My brother, Tony Alva, will tell you that rock is dead, that all the really good music ceased to be made after Van Halen's Women and Children First, or thereabouts. I, on the other hand, look back nostagicly at those times when you couldn't wait for the next Aerosmith or Black Sabbath or Def Leppard album to come out and readily concede that the 90's were a period of serious decline, but he and I part ways from there. I think we are seeing quite the resurgence in rock music talent. I don't know if I can match today's best with those from back then band-for-band, but we are clearly in (or entering) another golden age. Case in point: The Fratellis second album Here We Stand. This album is a slight departure from their ska-punk first offering, Costello Music, but the Scottish trio has reemerged with a Kinks**/Green Day-esque power chord sound that totally rocks. I give you for this week's Tracks of the Week, the opening track, My Friend John. Just don't ask me what "My friend John is a serious one/Buttons down the back and a job half done/Lazy old boy when the good girls turn/His teeth get itchy and his rubber souls burn/When will he ever learn?" means. They're from Scotland, ok? Since I know most of my readership (not you of course, but the majority of those other clowns that read this poor excuse of a blog) are cool-impaired, I'm also offering Flathead and Chelsea Dagger from their first album as well. Enjoy!I also recently picked up the finally released inese-Chay emocracy-Day by uns-Gay N oses-Ray. My initial thought on the first couple of plays is "Eh". Up- Bup: before you go saying my brother was right after all, I'll point out that good bands have gone south throughout any era. I'm making available to you the self-titled first track, not because it's amazingly great, but with the hope that it will satisfy your curiosity and convince you to spend your money elsewhere. Not that it's bad, it's ok. It's got that in-your-face-kick-ass sound that has always typified their sound, and a touch of tasty guitar licks to make it worth a listen, but I can't say it's all that. I also can't say I'd rhyme "That's all they got to rule the nation" with "masturbation", but that's just me. What the hell do I know***? And just so my severed head doesn't get sued by Axlway ose-Ray's severed head 400 years from now for uploading inese-Chay emocracy-Day onto the Superweb, we'll just keep this to ourselves, ok?
*I'm lying of course. I never tire of always being right!
**I'm not a huge Kinks fan, just big enough to make a former co-worker named Victoria think I was psycho for humming/singing Victoria in her presence****.
***Everything
****OK, so she already thought I was psycho, the humming/singing merely reaffirmed her beliefs.
14 comments:
If it sounds like Green Day, I will politely avoid it at all costs.
Whee...power chords rule.
I remember when I did a Chinese Democracy review, and posted the first song.
MJenks: Download and see for yourself. Dude the new capitalization thing really fucked your name, huh?
BE: OK, several things. Your taste in music can't be trusted. We'll just leave it at that. Let's not even bring up the movie Grease. Second, if readers want a 1 word review from guy with astounding street cred, they come see me. If they want a novelette on GNR with grades and averages and note by note analysis, they go see you. Clearly, you are the writer, and I'm the hipster doofus. I mean, if I tried to pass myself off as you, everybody would see through it, right. Oh, yeah, BTW, Andrea in my personnel office said you still need to get those W2 forms in.
I remember hearing a b-side to an old Green Day 7" where they covered "Tired of Waiting for You" and thinking, "Ah, yes, this is the band they're shamelessly aping." Still, you could do far, far worse.
You are very defensive for a guy who likes to play "everyone steals my material." That shoe is not so comfortable on the other foot, eh? EH? EHHH???? Internet, eh? Maude, EH?
Just a little good-natured ribbing.
For your pleasure.
By the way, I love how you came to the conclusion that my taste in music can't be trusted based on what movies I like. Especially a crazy, obscure movie like "Grease" that no one but me likes.
I got my free can of Dr. Pepper, so I win.
Ha Rassles.
a humble request...(for anyone not allowing this post through--not spam--)
Anyone happen to know who Secret Dubai (the blogger: secretdubai.blogspot.com) is?
http://whoissecretdubai.blogspot.com/
Thanks for stopping by, Mathdude.
Nothing like a good 'she was blowing me' comment to attract the visitors.
(hopefully this one counts - welcome new readers in advance!)
Also, just curious...but was I the only one anxiously awaiting the next "Winger" album?
Yeah. Probably.
Can someone just beat the life out of that secret dubai guy? Now, please?
@Beckeye: I would say that Grease qualifies as music not just a movie. Just ask every single high school drama club in the country. Unfortunately.
P@D: I concur completely. In fact, I have no Green Day in my music collection, though Kingston Steve whose opinion I value most (besides my own of course) says American Idiot is worth getting.
BE: Grease was a musical, and in its day was ubiquitous. Some of us back in the day, called "the cool kids", shielded our ears from it whenever we heard it.
Rassles: Well played ma'am!
WISD: I got you kicked off the internet! It was me! Hahahahaha!
M35: If you're into Winger, you're a bigger metal fan than me, but yeah, you're probably the only one.
BE: I took care of it.
Mike: Well said.
I like it (My Friend John) enough to download a few other tracks of theirs to my mp3 player. My initial take is it will be fun workout tunage for working the heavy bag.
I couldn't force myself to listen to GNR-lite.
At this point, I don't think Axl should have released it....at all, like, ever. That would have been cooler. What would have been even cooler would have been if Guns and Roses had split up after 'Lies'.
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