- The Kinks - Arthur, Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
- Tegan and Sara - The Con
- Motorhead - Ace of Spades
- Ramones - Leave Home
- Chuck Berry - The Great 28
- The Who - Live at Leeds, Quadrophenia
- Radio Birdman - Radios Appear
- Stooges - Fun House
- Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Top 10 Albums (draft)
The exact order of these changes all the time, but the following accounts for my all time favorite albums:
Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
Favorite tracks: Trip at the Brain, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, If I Don't Wake Up, Sorry?!, The Feeling's Back
My kind of metal. It just might be the punk/metal hybrid. This is what Join the Army should’ve sounded like—live, loud, and alive, to quote Loudness. The vocals sound more confident, the guitars grind, and the drums pound. Mike Muir’s introspective lyrics cry out in desperation, yet maintain a positive undercurrent. In the chorus of the closing track, he exclaims, “I’m gonna fight, I’m gonna live!” as if his life depends on it. Maybe it did. The rest of the band rocks out like their lives depend on it, deluging the record with some of the best riffs Metallica never wrote.
Hell, before I heard this album, I held up Ride the Lightning as the metal album for riffs, but not anymore. How Will I Laugh narrowly beats it not only because of the consistently exemplary riffing, but because of the overall songwriting. While I’ve always enjoyed Metallica, I relate more to ST’s lyrics than I ever did to Metallica because Muir writes songs about insecurity, alienation, and angry. And though Metallica delivered the anger in spades, Muir’s brand of anger’s inner-directed. Unlike many other metal singers/writers, Muir isn’t afraid to expose his vulnerabilities. His literal lyrics read more like sentences ripped from his journal than “proper” stanzas, but this works in his favor because when combined with the manic energy of the music, it gives the songs a desperate quality. I’ve never been one for grandiosity or pomposity—the more down to earth, the better—and Muir/ST don’t put on any airs with their music here.
I don’t think I can say much more without stepping on what Mark Prindle already noted in his review of this album. I’d like to second what he said about the album’s mix: Muir’s vocals and Rocky George’s lead guitar are mixed alongside the backing/rhythm tracks instead of being mixed on top of them. I like how this aspect of the mix allows the solos/vocals to be heard without overshadowing the other instruments. I know of few other albums with this sound. Blue Oyster Cult’s first LP had it. That’s the only album I can think of. But above all, I dig this album. 9/10.
My kind of metal. It just might be the punk/metal hybrid. This is what Join the Army should’ve sounded like—live, loud, and alive, to quote Loudness. The vocals sound more confident, the guitars grind, and the drums pound. Mike Muir’s introspective lyrics cry out in desperation, yet maintain a positive undercurrent. In the chorus of the closing track, he exclaims, “I’m gonna fight, I’m gonna live!” as if his life depends on it. Maybe it did. The rest of the band rocks out like their lives depend on it, deluging the record with some of the best riffs Metallica never wrote.
Hell, before I heard this album, I held up Ride the Lightning as the metal album for riffs, but not anymore. How Will I Laugh narrowly beats it not only because of the consistently exemplary riffing, but because of the overall songwriting. While I’ve always enjoyed Metallica, I relate more to ST’s lyrics than I ever did to Metallica because Muir writes songs about insecurity, alienation, and angry. And though Metallica delivered the anger in spades, Muir’s brand of anger’s inner-directed. Unlike many other metal singers/writers, Muir isn’t afraid to expose his vulnerabilities. His literal lyrics read more like sentences ripped from his journal than “proper” stanzas, but this works in his favor because when combined with the manic energy of the music, it gives the songs a desperate quality. I’ve never been one for grandiosity or pomposity—the more down to earth, the better—and Muir/ST don’t put on any airs with their music here.
I don’t think I can say much more without stepping on what Mark Prindle already noted in his review of this album. I’d like to second what he said about the album’s mix: Muir’s vocals and Rocky George’s lead guitar are mixed alongside the backing/rhythm tracks instead of being mixed on top of them. I like how this aspect of the mix allows the solos/vocals to be heard without overshadowing the other instruments. I know of few other albums with this sound. Blue Oyster Cult’s first LP had it. That’s the only album I can think of. But above all, I dig this album. 9/10.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Monitors - S/T
(Revised from 16 Jan 2011's original draft)
The Monitors – S/T (2003? 2005?)
A1. Electric Knife
A2. Fungus Boy
B1. Missing Hand
B2. Bubble Drome
Yeah! This was the first Milwaukee punk band I saw, back in April or May of 2006 at the now defunct Riverwest Commons. I was 19. The Monitors blew me away—what a sight they were. Wendy (keyboards/vocals) wore a plastic toy motorcycle cop helmet, Ryan (bass) looked slutty in drag, and Mechadrum beat the crap out of his drum kit. No guitar. Jokey horror themes. Fast, funny songs. I got loaded on mixed drinks because like all other new drinkers, I drank too hard too quickly.
Ryan and Wendy have since been in Plexi-3 and have now formed Ramma Lamma with Jered from the Reckless Hearts. When I saw Ramma Lamma opening for White Mystery (see below),they had a box of 7”s at the merch table to flip through. I found the Monitors 7” in there and I jumped. Here was a piece of my history, an out of print record and a concrete link to a ½ remembered, but nonetheless fun time.
As I played it again, the memories came back. The drums sound tighter than I remember, probably because of the studio production. A sweet little record, one of three the band made. 4 songs worth of keyboard driven punk.
A tentative timetable/Action plan
When I started this page, I envisioned it as an outgrowth of my handwritten journals. I like to do multiple drafts of whatever I write, so I think of these journals as drafts or notes for future posts. Not much of what I've written in my three journals has made it up here yet. Here's an iternary for stuff I want to rewrite and post soon:
Joan Jett
Lou Reed
Drive-By Truckers
The Gossip
Various Mix Tapes
The Monitors, or Milwaukee/Riverwest bands
Suicidal Tendencies
Guided By Voices
Urge Overkill
Green Day
L7
Chrome
Joan Jett
Lou Reed
Drive-By Truckers
The Gossip
Various Mix Tapes
Guided By Voices
Urge Overkill
Green Day
L7
Chrome
Linkage
My old roommate EJ started a music blog called Wax On, Dust Off. He's based out of Minneapolis and writes about records, record stores, shows, and more. During our freshman year at UWM we were known, to quote one of our upstairs female neighbors, as "the room with all that weird music." Apparently, she didn't take too kindly to our song selections, but ironically enough, I remember that time as when my music tastes skewed the most conservative, for I'd reverted to classic rock and blues. EJ played a mix of indie hop-hop and classic rock as well. I remember him introducing me to my favorite Clapton album, Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert. We played that one quite a bit. Not a very weird album by any stretch of the imagination.
But I digress--he shot me a message with the address and these memories can flooding back. It's good to hear from him. Though we haven't talked too much since he moved back to Minnesota after the year's end, it looks like the musical dialogue can continue via the web. I'm happy to link to his page. He knows his music quite well and still buys it the old-fashioned way by scouring the shops.
Wax On, Dust Off here: http://waxondustoff.wordpress.com/
But I digress--he shot me a message with the address and these memories can flooding back. It's good to hear from him. Though we haven't talked too much since he moved back to Minnesota after the year's end, it looks like the musical dialogue can continue via the web. I'm happy to link to his page. He knows his music quite well and still buys it the old-fashioned way by scouring the shops.
Wax On, Dust Off here: http://waxondustoff.wordpress.com/
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