90’s

Scuzz Sundays: The Breeders -“Cannonball”

May 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

They came in like a Wreck – no, a Cannon Ball! It’s time for a new Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Last Splash” (Released on August 31st, 1993) (via 4AD/Elektra Records)

Gosh, can you believe it’s time for another Scuzz Sunday already? I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! It is, of course, the time of the week where we take a scroll down memory lane and revisit a late 1990’s or 00’s pop-punk or emo punk-rock track to see if it holds up, one that would have been played on the now-defunct Scuzz TV freeview rock music video channel. In 1993, Pizies bassist Kim Deal formed The Breeders, a side project which originally included former Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donnely, who has since left the current incarnation of the band. The Pixies broke up, leaving Deal to concentrate on The Breeders as her primary recording outlet. The Breeders released “Lost Splash”, their debut album, in November 1993 to commercial success and critical acclaim, later earning a Platinum sales certification in the US. The album also ranked #64 on Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums Of The 1990’s” list. The band’s latest release was “All Nerve” in 2018, their return from a decade-long hiatus. “Cannonball” is the most memorable single from “Lost Splash”, weirdly becoming a huge hit in France by reaching #8 and staying in their Singles chart for 30 years. The track barely scraped the UK Singles Charts, by reaching #40. Let’s have a listen below!

Opened by it’s eccentric bass and drums breaks, “Cannonball” sees the band at their most effusive with their 15 seconds of distorted mic check noise. A jolting two-note bass guitar riff intertwined with a ticklish drum bassline, mixed with a playful lyricism, which teases a fully-blown hardcore thrash chorus, forms the bread and butter of the pudding here. Deal sings, after a few seconds’ break of complete silence, “Spitting in a wishing well/Blown to hell crash/I’m the last splash” over interspersed rhytmn guitar licks and a looping bass harmony. Next, comes the intense bridge of heavy guitar chords and a frenetic drumming signature before the pace simmers down for some nonsensical lyrics again: “I’ll be whatever you want/The bong in this reggae song”. before the track goes for an interesting structural twist again by going into a loud and authoritative vocal again. The hooks become quirky and unhinged to create an indie rock dancefloor filler by the end of the track again. It’s a single that you don’t hear as often as you should these days, as the layout is clever and the guitar/drum breaks lack cohesion to the to a point of unhinged comedy, but in a very good way. Essentially, the band spend 4 minutes in teasing the listener as opposed to actually delivering a very heavy, punk-inspired chorus. The guitar sections are fresh and nimble, blending the melodic elements of hard rock with vocals which, delightfully, say nothing of importance whatsoever. Overall, the track still succeeds with it’s almost flirtation structure and it’s breezy guitar strumming, broken up by a few syncopated drumming beats, to create a catchy disjointedness that keeps things interesting, while delivering on a style that feels melodic and indie-pop style enough, to hook the listener in. One of the strongest Scuzz Sunday songs that we’ve had so far.

  • Pictured: Kim Deal (Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar), Josephine Wiggs (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Kelley Deal (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Jim Macpherson (Drums/Percussion) (2017) (via PR)

Thank you for reading this post! Please stay at home, don’t do anything silly and keep washing those hands! I’ll be kicking off the new week on the blog tomorrow with an in-depth look at a recent track, taken from a compilation album, from a DJ and recording engineer who was born in Kaifeng but is now based in Vancouver, who learned to play the classic piano at an early age and she has frequently collaborated with Scott Johnson Gailey under the You’re Me moniker. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Scuzz Sundays: Cast – “Sandstorm”

April 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

Cue the memes featuring “Sandstorm” by Darude! It’s time for a Scuzz Sundays post!

“Cast” your worries away with this one! See what I did there? I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day on the blog! Every Sunday, I take you through a leisurely stroll down memory lane as we revisit some of the biggest pop-punk tracks of the late 90’s right through to the mid 2000’s, the likes of which you would have seen on the Scuzz TV rock music video channel on Freeview. Labelled as “The Who of the 90’s”, Cast are a big indie rock group from Liverpool who were formed in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson out of the ashes of The La’s and Shack, Power and Wilkinson’s previous bands who had just split up at the time. Cast became very popular commercially, as the band released their debut album “All Change” in 1995 to critical acclaim and it became the highest selling debut album for Polydor Records at the time. Oasis brother Noel Gallagher was a huge fan of the band and he described watching them perform live as a “religious experience”. Cast split up in 2004 after their fourth album “Beetroot”, which marked a departure of their sound, was a critical and commercial failure when it was released in 2001. However, Cast reunited in 2010. One of Cast’s most successful singles was “Sandstorm”, a Brit-rock track that was released as a single from their debut album in 1996. A heavy marketing push saw it get to #8 on the UK Singles Chart. Was it just a fad? Or, does it hold up? Let’s have a listen to it below and find out!

Although the band managed to Cast away their fears of commercial failures (Boom!) with a chart hit in “Sandstorm” back in ’96, you’ve got to remember that Cast were not actually a proper “indie” band because they were signed to a major label in Polydor Records, rather than releasing their own albums independently, despite having a very “indie”, guitar-driven style. Therefore, it is an example of “indie bollocks” as I call it, but I think that when you take a step back and treat “Sandstorm” more like a power-pop record instead, it does succeed fairly well and I think that it’s aged quite nicely. Power chants: “I’ve got a sandstorm blowing in my head/I’m seeing many colors/But the only one that’s coming through is red, and it’s stopping me dead” above the frantic drumming work by Keith O’ Neil and a psych-driven bass guitar riff by Wilkinson. As Power chimes: “I said oh no, I don’t even care/I guess I’ll be seeing you/I guess I’ll be leaving you today/We’re not a pair”, guitarist Liam Tyson enters the fray with a twangy guitar riff that feels obviously designed for a laddish sing-along in an intimate live venue. Power adds: “You walk me to a land, Try to understand, Are you nothing but a man?”, before a guitar solo leads us into a filler breakdown by Power on vocals to end it. It’s a cultural landmark in a time of the Brit-rock movement where Oasis were pushing “indie bollocks” to the forefront of mainstream popularity, leaving their fans hungry for more during the times when they were recording new music. Serviceably, Cast filled that void. Overall, “Sandstorm” is a very commercial record, but it has a nicely varied sound that harkens back to the 60’s era of punk, although in less daring fashion, and it feels influenced by The Who and The Clash. The backing vocals are old-school and melodic, and the entire package still sounds relatively conventional, but timeless. As an indie record, it’s “bollocks”, but as an admittedly power-pop one, it’s plain-spoken, half-decent, guitar-based pop-punk that should still manage to entertain a live crowd.

  • Pictured: Cast – John Power (Lead Vocals/Guitar), LIam “Skin” Tyson (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jay Lewis (Bass Guitar/Percussion) and Keith O’ Neil (Drums) (Current band line-up) (in 2018) (Photo Credit: The Oxford Mail)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow to introduce you to a recent Spoken-Word track, released in July last year, by an Irish poet and songwriter who is currently signed to the world famous London-based label Speedy Wunderground and has published her work for over 20 years, including a fictional short story that she wrote being published in the London Review Of Books! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Rocket From The Crypt – “On A Rope”

March 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a semi-radio hit that blasted off in 1995! It’s time for a new Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Scream, Dracula, Scream!” (released on 10th October, 1995) (via Interscope Records)

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog as always – however – the clocks have gone forward, a seasonal occurrence that I’ve never been able to get my head around! It’s still time for another weekly trip down memory lane with Scuzz Sundays, a celebration of the emo, pop-punk and teen punk tracks which defined THAT phase of my pre-teen life. “On A Rope” is the highest UK-charting single by Rocket From The Crypt, an American 6-piece hard rock band best known for their archetypal 1992 record, “Circa: Now!”. Rocket From The Crypt were originally active between 1989 – 2005, setting up their Swami Records label in the process after they cut ties with Interscope Records in 1998 after they faced disappointing sales for the band’s fifth studio album, “RFTC”. Rocket From The Crypt reformed between 2011 and 2013. “On A Rope” was a single from “Scream, Dracula, Scream!”, the band’s first major label release, and it became a hit, especially in the UK, where it reached #12 in the UK’s Singles Chart, as well as receiving decent airplay on the likes of MTV, Kerrang and, obviously, Scuzz! The album received rave reviews from the press, such as NME, and the band even performed on Top Of The Pops. Their tour featured Rancid and Soundgarden. This is significant because the band were known for their stage antics, where the band frequently held raffles on-stage in live shows, as well as perform chaotic fire-breathing stunts. Let’s hear “On A Rope” below!

Lively and energetic, “On A Rope” seems to capture the rebellious spirit and the strange showmanship of the band through it’s melodic, technical guitar riffs and it’s gritty, propellant drum rhythms. John Reis isn’t far off a rock-and-roll Elvis Costello on vocals: “Saw right through me/Staying started to unglue me/And I knew that I couldn’t win” over a timely bass guitar riff and a gristled, low pitch that complements the repetitious lead guitar hook that crumples and moulds itself around the ferocious metal influences of the clear 90’s punk sound. Reis leads a thuggish chant: “on a rope/on a rope/got me hanging on a rope” above a layer of frenzied guitar chords and a static bass guitar section, with the drums acting as the driving force behind it. The track firmly places itself in the “headbanging” and “mosh-pit” culture more akin to heavy metal textures, with a sing-along pace and a sharp contrast of momentum. The tempo is constantly edged in the upper gear and the lyrics are tedious, but they’re led into a repetitious post-punk groove which make them catchy and memorable, rather than getting on your nerves a bit much. Overall, I think it holds up rather well as the instrumentation is natural, with the band’s fluid chemistry and their aura of fun entertainment holding up, with no use of my so-called “auto-tuned nonsense” or “indie bollocks” to damper it’s quality. There’s nothing intriguing about it lyrically, but I can definitely see why it’s retained it’s status as an anti-pop radio hit – as it’s accessible and it’s been written around the context of a rowdy, live environment – a substantial focus of the band’s style. A laddish and brash, but likeable 90’s throwback.

  • Pictured: John Reis (Lead Vocals/Backing Guitar), Andy Stamets (Lead Guitar), Pete Reichart (Bass Guitar), Paul O’ Beirne (Saxophone), Jason Crane (Trumpet) and Adam Willard (Drums) (1996) (Photo by Patrick Ford/Redferns)

Thank you for reading this post! I can’t believe that we’ve nearly reached a new week already! Join me tomorrow, as I’m going to be kicking it off in style with an in-depth look at a track released last autumn by an American R&B/Soul musician and songwriter who is well-known for being the vocalist of Alabama Shakes and she has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, winning four as both as a solo artist and for her work on group projects. She appeared on Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny on New Year’s Eve and I would describe her as The Real Deal! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Placebo – “Pure Morning”

March 15, 2020 — Leave a comment

The irony is how I’m typing this in the evening! It’s time for a new Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Brian Molko (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Keyboard/Percussion), Stefan Olsdal (Bass Guitar/Piano/Backing Vocals) and Steve Forrest (Drums/Percussion) (2003) (Photo Credit: Jamie Crossnan/NME)

Good evening to you, you’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke on this fine Scuzz Sunday evening – of course, it’s the time of the week on the blog where I take you on a leisurely stroll down memory lane as we revisit the late 90’s-mid 00’s era of emo, punk and pop-punk, as we dust the ashes from the landmark tracks played by the likes of Scuzz TV, a freeview music video channel, which housed a lot of the bands from this particular scene. I have decided to write about Placebo’s track, “Pure Morning”, which was released in 1998 as the lead single of the British alternative rock band’s debut album, “Without You I’m Nothing”. The track was the first single to ever be released by the Brian Molko-fronted band at the time and it was a huge hit, having reached the #4 spot on the UK Singles Chart in August 1998 (before I was born!) and it’s still certified silver in the country. The album also struck a chord with mainstream audiences, although it was less commercially successful than it’s main single, which is not a staple of the group’s live sets. Placebo were primarily known for addressing gender issues and the LGBT community within the Britpop music movement during the late 1990’s, with “Nancy Boy” being a controversial punk anthem which openly discussed the topics of sexuality, mental health and drug use. The band was originally set up by Molko as a duo with bassist and guitarist Stefan Olsdal, later to be joined by original drummer Robert Schultzberg, who left in 2007, citing creative differences. Placebo also got to collaborate with the likes of true icon David Bowie and REM legend Michael Stipe in their prime era. Let’s revisit “Pure Morning” in it’s glory below.

The sound of “Pure Morning” is centered upon a post-punk guitar riff and a semi-aggressive bass guitar riff, matched by an ostensibly gloomy synth riff which makes it sound very contemporary and reflective of it’s time. There is a minimalist simplicity to the electronic instrumentation and the simplistic layout of the guitar, bass and drum formula. The lyrics are simply: “A friend in need’s a friend indeed/A friend with weed is better/A friend with breasts and all of the rest/A friend who’s dressed in leather”, which are delivered as a monotonous backdrop to a constantly thumping drum rhythm and a fiery, although self-contained, synthesizer pattern. There’s a slight Kraut-rock influence buried deep in the repetitious melodies of this track, a genre of experimental rock which burst out of Germany in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Overall, it’s rather difficult to say much more about this track due to it’s simplistic nature and it’s conserved style of lyricism – however, I feel it manages to express a late 90’s teenager’s desire to get battered every night with a certain level of artistry, as care and thought seemed to be involved in the songwriting process. The focus on the harmonized electronic guitar riff is somewhat reflective of a settled 70’s funk-groove in the way that it feels repetitious, but with an ideology behind it to carry a meaning along. I find the lyrics to be a little bare-bones for my liking and the pacing of the track seems a little off in places, where it doesn’t seem to change it’s synthesized patterns up very much as we draw near to the end of the track, but these are minor flaws since I’m not really a part of the London post-punk world that it’s been created for. Due to it’s simplicity, I can hear the mainstream appeal because of it’s accessibility and it’s well-defined target audience, but as far as that market goes – there’s a decent level of artistry which adds something more to the pop-punk sound.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Without You I’m Nothing” (Released on 12th October, 1998) (via Hut/Virgin)

Thank you for reading this post! As always, I hope that you enjoyed it! I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll be kicking off the week with an intriguing track from a Slovakian electronic math-rock artist who recently played a live set at the 2020 Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, which is the main municipality and the capital city of The Netherlands. Geography fact! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Dread Zeppelin – “Your Time Is Gonna Come”

March 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Mentally drained, the time for bedtime has almost come… It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Un-Led-Ed” (Released on 24th July, 1990) (via I.R.S. music label)

It’s almost the weekend… The time is gonna come! Good evening to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! For a band which is essentially a novelty tribute band for a 70’s classic rock band, Dread Zeppelin are strangely prolific, having produced and recorded a whopping total of 15 albums between 1990 and 2011. Obviously, Dread Zeppelin are a Dub-plate take on the 1970’s British Heavy metal pioneers Led Zeppelin, having produced each of their tracks as covers of Led Zeppelin tracks, with a Reggae style. The band were formed in California in 1989, which led to an extensive touring schedule as a part of a long tenure with IRS Records – led by an Elvis Presley impersonator named Tortelvis on lead vocals. Dread Zeppelin have also been publically endorsed by Robert Plant, the lead vocalist of Led Zeppelin, who has stated that he prefers Dread Zeppelin’s 1990’s cover of “Your Time Is Gonna Come” to his own band’s original version. Compare for yourself with Dread Zeppelin’s cover below!

Dread Zeppelin’s cover version of “Your Time Is Gonna Come” by Led Zeppelin starts off as you might probably expect, with the recognizable opening lead guitar riffs of the track being replaced by the bouncy sounds of a Sitar, before a fizzled synth-line and a funk-laden groove settles into a constant affair of mid-tempo arrangement, before Tortelvis enters the fray: “Women lie/You’ll be cheated, you’ll be hurtin’/Messing around with every guy in town/Puttin’ me down for thinking of someone new”, with Tortelvis adding a vintage 70’s rock-and-roll edge to the duelling Rastafarian backing vocals. He later continues “Made up my mind to break you this time/Won’t be so fine, it’s my turn to cry/Do what you want, I won’t take your brunt/It’s fading away, I can’t feel you anymore” over an acoustic layer of Cuica riffs and Harpischord sections. The chorus sounds as triumphant as Zeppelin’s classic original, but with a lack of stadium rock sensibilites and a replaced sense of care-free fun, created by a thumping steel drum rhythm and a soft dose of licked bass guitar melodies. On paper, it sounds like a horrific idea which simply shouldn’t work, but it does. I’ve found there’s a dark corner of my mind that tells me I like this song and I can’t help but nod in approval to that. It’s humorous and quirky, with a cheerful quality of light-hearted Dub textures and the anthemic chanting vocals of the chorus have managed to translate to a more pop-driven style with effective results. The joke doesn’t quite ware itself out and the varied instrumentation keeps it melodic enough to hold your interest. The result is an entertaining novelty track which strikes the balance of accessibility and credibility. Your time, to have a boogie to this, has come!

  • Pictured: Ed Zeppelin (Graphic Artist/Writer/Producer), Tortelvis (Lead Guitar), Jah Paul Jo (Lead Guitar), Carl Jah (Rhythmn Guitar/Backing Vocals), Put-Mon (Bass Guitar) and Charlie Haj (Drums/Percussion) (1989) (via WikiWand)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at the final track that I’m going to cover on the blog from “Our Pathetic Age”, the outstanding new double album from American EDM/Trip-Hop icon DJ Shadow, who claims to own a personal collection of over 60,000 records! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: The ORB – “Little Fluffy Clouds”

February 18, 2020 — 1 Comment

These guys sharpened up their “Orb-anization” skills for this! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld) (Released in 1991) (via Big Life)

I hope you’re not getting soaked in the rain too much! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, writing about your daily track on the blog, as with any other day! Although I’m not very familiar with The Orb – a landmark 1990’s ambient electronica project set up by English producer Alex Paterson – with his partner-in-crime being changed over the years, with Thomas Fehlmann currently in the seat, taking over from original co-founder Jimmy Cauty, a former member of the KLF – I can still appreciate everything that the act has done in progressing their ambient electronica genre to new heights since the duo released their debut album, “The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld”, in 1991. A total of 15 LP records have been released ever since, with a sixteenth set to drop in March this year. The Orb are a pioneering spirit of the 90’s psychedelic EDM music and drug-infused clubbing scenes they’ve become very beloved for channeling a hefty part across the last two decades, where they used to perform live with digital audio tape machines which they’ve programmed live sampling and beat mixing with, a technique they still perform with the use of laptops, since everything’s moved on from analogue production to digital effects. The Orb have been embarking on a recent 30th Anniversary Tour and they’ve been confirmed for this year’s All Points East Festival lineup. “Little Fluffy Clouds” was a landmark in their discography, a chilled ambient folktronica-style track which reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart following a reissue in 1993. Let’s listen to the edit of the track below.

A melodic sci-fi anthem which stands up to the heavyweight influences of The Prodigy and Aphex Twin in the early 90’s time of it’s ilk – “Little Fluffy Clouds” sounds instantly familiar, with the track receiving heavy licensing use for many films and television series. The lead vocals have a whimsical quality which feels reminiscent of a lullaby you might tell a child before bedtime, as a female vocal narrator recites a story of adventure and maturation with “Little Fluffy Clouds” as the centerpiece, she reads: “What were the skies like when you were young?/They went on forever and they, when I lived in Arizona/And the skies always had little fluffy clouds”, with the chronological structure of the narrative being obscured by virtuosic sampling effects and complex synth patterns. It’s the kind of track you’d be best off listening to on a good pair of headphones to experience every little nuance of sound, as the layers are meticulously programmed on top of of an irregular keyboard riff and erroneous tones of chilled house. This quality is lyrically referenced in the track: “Layering different sounds on top of each other”, leading to a pulsating bass vibration to the tune of: “The sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire”, with the refrain broken up by a sample of an airplane taking off. There’s also a light sample of a weather documentary and a rooster clucking in the beginning, blatantly creating a dream-like opening which transpires as a recurrent theme in the euphoric arrangement of strings and mid-tempo synth pads. Due to it’s eclectic range of assorted samples, with their highly manipulation composition – the track is a complex work of true art and a dream-scoped soundscape rewarding of multiple listens to shape your own interpretation and experience of. It’s very easy to get obsessed about – and The Orb’s fandom really are! It’s fitting since the track was listed at #40 in Pitchfork’s Top 200 Tracks Of The 1990’s and also #275 in NME’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All-Time.

Whew, there’s a lot to talk about! Don’t forget to join me tomorrow, where I will be introducing you to a fantastic independent singer-songwriter who has previously been collaborating with Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner and she also performed her own track for the second season of the “True Detective” crime-drama TV series under a different name! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Gary Clail (On-U Sound System) (feat. Bim Sherman) – “Beef (Future Mix)”

February 10, 2020 — 1 Comment

I’ve got no issue with this beef! A new week, a new set of posts, starting with this one!

  • Pictured: A still image featuring Gary Clail in the official music video for “Another Hard Man” (1995)

I would usually be cooking a meatless meal in aid of the Meat Free Mondays campaign tonight, but since I’m covering a track with the title of “Beef”, it’s hard to know whether that’s necessarily gone out of the window this week! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, covering your daily track on the blog, as always. I’ve noticed that I’ve been covering a lot of new tracks on the blog lately and so I thought it would make a nice change to share a little 90’s house track which I’ve recently found out about, which comes courtesy of Gary Clail, An English DJ and recording producer who made a name for himself from the Bristol music scene in the 1990’s, a little before the late 1990’s IDM movement featuring the likes of Aphex Twin, Plaid and Boards Of Canada. The founder of On-U Sound Records and the producer of early 90’s club hits like “Human Nature” and “These Things Are Worth Fighting For”, Clail established himself as an important fixture of the underground electronic music side of the 90’s dance craze. “Beef” is an interesting old record which is taken from his second LP, “End Of The Century Party”, which he released as Gary Clail On-U Sound System in 1989. There was no music video, but the future mix audio of “Beef” is available on YouTube below.

Clail repeats: “Beef, how low would you go?” over a fluctuating snare line as he reminds me of the Limbo games that I used to play at the end-of-term party at Primary School. It’s an upbeat, groove-driven synth hook which is used to anchor the diverse arrangement of the track. The instrumental disco sound is heavily infused with light elements of nu-disco and dark-wave synthpop, with an overall Dub-plate format. The pacing is noticeably inflected with Reggae and Clail adds a sense of ambient techno vibes to proceedings with his gradually building layout of BPM rises and synthetic funk-tinged vibrations. The vocals float above a layer of politicized themes and minor-key drum-and-bass sensibilities which provide a catalyst for the propelling drum waves and the building tempo of the vibraphone riffs. I’ve heard a story that Clail nicked the lyrical refrain from an old Public Enemy classic, “Bring The Noize”, released in 1988. He reworks the phrase: “Bass, how low can you go” and he replaces the line of “Death row, what a brother knows” with the intercepting vocals of “Hear the cry/Cattle row”, led by a chant-based question of “Would you kill it yourself?”, a not-so subtle comment which supports the ideas of Vegetarianism. Overall, I believe it’s a cohesive house anthem which brings the best out of the different elements which it musically pulls it’s influences from, as the track sounds uniformly structured and it effectively pulls a wide array of talent together. Constructively, I find the vocal hooks to sound a little under-cooked, if you pardon the pun, as the slow build doesn’t necessarily lead to a fast payoff, but it sounds like Clail has some fascinating political views to express – which I’m inclined to explore further.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “End Of The Century Party” (1989/On-U Sound Records) (Photo from eBay.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at the new track from the leading man of REM – I was in a curry shop when I heard the band had split up and I fell in the Korma! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Less Than Jake – “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads”

January 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

In the case of some of my fellow university students, all of my best friends are… Gobble heads! If you know, you know! It’s time for your weekly Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Chris DeMakes (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar), Roger Lima (Bass Guitar), Buddy “Goldfinger” Schaub (Trombone), Peter “JR” Wasilewski (Tenor/Backing Vocals) and Matt Yonker (Drums) (November 2019) (Photo Credit: Kerrang.com)

Happy Scuzz Sunday and if you’re reading this as a fellow pro wrestling fan, I hope you enjoy the Royal Rumble tonight! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and this week’s throwback emo-pop/punk/rock track from the late 90’s to the early 00’s is the punk, Jamaican ska-inflected track “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” by Less Than Jake, a track from their third LP, “Hello Rockview”, released in October 1998. It was the Gainesville ska-punk band’s final release as part of Capitol Records and the final album to feature Pete Anna as the trombonist. The album reached #80 on the Billboard US 200 charts, with the lead single “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” reaching the #51 spot on the UK Singles Chart. Let’s have a listen to the single below.

With “Hello Rockview”, the album, telling the story of four years in the life of a former drummer who was imprisoned at Rockview State Correctional Institution in a comic book stylised format, “All My Best Friends Are Metalheads” is, quite literally and very musically, a late-night stoner-rock filled party filled with chaotic guitar riffs, frenetic bass guitar lines and bombastically delivered vocal hooks. DeMakes starts: “You will constantly remind yourself that some of my generation judges people by their race” over a fast-paced composition of youthful, decapitalized energy. It’s a story of Punk popularity under the oppression of the local authorities, told from the point of view of a teenager, as DeMakes chants: “You think it’s strange/that there’s a way of how you looked, and how you act, and how you think”, before imploring the listener to: “Pretend they’re not the same as you”, with DeMakes rapping about the importance of dressing your own way and the power of individualism within your bubble of friends. There are trombone-filled horn intersections and chant-led arrangements of quick vocal hooks. It sounds like the theme of a kids’ cartoon from the 1990’s and it isn’t exactly the most polished record that I’ve ever heard, as the pacing is speedy, although abrupt. The overall frivolous style adds a witty element of comedy and the lyrics are sharp, if not preachy. In my views, this is a track which rolls along far too quickly to a point where the lyrics aren’t given any time or space to have an effect. The jazz-based instrumentation adds a nice dynamic, but the overall package is quite rowdy and it doesn’t quite manage to drop the heavy baggage of it’s lyrical subject matter. A weird one to analyse, this is a ska-punk preach that feels like mess on a kid’s bedroom floor, as there’s some fun nostalgia, but it mostly sounds cobbled together.

  • Pictured: Art designs for “Less Than Jake” band T-Shirts & Merchandise (2019) (Photo Credit: edithboucher.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at a new track from a British electronic dance duo, mainly known for their 80’s hits, who have just released a new album to a positive critical reception and recently performed the single on an episode of BBC 1’s “The One Show”. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: The Offspring – “The Kids Aren’t Alright”

January 12, 2020 — 1 Comment

Grab your popcorn and buckle up your seat belts, it’s time for another Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Dexter Holland (Lead Vocals), Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Todd Morse (Bass Guitar) and Pete Parada (Drums/Percussion) (2012)

As always, Jacob Braybrooke here! Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, it is Sunday! This means it’s the day of the week on the blog where I take a trip down memory lane and revisit a cheesy emo rock/punk throwback tune from the 90’s/mid-00’s, which takes me back to THAT phase of my life, with a track which would typically be seen on the Scuzz TV music video channel. It’s a bit of a safe choice this week, but it’s still nonetheless worth covering. The Offspring are a Hard Rock band from California who had several hits in the era, such as “Pretty Fly For A White Guy”, “Original Prankster” and “Why Don’t You Get A Job?”, with the former track reaching the #1 spot on mainstream singles charts around the world, including my native UK Singles Chart. The band were a big part of the mainstream pop-punk rock movement in the late 90’s, along with fellow Californian bands such as Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion and Pennywise (Hiya, Georgie)! The band have gone on to sell over 40 million copies worldwide, as of 2015. Today’s track in question is “The Kids Aren’t Alright” – a single from their fifth major LP, “Americana”, released in 1998. The track was a major commercial success, as it reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart.

The track, titled as an indirect reference to The Who’s 1966 classic “The Kids Are Alright”, also available as downloadable content for the “Rock Band” video game series, is a surprisingly heavy allusion to the Punk Movement of the late 1960’s. The lyrics are delivered with a sharp-witted, quick pace, as Holland starts off: “When we were young the future was so bright/The old neighborhood was so alive/And every kid on the whole damn street/Was gonna make it big and not be beat”, before he compares these ambitions to a harsh, materialistic reality: “Now the neighborhood’s cracked and torn/The kids are grown up but their lives are worn/How can one little street/Swallow so many lives”, with the chorus reiterating themes of scarred potential: “Still it’s hard/Hard to see/Fragile lives, shattered dreams”. As you would expect, this theme of repressed youth and deprived goals continues throughout the track, at a breakneck pace, with Holland referencing stories of Jamie, Jay and Brandon (Hope they made it out alright in the end), with a clear influence of 60’s/70’s punk bands like The Sex Pistols and The Strokes ringing through. The emo-punk style is obviously dated, but the track does have a certain maturity and forlorn seriousness which makes it stand out from it’s peer’s offerings. The rhythm is fairly catchy, although the overall aesthetic is a little bit too pop-oriented and uptempo to fully stand the test of time, for my liking. Nevertheless, it’s a track which clearly borrows some elements of older examples and it updates these morals for the audience of it’s time. It mostly succeeds in doing so, as the guitar riffs are infectious and fit the criteria well. The bass guitar riffs have a dark Americana quality that works and the lyrics, although straightforward, are timeless. Overall, I think it’s solid-as-a-rock stuff!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Americana” (November 1998)

Thank you for reading this post! Make sure that you check back with the blog tomorrow as I’ll be continuing to try and wash away those January blues with an in-depth look at a new-ish track from a Canadian Electronic Hip-Hop duo who describe their own sound as “Stadium Pow-Wow” and were named as a homage to African-American hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (feat. Kylie Minogue) – “Where The Wild Roses Grow”

January 7, 2020 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Murder Ballads” (February 1996)

Jacob Braybrooke here, a Nick Cave super fan! Well, I’m getting there. I haven’t worked my way through his entire discography yet, with 2-3 albums yet to go, but he is certainly one of the most fascinating artists in the world! January is infamous for crappy Horror films being released in cinemas that usually make year-end worst lists from movie publications. So, I thought I’d see if I could do a better job of terrifying you! Possibly the album to do so, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released “Murder Ballads” in February 1996. It’s a record that pretty much does what it says on the tin, with the introduction of female vocal collaborations with PJ Harvey and, on this bizarre track, Kylie Minogue, who brought Cave on-stage to perform the track during her legends slot set at Glastonbury Music Festival in 2019. It was a delightful moment!

They called her “The Wild Rose”, but her name was Elisa Day, so the vocal hook goes! A cheerful narrative, as Cave narrates the story of a serial killer whose passionate lust for Ms/Mrs. Day causes him to ultimately kill the one that he loves. Cave expresses his lust and desire for the girl upon their first date: “From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one/As she stared in my eyes and smiled/For her lips were the colour of the roses/They grew down the river, all bloody and wild”. This track has a male/female call-and-response style of storytelling, as the lyrics of the track shift between the alternating viewpoints of the killer and Elisa Day. During the second verse, naratted as the “second day”, Minogue begins to realise that the vitality of the “first day” will never be surpassed and Cave quickly loses his innocence. Cave sings: “On the second day I brought her a flower/She was more beautiful than any woman I’d seen//I said, ‘Do you know where the wild roses grow/So sweet and scarlet and free?”, while Minogue sings: ” On the second day he came with a single rose/he said: ‘Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?/I nodded my head, as I laid on the bed/He said, ‘If I show you the roses will you follow?” Day 3 comes and he… kills her!

Minogue describes the ordeal: “On the third day he took me to the river/He showed me the roses and we kissed/And the last thing I heard was a muttered word/As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist”, While Cave attempts to justify the slaughter as a way of preserving their integrity and their memories together: “On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow/And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief/As I kissed her goodbye, I said, ‘All beauty must die’/And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth”, before a repeat of the joint chorus hook closes the track. The vocal performances are great and the simplicity of the music behind the lyrics add something of a bizzare beauty to the dark fable of the track. It cleverly plays on the naivety of the damsel in distress and her killer in black cloth, although the sound is notably not ingrained in the 70’s garage rock’ n’ roll roots of Cave. The chemistry is another standout of the track, and it’s heartwarming to see that Cave and Minogue have remained close friends ever since and they’ve always been well aware of each other, even if their solo music output is very different. Overall, it’s a fantastic, if a little bizarre, collaboration between two of the biggest Australian icons to brace popular culture. If you’re reading this before bed… don’t have nightmares!

  • Pictured: Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave performing “Where The Wild Roses Grow” at Glastonbury 2019 (Worthy Farm)

If you’re looking to catch up with my other entries on Nick Cave, my musing on “Rings Of Saturn” is here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/08/30/todays-track-nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-rings-of-saturn/ and my entry on “Henry Lee” featuring PJ Harvey, also from “Murder Ballads” can be read here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/01/todays-track-nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-feat-pj-harvey-henry-lee/

  • Pictured: Nick Cave has gone to Book World! (Reading “American Murder Ballads” (Credit: Stickitonyourwall.com)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’ll be looking at a track from a Techno DJ, signed to the Nina Tune imprint label, who also has a degree in Neuroscience and he is also a co-founder of the Eglo Records label! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/