Scuzz Sundays: Papa Roach – ‘…To Be Loved’

November 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Paramour Sessions’ (LP) (Released on Sept 12th, 2006) (via Geffen Records)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to remember another of the ghosts of Pop-Punk’s past that dwindled after the late-90’s to the mid-00’s into a pile of ash for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! In a similar vein to last week’s entry on Hoobastank, Papa Roach have also been covered for the ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature once before, but it was published over a year ago. ‘Last Resort’ earned a fairly ‘meh’ reception from me, and so it’s time to see if some of their later work can redeem things. Formed in Vacacille, California in 1993 when lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner came across each other on the Vacaville High School college football pitch and they bonded over their shared love for music. Known for hits like ‘Last Resort’ and ‘Between Angels and Insects’, as well as Gold-certified albums such as 2002’s ‘Lovehatetragedy’ and the triple platinum-certified LP release ‘Infest’ from two years prior, the Pop-Grunge group are also well-known for composing ‘To Be Loved’, which was originally featured as the theme tune for WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ programme that was used between 2006 and 2009. It was the opening single of 2006’s ‘The Paramour Sessions’, which was titled as a reference to The Paramour Mansion, where the album was recorded. Dedicated to the memory of Shaddix’s step grandfather, who committed suicide that year, following a diagnosis of an unspecified form of terminal cancer, the record is a departure in sound for the band, as it trends into more of a Hard Rock sound instead of Nu-Metal like the group’s previous releases. Let’s revisit the album’s most popular single below.

In it’s late-00’s heyday, ‘To Be Loved’ slowly ascended to the #8 position of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #14 in the Modern Rock Tracks charts that have been compiled by Billboard in the US, and it has been memorably used during the theatrical trailer for the 2008 film ‘Never Back Down’, which was directed by Jeff Wadlow (‘Kick-Ass 2’, ‘Bloodshot’) and boasted a star studded cast that included the likes of Amber Heard, Sean Faris and Djimon Honsou. Throughout the track, Shaddix promises he’s “Taking it back to the hardcore level” with some big vocal hooks and some jangly lead guitar riffs, marking a slight tease into the band’s older Rap Metal sound with a light Hip-Hop introduction that goes into something more distorted and alike to an uncontrollable frenzy, with a post-bridge that shouts ‘Screamo’ movement in a not-so subtle nature. Lyrics like “I want domination/I want your submission” and “I’ve gotta roll the dice/Never look back and never think twice” are what you would expect considering it was used for a long-running WWE TV product at one point, and the instrumentation fits the chaotic nature of the vocals with tight Drum riffs and upbeat guitar riffs. There’s some light use of snares, but they are paper thin. This feels water-tight on the whole in terms of sequencing, however, with a fast pace that never really lets up and an enthusiastic vocal performance that blends into the aggressive melodies decently enough. Overall, if you were looking for the pinnacle example of what a ‘Scuzz TV’ song was, this is the one. It is cheesy, an obvious crossover track with Pop elements, and a riotously paced single with some cheap lyrics. While I can’t comment on whether I believe it is Papa Roach’s best work, as I haven’t listened to enough of their own discography to get a full picture of that award, I thought this was fine overall. It is what it is. Disposable, but fun and it got the job done reasonably well.

Pictured: Papa Roach performing at the Reading & Leeds Music Festival (2014) (Photo via BBC Music)

If you really want to check out some of Papa Roach’s other more well-known past material, allow my prior post pertaining to Papa Roach to be your ‘Last Resort’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/26/scuzz-sundays-papa-roach-last-resort/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Infest’ (LP) (Released on April 25th, 2021) (via DreamWorks/NPG Studios)

That’s all for today! Thank you for joining me for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, and I’ll be back tomorrow with another regular blog post in the long lead up to the ‘Countdown To Christmas’ rush! This time, it will come from a New York-based songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who has released three studio albums and a 7″ single. Digital Trends included 2018’s ‘You, Forever’ in their list of their best albums that year.

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Today’s Track: White Lies – ‘As I Try Not To Fall Apart’

November 16, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘As I Try Not To Fall Apart’ (LP) (Available from Feb 18, 2022) (via PIAS Recordings)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into the words of Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for another quick daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The calendar for a new year of album releases seems to be filling up all of a sudden, with the likes of Charli XCX and Metronomy set to issue anticipated new long-players in the early months, but the Ealing-based Post Punk Revival group White Lies, who were originally formed as Fear Of Flying in 2007, are yet another cog in the machine of 2022 releases. A band who gained popularity at a similar time to their peers of Editors, The Pigeon Detectives and The Bravery, White Lies have survived the ‘Indie Distortion’ of the 00’s as a critically acclaimed live act. Their debut album, ‘To Lose My Life’, was a number one hit on the UK Albums Chart in its first week on sale, and they were also recruited for BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2009’ poll, and nominated for the BRIT’s Critics Choice Award. They are shortly going to issue their sixth LP, ‘As I Try Not To Fall Apart’, which they recorded within two studio sessions at the Assault & Battery and Sleeper studios in their homestead of London, where they resumed their partnership with frequent collaborator Ed Buller as their engineer. It was also co-produced and mixed by Cladius Mittendorfer, who has previously spent time behind the decks with Panic! At The Disco and Weezer. The title track and lead single, ‘As I Try Not To Fall Apart’, is our first taste of the record, which the Indie Rock trio describe as their most ambitious project yet. It has been accompanied by a music video directed by James Arden, which finds vocalist Harry McVeigh embossed in an hourglass of sinking sand. They will be touring the UK and Europe in Spring of 2022, and the accomplished new single explores the anxieties of modern masculinity in a mental health position. Let’s give it a spin below.

“We wrote this song quickly, late at night, and often the songs which come quickest are written from the gut and the heart, not with the head”, the band collectively say about their latest single, noting, “We wanted the melody to feel like a hymn, to give the confessional lyrics weight despite being wrapped up as a Pop song. It’s about accepting vulnerability as a man, and knowing it’s ok to be broken. There’s never been a more pressing time to spread the message that it’s ok to not be ok”, in their press statement to announce their forthcoming full-length album. Built on an intoned, Synth-enhanced drum groove that should be familiar to fans of Joy Divison or Interpol, bands that White Lies have cited as their inspirations, McVeigh reflects on the strength that modern men are pressured to conform to, with lyrics like “It’s not the way a man like me behaves/It’s not the way the world would make me play my part” in the chorus, and the opening refrain of “Am I a faulty kind of man so tender in the heart?” says a lot about how the band view the stereotypes of men being quiet and well-composed, somewhat cold and emotionless, in British society. Meanwhile, the instrumentation decorates the scene with glistening, 80’s New Wave Synth hooks and a vocal delivery that feels silky, but the brooding evocations of the lyrics are still a little bleak and colder than your average Pop/Rock record. It feels a little gothic and dark, which is representative of the band’s earlier work, while also giving the hooks a more distinctly airy sound. They follow a conventional Pop/Rock structure, with the bright tonality of the Synths counteracting the more harsh, aggressive guitar-led beats. It walks a delicate tightrope between 80’s Pop and Post-Punk, and, thankfully, it is a tightrope that White Lies walk confidently. In fact, given how I haven’t seen the trio to be particularly relevant in recent years, I was suprised how much I enjoyed this new track and that’s because I personally really, really enjoyed it very much. This is very catchy Post-Rock music that feels influenced merticulously by the band’s own late-00’s image and the likes of Tears For Fears from the 80’s. It manages to fulfill the ‘Indie Dancefloor’ niche of their genre, while the post-modern existentialist lyrics within the songwriting give you something more to feel and think about that resonates beyond the commercial accessibility of the new track, and so it feels brooding and bleak enough to please Post-Punk fans while reeling in some audiences who may typically steer away from the Alternative Rock scene. Overall, this was an excellent single that feels catchy and easy to access yet intriguing, as with each listen, I can find something new to come to light that I may have skipped beforehand. While it is perhaps not likely to tip the planet over on its axis, this was a solid and engaging single from a band who simply know what they’re comfortable with doing and what to give their fans, and stick to it well, while gradually evolving their style with subtlety.

Pictured: Harry McVeigh (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Charles Cave (Bass Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals) and Jack Lawrence-Brown (Drums/Percussion) (2017) (Photography by Red Light Management)

That’s all for now! Thank you for joining me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for the newest entry in our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ feature, as we look at some Festive music that’s new and original, coming from an American Singer-Songwriter and Pianist who has won nine Grammy awards and she was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine’s artists of the 2000’s decade chart. She also made her acting debut in the 2007 movie ‘My Blueberry Nights’ – which was directed by Wong Kar-Wai.

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New Album Release Fridays: Geese – “Low Era”

October 29, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Projector’ (LP) (Released on October 29th, 2021) (via Partisan Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to take a closer look at one of the week’s most newsworthy album releases for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The likes of LGBTQ+ Techno activist Maya Jane Coles, legendary Leeds Trip Hop producer Nightmares On Wax, Qrion, Sam Evian, Eleanor Buckland and mainstream music mega star Ed Sheeran are all releasing new full-length efforts today, but one of the most intriguing offerings comes from the Brooklyn Art-Punk band Geese. ‘Projector’ was intended to be their last album before they split up and went to seperate colleges in the US, but they were signed up to Partisan Records, the home of successful bands like Fontaines DC and Chubby & The Gang, and appointed the critically beloved producer Dan Carey (Idles, Squid), who Geese cite as influences, to mix their new album. Their beginnings as a band trace back to 2016, however, where their members met during freshmen year at high school and they bonded over their love for 70’s Synth-Rock groups like Yes! and Pink Floyd to build chemistry together. Their single, ‘Disco’, has gained huge praise from the alternative music press, and Geese have since been covered by journalists from NME, SPIN, Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum, KEXP, KCRW and more. They have also headlined Berlin, a club located beneath the Lower East Side Bar 2A, found in their borough in New York. They’re also expanding through the UK and Europe, with two performances set for The Honeyglaze in London and a concert taking place at the Endorphin Transistor in Paris next month. Get a taster with recent hit ‘Low Era’ below.

Geese – whose oldest member has just turned 19 – have plenty to say about ‘Low Era’, which comes accompanied by a gloomy and trippy music video that was directed by Fons Schiedon, and they explained, “We like the idea of confusing the listener a little, and trying to make every song a counteraction to the last, pinballing between catchy and complicated, fast and slow”, adding, “Low Era is on one end of that spectrum, and ultimately broadened the scope of songs we thought we could make”, to their press notes. ‘Low Era’ ushers in a psychedelic 3-D element that ends up appearing throughout the new album, a single that Geese began playing live in 2020 and it helped them to grow their following. Calling back to Alt-Rock bands like The Strokes and Klaxons of the 00’s, ‘Low Era’ builds appeal from its raw and cagey vocals, the persuasive blend of steel guitar frames and shoegaze influence, and the New Wave instrumentation which gives proceedings a quirky uplift, and echoes the sentiments of LCD Soundystem and A Certain Ratio in radiating something more groove-led from the misfit psychedelia with the balance of playfulness and commandment. Their guitar melodies are a little funk-oriented, but lyrics like “On the hour of my death, the page rips/All is lost, and I am left to rot” are quite morbid and the delivery is fairly authoritative, but given a Falsetto-like croon to make things feel a little bizzare or pecuiliar, even. Some of the lyrics, like “Modern magazines and holy scriptures/My play rehearsals all go unheard” are witty and sardonic, while other lyrics like “The beginning of the end approaches/You and I, we float up to the top”, sound more post-apocalyptic and a little silly in tone, and so Geese approach the track as a neat balancing act of taut Post-Punk afflictions and more wacky, dance-led undertones. It is a risky move, but it thankfully pays off pretty well on ‘Low Era’ because these two different moods are juxtaposed pretty evenly and distort one another with an overlapping effect at times, so the production feels coherent and charming, leading up to the atmospheric instrumental section that finishes ‘Low Era’ off at the end. This is an intriguing track where, despite the call for dancing or listening quietly seeming a little unclear in direction, the band are pulling off more tricks than your average, moody gang of Post-Punk outcasts, with some instrumentation that feels interesting despite a little unfocused at times. A hypnotic combination of Synth-Punk and Prog Rock, coming from a band who are still really young and developing at a strong pace.

Pictured: Cameron Winter (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), Max Bassin (Drums/Percussion), Dominic DiGesu (Bass Guitar), Foster Hudson (Rhythm Guitar) & Gus Green (Lead Guitar) (2021) (Photo by Daniel Topete)

That brings us to the bottom of the page – for yet another day, of course! There’s no ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature this week because we are getting into the Halloween spirit with a two-day spread of Spooky Season posts, where we will be comparing selected songs from the soundtracks of the 1978 version of ‘Halloween’ and the 2018 rebooted release, both of which were scored by the prolific Horror film director John Carpenter.

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Scuzz Sundays: Evanescence – “Call Me When You’re Sober”

August 29, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Open Door’ (LP) (Released on September 25, 2006) (via Wind Up Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, I have returned from my short break away from the blog, and so it’s time for me to add another entry to our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library, because it is – once again – my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has been a little while since we had a female-led band featured on a ‘Scuzz Sunday’ on the site and I like to be inclusive for all on the site, so I’ve decided to whip up a quick one from Amy Lee’s Evanescence today since, all things considered, they are a good quality group. The lead single from their second album – ‘The Open Door’ – released in 2006, ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’ reached the top five of the UK singles chart that year. For their second album, the Arkansas 5-piece group decided to head towards a Symphonic Metal direction and they used backing vocals from choirs when the album was written over an 18 month period. Evanescence have always sold well in European markets, and this album was no different because ‘The Open Door’ topped the album charts in Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Australia too. The record also won ‘Album Of The Year’ at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards in 2007, and the record has also been certified as Double Platinum according to the RIAA. Let’s revisit the lead single below.

The pressure was certainly mounting up for Amy Lee’s quintet to deliver the goods for the follow-up LP to their widely successful ‘Fallen’ debut in 2003, and they made small steps to repeating their huge success with ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, a single that reached ten of the different component Billboard charts in the US. Lee wrote the anthemic single about her dwindled relationship with Seether’s lead vocalist, Shaun Morgan, and she recorded the soon-to-be hit of the time with co-producer Dave Fortman (Slipknot, Simple Plan) as she penned the lyrics about how addiction issues had terminated the ties with her former love interest. To change things up, Lee’s band transformed the Grunge sounds of ‘Bring Me To Life’ and such earlier hits for a more sultry mix of strings and delayed pedal effects for ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, while the rest of ‘The Open Door’ included a few classical Piano ballads. This single would have played out as more familiar for their fans though, with hard-hitting lyrics like “Don’t cry to me/If you loved me/You would be here with me” and “Sick with shame, Must be exhausting to lose your own game” being recited above a fairly radio friendly style of melodramatic guitar riffs and mascara-wearing aggression. Lee still seems very confident in what she’s going after here, however, and she delivers these lines with a cool confidence that suggests a little bit more than simply selling units. While the instrumentation is admittedly a little on the forgettable or even predictable side of her usual angle, the whimsical Piano breaks and the sweeping bass melodies are packaged together neatly. There’s some nice personality to the slightly evil sort-of chuckle towards the end, and the assortment of Strings towards the melodic chorus decorates the proceedings with a solid coat of polish. Overall, this is a haunting monologue that may come off as a bit bland or a bit too pop-oriented at times, but it certainly does more good than it does any real harm. Amy Lee’s vocals are lovely, as always, and the swooping mixture of different instruments feels very neat overall. It definitely has a lot of polish to it, but it has enough substance to stand out nicely enough by the time it stops spinning. A solid, if not quite up to personal best, offering.

Pictured: Amy Lee (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), Troy McLawhorn (Lead Guitar), Jen Majura (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tim McCord (Bass Guitar) & Will Hunt (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Concord.com)

If you want to revisit another taste of Evanescence’s 00’s days, then make sure that you are ‘Going Under’ with me for an in-depth dig through their prior discography here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/11/scuzz-sundays-evanescence-going-under/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fallen” (Released on 3rd March, 2003) (via Wind-Up/Epic Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your patience in allowing me to deliver some new content to your eats when the time suited me, and I’ll be kicking off a brand new week of daily music recommendations tomorrow with a sleeper hit from a British female indie rock singer-songwriter from Ripon, North Yorkshire. She started to gain attention by attracting new viewers to her acoustic YouTube performances in their hundreds when she was only twelve years old, and, in 2015, she was nominated for the BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2016’ Award.

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Today’s Track: Iron Maiden – “The Writing On The Wall”

July 31, 2021 — Leave a comment

I’ve got two tickets to see Iron Maiden, baby. Come with me Friday. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Senjutsu’ (Available from September 3rd, 2021) (via Parlophone Records Ltd.)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time to shake up your Saturday with an intriguing track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Iconic purveyors of all things audio-visual Metal, Leyton’s gods Iron Maiden are making a bold comeback with the highly anticipated release of their seventeenth mainline album, ‘Senjutsu’, a Samurai-influenced record which releases on September 3rd via Parlophone Records. This will be their first new material in six years, and a highly-anticipated entry in the library of a pioneering group whose career has spanned across 40 releases, including albums, compilations, EP’s, live albums and remix albums. According to data from MD Daily Record in 2021, Iron Maiden have sold over 200 million copies of these releases globally. It is bizarre, then, to think that Iron Maiden never seem to get a great deal of radio or television support for their new releases, and I only got the memo about ‘The Writing On The Wall’ due to my uncle making a post about it on Facebook. He is an absolutely huge fan of this new one, by the way. Let’s check it out for ourselves below.

Lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson teamed up with former Pixar executives Mark Andrews and Andrew Gordon, along with director Nicos Livesey and other animation studio Blinklink to create the detailed video for ‘The Writing On The Wall’ that finds Eddie (The band’s mascot) being converted into a 3D audio-visual nightmare. Fitting collaborators for a band whose 1982 LP, ‘The Number Of The Beast, was voted as the ‘Best British Album’ by the public in a poll related to the Diamond Jubilee ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. I’ve read from a few critics that ‘Writing On The Wall’ sounds a little different for Iron Maiden, although I’m not knowledgeable enough to make too many comparisons myself. The party starts off with an Acoustic element created by the mid-tempo Spanish guitar riffs, before the sneering delivery of Bruce Dickinson’s vocals swoop in for forceful lyrics like “Now we are victorious, we’ve become our slaves” and “A land of hope and glory building graveyards for the brave” that drives the main riffs to a more intense delivery. The layering of the different instruments is cohesive and detailed, with the distinctive bass guitarist joining the fray for a Southern Blues feel towards the chorus. Later in the seven-minute affair, we get a beautifally controlled lead guitar solo, and the Drums kick into a higher gear as Dickinson sings “Have you seen the writing on the wall?” and “Can you see the riders on the storm?” for the final repeat of the chorus. The pacing of the track nicely mimics the ‘rider of the storm’ who is the protagonist of the high-budget Metal epic, with careful layers of Drums and Bass gradually building in a methodical way as the guitars gradually start charging to the home stretch of the ballad. It never feels too frenetic, and it feels like more of a rock-oriented Country track on steroids for the most part, but there is a beautiful control to the technical production of the ballad, and the fantastical elements of the narrative manage to still come across as fairly original and inventive enough to satisfy both die-hard fans of their discography, and those, like me, who require a re-introduction to the band’s modern style. On the whole, this is a wildly enjoyable new single that takes Metal down some interesting avenues, while also providing solid entertainment for their pre-existing fanbase. As sturdy and robust as the long-served longevity of the story of ‘666’ still being the Number Of The Beast.

Pictured: Bruce Dickinson (Lead Vocals/Piano), Steve Harris (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dave Murray (Lead Guitar), Adrian Smith (Keyboard/Backing Vocals), Janick Gers (Rhythm Guitar/Unclean Vocals) and Nicko McBrain (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2021) (Photo via PR)

That’s the end of the road for today, and thank you again for your continued support for the blog. We’re doing it all over again tomorrow with another new entry in our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ line-up of revisiting the Pop-Punk anthems of the past. This week’s catchy pick marks the second appearance on the site from a famous Swedish Garage-Punk Quintet who have become acclaimed by critics as one of the genre’s top tier live acts. In 2005, they issued a live concert DVD to make the claim – ‘Trussels In Brussels’.

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Scuzz Sundays: Interpol – “Say Hello To The Angels”

July 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

In 2002, Interpol were knock, knock, knocking, on Heaven’s Door. It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: CD Copy of ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ (Released in November 2001) (via Matador Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – allow me to be your only escape from anything regarding football today, as we delve into the Pop-Punk of the past for another addition to our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! You’ve probably heard of Interpol before. They are a pretty famous band, after all, and a group that deserves a little more credit than they may usually get in terms of bringing Post-Punk music back into the consciousness of mainstream audiences in the 2000’s, although it can be easy to box them in to an ‘Indie Boom’ category with Editors or White Lies. ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ was one of the first singles they released, along with the B-side of ‘NYC’ on a 7″ Double Single in 2003, and it reached #65 on the UK Singles Chart. The two tracks also appeared on Interpol’s debut album ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, which was awarded the #1 spot on Pitchfork’s list of the Top 50 Best Albums of the year when it saw the light of day in 2002. A music video for ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ was never produced, but it’s still become one of the Manhattan musicians’ best-known singles. Across their career, Interpol have released six albums, and regularly release fresh material today. ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ with them at Glastonbury 2014 below.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the release of their debut album ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, Interpol released an expanded version of that old record. Dubbed as the ‘Remastered Edition’, the re-release came with a disc of unreleased demo material, the bonus tracks that were previously only available on the International editions of the original release, and a DVD featuring the LP’s music videos and live performances. This breathed new energy into ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ because it reminded us of their roots: A good mish-mash of clear influences from other bands of a New-Wave or Gothic rock ilk. We’re greeted by a thick and fast intro of humming guitar lines, with a slight fuzz of distortion, that soon becomes a head-nodding riff enhanced by the dark drawling of Paul Banks’ wry vocals. Lyrics like “I want your silent parts/The parts that birds love/I know there’s such a place” and “This is a concept/This is a bracelet/This isn’t no intervention” are repeated with a catchy tenacity, as Banks discusses how a blooming relationship is allowing him to turn a new lead from a darker past, but it’s done in a way where it doesn’t feel particularly sweet or light-hearted. Paul Weller’s biting guitars and the progressive, bass forward sound point to influences like The Jam, Radiohead and Gang Of Four. The retro-casual style of the chorus is another highlight of the track, and Banks repeats lyrics such as “But each night, I bury my love around you/You’re linked to my innocence” with a woefully abtruse poise. Paired with the black, three-piece suits of their live costumes and the headstrong punch of the melodic Snare groove, we’re left with a head-nodding rock tune that pairs the ethical Post-Rock of Fugazi with the book-ending harmony of Robert Smith. It’s a perfect blend, and it would be easy to assume they were another Manchester band from their homage to the UK’s Post-Grunge and Experimental Rock scenes. Almost 20 years later, this is a cracker of a modern classic.

Pictured: Paul Banks (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar/Rhythm Guitar), Daniel Kessler (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Sam Fogarino (Drums/Samples/Percussion) (2018) (Photo taken from XSNoise.com)

That’s all I have lined up for you today! Another daily upload is on it’s way to you tomorrow, meanwhile, and it comes from a London-based electronic music producer who was formerly known as Deadboy, and he notched up a solid reputation for himself on the cross-section of UK dance music history with several popular releases on underground Techno labels including Numbers and Well Rounded.

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Today’s Track: Deep Tan – “Camelot”

July 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

Just another evening at the tanning salon for the knights of Camelot. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Creeping Speedwells” (EP) (Released on June 4th, 2021) (via Practise Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – and I hope that you’re ready for another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Today’s track serves as an introduction to the site for Deep Tan, an all-female Post-Punk/New Wave-like trio from Hackney. The ladies have been kicking around on our capital’s underground scene for a few years now, showcasing their skills to London’s drag, ballroom and LGBT communities, and the band’s vocalist – Wafah Dufour – was the drummer for Cate Le Bon’s backing band. Likened to Foals, Warpaint and The XX in terms of their sound, Deep Tan have shared the stage with similarly successful post-modern DIY Post-Rock artists like Squid, Yard Act, Sinead O’Brien and Jessica Winter, have earned features in music publications like NME, Loud and Quiet, and So Young, and airplay from Apple Music’s Beats1 and Amazing Radio USA. ‘Camelot’, released alongside a music video directed by Chino Moya, was the lead single for the emerging group’s debut EP, ‘Creeping Speedwells’, which was released on June 4th via Practice Music. Give it a whirl below.

“Camelot is an unashamed tribute to ‘the sesh'”, Deep Tan explained, noting, “A group of people have just been evicted with only 48hrs notice, leading them to have one last rager in order to forget about the stress of not finding a new home with such short notice, coming in at less than two minutes, the frenetic energy of the track sets the scene for total obliteration”, in their press release. ‘Camelot’ is designed to be a short-and-sweet jolt of virtual insanity, then, and the post-apocalyptic scenes are visualized through the relentless force of the heavy guitar work and the unrestrained nature of the skittering Drums. Hooks like “Forget the 48 hours, Don’t let the panic grip” and “Pour it out, and drink another one” are cycled through in a playful Jangle-Funk nature, and verses like “Stacked against the kitchen wall/Cans of gold from Piwowarska/I’m hearing how you got kicked out/Of the drovers for starting a fight” have a more cyclical delivery. The tone is brooding and ghostly throughout, as the raw vocals conjure up memories of heavy nights out at a dingy rock bar, with a fast tempo which mimics the buzzing rush of attempting, and failing, to drown out the memories that bring anxiety and fear through heavy drinking parties. It sounds like the dark style of tunes that you may find the band playing in such an environment, where the illicit live shows of a gloomy club match the skeletal song structure. It contrasts the fairly soft, more spoken delivery of the vocals, before we spring out into a chorus of “It’s the second last night in Camelot” backed up by a punchy Bassline. The drums get gradually louder too, and, by the end, we’re left with a strangely catchy Fugazi-inspired tune with a playful set of key changes and an obvious likening to Squid. There’s also a hint of 80’s Blondie or 90’s Garbage in here, with angular guitar riffs and a deliciously semi-deadpan delivery where instrumentals jolt past the lyrics in bursts. All in all, it is an engagingly wry showing from the intriguing up-and-comers.

Pictured: Wafah Dufour (Lead Vocalist/Rhythm Guitar), Celeste Guiness (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Lucy (Drums/Percussion) (in 2019) (Photography by Melia Beaudoin/SoYoungMagazine.com)

Thank you for your continued readership to the blog, and please feel free to join me again tomorrow for some brand new music from a returning face on the site. It comes from one of the most exciting Alternative artists of the last few years, marking the comeback of one of Warp Records most exciting signees. They also collaborated with Kelsey Lu on an atmospheric one-off single last December.

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New Album Release Friday: Garbage – “No Gods, No Masters”

June 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

‘Taking Out The Trash’ now has a completely different meaning. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Art for “No Gods, No Masters” (LP) (Released on June 11, 2021) (via Infectious Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, just like usual, with the lingo for your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s Friday – and this week’s notable new releases include the debut album from Cleopatrick (Canada’s answer to Royal Blood), the 18th LP release in nine years from the endearingly proactive cult Aussie Prog-Rock ensemble King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, a ‘joint’ collaborative album from US rapper KennyHoopla and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, the latest long-player from the Post-Hardcore legends AFI and the new Minnesota musician Rachel Lime is taking things to an intergalactic level on ‘A.U.’, her debut LP offering. June 11th also marks the release date for ‘No Gods, No Masters’, the extensive seventh LP from 90’s Post-Punk pioneers Garbage. Formed out of the ashes of the bands Spooner and Fire Town, Shirley Manson’s band comfortably filled the void which a declining Grunge genre and a murky phase for Metal left for them, becoming highly significant for a female-fronted punk rock outfit of the time, and they have since sold over 17 million albums globally. The follow-up to 2016’s ‘Strange Little Birds’, Garbage’s new album has been pitched by Manson as “a critique of the rise of capitalist short-sightedness, racism, sexism and misogyny across the world”. Let’s sample the titular single below.

Paired with a music video directed by Scott Stuckey, Manson penned ‘No Gods, No Masters’ as her reaction to the Chilean protests against inequality and corruption when she took a trip to Santiago recently, and she was shocked at the sights of graffiti that had been painted over museums and monuments, until one of her guides checked her, asking her why she was more suprised by the damage being made to statues and the environment more than actual people, saying “That was like a slap in the face” in her press release. Built on Synth-infused guitar riffs and electric-soaked drum sequences, Manson chants refrains like “The future is mine, Just the same/No master or gods to obey” and “Nothing lasts and no one stays/The same forever, so accept the change” above the warmly melodic and Pop-oriented backdrop. Lyrics like “Save your prayers for yourself/’Cause they don’t work and they don’t help” touch on religious conflict, and further lyrics like “You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” call out to those affected by gun violence. The finale, a final repeat of the chorus, comes after a slower bridge that takes us back to the 1990’s Alternative Rock scene, as Manson croons ” You want what’s mine/I want what’s yours” as the instrumentation crawls to a halt, with acidic Synth riffs and a heavy reverb effect. It feels very catchy and hook-led overall, despite touching on a wide variety of topical issues that carry weight, with a moody vocal performance that feels sub-cultural and an energetic guitar delivery which feels buoyant. It’s also very polished, with the rhythms and the candid vocals being mixed smoothly. Impressively, an underlying sense of warmth permeates throughout the track because it feels familiar and nostalgic to hear the group making a similar kind of music to their peak popularity, but the messages that lie underneath this ‘gentle hug from an old friend’ are moving and spoken carefully. I did think it was a little forgettable. However, I could certainly see it gaining airplay somewhere like BBC Radio 2 since it’s fairly light-hearted and recognizably Garbage overall. A visceral and cutting, but accessible and immediate, piece of nostalgic Punk.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Version 2.0” (Released on May 11th, 1998) (via Mushroom Records/Almo)

If you think that someone’s watching you, then you might not want to check out my earlier blog post about Garbage’s ‘I Think I’m Paranoid’ from last year. If you’re a fan of Manson’s misadventures, however, simply be my guest. Catch up on that here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/18/todays-track-garbage-i-think-im-paranoid-1998/

Pictured: Cover Art for “I Think I’m Paranoid” (Single) (Released on July 6, 1998) (via Almo Sounds)

That’s all for now – today’s ‘Garbage’ has been collected, after all. ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns in two days time, as always, but, before we get to that point, I’ve got some more brand new music to share amongst you tomorrow. It marks the big return of a cult London band known for compiling archived clips from old public information films along with their guitars, synths, banjo’s and drums – and even including a vibraslap – to create their wildly inventive music. The band also took part in a special performance for BBC Proms to mark the celebration of Neil Armstrong’s moon landings last year. 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: Queens Of The Stone Age – “No One Knows”

June 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

For the huge QOTSA enthusiasts – this voice is like Homme to them. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Songs For The Deaf” (Released on August 17th, 2002) (via Interscope Records)

Good Afternoon to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for yet another weekly addition to our ‘Scuzz Sunday’ catalog, where we revisit the Pop-Punk and the Emo phases ranging from the late-1990’s through to the mid-2000’s to see if they still rock our socks off, and hold up to value in the present day, not forgetting that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘No One Knows’ from Josh Homme’s stadium-famous rock outfit Queens Of The Stone Age is probably one of the most basic choices for the feature. However, we’ve yet to do it, and so, this week, it’s drawn it’s lucky straw. We all know it anyway – but the single (a rather head-scratching pick for one before we all had it saturated on the radio airwaves through the 2000’s) received a nomination for ‘Best Hard Rock Performance’ at the Grammy Awards in 2003, ultimately losing out to Foo Fighters ‘All My Life’. It was taken from their third studio LP release, ‘Songs For The Deaf’, which plays out by taking the listener on a drive through the deserts of California from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree. Becoming certified Platinum in Europe in 2008, the record garnered lots of critical acclaim and earned a Gold certification in sales in the US. Their only single to reach the top spot of the US Alternative charts, meanwhile, ‘No One Knows’ was almost five years old when it was finally released alongside notable other singles like ‘Go With The Flow’ and ‘First It Giveth’ from the album. I doubt that you are going to need to – but you can still remind yourself of ‘No One Knows’ below.

Of course, another very memorable part of ‘No One Knows’, alongside the chugging guitar thorough-line riff, was it’s associated music video that received heavy airplay on the Kerrang and Scuzz TV rock music video channels, which was directed by Dean Karr, and, most notably, Michael Gondry – who was a frequent collaborator with Bjork. Josh Homme said Gondry was his dream director because “he did all of those videos for Bjork, and we’re huge fans of Bjork, so we’re excited” in his own words. That makes you and me alike, Josh Homme. Speaking of Homme, he’s a threatening vocal presence on ‘No One Knows’, mixing ambiguous lyrics with a low-pitched croon. Lyrics like “We get these pills to swallow, How they stick in your throat” and “I journey through the desert/Of the mind with no hope” are delivered with a brisk pace above the continous six-chord guitar groove, giving the melodic sound a lively personality. Homme adds a series of new dimensions with good subtlety, as he continues adding more qualities of anger and jealousy to the harsh instrumentation. It leads into a more involved guitar solo and a tease of all-out mayhem, before the rhythms stall to a halt. Homme’s voice becomes theatrical and mirrors that of a lost soul wandering the cruel and dry environment of the desert, singing “Heaven smiles above me/What a gift here below” and “But no one knows, Gift that you give to me” at a slower tempo, as the crescendo fades away and the repetition sets in again. You didn’t really need my play-by-play as I’m sure you already know it well enough – and I think that’s a strong testament to who the band have now become. It may now be over-played, overall, but it was certainly a choice for a radio single that was very different to the others for the time, and that it’s an undeniably catchy single. Still not been deserted.

Pictured: Josh Homme (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Piano), Troy Van Leeuwen (Lap Steel Guitar/Keyboard/Synths), Michael Shuman (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dean Fertila (Rhythm Guitar/Percussion) and Jon Theodore (Drums/Samples) (2016) (Photo via LOUDER/Getty Images)

That’s all for another day – but you can join me again tomorrow for some brand new music. One of 2021’s standout emerging talents has just released a new out-take from his debut album which arrived this March on his own OURNESS label, and so he gets his latest appearance on the blog tomorrow. This Australian-Ghanian Hip-Hop talent is delightfully difficult to categorize in any one box. He was born in Ghana before moving to Canberra at the age of 2 and he is the brother of Citizen Kay. 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: Disturbed – “Land Of Confusion”

May 16, 2021 — Leave a comment

Can you feel that? Get ready. Say it with me now. OHWAHAHAHOH! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: CD/Vinyl Bundle set for “The Sickness” (2X LP) (2000) (Photo by MetalKingdom.Net(

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for the return of our weekly throwback to the Pop-Punk of yore, that being from the late-90’s to the mid-00’s, to see what quality or value has been left behind, as we pop out of a brief hiatus. What better way to pick up where we left off than with a little Disturbed? Since getting ‘Down With The Sickness’ from 1994, the Chicago Heavy Metal veterans have released two live albums and sold their way to over 17 million copies of their albums worldwide, comfortably placing them among Slipknot or Metallica in Metal crossover success stories. In the UK, Disturbed are perhaps best known for conceiving their own unlikely Top 20 hit in the form of a 2015 cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound Of Silence’ that was originally written between 1963 and 1964. Another notable cover from Disturbed was their 2006 rendition of ‘Land Of Confusion’, which was originally performed by Genesis for their album, ‘Invisible Touch’, in 1986. Disturbed’s version was a single taken from their 2005 album, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, which became their second #1 debut atop the Billboard 200 in the US. Let’s revisit the music video below.

‘Ten Thousand Fists’ marked a catalyst for change on Disturbed’s part. It was their first album not to feature the former bassist, John Moyer, who was replaced by Steve Kmak, among their lineup. It was also their first album to feature their ‘The Guy’ mascot on it’s cover artwork, who popped up appearances in their music videos and accompanying art work in the years since, and, along with that, it was their first album release not to include a ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker on the front sleeve. Remember those? A metal cover of Genesis’s famous 80’s Rock tune that saw them parody Spitting Image in the music video, Disturbed’s version of ‘Land Of Confusion’ trades in the electronic enhancements for the loud Punk direction. The echo of Peter Gabriel’s vocals can still be somewhat heard, however, in the upbeat mood that Disturbed vocalist David Draiman uses. It’s not inherently too different to the Genesis version, but it just uses heavier chords and a more angry emotional tone. Draiman puts the memorable original’s hooks of “This is the world we live in/And these are the hands we’re given” and “Oh, Superman, where are you now?/When everything’s gone wrong somehow” into a more ferocious pitch. It wouldn’t be a Disturbed anthem without the croaking vocal delivery of choking sounds during the post-bridge section, and the guitar work feels more visceral than Genesis’s version. The chord progression feels less telegraphed, with sudden changes in tempo and Draiman sounds like a sort-of comic book Super-Villian instructing us all to make the world a better place as he matches the upbeat Drum beats. The guitar solo in the middle has a nice Classical Rock feel to it, reminding me of short-lived acts of the era like Angel Witch in the process. Although this one is a bit on the ‘corny’ side overall, it still feels much like the tune we all originally know that was composed by Genesis back in their heyday. Disturbed do a solid job of remaining faithful to the original version, and it makes for a fun time overall because the melodic remnants of the original version remain intact. A fun take that does it’s job and its short & sweet enough to not overstay it’s welcome.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Immortalized” (LP) (Released on August 21st, 2015) (via Warner Bros. Records)

That’s all I have time to offer you today – but I’ve still got plenty of new music to get chatting about this week. It all starts off as we enter a new week tomorrow, as we follow-up on our recent Charlotte Adigery post with another one of the exclusive tracks to the DEEWEE label’s new ‘Foundations’ compilation album release. It comes from an equally gifted English singer-songwriter who was once the Keyboardist of the mid-00’s wonders Klaxons, and is married to, of all people, Keira Knightley! 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/