Five Songs, Chapter Eleven
It's been a while since the last installment. Dig out your dancing shoes.
"Getting Saved" by Portastatic
Portastatic's Bright Ideas was one of last year's best records, and this is probably my favorite song off the follow-up, Be Still Please, which is out in October and is one of this year's best. I would tell you how I got a copy, but then everyone's going to want one and we can’t have that.
"Life of Leisure" by Rainer Maria
If the rest of this band's latest album was as strong as its first three songs, you'd have a contender for 2006's top spot on your hands. As it is, well, download the first three songs. Here's an analysis made possible by iTunes, God bless it -- I’ve listened to those three a combined 70 times. I’ve listened to the other eight songs a total of 24 times. (OK, I just listened to the song "Already Lost," not one of the first three, and I have to say, I should be listening to that one more.) ((OK, OK, look -- the whole record’s pretty good, they just front-loaded the puppy, that’s all.))
"Wasted Time" by Skid Row
I know. Here’s the thing. In possession of iTunes, I wander. I think of songs I heard way back when, like this one -- yes, I somehow possessed the cassette of Slave to the Grind when it came out; you can stop reading now (not just this post, but the entire blog, and any personal correspondence I might send you). I won’t blame you. -- and I search for them, to see how they sound now. As I was telling a friend a few weeks ago, there are a lot of songs I listened to as the very dumb, tasteless, slowly testosterone-infused 13-year-old I was (“I Won’t Forget You” by Poison, “Wait” by White Lion, “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard, the list goes on) that sound as awful as I would imagine -- neanderthal lyrics, hacky musicianship, and production values that make it sound like poofy-haired ‘80s bands in search of recording space were regularly renting out giant empty coffee cans. Not this song, though. This is more Guns N Roses than Europe. Without defending Skid Row, and while admitting that the first couple of times I listened to this again it was with a vague sense of shame, this song isn't bad. Really. I’m also intrigued by someone like Sebastian Bach, who can really sing (particularly compared to most front men in hard rock), but chooses to growl in equal measure. It makes it that much more satisfying when he decides to clearly hit and hold a note. OK, it’s damning with faint praise to say a song is one of the better examples of a drug-addiction power ballad from the era that spawned this one, but there you have it. Oh, hell -- as one reviewer on Amazon opined, “Don’t think, just rock.”
The most humiliating thing -- but I'm all about full disclosure here -- is that I just spent all of those words on this song, and it's not even my favorite Skid Row song. That will have to wait for another time. I don't think we're ready for that.
"Sixteen, Maybe Less" by Calexico and Iron & Wine
Two great tastes that taste great together.
"Mind Blindness" by Dirty on Purpose
If you like male-female call-and-response vocals and ringing-then-fuzzy, melodic guitar, go now. Go. We’ll wait for you to get back.
"Getting Saved" by Portastatic
Portastatic's Bright Ideas was one of last year's best records, and this is probably my favorite song off the follow-up, Be Still Please, which is out in October and is one of this year's best. I would tell you how I got a copy, but then everyone's going to want one and we can’t have that.
"Life of Leisure" by Rainer Maria
If the rest of this band's latest album was as strong as its first three songs, you'd have a contender for 2006's top spot on your hands. As it is, well, download the first three songs. Here's an analysis made possible by iTunes, God bless it -- I’ve listened to those three a combined 70 times. I’ve listened to the other eight songs a total of 24 times. (OK, I just listened to the song "Already Lost," not one of the first three, and I have to say, I should be listening to that one more.) ((OK, OK, look -- the whole record’s pretty good, they just front-loaded the puppy, that’s all.))
"Wasted Time" by Skid Row
I know. Here’s the thing. In possession of iTunes, I wander. I think of songs I heard way back when, like this one -- yes, I somehow possessed the cassette of Slave to the Grind when it came out; you can stop reading now (not just this post, but the entire blog, and any personal correspondence I might send you). I won’t blame you. -- and I search for them, to see how they sound now. As I was telling a friend a few weeks ago, there are a lot of songs I listened to as the very dumb, tasteless, slowly testosterone-infused 13-year-old I was (“I Won’t Forget You” by Poison, “Wait” by White Lion, “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard, the list goes on) that sound as awful as I would imagine -- neanderthal lyrics, hacky musicianship, and production values that make it sound like poofy-haired ‘80s bands in search of recording space were regularly renting out giant empty coffee cans. Not this song, though. This is more Guns N Roses than Europe. Without defending Skid Row, and while admitting that the first couple of times I listened to this again it was with a vague sense of shame, this song isn't bad. Really. I’m also intrigued by someone like Sebastian Bach, who can really sing (particularly compared to most front men in hard rock), but chooses to growl in equal measure. It makes it that much more satisfying when he decides to clearly hit and hold a note. OK, it’s damning with faint praise to say a song is one of the better examples of a drug-addiction power ballad from the era that spawned this one, but there you have it. Oh, hell -- as one reviewer on Amazon opined, “Don’t think, just rock.”
The most humiliating thing -- but I'm all about full disclosure here -- is that I just spent all of those words on this song, and it's not even my favorite Skid Row song. That will have to wait for another time. I don't think we're ready for that.
"Sixteen, Maybe Less" by Calexico and Iron & Wine
Two great tastes that taste great together.
"Mind Blindness" by Dirty on Purpose
If you like male-female call-and-response vocals and ringing-then-fuzzy, melodic guitar, go now. Go. We’ll wait for you to get back.
Labels: Five Songs
posted by JMW at 11:01 PM
1 Comments:
I saw Sebastian Bach a few years back when he was performing on Broadway in Jekyll and Hyde and he rocked it. That man has a truly amazing voice. He should just never, ever use that voice to talk because he is dumb as rocks.
(And for the record, I still rock out occasionally to "Eighteen and Life to Go.")
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