Category Archives: Music

#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.

#999: Mercury Rev – Opus 40

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I can sort of remember listening through Deserter’s Songs that first time round. How I came upon it was by going through the best albums of 1998, according to the website besteveralbums.com. Why that year? I couldn’t tell you. It had also received a 9.3 out of 10 rating on Pitchfork. As an avid follower of the site during that time, 2013/14, it only made sense that I should hear what it was all about. If Pitchfork said so, it must be good, right? Jeez, that place has changed. They weren’t wrong though. ‘Opus 40’ arrives in the centre of Deserter’s Songs. Not to say that I wasn’t a fan of the track on the first listen. I do recall thinking the chorus was nice. But it was the revisits from then on that properly unveiled how great the whole thing was.

The lyrical matter is actually very dark. Seems to be about a woman who’s terribly sad and tries to kill herself on multiple occasions but never dies. Mentions of ‘scratching her wrists’, ‘collapsing down upon the ocean floor’ and the obvious ‘Woke up and climbed from the suicide machine’ would probably lend to that interpretation, suffice to say. Despite all this, the music surrounding it is some of the most gracious and elevating pieces put to tape. Strings, maybe oboes/clarinets, trippy synths and an organ solo. Every instrument that you wouldn’t usually associate with a traditional rock band. They’re all in there. The music video only provides what I assume to be the radio edit, but the album provides an extended outro where the music settles down accompanied by harmonising backing vocalists and a whistling solo. It’s a beautiful take on the usual sad lyrics/happy music dynamic.

The track itself also serves as a bit of an ode to the music of the The Band and the Catskill Mountains in New York. How so, you might ask Well, this article gives a band-given recollection of how the track came to be. Reading it, it seemed to be generally good times when recording the track. How could it not be with the OG Levon Helm drumming on the song that you wrote as an homage for his band. Can only imagine the satisfaction. Yep, this is a good one. I’m also aware that the next song will be the 1000th entry on here. Big cheers. Stay tuned.

#998: Radiohead – Optimistic

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When I heard Kid A for the first time back in 2012, I was left wondering what all the hype was about. Mind you, I was 17 listening to it through tinny headphones and on this website called we7.com (if anyone remembers that – good on you) which I don’t think had the greatest audio quality either. Not like it sounded like complete garbage, but it wasn’t lossless audio. But I distinctly remember the ending harps on ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ doing their thing and thinking, “This is what’s considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time?” It was naive stuff. I did however have my initial highlights from that first listen. ‘Optimistic’ being one of them. On an album that had no singles to promote it, this one seemed like it would have been the obvious choice had there been one.

Right out of the gate, the track gives you two main melodic hooks that lock themselves in the mental vault. The opening where Thom Yorke howls alongside the guitar riff, which them comes back with a vengeance near the end, and the main guitar riff that occurs during the verses. In those sections, amidst a tribal-like tom-tom drum pattern and grooving bassline, Yorke provides lyrics that to me describe a sort of barren wasteland, devoid of human life, where only the dinosaurs walk, flies buzz around and vultures circle the skies. A bit of an apocalyptic tone going on here, alongside a flip on the “This Little Piggy” nursery rhyme that occurs during the second verse. It’s one of those tracks where it could be about nothing and everything at the same time. Really, the primary line to take into account is what appears in the chorus, inspired by Thom Yorke’s partner at the time who assured that the best he could do was good enough as he was battling severe self-doubt after the draining period of touring OK Computer. It comes as a bit of ray of light amongst the darkness.

It’s been ten years now, but I’ve known for a while at this point that Kid A is a great album. I can understand why it gets the acclaim it does. Not saying it’s one of my favourite albums, but I won’t stop if I let it run from front to back. ‘Optimistic’ comes right in the middle of it, opening its second half, and provides the first moment when you can actually hear an electric guitar on the whole record. The song’s a ball of tension. Carried by the aforementioned drum pattern and bass groove, the track has moments where it opens and closes before really bursting into a release when the cymbals enter the frame for the climactic ending. Brings a very satisfying close to it all. Well, it doesn’t even end there, as there’s another groovy interlude that segues into the album’s next track. That didn’t have to be there, but even that part is something look forward to when I hear this song. So much so I wish they replicated it at their live shows.