Posted by
Jenny June 4, 2008 -
237 views
I'm nearly finished reading Our Band Could be your Life, a harrowing, fascinating biography about the 8os indie rock icons we all know and love the last two chapters are about Mudhoney and Beat Happening. I shall save those for the next post,but here, I shall recap my thoughts on the bands mentioned based on listening to certain albums, starting with the last chapter I finished:
Fugazi/ Rites of Spring:Fugazi? More like Fu-gay-zi! lolz! High five dudezz!!111 All lame and fairly rude kidding aside, 13 songs isn't as exciting as others have said. Yes, the first two tracks are excellent, but the rest is fairly preachy. To me, old Ian Mckaye used up all his enthusiasm and startling vocals in Minor Threat and seemed to turn his independent band network into a dogmatic chore. Fortunately, this isn't the case for Rites of Spring's end on end: Guy Piccato's (or something to that effect) desperate, pleading vocals are quite chilling and I mean that.
Dinosaur Jr via Bug: These fine folks are in my Pandora radio station category thing,so I've had experience with them. That said,Bug's a very fine, easy going 60s like piece partially due to J Mascis' lazy,hippy personality. I suppose my two favorites would be Freak Scene and Yeah we Know,but the whole record's good for a spin. Uh, what else? Oh, unfortunately, the band's relationship wasn't too sunny: they fought all the time and tried to one up each other with Insults.
Big Black: Basically, America's answer to Public Image Limited with a hint of metal: Steve Albini was pretty crazy back then compared to know: making racially charged statements to shock and what have you. The songs are interesting and seem to express a primative, id feeling. One song avaliable on Hammer Party, for instance, entitled Cables, is about two men sadistically enjoying the slaughter of a cow.
Butthole Surfers: In terms of their concerts, they're the result of what would happen if GG Allin put together a psychadelic band. Although, they're more into toliet humor (lots of shit references) as opposed to sexual explicit material. Musically, I guess they're Dinosaur Jr and Zappa combined and turned up a billion notches. Locust Abortion technician is great, but as a casual listener, I saved one of their first LPs (EPS?) titled Rembrandt Pussy Horse for further listening.
Sonic Youth: ooooooooo yeah, here we go: patron saints of indie rock, best buds with one Mr. Kurt Cobain, possibly the longest lasting of the bands next to Butthole Surfers. I adore Daydream Nation and Expressway to yr skull ifrom Evol is great too. Listening to their debut, Confusion is Sex, it's more trippy than rock like,but pieces like Protect me from You with Kim Gordon's unsettling, girl groupesque vocals is a highlight. Oh, and I forgot to mention Thurston Moore is turning 50 on July 25, mark your calanders!
The Replacements: Basically, they're The Ramones soaked in beer. I perfer Husker Du cos the music has a smooth flow,but they're still fun and sloppy. At first, I avoided Let it Be cos something about it struck me as smug, but it has a certain drunken charm whereas Tim, their other excellent album, also has a slurred, yet more emotional quality.
Husker Du: In my eyes, the fourth best thing from Minnesota along with Terry Gilliam, Bob Dylan, and Mystery Science theatre 3000. Zen Arcade and New Day Rising are beautiful.
Minor Threat: Preachy? Of course. Energetic? Fuck yes. Always good to listen to if you need some energy.
Mission of Burma: Uh, Vs. is a bit generic, but it has some nice stuff.Although to me, their best song is That's When I reached for my Revolver.
The Minutemen: Yesterday, I read an article about "folk punk" in Alternative Press magazine (goddamnit, I only read it for the reviews and the lists on the last page) and some examples of this genre include, Gogol Bordello, Billy Bragg, and The Pogues. I would say that these men are the U.S. equivalent and as everyone says, Double Nickels on The Dime is brilliant. Eh, actually, I'll be frank: I'm not as invested in em as others,but there's definitely some classic tracks on it.
Black Flag: Though their label, SST, is important to the scene, Black Flag seemed out of place to me, really. Nonetheless, First Four Years and Damaged are important records to 80s punk and I even enjoyed My War.
