Track #14 pretty much sums it up for me: Noise Annoys.
I used to be a big fan of punk rock (and still am a fan of some), and I'd even heard "What Do I Get?" a few times, never knowing who exactly was performing it. I dig that song, and it's probably the best tune on the album. But it gets lost in the 16 song (absolutely epic by punk standards) strum-masturbation that is "singles going steady."
if 16 songs seems epic it's because this a collection of singles ;) D noticed right away i'm sure, given that the songs appeared to have been recorded at several different studios by several different producers. a little jarring, that.
but these songs are so right up my alley ... it's got the brazen energy and fuck-it attitude of punk, but it is far upstream in musical criteria; each song is a clinic in standards, taste, discipline, and economy, all of which are highly interconnected and absolutely crucial for successful pop, but which are more often than not eschewed by most punk i've ever heard.
a first in our little project: "Autonomy" -- epic and architectural like jrock except with none of the embarrassing excess -- is the first track i hit repeat on so far, and i hit it several times. it's naturally also the first track that goes into my regular rotation of favorites (along with the rest of the album). that means it will get played inbetween LUMINARY BANDS like can/goo and rubik [note: above bands may not be luminary, battle fortress does not actually glow in the dark, some assembly required].
i did not enjoy all the songs, and sometimes it seemed like there were different singers(?) which is a practice i'm not a fan of (why does alun woodward insist on ruining the delgados with his crap singing when he has emma pollack to shine like a star). and there is perhaps a surfeit of simplicity on display for the most part. but there are so many clever little riffs, and everything is just so gosh durn CONSCIENTIOUS. that is the binder that makes music accessible to me.
i'm absolutely taken by surprise that you enjoyed this so much. i thought that there was an outside chance that you'd appreciate some tunes in recognition of quasi-love for everclear (obviously influenced a great deal by the simple, repetitive guitar riffs on display here), but i never thought you'd have this positive reaction to off-key, obnoxious PUNK! RAWK! especially given the overtly sexual and sometimes funny lyrics. i know how you get about "non-serious" music.
but i'm glad you liked it, even if i didn't. i'll flag "what do i get" and "why can't i touch it" for regular rotation, and maybe sometime down the road i'll give this another listen to find another couple gems. i remember having some enjoyable moments, but the grating periods had me counting down the moments until i could close the door on this one...
yes! this taps into that whole everclear vibe, good call! i hadn't made the connection.
what i dig mostly about that style is that the musical ideas are extremely clear and straightforward. there is very little waste -- it's the musical equivalent of eliminating all unecessary adjectives. everything constantly moves forward, and nothing takes itself altogether too seriously. no extended drum solos or otherwise wallowing downtime. no jamming, no indeterminacy. each song is a very real object with a very clear outline.
the words are yeah a little dopey. a lot of singing about falling in love, which i don't find worth singing about, but then again, hey a song about autonomy. either way, you know me man, if the lyrics are great i'll press them in my notebook like flowers, but if they're bad i'll just tune them out and groove on the juicy musical nutmeat.
when i first put this on, i was a little disappointed. it did sound like very typical punk, and i was expecting and hoping for a little more. but then my morning commute coffee finally kicked in around "oh shit!" and let me tell you, it sounded good! the next song was autonomy and it just rocked so hard. by the time i got the last track, 'somethings gone wrong again,' which really wowed me with its lyrics and 'i wanna be your dog' style piano, i knew there was more to this album than just typical punk riffs and bravado.
'orgasm addict' is an edgy track with a seemingly large debt to the sex pistols. where there would normally be a guitar solo, the singer gives a really quick, half-assed fake orgasm. its really quick. its hilarious.
'what do i get' sounds a little more ramones-y, with its wall of chords, punk-takes-on-60s-pop vibe, and 'oh-ohs' of the chorus. the guitar solo is as simple a melody as can be. you can really tell that these guys hate guitar solos, but recognize the fact that sometimes it just makes sense in the course of the rest of the song and you have to put it in somewhere. and they just dont give a shit. they put the solo in where it belongs, plays it a simply and quickly as possible, and then move on. they dont give a shit. fuck yeah.
'i dont mind' and 'love you more' sound like they could be off of the nuggets compilation of proto-punk 60s psychedelic garage songs from mostly one hit wonders. i had always known that that stuff was influential on punk music, but this is the first time i really was able to hear that influence. yeah, they're dumb love songs, but with perfect replica 60s garage pop structure.
'ever fallen in love' is apparently their hit, and its great.
fast songs with parts that change often and quickly...these guys are simply masters of not wasting time.
'every happy nowadays' sounds like it could easily be a strokes song. too easily. the intro, the heavy chords after. wow man. and the chorus, i'm not sure what chord it is, but they play that chord and then the minor of that same chord...[for example, a C major and then right after a C minor]...makes it sound really beatles-y.
there are really great lil treasure nuggets to be found on every fuckin song on here.
'whatever happened to' is just great lyrically.
'why cant i touch it' grew on me...while i was listening to it. i thought oh these verses are just so predictable and looong. but this just makes the chorus that much better. this track is also almost 7 minutes long, which is an epic symphony compared to the rest of the tracks on here.
'somethings gone wrong' is the masterpiece on here, i think. just listen to the words and his delivery. 'nothing ever happens to people like us [pause for as long as musically possible within the phrase] - except-we-miss-the-bus! somethin goes wrong again!!' dig the ominious joy-division style bass line and constant upper register piano chord hammered on every eigth note.
wow this review is really long, and i'm too lasy to proof read. but i will leave off by letting you know that i will listen to this album again. and again and again and again.
it sounds like i'll have to revisit this album, given the surprisingly glowing reviews you two gave it. perhaps my error was putting it on while writing a market analysis. surprisingly, punk music does not agree with quantitative busywork.
pitchfork's top 100 of the 70's + top 100 of the 80's, considered, scrutinized, explored, assailed, defended, appreciated and deprecated, fussed over, held up high, kicked to the curb and held back up again. education by fire and a middle finger to disdain. tea, anyone?
Track #14 pretty much sums it up for me: Noise Annoys.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a big fan of punk rock (and still am a fan of some), and I'd even heard "What Do I Get?" a few times, never knowing who exactly was performing it. I dig that song, and it's probably the best tune on the album. But it gets lost in the 16 song (absolutely epic by punk standards) strum-masturbation that is "singles going steady."
I give it a resounding "meh."
if 16 songs seems epic it's because this a collection of singles ;) D noticed right away i'm sure, given that the songs appeared to have been recorded at several different studios by several different producers. a little jarring, that.
ReplyDeletebut these songs are so right up my alley ... it's got the brazen energy and fuck-it attitude of punk, but it is far upstream in musical criteria; each song is a clinic in standards, taste, discipline, and economy, all of which are highly interconnected and absolutely crucial for successful pop, but which are more often than not eschewed by most punk i've ever heard.
a first in our little project: "Autonomy" -- epic and architectural like jrock except with none of the embarrassing excess -- is the first track i hit repeat on so far, and i hit it several times. it's naturally also the first track that goes into my regular rotation of favorites (along with the rest of the album). that means it will get played inbetween LUMINARY BANDS like can/goo and rubik [note: above bands may not be luminary, battle fortress does not actually glow in the dark, some assembly required].
i did not enjoy all the songs, and sometimes it seemed like there were different singers(?) which is a practice i'm not a fan of (why does alun woodward insist on ruining the delgados with his crap singing when he has emma pollack to shine like a star). and there is perhaps a surfeit of simplicity on display for the most part. but there are so many clever little riffs, and everything is just so gosh durn CONSCIENTIOUS. that is the binder that makes music accessible to me.
wow.
ReplyDeletei'm absolutely taken by surprise that you enjoyed this so much. i thought that there was an outside chance that you'd appreciate some tunes in recognition of quasi-love for everclear (obviously influenced a great deal by the simple, repetitive guitar riffs on display here), but i never thought you'd have this positive reaction to off-key, obnoxious PUNK! RAWK! especially given the overtly sexual and sometimes funny lyrics. i know how you get about "non-serious" music.
but i'm glad you liked it, even if i didn't. i'll flag "what do i get" and "why can't i touch it" for regular rotation, and maybe sometime down the road i'll give this another listen to find another couple gems. i remember having some enjoyable moments, but the grating periods had me counting down the moments until i could close the door on this one...
yes! this taps into that whole everclear vibe, good call! i hadn't made the connection.
ReplyDeletewhat i dig mostly about that style is that the musical ideas are extremely clear and straightforward. there is very little waste -- it's the musical equivalent of eliminating all unecessary adjectives. everything constantly moves forward, and nothing takes itself altogether too seriously. no extended drum solos or otherwise wallowing downtime. no jamming, no indeterminacy. each song is a very real object with a very clear outline.
the words are yeah a little dopey. a lot of singing about falling in love, which i don't find worth singing about, but then again, hey a song about autonomy. either way, you know me man, if the lyrics are great i'll press them in my notebook like flowers, but if they're bad i'll just tune them out and groove on the juicy musical nutmeat.
when i first put this on, i was a little disappointed. it did sound like very typical punk, and i was expecting and hoping for a little more. but then my morning commute coffee finally kicked in around "oh shit!" and let me tell you, it sounded good! the next song was autonomy and it just rocked so hard. by the time i got the last track, 'somethings gone wrong again,' which really wowed me with its lyrics and 'i wanna be your dog' style piano, i knew there was more to this album than just typical punk riffs and bravado.
ReplyDelete'orgasm addict' is an edgy track with a seemingly large debt to the sex pistols. where there would normally be a guitar solo, the singer gives a really quick, half-assed fake orgasm. its really quick. its hilarious.
'what do i get' sounds a little more ramones-y, with its wall of chords, punk-takes-on-60s-pop vibe, and 'oh-ohs' of the chorus. the guitar solo is as simple a melody as can be. you can really tell that these guys hate guitar solos, but recognize the fact that sometimes it just makes sense in the course of the rest of the song and you have to put it in somewhere. and they just dont give a shit. they put the solo in where it belongs, plays it a simply and quickly as possible, and then move on. they dont give a shit. fuck yeah.
'i dont mind' and 'love you more' sound like they could be off of the nuggets compilation of proto-punk 60s psychedelic garage songs from mostly one hit wonders. i had always known that that stuff was influential on punk music, but this is the first time i really was able to hear that influence. yeah, they're dumb love songs, but with perfect replica 60s garage pop structure.
'ever fallen in love' is apparently their hit, and its great.
fast songs with parts that change often and quickly...these guys are simply masters of not wasting time.
'every happy nowadays' sounds like it could easily be a strokes song. too easily. the intro, the heavy chords after. wow man. and the chorus, i'm not sure what chord it is, but they play that chord and then the minor of that same chord...[for example, a C major and then right after a C minor]...makes it sound really beatles-y.
there are really great lil treasure nuggets to be found on every fuckin song on here.
'whatever happened to' is just great lyrically.
'why cant i touch it' grew on me...while i was listening to it. i thought oh these verses are just so predictable and looong. but this just makes the chorus that much better. this track is also almost 7 minutes long, which is an epic symphony compared to the rest of the tracks on here.
'somethings gone wrong' is the masterpiece on here, i think. just listen to the words and his delivery. 'nothing ever happens to people like us [pause for as long as musically possible within the phrase] - except-we-miss-the-bus! somethin goes wrong again!!' dig the ominious joy-division style bass line and constant upper register piano chord hammered on every eigth note.
wow this review is really long, and i'm too lasy to proof read. but i will leave off by letting you know that i will listen to this album again. and again and again and again.
it sounds like i'll have to revisit this album, given the surprisingly glowing reviews you two gave it. perhaps my error was putting it on while writing a market analysis. surprisingly, punk music does not agree with quantitative busywork.
ReplyDelete