out of the way of the plot; that's a good thing. Ron Howard's direction is his usual clean-but-sterile craftsmanship (he does do a lot of spin-the-camera-around-the-actors shots, though, for some reason) but that's not really a negative; flashy direction wouldn't benefit here (see the sequences in Da Vinci which attempted to illustrate Langdon's claustrophobia for proof). It is a bit long (and there's some besides-the-point padding in the middle) but not so much so that I was actively annoyed. All in all, it's worth seeing once but I wouldn't (and didn't) pay full price for a ticket.
- I'll keep my thoughts on Relapse, the new Eminem album, to point form, as it doesn't deserve much more:
- Production, mostly by Dr. Dre, is fine but leans really hard on those cold-steel percussion figures and chunky synth runs that he's been dealing in since "In Da Club" hit it big. It works on "Old Time's Sake", possibly because that song features Dre, but nowhere else. The big departures from this formula do work: "Bagpipes From Baghdad" is mediocre but through no fault of its snake-charmer beat, "Underground" has a clumsy rhythm but a moody ambiance and "Deja Vu" has a dusty guitar-and-drums musical makeup that feels very 90's New York rap.
- Em sounds really tired and bored, for the most part. There's no joy to his voice; when he makes the jokes that should be gleefully offensive pranksterism, they sound like he's just going through the motions because people expect it of him.
- Evidence of this; there are two songs on here where the whole joke is "I am a rapist" and neither are remotely funny or even really offensive in a way other than, "man, that sucks".
- However, when he does get fired up, he proves that he can still rap. "Insane" hearkens back to his Slim Shady LP days, in both rapping and lyrics, "Deja Vu" (the best song on the album) is a brilliantly self-effacing account of his troubles in the past four years, "3 A.M." is a lame horrorcore throwback that's redeemed only though delivery and "Must Be The Ganja" grinds a tired lyrical concept but Em, surprisingly, makes it work.
- The skits are, predictably, awful.
- "Beautiful" samples a goddamn Queen + Paul Rodgers track; that's all I have to say about that.
- Overall, better than Encore but nowhere near as good as it needs to be to get me to truly care about Eminem again
I'll post later in the week about the new Green Day album, the 24 and Lost season finales and Terminator Salvation. But, for now, in order, here's my thoughts: Pretty good, weird/confusing in a bad way, weird/confusing in a good way and overly grim but still well-done.
- I'll keep my thoughts on Relapse, the new Eminem album, to point form, as it doesn't deserve much more:
- Production, mostly by Dr. Dre, is fine but leans really hard on those cold-steel percussion figures and chunky synth runs that he's been dealing in since "In Da Club" hit it big. It works on "Old Time's Sake", possibly because that song features Dre, but nowhere else. The big departures from this formula do work: "Bagpipes From Baghdad" is mediocre but through no fault of its snake-charmer beat, "Underground" has a clumsy rhythm but a moody ambiance and "Deja Vu" has a dusty guitar-and-drums musical makeup that feels very 90's New York rap.
- Em sounds really tired and bored, for the most part. There's no joy to his voice; when he makes the jokes that should be gleefully offensive pranksterism, they sound like he's just going through the motions because people expect it of him.
- Evidence of this; there are two songs on here where the whole joke is "I am a rapist" and neither are remotely funny or even really offensive in a way other than, "man, that sucks".
- However, when he does get fired up, he proves that he can still rap. "Insane" hearkens back to his Slim Shady LP days, in both rapping and lyrics, "Deja Vu" (the best song on the album) is a brilliantly self-effacing account of his troubles in the past four years, "3 A.M." is a lame horrorcore throwback that's redeemed only though delivery and "Must Be The Ganja" grinds a tired lyrical concept but Em, surprisingly, makes it work.
- The skits are, predictably, awful.
- "Beautiful" samples a goddamn Queen + Paul Rodgers track; that's all I have to say about that.
- Overall, better than Encore but nowhere near as good as it needs to be to get me to truly care about Eminem again
I'll post later in the week about the new Green Day album, the 24 and Lost season finales and Terminator Salvation. But, for now, in order, here's my thoughts: Pretty good, weird/confusing in a bad way, weird/confusing in a good way and overly grim but still well-done.
Monday, May 18, 2009
STOLE A THOUSAND BEGGAR'S CHANGE
- I feared the worst with Star Trek when it was announced that it was being directed by J. J. Abrams and being written by the guys who wrote the, completely godawful, 2007 Transformers film. And when I saw the first trailer, it seemed to confirm a lot of my fears: too-big special effects, unnecessary sex appeal, stony serious-mindedness, broad comic relief of the annoying variety. My thoughts going into the theatre were basically "well, it can't be as bad as Transformers and it has Simon Pegg in it". Make no mistake, I was really looking forward to this film but only really because it was an updated Star Trek (I'm not what you'd call a Trekkie, but I like the original series pretty well and thought it could do with a new coat of paint) and not due to a true liking of any of the creative talent involved. For my money, the best thing Abrams ever did with his life was being vaguely involved with Lost as none of his other things, whether TV (I didn't care for Alias, Fringe is okay) or film (Cloverfield is gimmicky, MI:3 is a decent action movie greatly improved by Philip Seymour Hoffman) have really impressed me. Also, I don't really care what else screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have written because they wrote Transformers and I still want to kill them for that.
However, against all those odds, they pulled this one off. It's got enough of a hip sensibility to not seem dated but the thing I love the most is how the movie doesn't ignore the essential optimism at the heart of the Trek world in favour of post-modern deconstructionism. It would be very easy to make this movie "dark" and "edgy" (a sort of Dark Knight take on Trek) and call it at that but, thankfully, the writers don't do that. They do add bigger, more SFX-heavy action sequences (the best of which is a thrilling space-skydive set piece, which includes a redshirt, natch), some romantic tension between Uhura and Spock and a more general light-hearted approach to the material (technobabble is kept to a minimum). The only real issues with the film are a weak villian and that the middle section is a bit slow. Also, no Shatner cameo, but Nimoy has a pretty big part, so, it's forgivable. In fact, with it's general good-heartedness, as opposed to the oppressive darkness of the recent Batman films, and lack of prejudice (especially surprising coming from the scribes of Transformers, which may be the most racially-backwards mainstream film of the past decade) Star Trek might be the first blockbuster for the Obama-era and it'll be interesting to see if this becomes the biggest earner of the summer because of that. Its we're-in-this-together spirit and sense of maybe-this-will-all-work-out embodies a new hope, in the same way that Dark Knight's moral chaos and breakdown of order was a wail from Bush's tail-end.
More importantly than that, though, it's well-acted, well-directed (albeit with a bit too much use of close-ups during action scenes, probably learned from working of TV shows), has excellent special effects (especially coming after Wolverine's cheap green-screened look) and respects the earlier Trek (particularly in terms of character personas/quirks) works without being slavishly beholden to them. It's something that you can love whether you're a Trekkie or someone with no idea of the story beyond the multitude of parodies. It's a big, fun, sloppy space adventure with loads of humour and, even if the actual plot is a little weak, it sets the franchise up for many further adventures with this crew, which I, for one, would be happy to take.
However, against all those odds, they pulled this one off. It's got enough of a hip sensibility to not seem dated but the thing I love the most is how the movie doesn't ignore the essential optimism at the heart of the Trek world in favour of post-modern deconstructionism. It would be very easy to make this movie "dark" and "edgy" (a sort of Dark Knight take on Trek) and call it at that but, thankfully, the writers don't do that. They do add bigger, more SFX-heavy action sequences (the best of which is a thrilling space-skydive set piece, which includes a redshirt, natch), some romantic tension between Uhura and Spock and a more general light-hearted approach to the material (technobabble is kept to a minimum). The only real issues with the film are a weak villian and that the middle section is a bit slow. Also, no Shatner cameo, but Nimoy has a pretty big part, so, it's forgivable. In fact, with it's general good-heartedness, as opposed to the oppressive darkness of the recent Batman films, and lack of prejudice (especially surprising coming from the scribes of Transformers, which may be the most racially-backwards mainstream film of the past decade) Star Trek might be the first blockbuster for the Obama-era and it'll be interesting to see if this becomes the biggest earner of the summer because of that. Its we're-in-this-together spirit and sense of maybe-this-will-all-work-out embodies a new hope, in the same way that Dark Knight's moral chaos and breakdown of order was a wail from Bush's tail-end.
More importantly than that, though, it's well-acted, well-directed (albeit with a bit too much use of close-ups during action scenes, probably learned from working of TV shows), has excellent special effects (especially coming after Wolverine's cheap green-screened look) and respects the earlier Trek (particularly in terms of character personas/quirks) works without being slavishly beholden to them. It's something that you can love whether you're a Trekkie or someone with no idea of the story beyond the multitude of parodies. It's a big, fun, sloppy space adventure with loads of humour and, even if the actual plot is a little weak, it sets the franchise up for many further adventures with this crew, which I, for one, would be happy to take.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
WE ARE THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT
- I would talk about Star Trek here but I don't think that I have enough to say about it to warrant an entire post to itself (general summary: it's great), so, I'll wait until after the Lost season finale airs on Wednesday and talk about both of those things in one post. I've decided to make this post about something I promised to cover a while ago: My other favourite album of 2008, besides 808's & Heartbreak, namely, The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound:
In a certain way, it's odd that 808's and '59 could be my two favourite albums of last year because, both thematically and sonically, they couldn't be more diametrically opposed. 808's is all depressive, paranoid truths, delivered with appropriately alien and synthetic musical backdrop; it's harsh at points but altogether necessary and, despite its frigidness, it finds pockets of warmth within heartache that make it all, ultimately, life-affirming. The '59 Sound, by contrast, feels like a musical postcard from a time that, if it ever existed at all, is long gone and, as such, it's all warm, mushy nostalgia and heart-on-sleeve working class sentiments backed up by fittingly scrappy, but never mean or overly aggressive, guitar rock.
The obvious start point for The Gaslight Anthem is Bruce Springsteen (more specifically, the Springsteen of Born To Run and prior, before the cynicism set in and he was creating grand lyrical mosaics out of everyday life) and, certainly, it checks out (hell, "Meet Me By The River's Edge" includes the lyric "no surrender/my Bobby Jean") but there seems to be a slowly developing genre of bands like this and I couldn't be happier. I haven't heard it termed yet but all these groups share a general aesthetic: Soulful, grown-man vocals, alternately twinkling or clacking guitars, working class subject matter, at least two of the band members looking like auto mechanics, punkish energy/enthusiasm, an affinity for cleaned-up 50's nostalgia, slight nods to old-school country (these bands are the first people you call in when putting together a Johnny Cash tribute record) and lead singer having a penchant for hair grease and sleeve tattoos. Examples of this "movement": The Loved Ones, Bad Religion (sometimes), Social Distortion (at their least emo), The Lawrence Arms, This Charming Man, Against Me!' (at their least shout-y) and Polar Bear Club.
The Gaslight Anthem, while certainly not the first band to do this sort of thing, are, in my mind, the best at it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they're the band who has most fully stripped away the harshness and meanness of their punk rock roots, while not abandoning the energy. If one were to term The '59 Sound as a "punk " record, it would be more in the Ramones sense (stripped-down, speedy musicality with an appreciation for pre-Beatles rock & roll) than in the Sex Pistols sense (outright rage/nihilism, with confrontational singing and lyrics) but even that isn't really accurate; it's far too cleanly produced (but, thankfully, retains grit and energy) and has a bit greater tonal range. Secondly, they're the band with the most naked heartland-rock fixation. Not just Springsteen, but Dylan and Petty (who gets a chorus name check in "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues") too. The guitar sounds, often interlocking in patterns which alternately jangle brightly or clatter like those beat-up car engines they love to sing about, are the biggest give away in that regard but check out the rock-solid, but deceptively complex, rhythm section and the clever use of non-rock sounds (the cabaret stand-up bass on "Film Noir", the clanging church bells on the title track, the brief scat-singing (!) interlude on "Great Expectations") for further evidence.
There's also the issue of those lyrics, which are my third factor putting the band above their competition. If you're not like me, and don't have a sort of unreasonable nostalgia for an era you've never lived in, you probably won't go quite as ga-ga over the band's shameless appropriation of 50's motifs as I did. But, for me, this is mana from heaven: They sing about sleeping on beaches and using pay phones, one chorus references "high-top sneakers", "sailor tattoos" and an "old '55", another contains a wish about looking "like Elvis", they speak in grand declarations like "I'll love you forever/if I ever love at all", they reference Audrey Hepburn and Marylin Monroe, the phrase "twist the night away" is used with no irony, they think Ferris Wheels and carnivals are the coolest things ever. I could go on and on but you get the idea. To be fair, the band does, on occasion, try to bring a bit of edge to this fuzzy-dice nostalgia trip (there's a semi-hardcore punk backup shout on "The Patient Ferris Wheel" and "High Lonesome" contains a line about "the powder on the bar") but those ultimately feel sort of hollow, perhaps the last fleeting vestige of traditional punk being molted away. Of course, none of this would mean anything if the band didn't believe it; if they were winking or being ironic. But, as far as I can tell, they seem to be 100% serious about this stuff, which is pretty commendable. In an era where being whiny/angry is almost a guarantee of success (whether in standard radio-rock or more MTV-friendly emo), it's great to hear a band with this much zest and enthusiasm (even if they have to reach back nearly 60 years to find it). Heck, even the ex-girlfriend ballad "Here's Looking At You, Kid" and the dead friend-tribute title track are delivered with faint smiles of fondness than agonized cries of pain and are much better for it.
Of course, even if you aren't convinced by the words here, these songs are impeccably written and performed and should convince by themselves. Ebbing and flowing at just the right points, tracks like "Film Noir" and "Old White Lincoln" have both breezy calms and swirling storms. "The Patient Ferris Wheel" and album-closer "The Backseat" are the most closely-allied with basic punk and, thus, have a tinge more aggression but still drip with warm romance. Slower numbers like the blues-tinged "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and the sparkling "Here's Looking At You, Kid" show the band's range. For me, the record's biggest stunner is "Casanova, Baby!" a rockabilly-ish, night-on-the-town number with great guitar work (dig that bridge!) and the album's best set of words ("every slow, mad song/is a night I'd like to spend with you"? Genuis, to these ears).
In the end, The '59 Sound is very much a regressive album; it doesn't try to advance any sort of music at all, it's almost stubbornly stuck in the past lyrically. But that's cool because the band has written a great set of tunes which live up to their influences and because the lyrical sentiments, as overly sentimental as they might be, are fun to get lost in. This album creates a world of beat-up classic cars, beaches at sunset, hotly anticipated county fairs, dancehalls filled with the sounds of 50's rock, charming, swooning boys in leather jackets and the beautiful, sundress-wearing girls who love them. It's a world where there's nothing that can't be fixed by a good, long drive or a dance with your sweetheart, where the only violence is when your friend knocks you out for making a pass at his girl (but you're still best buds after the ambulance arrives), where you can wash way all your problems with a dip in the river and where the daily grind of your job just gets you more ready for a late night of cruising and dancing. It's a world that's pretty damned far in the past, if it ever even existed at all, but wouldn't it be nice if our world was a bit more like it?
In a certain way, it's odd that 808's and '59 could be my two favourite albums of last year because, both thematically and sonically, they couldn't be more diametrically opposed. 808's is all depressive, paranoid truths, delivered with appropriately alien and synthetic musical backdrop; it's harsh at points but altogether necessary and, despite its frigidness, it finds pockets of warmth within heartache that make it all, ultimately, life-affirming. The '59 Sound, by contrast, feels like a musical postcard from a time that, if it ever existed at all, is long gone and, as such, it's all warm, mushy nostalgia and heart-on-sleeve working class sentiments backed up by fittingly scrappy, but never mean or overly aggressive, guitar rock.
The obvious start point for The Gaslight Anthem is Bruce Springsteen (more specifically, the Springsteen of Born To Run and prior, before the cynicism set in and he was creating grand lyrical mosaics out of everyday life) and, certainly, it checks out (hell, "Meet Me By The River's Edge" includes the lyric "no surrender/my Bobby Jean") but there seems to be a slowly developing genre of bands like this and I couldn't be happier. I haven't heard it termed yet but all these groups share a general aesthetic: Soulful, grown-man vocals, alternately twinkling or clacking guitars, working class subject matter, at least two of the band members looking like auto mechanics, punkish energy/enthusiasm, an affinity for cleaned-up 50's nostalgia, slight nods to old-school country (these bands are the first people you call in when putting together a Johnny Cash tribute record) and lead singer having a penchant for hair grease and sleeve tattoos. Examples of this "movement": The Loved Ones, Bad Religion (sometimes), Social Distortion (at their least emo), The Lawrence Arms, This Charming Man, Against Me!' (at their least shout-y) and Polar Bear Club.
The Gaslight Anthem, while certainly not the first band to do this sort of thing, are, in my mind, the best at it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they're the band who has most fully stripped away the harshness and meanness of their punk rock roots, while not abandoning the energy. If one were to term The '59 Sound as a "punk " record, it would be more in the Ramones sense (stripped-down, speedy musicality with an appreciation for pre-Beatles rock & roll) than in the Sex Pistols sense (outright rage/nihilism, with confrontational singing and lyrics) but even that isn't really accurate; it's far too cleanly produced (but, thankfully, retains grit and energy) and has a bit greater tonal range. Secondly, they're the band with the most naked heartland-rock fixation. Not just Springsteen, but Dylan and Petty (who gets a chorus name check in "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues") too. The guitar sounds, often interlocking in patterns which alternately jangle brightly or clatter like those beat-up car engines they love to sing about, are the biggest give away in that regard but check out the rock-solid, but deceptively complex, rhythm section and the clever use of non-rock sounds (the cabaret stand-up bass on "Film Noir", the clanging church bells on the title track, the brief scat-singing (!) interlude on "Great Expectations") for further evidence.
There's also the issue of those lyrics, which are my third factor putting the band above their competition. If you're not like me, and don't have a sort of unreasonable nostalgia for an era you've never lived in, you probably won't go quite as ga-ga over the band's shameless appropriation of 50's motifs as I did. But, for me, this is mana from heaven: They sing about sleeping on beaches and using pay phones, one chorus references "high-top sneakers", "sailor tattoos" and an "old '55", another contains a wish about looking "like Elvis", they speak in grand declarations like "I'll love you forever/if I ever love at all", they reference Audrey Hepburn and Marylin Monroe, the phrase "twist the night away" is used with no irony, they think Ferris Wheels and carnivals are the coolest things ever. I could go on and on but you get the idea. To be fair, the band does, on occasion, try to bring a bit of edge to this fuzzy-dice nostalgia trip (there's a semi-hardcore punk backup shout on "The Patient Ferris Wheel" and "High Lonesome" contains a line about "the powder on the bar") but those ultimately feel sort of hollow, perhaps the last fleeting vestige of traditional punk being molted away. Of course, none of this would mean anything if the band didn't believe it; if they were winking or being ironic. But, as far as I can tell, they seem to be 100% serious about this stuff, which is pretty commendable. In an era where being whiny/angry is almost a guarantee of success (whether in standard radio-rock or more MTV-friendly emo), it's great to hear a band with this much zest and enthusiasm (even if they have to reach back nearly 60 years to find it). Heck, even the ex-girlfriend ballad "Here's Looking At You, Kid" and the dead friend-tribute title track are delivered with faint smiles of fondness than agonized cries of pain and are much better for it.
Of course, even if you aren't convinced by the words here, these songs are impeccably written and performed and should convince by themselves. Ebbing and flowing at just the right points, tracks like "Film Noir" and "Old White Lincoln" have both breezy calms and swirling storms. "The Patient Ferris Wheel" and album-closer "The Backseat" are the most closely-allied with basic punk and, thus, have a tinge more aggression but still drip with warm romance. Slower numbers like the blues-tinged "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" and the sparkling "Here's Looking At You, Kid" show the band's range. For me, the record's biggest stunner is "Casanova, Baby!" a rockabilly-ish, night-on-the-town number with great guitar work (dig that bridge!) and the album's best set of words ("every slow, mad song/is a night I'd like to spend with you"? Genuis, to these ears).
In the end, The '59 Sound is very much a regressive album; it doesn't try to advance any sort of music at all, it's almost stubbornly stuck in the past lyrically. But that's cool because the band has written a great set of tunes which live up to their influences and because the lyrical sentiments, as overly sentimental as they might be, are fun to get lost in. This album creates a world of beat-up classic cars, beaches at sunset, hotly anticipated county fairs, dancehalls filled with the sounds of 50's rock, charming, swooning boys in leather jackets and the beautiful, sundress-wearing girls who love them. It's a world where there's nothing that can't be fixed by a good, long drive or a dance with your sweetheart, where the only violence is when your friend knocks you out for making a pass at his girl (but you're still best buds after the ambulance arrives), where you can wash way all your problems with a dip in the river and where the daily grind of your job just gets you more ready for a late night of cruising and dancing. It's a world that's pretty damned far in the past, if it ever even existed at all, but wouldn't it be nice if our world was a bit more like it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
