Another Form of Relief

I never really got into Sleater-Kinney. Nothing against them or anything, I just never really encountered much of their music. I might love it for all I know. That said, I did somehow end up owning 2000’s All Hands On The Bad One, which I rated a very highly “eh, it’s alright”. In fact, I may have sold it by this point, such is the attachment I formed with it. That said, I did like a handful of the songs, particularly You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun. It’s not a musical masterpiece by a long shot, but it does manage to be both snappy and fun.

Malcolm Middleton is not a happy man. His songs are usually bathed in misery. On the occasions where he sings about love, it’s usually the fucked up kind. Swear words are littered in as they would be in regular conversation. Bitter comments are par for the course.

A New Heart is an attempt to do none of those things. It’s supposed to be a song “without a swear word or a slight”, something to pass down to his family. He gamely plays along, and each time the song approaches a “dick” or a “shit”, he breaks off mid-line and changes subject completely. It’s one hell of a ride with only one appropriate conclusion: he admits he’s “lost the race to lose” and embraces failure. It’s always said that you should write what you know.

Let’s go where people are like you and me
The dance floor is a mess but so are we

A wonderful love letter to indie pop, Norwegian Pop is a simple three minute pop song that celebrates how important music can be in our lives. It’s not showy, and it isn’t trying to win anyone over who doesn’t already appreciate the genre. Those that do though will find gentle words, handclaps, all with brass and strings floating around the background.

Bedroom Eyes is largely the project of one man, Jonas Jonsson, who is Swedish, just in case you couldn’t guess from the name. Both of his EP releases, 2006’s Embrace in Stereo and last year’s Valentine Vacancy are available free from his website.

Man, is this song short. I mean I could write all about it, or about Bunnygrunt, or indie pop in general, but I’m constantly going to come back to the length. It’s less than a minute in length. Quite considerably less than a minute actually. Yet it still feels fully formed. It does end rather abruptly, but that’s not uncommon with this type of music anyway. This may actually be the most efficient song that I’ll ever post.

I am not a fan of cover bands. I find the whole exercise to be rather pointless. If you’ve got musical talent, make your own music. If you haven’t, well, you’re probably in a cover band.

That said, I salute Iron Horse for doing something rather different. On a most basic level they are a covers band, as I can’t seem to find much in the way of original material from them. They have recorded cover albums consisting of songs by Metallica, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin. For the more indie minded, they have albums of songs covering Modest Mouse, and as demonstrated below, The Shins.

Best of all, Iron Horse are a bluegrass band. Now I can’t speak for most but I actually find bluegrass to be rather entertaining. I don’t really listen to any, but I love the twangy feel and anything that uses a banjo is always a winner with me. So hearing some of the classics by the Shins in bluegrass style is certainly an interesting, and rather enjoyable experience.

Remember when Arctic Monkeys were The Next Big Thing? I know it means going all the way back to 2005, but try and stay with me here. They were everywhere. They sounded fresh, even if they weren’t particularly original, and suddenly they were everyone’s new favourite band. A couple of number one singles followed, and they seemed to be on top of the world.

Jump ahead a couple of years and they release a second album. It sells well, yet doesn’t seem to be regarded as highly. People start looking around for the band that comes after them. Nothing really changed in their sound, which may or may not be the problem. The people who championed them the first time around suddenly don’t care. I know this because I was one of them.

Arctic Monkeys are the perfect band for their time. Unfortunately that time only seems to be a few months of 2005.

now
Tepid power ballads and rehashes of past glories.

then
One of the most enjoyable things about Counting Crows was that they were one of the few really agreeable radio friendly bands. All of their songs could quite happily be played on daytime radio, even on bland-o-rama stations and not bother anyone. Even then though, they were never a band to talk down. Just because they were easy to listen to didn’t mean everything was simple. The songs always retained more depth than they appeared to. It’s this that keeps their debut August and Everything After as one of my favourites even now.

I don’t even know what changed. Something did though, and little after their first few albums interest me. The music seems far more by the numbers now. Understandable I suppose for a band once it finds a formula that works. But it takes away any excitement for new material. Nothing is really all that bad now, but nothing grabs either. Before you even start listening to a new record, you know exactly what you’re going to get. I’ll just stick to those early releases if it’s all the same.

Tullycraft have just released The Singles via their website, a 22 song collection that includes their singles (obviously), songs that appeared on compilations and a couple of live tracks too. Shipping to the UK is a little pricey but I’m in no doubt that it’ll be worth it. There are few bands these days that I feel compelled to collect a complete collection of, but Tullycraft are one of them.

Our Days in Kansas is taken from their 2005 Disenchanted Hearts Unite album and is just about my favourite thing they’ve record. Yes, that includes Twee, too. It’s all over the place, time changing and getting more or less excitable depending on what it is getting nostalgic about. Whether it be caustic one-liners (”Did you want a response or just someone to edit?”) to the considerably more dark (”Sometimes I wish we’d kept the baby”). It still ultimately decides that “things were so much easier in 1993″ though. Which unfortunately is probably true for most of us.

I always welcome an excuse to talk about Johnny Foreigner on here, so it was rather pleasing today to receive a press release from Nettwerk announcing that they will be releasing JF’s Waited Up Til It Was Light album in the US in October. Now I’m sure that dedicated fans will have already got hold of it from the UK, but with a bit of luck, this deal will open up an entire new audience for The Best Band In The UK Right Now.

Our Bipolar Friends was the first single from that album over here, released exclusively on 7″ vinyl. My signed copy has sat here lovingly unplayed since I received because I don’t have a record player. Yet I bought the release anyway. If that isn’t a testament as to it’s quality, I don’t know what is.

Now for another band in a seemingly endless list of music that I’d like to explore more of but never get around to doing so. I only have a handful of Jim Yoshii Pile-Up songs, all of which I like. As a band, they fill in most of the tick boxes that I look for. A vaguely upbeat yet depressing sound. World weary vocals. Each song telling a detailed yet still incomplete story. All of this works for me, yet I don’t have the desire to find any more. Are other songs as good as Silver Sparkler? That would be one hell of an achievement if they are.