Quietly working its way up my iTunes playlist is the 2008 self-titled LP "Zomes". Zomes isn't actually a band, but an alias for Asa Osbourne, the guitarist for the punk-band Lungfish. I'm not familiar with Osbourne, Lungfish, or some of the other various related projects, so I'm reviewing this LP without the context of Osbourne's prior work (two good reviews of the LP by someone familiar his oeuvre can be found at "dusted" and "hardcore for nerds").
This LP is a mesmerizing, minimalist, fuzzy, drone record that features a lot heavily processed guitar. Knowing what I now know about Osbourne, it makes sense to me that this is basically electronic music as envisioned and executed in a decidedly organic, DIY-punk aesthetic. If Kevin Shields, Brian Eno, and Phillip Glass listened to a bunch of Ramones and Iggy Pop LPs and then went on a weekend recording bender, it would sound like this. Butch turned me on to this LP, I love it, and I turned Herbert on to it. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you'll know that's a good indication of the breadth of interests to which this LP appeals.
Stand out songs: Although it has 16 tracks (owing to its punk roots, none stick around that long), this is not the kind of LP for which you have favorite tracks. Listen to the whole thing at grooveshark. Some representative songs include: "Crowning Orbs", "Clear Shapes", "Colored Matter".
Skip 'em songs: none.
Final score: 9/10. Deceptively simple, you'll be surprised how often you replay this.
I've been putting this one off for almost two years now... Here's the short version: The Cribs' fourth LP, 2009's "Ignore the Ignorant", is a good LP, but the addition of Johnny Marr in 2008 ultimately hurt them more than it helped.
It is ok to speak of this now, since in April The Cribs announced that Johnny Marr had left the band amicably. While I respect Marr & The Smiths, and The Cribs have a history of working with a number of alt-rock veterans (e.g., Lee Renaldo on "Be Safe", Jon Slade on "Advice From a Roving Artist"), I'm first and foremost a Cribs fan. And although I liked the idea of an extended collaboration with Johnny, it just didn't work as well as it might have. I'm glad they tried it; the Jarman brothers are cool with it, Johnny is cool with it, so I can be cool with it too.
The primary problem with this LP is the song writing is not as crisp as it was on their previous releases. Perhaps that reflects the presence of Johnny Marr upsetting the song writing dynamic of the Jarman brothers: either his input didn't always mesh with them, or maybe they changed their style to accommodate him (Marr is about finesse, while The Cribs, let's be honest, are at their best just bashing it out). Or maybe it is just The Cribs are no longer "sixteen and really bored" (I lifted that association from someone, but I've forgotten where) and they're not going to have that earnest urgency of their youth. Whatever the reason, it seems like there are fewer Cribs trademarks: sing-along choruses, hooks and memorable riffs, and vocal trade-offs between twins Gary and Ryan.
The secondary but still critical problem with this LP is its production. Producer Nick Launay should be shot. Yes, Alex Krapanos's entry in the "loudness war" from the previous LP is gone, but in its place Launay appeared to have recorded the band from a building next door to where they were playing, with the music piped through a muddy tube. He's managed to find the no man's land between the (overly) bright loudness of the prior LP and the endearing lo-fi sound of their first two. Please work with Edywn Collins again.
Because of the addition of Marr and his influence on the song writing, I'm going to break with my typical review structure and instead go song-by-song (all songs are listed as co-written by all four band members):
We Were Aborted: Wow, what a strong start. Although not officially released as a single, the band made this song a free download prior to the release of the LP. Lyrically and musically, this song rawks as hard as any of their earlier material (i.e., it sounds pre-Marr).
Cheat on Me: This was their first single from the LP and it is a great song. I hear a small Marr influence in the guitar riffs, but it works great and if the entire LP sounded like this I'd have no complaints. We Share The Same Skies: Their 2nd (and last) single sounds like a long-lost demo from The Smiths. If Morrisey ever did a cover of this song, you'd swear it would belong on "Louder Than Bombs". It is actually a good song, but it doesn't sound like The Cribs at all.
City of Bugs: WTF?! Where did this Sonic Youth sound-alike come from? It is also a pretty good song, even though it doesn't "sound like" The Cribs until the break about 3 minutes in.
Hari Kari: An almost classic Cribs song. All the pieces are there, but they just don't come together. Last Year's Snow: Similar to "We Share The Same Skies"; Gary belts this one out, but it would be easy to imagine Morrisey singing. Emasculate Me: Like "Hari Kari" above; it sounds like someone else (Marr?) trying to write a song that sounds like The Cribs. Skip.
Ignore the Ignorant: The title track is strong, sounds like The Cribs, and is a primary exhibit for what a bad job Launay did. Save Your Secrets: Another song that appears to have all the elements, but they never come together. It treads dangerously close to piano ballad territory. Skip.
Victim of Mass Production: On any of their other LPs, this would be considered a weak song. The influence of The Replacements can be heard here ("we're not supposed to be here anyway!").
Stick To Yr Guns: A pretty good song, similar to pre-Marr songs like "Shoot The Poets" and "Haunted". This is the song that "Save Your Secrets" (above) wanted to be but failed.
All of the above adds up to a good, solid LP that should be in your collection. And if you've never heard of The Cribs, you'll probably even like this more -- at least until you discover how excellent their prior work is. Yes, I realize going on about how much better their earlier LPs are is so cliche that it deserves its own song (cf. "Our Bovine Public"). On the other hand, NME & Pitchfork rate this LP highly because their trying to make up for completely whiffing on their earlier LPs.
Hopefully their future work will return to their lo-fi roots and we'll just think of "Ignore the Ignorant" as a curious collaboration that lasted 2+ years and produced over one LP's worth of material.
* In August 2010, the 4-piece Cribs released a one-sided 7" single, "Housewife". It's not a bad song, but it is so different I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.
2020-08-29 update / bonus link: I found the documentary "Secrets Saved", covering the recording of the LP. It was included as part of the "Roses Edition" box set. It's interesting to see what went into the recording of the LP, as well as the interaction with Johnny Marr. But it's hard to hear them praising Nick Launay when I consider him the villain of this story.
While reminiscing with friends about Norfolk's Boathouse being torn down, I was poking around YouTube and uncovered a song which I had completely forgotten about: "Picture Me With You" by Norfolk's own States.
Released in 1981, I recall hearing this pretty frequently on the radio in middle school but I don't think I realized at the time that they were a local band (was this song ever played outside of Hampton Roads?). This was their second and final LP; I have no idea what happened to them after that.
Squarely in the late 70s / early 80s new wave mode (check out the shirts in the video!), this song still sounds pretty good.
"Picture Me With You" -- live version (@ Rogues in Va Beach), studio version.
Here's another one for Butch @ Squealer Music. I see Butch once or twice a year and we use the time to catch up on music. Our interests overlap in the areas of ambient, doom, drone, stoner -- basically all the sub-genres that Black Sabbath spawned (see my review of "Vol. 4"). One of the artists that Butch turned me on to is Deathprod (aka Helge Sten).
After hearing Deathprod from Butch, I bought the eponymous 4-CD boxset (released in 2004). I wasn't sure at what granularity that I wanted to review the music: 4 LPs in a single review? Instead, I review them separately starting with my favorite LP from the set, 1994's "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" (yes, the LP title is simply the listing of the LP's four tracks).
Reviewing this LP is actually rather hard -- Sten is generally credited on LPs with "Audio Virus", and that's about as good an explanation as you'll find. There is almost no percussion, just swaths of looped, foreboding sounds. Here's a string of words I'd associate with the music in general: dark, powerful, repetitive, nightmarish, mesmerizing, plodding, haunting, homemade, menacing, stalking, Giger-esque. Similar in a sense to Plastikman's "Consumed" in results, but far more organic and, well, viral.
I'll attempt another comparison: on the "Time" episode of Radiolab, they describe "9 Beet Stretch", which is Beethoven's 9th Symphony stretched out to 24 hours in length. "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" could easily be excerpts of MBV's "Loveless" with the same stretch treatment.
Treetop Drive 1 sounds like an interpretation of a series of looped, slow-motion car wrecks. Treetop Drive 2 sounds like warring, maniacal channel buoys. Treetop Drive 3 sounds like a plague of locusts, and features a narration of:
So there's a strange affinity with death. Many school districts today are teaching a death education, where they take first graders, second, and third graders and acquaint them with death: Not in the concept of life after death, but with death itself. And, kids are being taken to mortuaries and are allowed to see, and even touch, dead bodies. There is this fascination with death, to desensitize us to death.
This is the only thing that passes for vocals in the LP, and I have no idea where this is sampled from. But my favorite song is the LP closer "Towboat". It starts off pretty minimalist, then slowly builds an aural description of a conflict, closing with what sounds like (abstracted) machine gun fire in the last 4-5 minutes of the track. This could easily be the dream soundtrack of Willard / Kurtz going up the river.
For Danette's birthday... last year it was "Punk Rock Girl" and we might as well continue the punk theme this year too, in part because I think pop-punk band Blink-182 has written the world's best love song -- "Josie". A single from their 1998 LP "Dude Ranch", it received a good deal of airplay when it came out, but it seems to have fallen through the radio genre cracks: not new enough for progressive rock, and certainly not quite classic rock.
The world's best love song? Absolutely, and here's why: Blink-182 has a sharp sense of humor (unlike, say, Green Day), but in this case they've laid bare the unvarnished truths of the male psyche, which are too simple for Cosmo, Sex and the City, et al. to explain:
Yeah my girlfriend takes me home when I'm too drunk to drive And she doesn't get all jealous when I hang out with the guys She laughs at my dumb jokes when no one does She brings me Mexican food from Sombrero just because Yeah, just because
And my girlfriend likes UL and DHC And she's so smart and independent I don't think she needs me Quite half as much as I know I need her I wonder why there's not another guy that she'd prefer
And when I feel like giving up like my world is falling down I show up at three a.m. she's still up watching Vacation And I see her pretty face it takes me away to a better place And I know that everything's gonna be fine
Yes, that's pretty much it. From Blink-182's perspective "Josie" is fictional (the name comes from the neighbor's dog), but that's only because Mark Hoppus doesn't know Danette.
"Josie" (unofficial video with lyrics; watch this one) "Josie" (official video; it's funny but the video's story has absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics)
Less than a week ago, R.E.M. decided to hang it up after 31 years. Drummer Bill Berry had already retired 14 years ago (!), so I suppose they did the right thing in calling it quits before attrition whittled down the three remaining original members.
Here's where I have to confess that although I like R.E.M. well enough, I never loved R.E.M. Sure, I have a handful of their LPs, I enjoy most of their stuff, and I recognize their centrality in defining the 80s college rock sound. And thanks to the late Carol Taylor (FM99), everyone in Hampton Roads heard them before most did (she was playing "Radio Free Europe" in 83/84). I remember Earl Lindford's band (I don't recall their name) playing "Can't Get There From Here" at the 86 or 87 Denbigh Jam (see also: Tone Deaf). In short, unless you're from Athens, GA I probably heard about them before you.
But it was much later in life (mid-90s?) that I was surprised to discover that my favorite song by R.E.M. was actually a cover. "Superman", the second and last single from 1986's LP "Lifes Rich Pageant" (arguably their last truly alternative LP), was actually originally released in 1969 by The Clique, as the b-side to their single "Sugar on Sunday". Furthermore, the lead vocals on the R.E.M. version are from bassist Mike Mills instead of lead singer Michael Stipe. That's right, my favorite R.E.M. song is not written by R.E.M. and has Michael Stipe on just background vocals.
So while I was never the biggest R.E.M. fan, their retirement is too important to ignore. I might eventually review some of their LPs, but for the near-term this will have to do.
R.E.M.: "Superman"; (a YouTube version with bad sound quality, but you have to love the I.R.S. 45rpm single)
Quietly working its way up my iTunes playlist is the 2008 self-titled LP "Zomes". Zomes isn't actually a band, but an alias for Asa Osbourne, the guitarist for the punk-band Lungfish. I'm not familiar with Osbourne, Lungfish, or some of the other various related projects, so I'm reviewing this LP without the context of Osbourne's prior work (two good reviews of the LP by someone familiar his oeuvre can be found at "dusted" and "hardcore for nerds").
