Category Archives: Music

#642: The Who – Is It in My Head?

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The ninth track on The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia is just another introspective moment out of many on the album. Its protagonist has…. a lot on his plate – to keep it short and sweet – and is trying to figure out things he can do to try and make himself a better person without coming across as too eager or looking a fool in the process. By the end of the track, he gives up altogether and declares total apathy for anything in the following song ‘I’ve Had Enough’.

For the longest time I thought Pete Townshend sang the chorus. In actual fact, it’s bassist John Entwistle who takes the lead with Roger Daltrey singing the verses. Speaking on Daltrey, this album was definitely his vocal peak. He belts out every howl and bellow from the gut. I can only try and replicate the song’s ‘I feel I’m being followed’ bridge but would never be able to reach those notes with as much gusto.

Daltrey’s voice is really the focal point throughout. As the track is quite mid-tempo, there isn’t as much room for the rapid drum fills or inventive bass lines from the rhythm section. Townshend does add some guitar flourishes here and there, particularly to transition between verses and choruses. Still, it’s another emphatic and cathartic performance by all four members capped off with some warm synthesisers in the mix too.

#641: Nine Black Alps – Ironside

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‘Ironside’ opens the second half of Nine Black Alps’ 2005 album Everything Is. Coming right after the acoustic track ‘Behind Your Eyes’, it’s a bit of a smack in the face and something just to say ‘right, back to what we were doing for the first five numbers’.

This album is a 10/10 for me. It really hasn’t lost its effect on me after thirteen years of owning it and listening to it. I’ve seen in places that people feel that the band where the Nirvana influence on their sleeves. I don’t get that. Nirvana has never come to mind when I’ve listen through. I’m sure there is a band from the past they sound like. And even if they do, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nine Black Alps do their own thing very well, and I don’t think they ever got better than their first record. I don’t have much to say about the song itself which is why I’m rambling on a bit. I think it may be about self-harming and having a bleak outlook on life in general. It’s a real rocker though. Quite intense.

#640: Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart

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This is the only solo Morrissey song I actually like. I’m not so much a fan of The Smiths either. Never been much into Morrissey’s lyrics nor him really as a person. He’s a bit melodramatic. Possibly racist too, I heard? He’s a character for sure.

This song was on the soundtrack for FIFA 2005 which is how I got to know it. Surprisingly so, seeing how unapologetically political it is. The line about Oliver Cromwell was censored though. Don’t think EA would have the balls to put a song like this in one of their games today. In the song, Morrissey rallies on about how proud he is to be of both titular nationalities, how people shouldn’t be ashamed to be patriotic without feeling like they’re being offensive, and throws some shade at those in the House of Commons and the Royal family for good measure.

Like I said, I’m not too keen on Morrissey’s dramatic lyrics or vocal delivery – but it’s on this track in particular where his voice and the music matches to great effect. The quiet verses lurk along with his signature baritone vocal and the flickering slick guitar riff and defiantly rise into the louder choruses where everything is kicked up a notch. That specific dynamic in a song has been done to death but when it’s done right, it can never go wrong.

If ya didn’t know, the music for the track – written by former songwriting partner Alain Whyte – had already been used in a song but was reworked for Morrissey’s purposes. I’ll link it below. It’s clear that Morrissey’s version is better.

#639: John Linnell – Iowa

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You ever heard a carousel organ and thought that its music could be made funky in any way shape or form? Well that’s what kind of occurs in this song. ‘Iowa’ by John Linnell is one of many on his sole solo album State Songs to feature that instrument, and here set’s the track’s tempo with a bouncy introduction that jumps back and forth between high and low notes and carries on the momentum with its infectious rhythm.

‘Iowa’ sees Linnell personify the American state as a witch, forming a silhouette on the moon, flying around on a broom with accompanying conical hat and black cat. All the things you think of when you picture a witch in your mind. Why he chose to write about a witch and associate Iowa with it is anyone’s guess, though it’s definitely one of the most entertaining tracks on there just for that very reason.

I’ve noticed that the song’s production isn’t very busy. Apart from the carousel organ, you’ll hear some echoed clicking percussion along with Linnell’s voice which he keeps in the lower register. It’s all very mild and quite calming to listen to but still very catchy at the same time. It’s just one of those songs where everything you hear is perfectly placed. Nothing too extra and not too sparse. It’s just right. Even the solo from the handheld vacuum cleaner works surprisingly well. One thing is guaranteed from a John Linnell song, you’ll always have a vocal melody that will stick in your mind once upon listen or creep up on you at your unawares. This one did the trick.

#638: OK Go – Invincible

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‘Invincible’ opens OK Go’s second album Oh No, released in 2005. The track itself was released as a single in 2006 and was accompanied by its music video (above) where the band plays whilst various items and objects explode in a split screen.

I haven’t listened to that album in full in a while. For a brief period in 2006, I was really into OK Go. I had only seen the videos for ‘A Million Ways’ and ‘Do What You Want’ at that time. But I was convinced that they were my new favourite band. I just wanted to watch their videos on repeat. YouTube was just about starting at the time, but the video for ‘Invincible’ was online. The tune and video was what pushed me over. I had to get the album for myself. And I did. It’s gathering dust on the shelf in my room.

The album reminds me of those years. But I still enjoy ‘Invincible’ now as much as I did then. It’s a three and a half minute track with some chunky, clunky guitar riffs that are something of a staple throughout the whole record. That may be in part due to the work of Swedish producer Tore Johansson, who had helped Franz Ferdinand create some riffs of their own on their self-titled album in 2004. Damian Kulash, Jr. comes in with a silky lead vocal, interrupted by piercing slides up the guitar neck, singing about a superhero-type figure who is able to defeat enemies with his high-temperature atom-smashing laser vision. It’s a weird one to open an album with subject-wise but after what was a clean and very power-pop influenced debut album, ‘Invincible’ is most certainly a great way to show the audience the direction the band was going into.