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#766: Guttermouth – Looking Good Is All That Matters

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After ‘I’m Destroying the World’ by Guttermouth became a song that I was always looking forward to hearing while playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 back in the day, the band’s album Covered with Ants was a constant request for birthdays and Christmases. I never did get the CD. It took until 2012 when Spotify had just properly got going, that I was able to listen to the album in full. And it wasn’t bad. Not the greatest album of all time, but if you’re into skate punk and like some sarcasm in your music then it’s worth a shot.

‘Looking Good Is All That Matters’ is the fifth track on Covered with Ants, and is a basic criticism of those who have no self-respect for themselves and only motivated by physical appearances. The first verse sets the scene, with the description of a date where the man clearly can’t stand the person he’s with but she looks good so he may as well stay. The second describes a girl who throws up to maintain her slim figure. The whole message is summed up in the sarcastic chorus: “Looking good is all that matters/God bless our society.”

This track got my immediate attention when listening through the album the first time. I always enjoy a bit of humour in the music I listen to, and ‘Looking Good’ runs on that. Nothing like jokingly pointing out people’s insecurities to fast-paced punk chords.

My iPod #497: Stevie Wonder – He’s Misstra Know-It-All

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“He’s Misstra Know-It-All” closes Stevie Wonder’s seminal album Innvervisions. Preceded by tracks concerning racial tension, drug abuse and love ballads, the song is essentially a description of a man who gains people’s trust only to let them down, is a straight-up liar, only cares about subjects where there is money involved – whether he gains it or loses it, it doesn’t matter – and overall is someone that many people should avoid. The track is said to be about then President of the USA, Richard Nixon.

Despite the scathing lyrics describing this awful human being (I assume the femininisation of Mister to Miss-tra only emphasises Wonder’s disregard for this person), the song’s music itself is some of the calmest on the album. It is a wonderful five and a half minutes of piano, smooth chugging drums and Wonder’s voice along with some backing vocals that you have to nod your head back and forth to in appreciation. That is before the change up at around three minutes where Mr. Wonder begins to deliver his take with a greater passion (signified by an emphatic “BUM-BUUUHNA-BUUUHNA” ad-lib, hand-claps enter the mix, the rhythm sections play around with the rhythm here and there, and a stronger feel to the song’s groove and mood is brought about.

A real classic. Too good.

My iPod #473: Happyness – Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste the Same

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No post yesterday. Got back home from university. Was very tired as a result. Nice to be back though. Let’s carry on.

Happyness are an indie rock trio from South London who I first heard about through NME. Basically what you see upon clicking on that link is a very nice description of the band and the page where I listened to “Great Minds” for the first time. For some reason, I remember immediately dismissing it. Reading what bands NME considered Happyness to sound like made me think the band was trying too hard. Thought the title was a bit much too. What the fuck. That was shallow of me. Very poor.

Instead, I actually listened to the track and found out that it is actually a very enjoyable listen. It is a perfect blend of deadpan but relatable lyrics with sweet, sweet melodies and chill vibes that make for some easy listening. All executed under two minutes too. Somewhere I read the track ties with the album’s apparent concept of a person born on the same day as Jesus Christ….. You can look that up of you want, I’m just okay with listening to the music if that’s alright.

Happyness are still under the radar a bit; if you like what you hear here, check out their album released last year.*

*This link is dead. 😐

My iPod #271: The Hives – Die, All Right!

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It’s my birthday…. yaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Nineteen years old, by the way. You wanna know how I’ve spent it so far? Sleeping, eating and listening to music in my room. I really should have just slept until the evening and then gone to the shops to get the drinks in preparation for tonight’s antics. I was in a club in the very early hours of the morning cutting shapes to DJ Luck and MC Neat which was fun. But apart from that this birthday’s turned out to be the same as every other one – staying inside with the knowledge that I have existed for another year.

That wasn’t depressing at all, let’s move onto the song shall we?

So “Die, All Right!” is a track by The Hives on their second album “Veni Vidi Vicious“. I saw the video years ago on Kerrang! I think I was in Year 7 because I didn’t have a YouTube account then and I remember looking up the video because I thought it was quite cool. I wasn’t sure if it was a new song or not, because I had never seen the video before. Turned out it was on the same album as “Hate to Say I Told You So”, meaning that the song was, in fact, an old track. Apart from the weird point that the band were a bit orange, the song was still very good. It’s a bit of underrated one. I do like this a lot more than “Hate to Say” which can be argued to be the band’s signature track. Not that that track is a bad one, I’ve heard it so many times that it doesn’t do much for me anymore. Enough of that, I’m going off topic.

The song rocks many socks. Very quick and relentless, it doesn’t stop and allow you to catch your breath. It has the characteristics of all the good Hives songs. A memorable riff (one which I’m certain has been used in an advert in the past) which repeats and repeats until it embeds itself in your brain, lots of energy and the familiar exclamatives, yelps and howling vocals by charismatic front-man Pelle Almqvist. Good tune.

Happy birthday to me.

My iPod #257: Coldplay – Death and All His Friends

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Ah, Coldplay. Not my favourite group. But nevertheless they are back with a new album, their sixth to be exact, in May entitled “Ghost Stories”. They’ve put out two songs already: “Midnight“, which got some polarizing feedback due to its minimalism  – and the first official single “Magic” which is quite similar to “Midnight in the way that there are barely any instruments in it, but actually has a beat and a good melody. It is the one which I like a bit myself and it is better than the former song. But that’s just my opinion.

Today’s song is the other title track from Coldplay’s fourth album “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends“, commonly known as “Viva la Vida”. Most people know it for the album where Coldplay changed. They went around wearing suits a la The Beatles during the Sgt. Pepper phase and generally went for a new approach in making their music. Some may have found it pretentious. I think it’s their best album. I have “Parachutes“, “A Rush” & “X&Y“; they have their moments, but “Viva” along with “Prospekt’s March” – that is good listening. No to “Mylo Xyloto” though.

The beginning of “Death and All His Friends” is actually a song that was meant to be separate altogether. This was its original incarnation. It’s very calm and soothing for the first half before bursting into life when the rest of the band join in and abruptly changing into the soaring and climactic ending (in 7/4 time signature) which will catch any first listener by surprise. The song is a triumphant ending to a wonderful album. There is a full version of the instrumental that you hear at the beginning of the very first track of the album, but I cut that out before putting it on my iPod. You can’t beat that ending.