Monthly Archives: November 2022

#1004: Blur – Out of Time

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The beginning of the new millennium was a weird one for Blur. They were all over the ’90s. The band’s singles and albums were a mainstay in the charts, and that whole Battle of Britpop thing with Oasis happened. But then that decade ended, they were all sort of dishevelled and in their ’30s. The band members weren’t sure which direction to go in. The band released a ‘Best of’ compilation (with great artwork), released a new single, and did some promo appearances. Search up ‘Blur 2000’ on YouTube, and it’s a bit of a trip. Kinda strange seeing the band performing ‘Girls & Boys’ with Gorillaz very much around the corner. By 2001, it was all about ‘Clint Eastwood’ and Gorillaz shot off into the stratosphere.

Couple years later, Blur got back together. Much to Damon Albarn’s hesitance as he stated in the No Distance Left to Run documentary. Graham Coxon left the band because of miscommunication, his own problems with alcohol and some strange handling by their manager. Blur continued as a three-piece. ‘Out of Time’ was the first taste of this new lineup as the first single from the then upcoming album Think Tank in 2003. I was eight years old at the time, I didn’t have a clue who Blur was. I didn’t hear Think Tank until 2013, going through Blur’s discography. I wonder how people must have felt hearing the track upon its initial release. It’s such a lowkey, very minimal track to choose as a first single. It does have a breezy groove, the percussion’s light and very tasteful. The thing that blows me away every time I hear it is Albarn’s vocal. Just so pure, clear and sincere, could bring a tear to your eye.

Released at the beginning of the Iraq War, the track asks the question of where civilisation is going with all the madness that was going on, stating that humanity was forgetting how beautiful life can be and that we may have gone too far into the deep end to recover from the devastation. That specific war’s over, but things aren’t going so well these days for anyone, so I think the song’s message still has as much poignancy now as it did then. You may across comments that harp on Think Tank because of how unlike Blur it sounds. To be fair, those may be justified. Coxon did play a massive part in the band’s sound. But this track came out of it, so I don’t complain too much. Contains a couple great ones that I’ll never be able to post about, and a few more that I will.

#1003: Cloud Nothings – Our Plans

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Cloud Nothings’ ‘Our Plans’ is a song of few lines. “Original – it’ll never get old”, “Essential – it’ll never get old”, “There’s no time for another try”, “No one knows our plans for us”, and “We won’t last long”. Five in total, that’s all. I mean, they are each repeated in various sections of the track’s structure. That’s very much what makes the track succeed. The reliance on repetition. Makes it just that bit more memorable. From the band’s 2012 album Attack on Memory, the song is in the penultimate slot. While listeners may just be waiting to see how the whole album ends at that point, I’d put in my two cents and say that ‘Our Plans’ is worth a close listen.

The track overall showcases a tight performance by all band members involved, and with Steve Albini’s production, the drums in particular sound absolutely chaotic and incredibly powerful. Even with the limited number of lyrics available to work with, I think I’ve been able to come to an understanding on the sentiment of them. Assuming they’re frontman Dylan Baldi’s lyrics and his alone – all of their tracks are credited to the band as a whole on the album, so it may not be the case – they seem to basically highlight the pressures of being in a band and making music. The pressure of being essential, original, timeless, getting things right in the least amount of takes. With the final chorus lyric being, “We won’t last long”, it seems that Baldi doesn’t think the band will be able to withstand all of these things that are asked of them. Luckily, this was about 10 years ago, and the band are still going strong today.

And that’s it for Cloud Nothings material from Attack on Memory unfortunately. ‘Cut You’ would have had a post for itself, but I had started writing posts for songs beginning with ‘D’ before I even knew who the band was. There was once a time when I really liked ‘Stay Useless’ too, but after a while each subsequent listen had less and less of an effect on me. Here and Nowhere Else is still my favourite album made by the band, and there’s still one more track to write about from that.

#1002: Fall Out Boy – Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued

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Another album opener, ‘Our Lawyer…’ is the first track on Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree. It’s an album that many a fan of the band’s hold dear to their hearts. Has the well-loved classics like ‘Dance, Dance’, ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles…’ and of course, ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’. Can’t say I hold the same regard. If there is a best Fall Out Boy, it’s clearly Folie à Deux. Cork Tree for me sounds a bit dated in comparison. A lot of the sentiments on there I just can’t vibe with anymore compared to when I was, let’s say, 13. But it sets off with a great start and a whole lot of self-deprecation and sarcasm, which I’m always all in for – especially when it’s done right.

“Brothers and sisters put this record down / Take my advice ’cause we are bad news” are the opening lines to this track, and for the rest of the track Patrick Stump sings bassist Pete Wentz’s lyrics which further go onto to tell the listeners the myriad ways in which the band will let them down and the superficial things that they’re good for – like celebrity status and fashion sense – that don’t really amount to anything properly meaningful. The track is set to a swinging tempo, but there’s an aggression and heaviness to the way the guitars are played that enables automatic headbanging among the instinctive swaying motion that you have to do with those types of tempos. Patrick Stump sounds like a kid, and he pretty much was – would have been 20 during the making of the album – but for a guy who supposedly wasn’t too confident about his singing, I’d say he does the job well. He’d only become better as the years went on, full embracing his inner soul-singer on Folie à Deux.

The song’s title is one of truth. Its original title was ‘My Name Is David Ruffin And These Are The Temptations’, but the band’s lawyers intervened and made them change the name. Either way, it’s another title of the band’s during that time that were very long, were usually never mentioned in the lyrics at all, and were probably named as such just to get some reaction from the listener. Funnily enough, I think one of the band’s shortest song title is on the same album too, with ‘XO’. That’ll be the next one from the record I do a post on. As I said earlier, not so much a fan of it now. But there’ll be more Fall Out Boy in between, for sure.

#1001: The Cribs – Our Bovine Public

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Here’s the last song by the Cribs that’ll be in this series. I made up my mind earlier this year to stop adding songs onto my phone. Otherwise this thing would go on much longer than it probably should. But it’s been some good times with the Cribs. Discussed ‘I’m a Realist’ and ‘Moving Pictures’ once upon a time. ‘Girls Like Mystery’ would have had one if I’d dug the song around the time I was writing for the Gs. All of these songs can all be found on the same album, same thing for ‘Our Bovine Public’ which opens it, so that probably goes to show how into the Cribs I am as a person.

It’s a fine way to get things started though. Produced by Franz Ferdinand’s frontman Alex Kapranos, ‘Our Bovine Public’ exhibits the major emphasis on the low end that runs throughout throughout the album. The tom-toms, kick drum and bass guitar have a massive presence. Alongside this rhythm section, guitarist Ryan Jarman provides the lyrics, playing whatever melody he sings on the guitar at the same time, and pretty much doesn’t stop singing for a moment until it’s time for the bridge to begin. Very thrilling how the verse tumbles straight into the chorus and vice-versa. The lyrics express an annoyance with the music press and the band’s refusal to be lumped into a scene by those papers and publications that they felt they weren’t trying to be a part of. Basically sticking two fingers up to them and telling journalists they wouldn’t have jobs if it wasn’t for the bands they write about.

‘Our Bovine Public’ was released as the third single from Men’s Needs… in late 2007 alongside new song, ‘Don’t You Wanna Be Relevant?’, which has always been rumoured to be about fellow Leeds-based band The Pigeon Detectives. ‘Relevant?’ was the track out of the two that got the most time on MTV2, and I’m sure I may have only seen ‘Bovine”s video maybe once or twice during that time that the double A-side single was being promoted. Definitely got a bit shafted. As I never wrote about ‘Relevant?’ and never considered it to be one of the Cribs’ best tracks anyway, you can probably tell which of the two is my most preferred choice.

#1000: The Rutles – Ouch!

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And here it is. The 1000th entry on this ongoing series. Took almost 10 years, but it’s finally arrived. We’re now much nearer to the end than to its beginning. And the song to mark it is one by a band that isn’t real, but sort of is, and a complete parody of ‘Help!’ by the Beatles. Couldn’t make this stuff up. Though what I’ve mentioned may be the case, it doesn’t stop me from actually preferring ‘Ouch!’ much more in comparison to the source of its inspiration. A whole lot more, honestly.

For those not in the know, the Rutles were the brainchild of Monty Python man Eric Idle who wrote a mockumentary based on the Beatles entitled All You Need Is Cash. You can watch it on YouTube. Neil Innes wrote all the songs that were clever parodies and takes on real Beatles songs. On ‘Ouch!’, Neil Innes copies the structure and elements of ‘Help!’ down to a tee. The call and response dynamic of the backing and lead vocals during the verses, the descending arpeggiated scale that the guitar plays preceding each verse. Generally, the whole band performance. What differs the most between the two is the actual melody of everything that’s sung and the lyrical matter. While John Lennon was doing some soul searching, writing with a lot of sincerity on his part, Innes turns it into another love song – making it about a person who’s begging his partner not to leave and pondering why those feelings that love brings have to hurt so badly.

I don’t know what else to say, really. I think I got it all down in the preceding paragraph. Maybe some “pure” Beatles fan may hear it and think, “How can you like a parody over the real thing?” All I can say is, that’s just how it is. Forgetting that it’s based of the music of a very, very successful band, the track stands up on its own just because of its great songwriting. In that way, it’s miles ahead of any other parodies out there. And it’s not trying to be funny either, also like a lot of parodies out there. Those ones I don’t like so much. Neil Innes really hit it out of the park for the movie soundtrack, that’s all it come down to. So with that, this’ll be the last Rutles track in this series that I’ll post about. It’s been fun. Had to end some time.