Monthly Archives: April 2025

#1266: Supergrass – St. Petersburg

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Years ago, when I was properly getting into Supergrass – I’ll say I was about 12 – I asked one of my cousins if she was into the band. This was a cousin who got me into football and who I knew kind of listened to the same music as I did, so it was worth the shot. She told me that she did like them and that she remembered watching a video where they were dressed in white suits, but she couldn’t remember the song’s name. All the videos I’d seen of Supergrass on MTV2 or whatever channel up to that point had no resemblance to what she was talking about. So we were both at a loss for words and we moved onto another subject. I can’t remember exactly when or where, but there was a time when I eventually found the song’s video online and thought, “Oh, so this is the song that [my cousin’s name] was talking about.” Gaz Coombes was in that white suit. The song’s name was ‘St. Petersburg’.

The track was chosen to be the first single from the band’s fifth album, Road to Rouen, and was released a week before the record’s arrival. Rouen was the product of a sombre time in the Supergrass camp, as the mother of guitarist Gaz Coombes and keyboardist Rob Coombes had passed away and drummer Danny Goffey was getting unwanted attention in the tabloids. The music became less upbeat, more acoustic and serious. Almost artsy in a way and jam-oriented in places. It’s not an album I return to all that much. There’s something about a sad Supergrass that bums me out even more, because I associate them with having good times and upbeat, melodic tunes to bust out at the top of my lungs. A sad Supergrass is an oxymoron to me. ‘Coffee in the Pot’ lightens things up, which I appreciate. The LP may not be for me, but it’s still very much essential and an integral part of the band’s catalogue. So don’t let me turn you off listening.

So, right, yes, the song, ‘St. Petersburg’. If there was going to be a single chosen to represent the album first, it was always going to be this one. Despite all the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph, once you get into its swinging tempo, you can’t help but listen to where the song leads to. The track details the feelings of a narrator who’s simply tired of the monotonous, tedious, meaningless life they’re living and feels they have so much to give. They make an aim to move to the titular city to make things happen. But the poignancy in the fact that whether the narrator follows through with this or if it’s simply just a wish that never comes to fruition is left answered. The fact that the narrator’s time of leaving is always ‘three days’ away and never decreases to ‘two’ or ‘one’ makes it more likely that it’s the latter situation. But more generally, I fall for the song’s overall mood every time. One of those perfect songs for looking out the window of a train when it’s raining and you feel like the main subject in a music video. A very specific example. But don’t tell me you’ve never done the same thing.

#1265: Pezz (Billy Talent) – Square Root of Me

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Last year, 31st May, the people of Billy Talent did the thing that I, and I’m sure many a fan, was waiting on for the longest time, which was finally releasing their first first album Watoosh! onto streaming services. By that date, I was already well accustomed to the record, having had it in my iTunes library since about 2009. Thanking my sister for downloading it from Amazon for that one. And even then I’d known four songs from it since at least 2005. But last year was when it became much more accessible for everyone to hear. Watoosh! was the only album Billy Talent made when under their original name of ‘Pezz’. The music wasn’t as heavy, but just as energetic and melodic. Some would say “weirder” for whatever reason. But I know it’s an album that I prefer to the last couple that Billy Talent have released recently.

‘Square Root of Me’ is the ninth song on Watoosh! The title’s one that I haven’t been able to come to a conclusion too. It doesn’t appear in the lyrics, just like every other song on the album, though at least on a few others their titles have some sort of relation to the subject matter. In ‘Square Root…’, Ben Kowalewicz sings about being a full-grown adult and reminisces on the days when he’d get beaten up by bullies and swear that he’d get his revenge one day. The first verse is the same as the second. Well, there’s a one-word difference in the second. And after that the song’s changes to a minor key, an instrumental break settles in, after which Kowalewicz and guitarist Ian D’Sa harmonize the line “I like you anyway” until the song fades out. The whole shifting-movement-halfway-through-the-song structure is one that’s used on every track on the album. But the songs are different enough that it doesn’t become a massive issue. Very noticeable once you recognise the pattern though.

I’m not sure what else I could cover about this one. I find myself singing along to almost every element in the track, whether it be D’Sa’s various guitar riffs and chords, to bassist Jon Gallant’s lines and obviously the vocals. Each part has something in it that my ear immediately latches on to. The thing I’ve always admired about Billy Talent is that even though they’re primarily a punk band, D’Sa incorporates a lot of jazzier chords in his playing that sets they’re whole thing apart from the rest. So there will be a chord slipped in with a note that stands out more than the rest that enriches the whole listening experience. I’m sure there’s plenty of those in this, if only I knew music theory. It’s pretty much guaranteed that Billy Talent won’t perform any of the Watoosh! songs live, if you were to go and see them. In their words, they were a totally different band then. And that is the truth. So I’m glad that at least a few more people will be able to hear their older music now, rather than have it be this thing that only the “true” fans knew about. It’s pretty good stuff.

#1264: OutKast – Spread

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‘Spread’ is a track from André 3000’s album, The Love Below. Technically his first solo record, but we all know it as one half of OutKast’s hefty Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double LP from 2003. It’s the only OutKast album I physically own. It’s an anecdote I’ve told before. I wanted the ‘Hey Ya!’ single as a present. My aunt got me the album instead. And I was only eight or something, so I didn’t have the bandwidth to sit down and listen to two hours and 15 minutes of music. Back then, ‘Hey Ya!’ and ‘Roses’ were enough for me. But somewhere along the timeline, I came across ‘Spread’ and thought it was a song I could see myself revisiting many a time. Think this initial feeling happened when I was playing FIFA while having my whole iTunes library on shuffle and the song came up. It was a time when I really had no responsibilities at all, believe me.

There’s a comment on the YouTube page where the above ‘Spread’ is, which says something along the lines of “André 3000 was definitely listening to Prince’s Sign o’ the Times when he was making this! laughingface emoji laughingface emoji” I listened to that album just a few months back, and I can see where that commenter is coming from. 3 Stacks even has a high-pitched vocal here like Prince uses on some tracks from Sign…. But the huge similarity comes in the lyrical subject matter. ‘Spread’ is about André 3000 eyeing a woman he likes that he immediately wants to have relations with, and he makes those feelings clear – be it in the spoken/talking first verse or the rapid-fire rapping second verse that comes after. I think we can at least appreciate that André wants there to be a mutual feeling of interest between he and this fascinating woman. But he wants the listener and the lady to know that he is ready to go to the bedroom and have a fantastic night of passion.

Thinking back to when I first heard the song, I’m gonna say that the first thing that grabbed my attention was the song’s chorus. Apart from the mood-setting keyboard intro, the chorus is the beginning section of the song – one in which André 3000 sings each respective line in a higher key, culminating in the soaring falsetto ‘Spread, spread for me’ lyric followed by the campy “I can’t wait to get you home’ refrain. It all got stuck in my head very quickly. The aforementioned second verse where 3 Stacks starts rapping like his life depends on it, so unexpectedly after the serenading opening verse, is a big highlight too. The way he delivers the words, matching the frenetic programmed drums behind it. Makes my head move in all directions. The track is the beginning of a little three-part suite in the album, with following skit ‘Where Are My Panties?’ capturing André’s and the woman’s internal thoughts during the early morning while they’re both lying in bed and ‘Prototype’ where he hear André contemplating on whether this lady could be the one for him. A good little run in this experience of an album.

#1263: Snow Patrol – Spitting Games

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“Hey, Jamie. Do you listen to Snow Patrol?” No one’s ever asked me that in my life. But the answer I would provide if I was would be a short “No.” Not because I don’t like the band. I just don’t pay that much mind to them. I think the last Snow Patrol song I remember being around and promoted was ‘Just Say Yes’. And whatever spin you may want to put on it that stops you from acknowledging your age, that song is pushing 20 years since its release. There was a point where the band was everywhere. Mainly ’cause of ‘Chasing Cars’. I never understood the hype for that one. Oh, and couldn’t forget about ‘Run’ too. ‘Open Your Eyes’ was used in an episode of The Office US. They were featured in a Spider-Man film soundtrack too. But when it comes to Snow Patrol, there are two songs by them I really like. One of them I covered ages ago in ‘Chocolate’. And the other being today’s featured song ‘Spitting Games’, both of which are from the group’s 2003 album Final Straw.

‘Chocolate’ was the first Snow Patrol track I ever heard. In the process of writing this, I looked back at the post I did for it. What a throwaway that was. I was younger and clearly didn’t care as much. When it comes to ‘Spitting Games’, I’m not too sure when or where I heard it for the very first time. Maybe it was in an advert. Maybe I heard it in a TV show somewhere. When it comes to these sorts of situations, more than likely I saw the video on MTV2 or one of those music television programmes and got into it almost immediately. It’s all in that guitar riff/’ooh-ooh’ melody that opens the song. Once you hear that, it’s pretty much over, you won’t be able to get it out of your head. Or maybe I’m just projecting. At the very least, I’m sure that’s what happened to me when I initially came across it. I particularly like the song’s ending, which is a spontaneous recording by producer Jacknife Lee of singer Gary Lightbody performing the track on a staircase.

For the longest time, I was confused by the song’s title and what it had to do with the lyrics. Like the previous song I covered on here, it just made me think of this disgusting image of people literally spitting at each other for fun. But honestly, maybe only yesterday (I write this on 13th February 2025), I properly thought about the title and its other very obvious meaning. When you’re spitting game, you’re flirting. And that’s what this song’s about. Well, it’s about the narrator’s inability to flirt due to shyness. They feel much more comfortable telling the person they’re interested in how they feel through writing an undisclosed number of letters. It’s not made clear if these letters are even sent. But they just need to get the words down because otherwise they’ll never be physically said. They just can’t muster the courage. Yeah, I like this one. And below are a couple of alternative videos for the track I found in the YouTube search. Just a bit different from the one I’m used to.

#1262: Pavement – Spit on a Stranger

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So I was talking about Pavement’s ‘Speak, See, Remember’ the other day, another song from the Terror Twilight album, and how I downloaded the LP on the 8th June 2012. Well, at the same time, I went ahead to check the properties of the other song files. It turned out that I had separately downloaded album opener ‘Spit on a Stranger’ a few months earlier, in February or so. Why? Only my 17-year-old self would know, ’cause this 30-year-old doesn’t remember.* But I’m thinking, by the time I decided to download all the other songs, I really liked ‘Carrot Rope’ and I must have grown to like ‘…Stranger’ a lot. So clearly it made sense to. Good thing I did too, because the album is one I can let run from front to back on any occasion. Feels good for my soul.

The image/concept of spitting on a stranger sounds understandably gross and needless, but it goes far more deeper than that in the way songwriter Stephen Malkmus approaches it. The track is a truly earnest falling-in-love song, in which the narrator – lucky enough to find themselves being one of the two involved in the relationship – begins to realize the positive effects this other person has on them, giving the narrator the determination to do whatever it takes to make the relationship work and hopefully last. So what does the ‘spit on a stranger’ phrase actually mean? Well, I think it’s roundabout way of referring to kissing. ‘Cause that’s what happens on dates that go well, I guess. We kiss, and we essentially get our spit on this person we’ve known for a relatively short amount of time. It’s a slightly ugly way to put it. The song is anything but, with the golden guitar work and wispy synthesizer and Malkmus’s sighing vocal delivery. A track to play to a glorious sunset, or sunrise even.

The big question I have about ‘…Stranger’ are the additional vocals on the right-hand side that come into the mix at around a minute and 38 seconds in. Anyone know what’s being said? I don’t, but I always try and sing along to them all the same. They provide a very nice countermelody during the proceedings. Had things gone producer Nigel Godrich’s way, ‘Spit on a Stranger’ would have been the closer on Terror Twilight. His proposed tracklist was put into practice on the 2022 Farewell Horizontal reissue. I’ve gotta say, it works beautifully as “the last song”. Ending the whole record on the line, “I’ll be the one that leaves you high”, would have been very suitable. But introducing the listener to the album’s “world” with the number is something I’m just too used to at this point. I would have only been four at the time of the album’s initial release, but even I get some sort of nostalgic feeling from the song. Feels like one that symbolises the end of the ’90s. And the end of the band during the initial run.

*08/01/26 – Thinking about it now, I’m sure I downloaded ‘Spit on a Stranger’ on its own on the mere fact it was a single by Pavement, and I wanted to test the waters before fully diving into Terror Twilight as a whole. You can see why I forgot, because it was a very simple decision that I thought nothing of at the time.