Category Archives: Music

#682: Nine Black Alps – Just Friends

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‘Just Friends’ is the ninth song on Nine Black Alps’ debut album Everything Is. It was released as a single. I sort of remember the time it’s video was doing the rounds on MTV2, recalling how upbeat and light-hearted it was in comparison to ‘Unsatisfied’.

Turns out I’ve been mishearing this song’s lyrics for all this time, and as a result my initial interpretation of it has been thrown out the window. Originally I thought it was about two people breaking up and becoming ‘just friends’. It’s actually the opposite. What I thought was “now, in the long, we’re just friends” in the chorus is really “now we’re no longer just friends”. It’s about being heavily invested in a relationship and stepping up to the plate to make things work, but it’s all delivered in a very cynical, “meh, I don’t really care” attitude in the lyrics.

The track is two minutes and 15 seconds long, starting off strongly right from the start with a drum roll and its main riff, just as the cymbals from the preceding track on the album are beginning to fade out. It’s a song with high energy, great melodies throughout via the guitars and Sam Forrest’s vocal take. It’s another gem from a fantastic album that I’m grateful I actually own to this day.

#681: Jane’s Addiction – Just Because

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The video for this song used to show on Kerrang! all the time back in the day. I’d be flicking through my usual circuit of music channels (MTV2 to Kerrang to The Amp (anyone remember The Amp?) to Scuzz and then back to MTV2 – this was how it was before YouTube) and there it was. It came to a time when I convinced myself to watch the whole thing from front to back just to see why it was always in circulation.

Turned out to be worth the few minutes. ‘Just Because’ was Jane’s Addiction’s big comeback single (I didn’t know that at the time, and I’m sure few years had passed since its release when I first watched it anyway) in 2003 for their big comeback album Strays, their first LP after a initial 12-year breakup. The track is drastically different to anything the band made in the 90s. Whether fans were receptive of the change or not I’m not sure. They were capable of making some far out stuff in those times. So when the first song after a twelve year wait was this really streamlined arena-rock U2-ish rocker I have a feeling that some people were divisive on the single.

I’m all for it. I’ve never followed Jane’s Addiction that closely so my opinion might not matter too much. But that guitar riff by Dave Navarro gets the anticipation rolling every time. His playing really drives the song forward, especially with those small guitar solos in each instrumental break. Always appreciated that high note he reaches to close it all out too. Perry Farrell laps it up on the vocals and additionally so in the music video. Is it right to say that the chorus on here is a monster too?

Maybe I should listen to more Jane’s Addiction. I did listen to Ritual de lo Habitual one time. Might need to listen to it again. Otherwise all I know is this song and ‘Been Caught Stealing’. Basic, am I right?

#680: Feeder – Just a Day

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‘Just a Day’ was released as a standalone single by Feeder in the last few weeks of 2001. I would have only been six at the time but from what I’ve gathered it was the cherry on top to cap off a successful year the band had, having released their third album Echo Park earlier which was supported by popular hits such as ‘Seven Days in the Sun’ and ‘Buck Rogers’.

This song was featured on Gran Turismo 3, a game I remember getting for Christmas in 2002 and not being too impressed by it. I don’t think I understood how to play it at all and I ended up getting very frustrated with it. Something that sounds awful as an excuse because it’s just a racing game. It had great music in there though. I’ll say that’s how I got to know this track in the first place.

Years down the line I would see its video (above) here and there on TV, and it’s just a compilation of fans of Feeder performing/miming/dancing/acting to the track in their rooms on amateur camera footage. It’s a simple idea, but it’s clear that everyone involved is having the time of their lives. It is widely agreed that the two Asian guys who appear at various points throughout are the main highlight of the video.

It’s about being young, having great times with friends, waking up with a hangover in the morning and having the existential crisis that usually comes along with them. It’s also about feeling useless and not wanting to let people down via your excessive behaviour when it comes to drinking and all of that. It’s quite a downer. But with its high-energy and general catchiness – the ‘do-do-do-do’ hook is memorable – you probably wouldn’t realise.

Unfortunately, it was their last single to be released with original drummer Jon Lee who took his own life in the first few days of 2002. The band kept out of the public eye for a while to grieve and come to an understanding of what happened. They came back nearing the end of the year with Comfort in Sound, a fine effort that addressed Lee’s death among other sad subjects in its lyrics. Below is the band’s last live performance with Lee on Later with Jools Holland.

#679: Enter Shikari – Juggernauts

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2009. That definitely feels like eleven years ago. I was in my third year of secondary school going through the motions. In the midst of all the education was happening, Enter Shikari announced their second album Common Dreads was to be released. ‘Juggernauts’ was the first single.

It was a long time ago that I wouldn’t be able to detail everything I remember when hearing the track for the first time. Think I recall noting the difference in the tone of Rou Reynolds’ voice – there was something of a heftiness to it that wasn’t so much there on Take to the Skies – and he looked much different than he did two years prior. Aging does do that naturally so that shouldn’t be much a surprise but to fourteen-year-old me I thought he looked like a totally different person. The music video would be able to provide evidence for my reaction back then, but it’s been blocked worldwide. Well, at least in my country.

Right out the gate though, ‘Juggernauts’ lives up to its name with an introduction that charges forward with a hectic synthesizer riff and pummeling drums. From there Reynolds, with added backing vocals from bassist Chris Batten, addresses in his words ‘the theme of corporate power, the brute force they have and the ability they have to do literally anything they want’. He said that in a track-by-track commentary of the album which I may as well embed below.

The first verse Reynolds doesn’t so much sing but speak which saw various publications instantly compare the vocal delivery to Mike Skinner of The Streets. The band weren’t too pleased about this. But you can’t really blame the media for pointing it out. I don’t think I was a big fan of it initially. I grew to like it in the end. I much more a fan of the singing parts though. They possess a very strident melody which I can get into every time I hear it.

#678: They Might Be Giants – Judy Is Your Viet Nam

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They Might Be Giants’ 2011 album Join Us turns 10 next year and, to me, it was the group’s best record they released in the last decade. I like a lot more songs on there than on say, Nanobots or Glean. It was released during a time when I was quite happy with the way things were going in life. As much as things can go when you’re 16. Either way I can’t believe that time has gone by so quickly. It’s still one of my favourite albums by They, and this song is a great offering from it.

‘Judy Is Your Viet Nam’ is the 11th track on Join Us. Sung by John Flansburgh, ‘Judy’ originated as something of a Christmas song. Lyrics from that initial idea can be heard in the background during the “Who knew she could be so reckless?” verse. Somewhere along the line the song’s intentions changed, transforming into a rowdy rocker led by a Keith Moon-esque drum performance by Marty Beller.

It tells the story of ‘Judy’ who was something of a free spirit in the 90s before time eventually caught up with her and life changes had to be made as a result. It’s a weird one to describe because the narrative is in the second-person, so Flansburgh sings as if you knew Judy yourself. We probably do know a few Judy’s as depicted here, honestly.

I think this song’s great. Really enjoy it. Enough to satisfy in the 80 seconds it lasts for.