Saw these guys last year opening for Fu Manchu. I love a lot of their songs, but this one rises above the rest. The bass and guitar are elemental, archetypical rock n’ roll, which I’m always a sucker for. That alone merits the song four stars. It gets up to five stars because of the vocals. Everything about the vox is awesome in this song: lyrics, melody, harmony, tone. For most of the time, the vocals are really restrained, repeating the same simple melody. But just at the right time, they add a lower harmony vocal part. Then there’s a bridge that melodically recalls Blue Oyster Cult. No, really. So how can I not give that five stars? The lyrics, too, are channeling BOC: “the four winds blow over my shoulder / a dark sky will carry me over / everything below will turn to fire / all of mother nature will burn.” Damn. There’s even a demonic laugh in the background right before the obligatory guitar solo.
“I want to live in a burned out basement / live in a basement when I die.” They make that sound pretty good, actually.
It looks like you can download the mp3 here: http://ligamusic.com/Lyrics/4941002/Burning_Brides/Hang_Love/Poor_House/mp3/
Most of the songs that I write about here, when they come on my ipod I get an immediate feeling of recognition, relief and happiness. Then there are some songs where I realize their brilliance right around the chorus. Sometimes I find myself feeling I’m glad I’m alive just because I got to hear a particular song.
“Spring came” is at a whole other level for me - a song that immediately drenches me in melancholy joy. I think I actually get really sad to realize that I’ve missed so much time when I could have been listening to this song. And I continue to feel sad as every bar of the song disappears into the past - I wish it could stay with me, but at the same time I am grateful for how beautiful the next bar is.
Of course, with “Spring came,” a lot of this feeling probably comes from my memories of other times I’ve listened to it. Any band you worshiped when you were 16 is going to sound good forever. The Suburbs were the first band that I really loved and got to see live. And I saw them as often as I could - they were as close to hometown heroes as we had in Duluth in the 80s. I was right up at the front of the stage waiting for Beej to throw me his guitar pick.
So there are lots of Suburbs songs that I could write about here, but “Spring came” stands the test of time better than most. It’s got a ska-influenced, bouncy beat, and it’s lighter than most of their songs. The composition is serious and somehow more mature than most of what I like from that era — in a good way: every part builds naturally into the next and lasts just the right amount of time. The best part of the song, though, is probably the vocals and the terrific guitar solo. Both are very understated and sneak out at you, building up until you just wan them to really let loose, and when they finally do, the song ends. Kinda sexy, now that I think of it.
God Damn I love Youtube. here are the ‘burbs playing this song LIVE right at the time I would have been standing in the audience - with, unfortunately, a much worse guitar solo and a bad mix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q__bYiQnfic
If you’re interested here’s a better video of them playing a different song, that I think is more representative of them, even though it’s the wrong song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAqxKaTKmw8&feature=related
So, neither iTunes nor Pandora recognizes this artist or this song. But I swear it exists. It’s on an album called “Grand Theft Auto” and I must have bought it during my emusic.com phase.
“Deep Blue Lounge” is electronica - you would call it “downtempo” or “lounge.” It’s something like 90 bpm. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to find it anywhere on line or in stores so I’ll have to describe it to you - or if you ever come to my house I’ll play it for you.
There are a bunch of things I love about this song:
- the intro: I’m a sucker for a good intro and this one is perfect; understated and simple like the rest of the song but tricks you into turning up the volume and then hits you with a bass line that’s pure power.
- the commitment to a groove: Nick Cooper once told me he liked the Suburbs because their drummer wasn’t afraid to pick a simple drumbeat and play the same damn thing for the whole song. “Deep Blue Lounge” does the same thing with the drums and the bass line - the DJ is convinced he’s got an awesome groove, so why mess with it?
- the bass line: if you get a chance to hear the song, you’ll see what I mean. This is a killer line that I could listen to for 5 more minutes after the song is over.
I tried to find more references to this “One Cut” online and found only a few. Here is a good discography that claims “one cut” is more than one person: http://www.discogs.com/artist/One+Cut. But this is apparently “one cut’s” myspace page, and it looks like one person to me: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=217036268.
Note: there are a couple of “one cut’s” on myspace, but I think this is the right one because he is / they are associated with Hombre records, which released Grand Theft Auto. BUT none of the music posted on this myspace page sounds anything like “Deep Blue Lounge.” Let me know if you find anything more about or by this guy/group.
I’ve always loved this song and it came up on my ipod the other day and it seemed shockingly relevant. First, the music is classic Minutemen - tight, clipped funky but still hardcore punk guitar bass and drums; 3 parts but all at under 1.5 minutes. Second, I usually don’t focus too much on the lyrics, but as a protest song goes, this one is my favorite.
“Oh, here we are, in French Indochina.
Executive Order
congressional decision
the working masses
are manipulated.
was this our policy?
ten long years
not one domino shall fall.”
Very awesome punk rock video of the Minutemen playing the song live here.
Imperial Teen’s album “Seasick” is packed full with 5-star rated songs on my Ipod, so the fact that this one is my song of the week instead of one of the band’s other masterpieces is partially due to the random whims of the shuffle gods. Regardless how it got here, this song deserves to be bought and heard by everyone.
“You’re One” is slamming, head-banging rock ‘n roll but with a truly modern indie feel. The opening slow, measured single-note guitar makes you think you’re in for something pretty and pretentious, but immediately you get a straight-ahead rock drum and bass line that makes the head start bopping, and then they let loose with a raw, loud distortion-driven power chord part that would feel right at home in a Soundgarden song. Oh, and the lyrics are pure rock ‘n roll too: ” it’s with you i wanna be / peace and love and empathy /tie me off i wanna be /shooting up the enemy”
Here’s the excellent video.
It’s kind of hard to pick a favorite song from Separation Sunday, The Hold Steady’s genius breakout album. Especially when, like me, you grew up in Minnesota in the ’80s. All the places in the songs - and all of the plotlines in the stories he sings - give me the same aching nostalgia I feel when I drive over the hill entering Duluth after years away.
“Your Little Hoodrat Friend” stands out with a chunka-chunka muted guitar riff on the chorus that makes me turn up the volume every time I hear it. Even if you’ve never been to Minnesota or if you’ve never been “dusted in the dark up in penetration park,” or if you can’t relate to The Hold Steady singer Craig Finn’s experience when he sings of being “stopped by the cops. they found it in my sox. and i got probed,” I bet you’ll still nod your head to the chorus and sympathize with the guy who’s wrongly accused of messing around with “your little hoodrat friend.” And if you’re like me, you’ll want to listen to it again.
Here’s a video of the song on Youtube. The video sucks so just close your eyes and listen to it.
Kelli and I discovered this band while wandering around Dinkytown in Minneapolis one night. We saw a crowd outside the Varsity Theater, paid the cover and went in, and were lucky enough to get to see Cloud Cult. That night, they were my favorite band ever. Three years later, they’re still in the running.
“Chemicals Collide” is on their newest album, “The Meaning of 8,” and it’s just about a perfect song. It mixes acoustic guitar and swelling strings with a killer driving bass line, tough beats and heart-breaking vocals. But how can I describe how perfect a song is using only words? Listen to it and see for yourself.
Excellent video of the band playing the song live here.
Itunes version here.
Ah, yes. One of my favorite songs of all time, performed by one of my current favorite bands. What could possibly be better??
Note: this makes me wonder if maybe Devo songs are like Dylan songs in that their main value is in their coverability — they are perfect for covering in tons of different styles, often resulting in a song that sounds better than the original.
Artist: Fu Manchu
Album: King Of The Road
Song: Freedom Of Choice (by Devo)
This song has been on my ipod forever, and I have no idea where I got it from. But it’s so damn good that every time I hear it I almost have to cry.
It just came on again, and I looked them up on the web and it turns out they have a bunch of CDs, which I now must buy.
The Atomic Bitchwax at Amazon
This song has one of the most perfect rock song openings ever - repetitive, simple guitar and drums for a couple bars and then a second guitar comes in and kicks some ass. It makes you run for the volume knob to turn it up as fast as you can. The Donnas definitely learned the lessons from AC/DC.
Plus they get extra points for liberal use of the cowbell on the choruses and for basically meaningless lyrics - both obvious nods again to AC/DC.
Good but painfully slow video of the song here:
