Monthly Archives: June 2020

#719: Animal Collective – Leaf House

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In previous posts I’ve mentioned here and there that there have been certain bands who were essentially the soundtrack to a year in my life. The Beatles were 2009/10. The Who were 2010/11. Well, Animal Collective covered my first year of university – 2013/14 for anyone invested. Sung Tongs was the third album of theirs that I got around to listening to, following Merriweather Post Pavilion and Strawberry Jam. It took a few listens for both to set in, but once they did they became two of my new favourite albums very quickly. Why I chose Sung Tongs next I’m not too sure but I was certainly interested as to what it would sound like.

‘Leaf House’ is the weird, mysterious but captivating and attention-grabbing opening to Sung Tongs; there definitely isn’t any other album opener that’s quite like it. A distorted whirring sound opens the track before suddenly jerking into the song’s main rhythm, formed by booming tom-toms, jumping acoustic guitars and bouncing vocals between David Portner (Avey Tare) and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) that come frequently throughout the whole album. Despite it not being a typical 4-on-the-floor toe tapper, the herky-jerky percussion alongside the general warm tone of the track can send me into a trance if I’m really focusing on the music.

For a long time fans theorised that the track was influenced by the novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, due to them both sharing themes of cats and a man who doesn’t go outside much. Portner revealed it was more about Lennox’s childhood house, with some lyrics written in regards to the passing of Lennox’s father. It’s quite a sad song when looking into it but some of that tension is alleviated by the “kitties” outro. Is it strange? For some first time listeners it could be considered to be. But once you get it, it never leaves.

#718: The Futureheads – Le Garage

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The debut album by The Futureheads is one I’ve owned for a very long time. I was 9 almost turning 10, was in Tesco, sure the CD on the shelf, asked my mum if I could have it, she asked “Do I like them?”, I replied “Yes.”, and to my surprise she put it in the trolley. The band were shown frequently on MTV2 back in those days even though I’m sure I had only seen the videos for ‘Decent Days and Nights’ and ‘Hounds of Love’ by that point. I didn’t know how the rest of their material would go.

So to start the record off is ‘Le Garage’, a song which to this day I don’t really have any idea on what it could be about. Despite that, when those twinkling guitars faded in and the “do-do-aah” vocals came in I was hooked instantly. Singer and guitarist Barry Hyde starts yelping away in that Northern tone of his for the first verse, and then the song just launches off from there. Backing vocals enter the frame at various points overlapping Hyde’s vocals and repeating what he saying with no restraint, the guitars sound messy and there’s not much melody from them except this one note that’s endlessly locked in. It’s quite the rush, never letting up, and when you think it’s about to really get into its stride it comes to a sudden stop.

I’ve found that there are some songs that begin an album that I can never listen to by themselves; they never sound as good without the rest of the album following them. ‘Le Garage’ doesn’t come under that category. Not for me.

#717: Small Faces – Lazy Sunday

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Small Faces didn’t want ‘Lazy Sunday’ to be released as a single. Recorded during the making of Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, the song was recorded as a bit of a pisstake inspired by Steve Marriott’s experiences with his neighbours who were always telling him to turn the music down. The label didn’t care and sent it out for promotion anyway. It did well, it got to number two in the charts, but the band wanted to be taken seriously and the Cockney ‘Knees Up Mother Brown’ style of the song didn’t help.

Despite the band’s indifference towards the song, there is no reason why nobody should dislike it. Marriott’s hammed up East End vocals for the majority of the track could annoy someone I guess, but as a whole the music is completely infectious with sweet melodies and a strong bouncy rhythm to boot. The four members were all quite young while recording Nut Gone Flake – drummer Kenney Jones was only 19 when they started sessions – but the group were still able to make very clever music for their ages while maintaining a less than serious approach to their songwriting. This track has that method of working down to a T.

They made the music video at Jones’ parents house. There are times when they look like they’re having a good time though sometimes they do look a bit embarrassed by it all. Either way, it’s a great watch.

#716: Queen – Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

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Queen do a ‘days of the week’ song in today’s post. In December 2018 I went on a quest to listen through the band’s discography. Having done so, I then went on to rank them according to my own preference. I picked A Night at the Opera as my number one, not a brave pick by any standard because it is widely agreed to be their best album. Even so it’s ‘Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon’ from that album, the shortest song on there and arguably the one with the least substance, that I find myself singing along and wanting to listen to repeatedly.

Freddie Mercury takes you through a list of activities he does during the week. They are as follows: Working, going off to honeymoon, bicycling, waltzing to the zoo, painting in the Louvre, he’s not sure what he’ll do on Saturday but he’s bound to be proposing, and he’ll definitely be lazing on the Sunday. That’s all well and good. I think I’m just a sucker for the whole music hall vibe of the track. The vocals were recorded through a tin-can which provides the ‘loudspeaker’ effect on Mercury’s voice. John Deacon and Roger Taylor provide a bouncy rhythm that Freddie does some dainty piano fills over. And quite unexpectedly the song changes key and Brian May comes in with about three overdubbed guitar solos to close the song out. All in just over a minute.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is on this album. You know that one. Everyone does. But when I’m listening to this album, I don’t know what it is, ‘Sunday Afternoon’ just perks me up. The definition of short and sweet.

#715: Supergrass – Late in the Day

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‘Late in the Day’ can be found on Supergrass’ second album In It for the Money. That specific album by the band is my favourite of theirs, though I wouldn’t say ‘Late in the Day’ is a song that I’ve wanted to put on repeat. It is always a nice feeling when it pops up on shuffle though. Someone at the band’s record label saw it as commercially viable and it was released as the last single from the album in late 1997.

The song itself is about having a special someone on your mind and constantly thinking about them. It happens that ‘late in the day’ is the time when this seems to happen for singer Gaz Coombes. In comparison to the other singles from Money, ‘Late in the Day’ is mainly led by the keyboard work of Rob Coombes. His playing provides the chord progression of the track, while also adding atmospheric touches like the organ during the verses and the whistling tones during the instrumental bridge. Danny Goffey’s drumming provides a hop/skipping rhythm to the composition, which I’m thinking inspired the pogo-stick heavy plot of the music video. I don’t know what else in the song could have influenced the video directors behind it. It’s a great watch though, captivating in its own way.

Can’t feel bad after listening to this one. Good for a lazy summer day or two.