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#622: Supergrass – In It for the Money

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So after Supergrass gained a ton of praise from their debut album I Should Coco in 1995, helped tremendously by their most recognisable hit and youth anthem ‘Alright‘, Steven Spielberg approached the band in an effort to make a television series with them based on that of The Monkees. The group declined, instead choosing to record their second album. This was most definitely the better route to take. Coco was a burst of sharp wit and energy. Its production made all the instruments sound very tight, like they were playing together in a tiny, tiny room. In It for the Money took a totally different direction.

Instead of carrying on with the usual breakneck velocity, Money is made of songs that are allowed to breathe. Take a breeze and chill with some slower tempos. The tracks also sound expansive. There’s also a wider variety of instruments. But the group never lost their playfulness and knack for great tunes. The title track shows it all in the three minutes it lasts for and is a fantastic taster for what’s to come It opens the album with an creepy organ drone that transitions into a heavy Beatles-like arpeggiated riff and Gaz Coombes’ vocal.

“Here I see a time to go and leave it all behind/And you know it’s wrong to fall/We’re in it for the money” are three lyrics that when put read together like that don’t seem to make much sense, though Coombes and bassist Mick Quinn on higher harmony deliver them with a power and confidence that make them sound like a formal declaration. There’s a musical build as the last phrase is repeated before the song explodes into its main refrain. The track takes another turn as it leads into another verse of repeated lines, accompanied with a beautiful guitar line and descending bass groove. A glorious fanfare of horns appear. It’s beautiful stuff.

It comes to a very abrupt halt but you have to listen to the album from front to back to understand the effect of that production decision. Summing it up, this was the introduction to a new Supergrass back in ’97 – definitely not a case of the sophomore slump.

#613: Jamie T – If You Got the Money

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Sometimes this song will come up on shuffle when I’m on the underground and I’ll be tempted to grab my phone right out of the pocket and press skip. I was in Year 7 when Panic Prevention came out, very much into my NME/British indie music stage. Jamie T doesn’t really make music like that any more. He has grown, as have I. So when the track starts immediately with him singing the song’s title with his prominent South London accent, it almost makes me wince a little. It just reminds me of that time in 2007 when I was young and doing stupid things.

That all changes when the bass comes in and the track’s groove gets going. It’s hard not to at least nod your head to it. It’s all about that rhythm. It’s at that point when I begin to remember what attracted me to the song in the first place. It’s a song that covers two things in each verse. The first concerning potential love and the loss of it on the dancefloor while on a night out, and the second detailing basic frustration with having a low-paying job and drinking your problems away. It’s very relatable. Very British in its delivery and execution too. Quite easy to see why he was described as a ‘one-man Arctic Monkeys’ during his first few years.

It’s a playful track, one that you can have a laugh to when listening but still appreciate what Jamie talks about and the great music that accompanies his thoughts.

#603: The Beach Boys – I’m Waiting for the Day

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You ever come across an album where you feel that every song could be a single? The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is the archetype of that kind of record. I’ve written about a few songs from the 1966 LP in the past, there will be more to come, and today’s post is about the album’s fifth track – ‘I’m Waiting for the Day’.

Brian Wilson had completed writing in the song in 1964 when The Beach Boys were still rooted in their ‘California, let’s go surfin” aesthetic. The track concerns a narrator who yearns to provide support for a girl who has had her heart broken by another person. It was clear that it did not fit The Beach Boys as they were in that year. However as the years went on the group turned toward more introspective and heartfelt lyricism which came to a head on Pet Sounds.

Placed right after the album’s slowest number, ‘I’m Waiting’ begins with booming timpanis and an overall uplifting introduction of flutes and a peeping organ before closing in on itself for the quieter verses where Wilson takes over with a beautiful lead vocal. The song’s quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic is a quality that was once noted by fellow band member Carl Wilson as a particular highlight and it’s hard to disagree with his sentiment. It’s very satisfying to hear that strike of the timpani after the first utterance of the song’s title followed by the addition of the Beach Boys’ glorious trademark harmonies take over the mix – and just as you think it could all burst at the seams the energy is sucked away and the focus is on Brian’s vocals again.

Talking about Brian Wilson’s vocals, he apparently wasn’t too happy with the way they turned out. He didn’t have a very strong feeling towards this song in general. The track doesn’t often get discussed to deeply. Perhaps Wilson’s attitude towards it is a reason. I still see it as a high point on a classic album.

#602: Wilco – I’m the Man Who Loves You

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‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ is the eighth song on Wilco’s 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It, ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’, and ‘I Am Trying to Break Your Heart’ are the songs from that album that I’ve been listening to for the longest time. There was something about those three on first listen that just grabbed me for whatever reason. ‘I’m the Man’ is probably the most relaxed out of them, though begins with an erratic guitar freak-out by Jeff Tweedy that gets things off to an unsteady start before eventually switching into a chilled acoustic number.

The song’s name is sung at the end of ‘I Am Trying to Break Your Heart’ so you may think that it would be some sort of centerpiece of the album. I certainly did at first. Maybe it is but I’ve never noticed how. To me it’s just another great song on there. Generally, it’s about Tweedy’s (or anyone’s) inability to express their love for someone. The lyrics describe a narrator trying to write a love-letter and failing at it. Though they wish they could express themselves to their fullest, they know that sometimes it can take a simple action to let their significant other know how much they care for them. Like holding their hand, for example.

Like I said earlier, there’s a very laidback and brisk quality to the track. As it progresses there are little flourishes added here and there that prevent the track from falling into a lull. Little keyboard presses on the left channel, ‘ooh-ooh’ backing vocals and then the magnificent horn section that suddenly appears during the last verse and stay for the track’s long outro. It would be during the final minute and ten seconds that a producer would decide to fade it out but it rather comically comes to an abrupt halt with the drums coming to a sudden stop and the lead guitar doing whatever it pleases. Seems as if they didn’t really know how to close things out. Still makes for some great listening.

I regarded ‘I’m the Man’ as one of the more ‘radio-friendly’ tracks from that album in a post back in 2015. Upon more frequent listens of the album I’ve realised that there are a few other songs on there that you would be more likely to hear on your station. Not that that’s important in any way…. I just had time to listen to the album closely to really appreciate other tracks on there. Check out Yankee Hotel Foxtrot everyone.

#594: Guttermouth – I’m Destroying the World

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I used to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 on the PlayStation 2 when I was younger. It was a great game. A big part of its greatness for me was its soundtrack. I have a lot to owe for games such as this one and the FIFA series, they all introduced me to some great music in my formative years. Pro Skater 3 mainly leaned to songs of the punk and hip-hop persuasion. Guttermouth’s ‘I’m Destroying the World’ was one of them.

From listening to the album this track is on and another song of theirs I’ve written about in the past, I’ve gathered that the band tend to take a cynical, sometimes sarcastic viewpoint in their lyrics. This one is from the outlook of a kid who is sick of their redneck family and rebelling by destroying the world. This narrator shows no remorse for their actions, claiming that “[they] don’t really give a shit, cuz it feels so goddamn cool”. Basically it’s an awesome punk song about teenage rebellion.

This was always one of my favourites playing Tony Hawk back in the day. The song’s country influence is worn on its sleeve with the inclusion of banjos and fiddles, those always helped the song stick out in the television speakers. The chorus is definitely the best part too, there’s no space between it and the verses so it always hits like a tonne of bricks when it arrives.