!!!!!!!!!
A few weeks ago I got my hands on the Bulemics “Still Too Young to Care” DVD/CD. The DVD has some great home shot footage of a crazy house party type performance as well as club shows and some videos. The “home shot” stuff is definitely worth witnessing but the videos are the ones you can watch over & over and view the mayhem that is The Bulemics.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Bulemics, I suggest visiting their mySpace page. I stumbled across them when I bought a comp called “Goin’ After Pussy” – the track “If I Only Had a Heart” went on just about every cassette comp I made for friends that year (1998). Years later I hunted down “Old Enough to Know Better” and that was it … I was officially a Bulemics fan.
Anyhow … the CD has a bunch of live stuff & raw sounding demos that I found very cool. The recordings are on the rough side, but that only adds to evilness. There’s a song on there called “drinkenstein” that I think is great … while reading the liner notes I discovered that it’s a cover. It’s a Dolly Parton song no less! It appeared in the movie Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone singin’ it … HA! That just makes The Bulemics even better.
S’far as I’m concerned, if you dig Black Flag, Demented Are Go, Dead Kennedys, Slayer and Tesco Vee you’ll be very happy after purchasing “Still Too Young to Care” (or any other Bulemics disc for that matter).
Filed under: critic in training
Somewhere around 7th grade, I remember seeing a t-shirt with an illustration of Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and a few others along with the text “Heaven Must Have One Helluva Band” (er somethin’ to that effect). It was a sweet sentiment and as a star-struck teen I’d imagine what “Heaven’s Band” would sound like … Wow! That’d be tits man!
Well, after experiencing more music … and maturing a bit … I realized that these performers didn’t achieve their iconic status on their own; they played in a band. It was that synergy that created the music that propelled these folks to stardom. Hendrix without Mitch Mitchell & Noel Redding would have still been a damn good guitar player – but never as huge & influential as he became. It was the band that created those sounds – not just Jimi, not just Noel, not just Mitch … but the whole band. It was the interaction of those particular musicians that created the monumental sound of “The Experience”. Putting different but equally skilled musicians in those roles would have changed the dynamic of the group and, in my opinion, produced good but not as memorable music.
A topic that gets overlooked when people discuss bands is Harmony. I’m not referring to harmony in the sense of how it works within a song or what melody it supports. I’m referring to the harmony of a band in its creative process, execution and presentation. It’s that 6th sense kind of thing that makes ya say, “Damn that band is good”. It can even elevate a band of lesser technical skill to great heights & respect. There are many bands who have had sloppy players and the way their “slop” fit in with everything else it made that band more unique. It’s all about how you put it together. Like marinara or pico de gallo – you may dislike tomato, onion, peppers, garlic, or “etc etc” on its own … but combined, it tastes awesome. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts … it’s just that simple.
As far as Heaven’s Band goes … well, I think the first problem would be a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario. Then ya gotta figure some folks didn’t quite make it in. And who knows … maybe Hendrix had a revelation that he was truly meant to play triangle rather than guitar & now he just dings his days away. We can dream up our own heavenly (or hellish) bands and it’s alotta fun … but I fear they’d sound far better “in your head” than in reality. So I’ll leave the formation of Heaven’s Band to the merchandising moguls and I look forward to the day that Justin Timberlake shows up on one of those shirts.
Filed under: Blogroll, critic in training | Tags: band, gimme a break, guitar
Up until the age of 9 my exposure to “ROCK” was limited. Ya see, my folks loved to dance so you’d hear disco, soul, motown, and the classics like Sinatra, Mathis or Nat King Cole when the radio or stereo was on. It wasn’t until I got a clock radio and discovered WLUP and WMET that I heard the likes of ZZ-Top, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Cheap Trick, etc etc. It was so different from what I heard my parents play – it was new, exciting, and it was my introduction to “the guitar solo”.
Ahhhh yes, the guitar solo … at that point in time I thought they were all amazing. Then after a few years of buying records, reading Creem magazine, and talkin’ with my buddies – my tastes became more discerning. Page, Zappa, Eddie VanHalen, Tony Iommi, & Michael Schenker were some of my favs. But then came another day of radio discovery, a college radio station called WNUR. I didn’t even know colleges had radio stations! I heard The likes of D.O.A., the Vandals, Government Issue, MDC, GBH as well as others and thought – where the hell did this stuff come from!?! I was fascinated with what I heard … I couldn’t get enough … I again found something new & exciting.
I found many differences between the “ROCK” I had been listening to and the sounds of punk that I was becoming more interested in. One thing was the abruptness of or lack of guitar solos. I started realizing that several “ROCK” songs I liked could have been about 2 minutes shorter if they laid off the solo-ing. Some songs that I thought were cool really weren’t songs at all … they were a riff with 5 minutes of solos after 90 seconds of lyrics … it was a whole bunch of “look at me – look at me” … it was just a bunch of wanking … so, what did I do? I sold all my “ROCK” and Metal albums at a garage sale for $2 a piece. Boy I wish I didn’t do that, but that’s another story …
I think “the solo” has had some rough times over the last few decades, but it will never totally fade. It’s been alive & well in those suburban bars that are ruled by cover bands. I still see feathered hair & bleached jeans and the mullet & camo-pants every once in a while, so I know the “defenders of the wank” haven’t disappeared. And the biggest reason it still survives is that as long as there’s teenage boys … “the solo” will always be around.
For the most part – I think solos have gotten better over the years. Bands seem to realize that unless the guitarist sets his head on fire or ya got midgets blowin’ goats during a ten minute solo – the audience is just gonna go get a beer. So, I say wank within reason … if ya don’t, all that hair on your palms will knot up in the strings.
A conversation overheard on the train (paraphrased a lil’) …
mouth 1 – “Dude … emo blows, those shoegazers are worse than goths with their self-pity. I’m not talkin about industrial metal goth, I mean that new wave goth.”
mouth 2 – “Yeah … well it’s better than that hair metal you played for me yesterday.”
mouth 1 – “Shut up, that was a sick-ass comp full of street punk, glam, proto-punk, stoner rock, grindcore and a lil Screamo just for you.”
Ok … I could go on but I think you get the point … the amount of genres +/or sub-genres has become ridiculous. I mean, look at the “genre menu” when you adjust an mp3’s tags in itunes or similar program … there’s well over a hundred genres listed – WTF!
Now I don’t know exactly when “music genre” became so important – but I’m pretty sure it had somethin’ to do with sales. If your product is easier to categorize then it’s easier for a retailer to display & sell which of course means more money for the label. I figure it started sometime in the 60’s because of stickers on some of my records that say File Under “whatever genre” the record company wanted to push an artist as.
Or maybe it started with Jazz and the different movements within Jazz. Big Band, Ragtime, Be-Bop, improvisational … I don’t know. To me those names mark growth in Jazz more so than applying marketing terms to a product.
Regardless of when it started, it’s here and it’s getting worse. Ask someone who is in a band, “Hey what kind of music do you play?” and 85% of the time you’ll get a long winded combination of genres because they don’t want to be pigeon-holed as one thing. Well either that, or they’re tryin’ to impress you with their wide range of influence – and majority of the time, when it comes down to it, they’re just in a rock band. But anyhow … if you’re a punk band – say it! If you play metal – throw up those horns! If you play jazz – cool … but I don’t need to know what bizzare syncopated time signature your latest jam was in. It’s not that difficult a question to answer.
I realize there is Country influenced Punk and Jazz influenced Rock and Rock influenced Funk and yadda yadda yadda. But those are influences or aspects … not a whole new genre!
For the AD/HD Crowd:
So it’s been 33 years since the last Stooges album and as far as critics go, “the more things change the more they stay the same” … this album is being received about as well as their prior records did at time of release. Will “The Weirdness” become a cult fav fifteen years from now and then gain critical acclaim in the year 2029? I doubt it … but I think it’s a rockin’ record and deserves a listen.
If you don’t care for Steve Albini’s production work – you probably won’t like this record. If you hoped “The Weirdness” would be “Raw Power pt. 2″ – you won’t like this record. But, if you dig grating guitar, hip wigglin’ rhythms, driving beats, a lil’ social & political commentary as well as some silliness … then “The Weirdness” is for you!
and if Ya Got a Minute er Two:
The Stooges (all nearing the age of 60) have released a loud, clanging, snarling cd called “The Weirdness” and I think it’s pretty kick-ass. Of the 12 songs, I’d say I could do without 3 of them but that’s a great ratio.
Alot has changed for the Stooges since the early 70’s: age, money, skill, professionalism, drug addictions – recoveries – relapses – and re-recoveries, the fact that it’s a totally different society in 2007 … AND – the loss of Dave Alexander on bass changes the dynamic a bit so you’d have to be a lil off to think this cd would be a continuation of “Raw Power”.
Technology has changed as well. The process of recording is different than it was when “the Stooges”, “Funhouse” & “Raw Power” were recorded. Even if you’re recording analog at first, the mics are different, the machines are different, the gear is often different and then you take that & feed it into the digital realm. Or, you go straight digital … makes life a helluva lot easier and if the final product needs to be digital anyhow – why waste the time? Oh, and don’t forget that it’s much cheaper to go digital as well. Yep, time & money … nevermind the art … OK, I gotta stop now because that’s a whole ‘nother rant … back to the Stooges!
The man at the helm of all that technology is Steve Albini. He’s either a genius or a recording eccentric bent on “intriguing sounds” … it all depends on who you ask. S’far as I’m concerned, I love the sound of the Big Black & Rapeman records … that sound fit the music that was being played. I’m not as kean on The Stooges sounding like Big Black or even Nirvana. I mean, Nirvana’s “In Utero” had a cooool sound but I don’t think it represented the band, likewise “The Weirdness” loses some of its “Stoogeyness” in Albini’s world of sound.
I’d like to hear the bass more prominently … the drums sit too up front … the vocals are really high in the mix (but that’s typical for Iggy recordings) … the guitar could be beefier … and overall the mix is so wide open that rather than it sounding like a cohesive sound from a band, it’s more like an ultra crisp recording of 4 musicians playing seperately. Despite all this it still sounds cool.
The songs … “I’m fried” is my current fav, with “Mexican Guy” “She took My Money” & “Greedy Awful People” right behind. “Mexican Guy” has a guitar that sounds like it’ll chew through your speakers and the drums pound around your head in organized chaos to create that hypnotic drone that The Stooges do so well. “She Took My Money” has that sleazey grind that it should. “Greedy Awful People” makes yer ass shake and the lyrics are fun. “I’m Fried” is a blazing rocker that gets the adrenalin goin’.
The title track “The Weirdness” sounds like it should have been on “In Utero” and is ok, but I prefer other songs on the disc. “Passing Cloud” sounds sweet and the sax (Steve Mackay) is smooooth – but the song becomes a lil’ too much like background music. “End of Christianity” is missin somethin’ … I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t make me move like the other songs.
I think the record is worth checkin’ out … seeing The Stooges tour in support of this record is a must! I can’t wait to hear these songs in a live (non-Albini) fashion.
