Tag Archives: my ipod

My iPod #406: Green Day – Geek Stink Breath

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If you’re a bit squeamish, have a nervous disposition, or specifically are not interested in observing close-ups a tooth being pulled out of a person’s mouth… then the video above is not the one to watch. And yet, it was the treatment Green Day chose to be used in the video to promote the first single from their upcoming album “Insomniac“. Last seen aimlessly walking around the streets of California at night singing about an up-in-the-air relationship a few months before, the band were now louder, harsher, and in-your-face, and performing in a bright red room bursting out a track about methamphetamine use.

And those descriptions above are a few reasons why I tend to prefer “Insomniac” over “Dookie” sometimes. From what I’ve noticed the consensus is that “Insomniac” is “Dookie’s little brother”, and is okay-but-just-not-as-good as that album. It seems a bit hypocritical to say that the two shouldn’t be compared to one another, seeing as I just did that in the first sentence of this paragraph. But I will say that “Insomniac” is a underrated as hell. Give it some respect. Turns twenty this October, I want some recognition.

Admittedly “Geek Stink Breath” was not a song of theirs that I liked when I first began listening to Green Day a decade ago. The video might have had something to do with that feeling. It might have had a lot to do with it, actually. But the track, to me, sounded very, very, very simple. Didn’t really like the song’s chord progression. The vocal melody wasn’t didn’t have the effect like others such as “Minority”, “Longview”, or “Stuck with Me” had on me…. and Billie Joe sounded too snotty and grimy too. I just couldn’t get into it.

Listening to a song over and over again can have a strange effect sometimes, though. I wouldn’t say it is one of Green Day’s best songs; it’s not one of the best songs on “Insomniac”. But I think it’s choice as a single was very appropriate. The perfect song to present the band’s new sound and image. Overall, it’s alright.

My iPod #405: Enter Shikari – Gap in the Fence

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Next Monday post-hardcore group Enter Shikari release what will be the band’s fourth album “The Mindsweep“. Can I say that I am hyped about this? Not really. My interest in their music has faded as the years pass; had I not searched the group up on Google earlier this week, I would definitely not have known that a new album was coming soon. It also may be due to the dub-step stuff they began to incorporate into their music. It’s a shame. I used like to like them quite a lot. But I believe “Common Dreads” was their last album that I was excited for, and learnt to appreciate after listening to it a few times.

“Gap in the Fence”, about subservience and taking things at face value (in Rou Reynolds’ words, not mine), is a track that builds and becomes bigger as it goes on. Initially beginning as one of the slower and quieter ones on the album, Reynolds sings on his lonesome with an acoustic guitar; soft percussion and pretty vocal harmonies occur soon after. It is halfway through when the music somehow then evolves into this glistening house/trance beat where Rou makes it clear that he needs ‘to get out of here’. Many, many times. But it all results in a climactic finish consisting of loud guitars, a mix of shouting and singing, and a final word that stretches out for a few seconds before coming to an emphatic stop. “GRANNTEEEEEEEEEEEEEED-UH.” I feel Reynolds’ anger just listening to it,

It then segues into the next track “Havoc B”, but that’s besides the point.

“Gap in the Fence” is a sick one. Very nice.

In this video – at 6:50 or so – the band talk about the song. You might want to watch the whole thing if you want to know the background behind each individual track on “Common Dreads”.

My iPod #404: Supergrass – G-Song

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*yawn* It’s been a while. How’s everyone doing?

Hope you all enjoyed your festivities over the holiday season. Feels quite strange starting this up again, seeing as I haven’t done one thing on this site since late November. I apologise. I need breaks too. But here I am again, and here I should be (almost) every day to give you the songs on my iPod beginning with the letter ‘G’.

So what better way to start it, than with a track entitled “G-Song” – the fifth track on “In It for the Money“, the second album by Supergrass. I always wondered why it was named as so.  The title has nothing to do with the song’s subject matter; the phrase doesn’t appear in the lyrics. But it came to me not so long ago. The song’s written in the key of G Major. Duh.

The only reason I can think of enjoying “G-Song” is having listened to it repetitively alongside the other eleven tracks that accompany it on “In It for the Money”. After “Late in the Day” ends I always expect “G-Song”‘s sudden introduction to kick in, with its chugging guitars and solid bass. The instrumentation is something that really gets to me when listening to this track. It’s got a real *oomph* to it. Can’t find a better way to describe it. Especially the phrase that plays during the “There may be troubles…” refrain. Groovy as anything.

Like many of the other tracks on the album, it also contains a bridge which sounds like it could have been used to a completely different song altogether. Yet somehow, the guys manage to bring it back right into the song’s already established riff. That is good stuff, right there.

In terms of lyrics, I have a feeling that this track is one of those where the band worked on the music beforehand before coming up with the words to suit it. Gaz Coombes sings about feeling strange whilst walking on his way home or something….. I really don’t know. But that’s not a bad thing. What matters is, this track is pretty good. Recommended listen.

On an unrelated note, “I Should Coco” turns twenty this year. Anyone on getting a Supergrass campaign started to get all their nineties albums re-released and remastered? Very politely ask Gaz Coombes and Mick Quinn.

Annnnnnnddddd……

The White Stripes – Fell in Love with a Girl

Hello again. If you read the final post from the F’s, you’ll remember me writing that I had actually skipped one track out by mistake. This was the track. How I skipped it, I’ll never know.

“Fell in Love with a Girl”. Classic. Not much to say. Bass-less, simple five chord track with an amazing video which makes you wonder what you’ve been doing with Lego your whole life.

I remember seeing the start of this video when I was younger, and being disappointed when it turned out that it wasn’t “Walkie Talkie Man” by Steriogram. That video was directed by Michel Gondry too. As a result, I would always change it without really listening to the song. Big mistake. The White Stripes’ video and song are much better.

Was never a huge White Stripes fan. But this track is great. Have to say. RIP.

I bet no one remembers who Steriogram is.

My iPod #403: Manic Street Preachers – Further Away

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Well. Here’s the final song from the “F” section. It’s been a while. It should have come yesterday, but university work took over. Hope you understand.

And to cap it all off is “Further Away”, the penultimate track from Manic Street Preachers’ stellar album “Everything Must Go”. Understandably, the band had a horrible time (to put it lightly) after guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards’ disappearance in Febrary 1995. But only a year and a bit later, despite everything they’d gone through, the three remaining members pulled off one of the greatest comeback albums. That was “Everything Must Go”. And it all just went on from there.

“Further Away” is great. Very underrated, though some may say it’s one of the weakest on the album. I disagree. I think it’s as strong as any other song on there. I do actually prefer it to “A Design for Life”. Yeah. That’s right.

Why? Because I feel so emotional listening to it. The track was written Nicky Wire when the band were on tour and he was having a bout of homesickness, and who better to sing his lyrics and write the music than James Dean Bradfield? Honestly, his vocals just tower over everything. Over what are pretty simple chord changes throughout is a voice so powerful, but intricate and melodic at the same time. Staying restrained for the most part in the verses Bradfield then proceeds lets it all out in the chorus leaping from one syllable “FUURRRR-“, and the next “THER”. Just glorious in every way. Majestic. Everything about the track is wonderful, I can’t express it enough.

I also own the 10 year anniversary remastered version, so everything sounds just a tad clearer and sharper. Sounds like you are right next to the amplifiers there and then in the studio. Good to experience at high volumes.

And there it is. Another letter done. It’s been fun. What a great way to end it too, but that’s just me. You may not like the song.

Be back soon.

My iPod #402: Supergrass – Funniest Thing

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“Funniest Thing” is an album track from Supergrass’ first release of the 21st century, “Life on Other Planets”. Of course, Britpop was well and truly over at this point, and Supergrass carried on exploring new sounds just as they had with “In It for the Money” in ’97.

On “LOOP”, some tracks are very guitar-heavy and give off a great hard-rock feel bordering on T-Rex territory at some points. But they still have that fun Supergrass attitude to them, and their then-recent acquisition as Rob Coombes as permanent member seemed to give the group an even bigger dynamic then they had before.

“Funniest Thing” begins with a mysterious keyboard line backed with sighing backing vocals and shimmering ride cymbals which give quite a psychedelic feel to it all. This all changes when the whole band kick into gear for the chorus; Gaz Coombes sings about seeing all these weird things happening around him, and even though this event is the ‘funniest thing [he sees]’… it is still a bit too hard to bear.

I’m thinking the lyrics are meant to be from the perspective of someone in a hospital after breaking a part of the body, who is then given morphine to relieve the pain and ends up having all these weird hallucinations because of it. That’s just from the lyrics though. Could be about something else completely. It probably is.

‘F’ section ends tomorrow.