Grunge

Today’s Track: Ciel – ‘Fine Everything’

May 3, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Michelle Hindriks (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Jorge Bella Jimenez (Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Tim Spencer (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2022) (Photo Credit: ReadDork.com/PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for you to perk up your ears in preparation for yet 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! If I told you on the radio that I was going to play you a new track by an artist with a name (Ciel – Pronounced: Ceal) just like that, you’d be forgiven for expecting to hear some kind of 00’s-leaning Pop, R&B and Soul record. However, you’d be confusing them for Seal. On the other hand, Ciel are an emerging indie rock trio led by vocalist-guitarist Michelle Hindriks drawing from diverse influences such as Sheogaze, Dream-Pop, Prog-Rock, 90’s Grunge, Symphonic Rock and Psychedelic Rock. With members hailing from The Netherlands and Spain in addition to the UK, Ciel have recently captured my imagination when ‘Fine Everything’ gained positive reviews from the panel on last week’s episode of Steve Lamacq’s Roundtable on BBC Radio 6 Music. Ciel have also been praised by sites like KEXP, WFW, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Clash Magazine, Earmilk and Under The Radar too. In recent times, Ciel have been preparing for their upcoming EP by working with Steven Ansell (of Blood Red Shoes fame) as their producer and mixer. The trio have also been supporting She Drew The Gun, Sasami and Penelope Isles across sold out live shows in London and Brighton (Where they are currently based) too. I also read that Ciel have been long-listed for this year’s Emerging Talent Competition at Glastonbury Festival as well, which should continue to shine a spotlight on the band as a valuable commodity within the music industry. On that note, let’s check out their fresh new single, ‘Fine Everything’, below.

Talking passionately about the melodic new offering of Shoegaze-inflicted Indie Rock, frontwoman Michelle Hindriks notes, “It’s about coming of age, and not really knowing how to navigate life. The doubts and difficulties that involve life-changing decisions, yet maybe not being ready growing up, when all your friends are. I was thinking of how so many people lost touch with their inner gut feeling and instincts, and how all the possibilities in life can feel so overwhelming sometimes. It’s almost kind of easier to stay oblivious to it instead of digging deep into your mind“, in her own words. The single oozes charisma with an insistent groove created by the fuzzy walls of anthemic guitar sound and driving drums from the get-go, while lyrics like “Ignorant to the shame, It evoked/Threatened by the drought, caught up in doubt” and “Don’t you know, I am longing for/To be told how to live my life” break down the decision making processes that we all face, punctuated by the Shoegaze guitars and the angsty, classic Punk attitude that gives the tempo a more brooding personality. They unleash a fun and chaotic guitar solo towards the end, while the chorus introduces a more accessible Pop sensibility into the mix due to its rhythmic pulse, while the verses feel more gritty and determined in texture. There’s some hook-filled melodies in here, but it retains a sharp Post-Punk feel overall because the Brighton-based band aren’t afraid to hit you with a distorted wall of sound, but they tie it in with a melodic style and some familiar Pop-driven songwriting. It doesn’t feel shrouded in borderline territory between Dream-Pop and Post-Rock, but it instead feels like it has a more direct punch to its sound that makes it feel memorable when it digs into your brain. It works nicely as a companion for the lyrics, which are all about tacking the uncertainty of thoughts that linger in your brain about your future as a young adult and how these unsettling noises in our minds invade our lifestyle, backed by an edgy Garage feel that resonates with the modern indie production clearly. While it is nothing too innovative and I’ve probably heard most of their ideas before, it is still a solid track that is very catchy and noisy, in the best way possible, that still leaves me thirsting for more content from Ciel soon. It is not re-inventing the wheel, but the wheel keeps spinning without fault.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Fine Everything’ (Single) (Released on March 24th, 2022) (via Self-Released)

That’s all for me today, but I hope that your day turns out to go just fine. I’ll be back for a new edition of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ tomorrow where will be remembering the work of a Lancashire-born R&B and Pop singer who was a member of groups like Shotgun Express, The She Trinity, Sinbad and Gambler in the 1970’s, and she has been described as “undeservedly neglected” by Bruce Eder, a respected writer for AllMusic.

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Scuzz Sundays: Alice In Chains – ‘Them Bones’

April 10, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Alice In Chains’ Layne Stayley before his passing (2002) (Photo Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for me to pay a visit to one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk’s past for another weekly entry of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Having sold over 30 million records worldwide, scored 18 top 10 entries on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US and named as the 15th greatest live band by Hit Parader in their time, Alice In Chains were a visceral part of the 1990’s Grunge movement who have released six studio albums together between 1990 and 2018. An aura of sadness exists within the band, however, as original lead vocalist Layne Staley passed away in 2002 due to ongoing issues with substance abuse, with co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist William DuVall stepping up to fill the role later. ‘Them Bones’ was a fan favourite single that reached #30 on the Alternative Airplay chart in the US. It was taken as a single from 1992’s ‘Dirt’ – the band’s second studio album – which was featured on the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film ‘Singles’ and, commercially, the record has been certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA and sold over five million units. The band also released their fourth studio album – ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ on the 17th anniversary of ‘Dirt’ on September 29, 2009 – which is a great little tribute. Check out ‘Them Bones’ below.

Sharpening it’s blade for tackling emotionally charged themes like depression, anti-social behavior, relationships, drug addiction, anger and conflict throughout it’s near-hour run time, 1992’s ‘Dirt’ has aged rather well and it has been included in the 2005 version of the ‘1001 Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die’ book. Upon release, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for ‘Best Hard Rock Performance’ and, in retrospect, Loudwire has named it as one of the best Metal albums of the 90’s. ‘Them Bones’ was classic Alice In Chains, starting off with some portentous guitar riffs and jaunty sing-a-long vocal hooks before breaking into a chorus which feels like a lighter relief to the distorted chords of the verses. ‘Them Bones’ was built on a central guitar riff that was written in 7/8, and a friction remains between the very grounded lyricism and the chromatic riffing against the sustained long notes, with the open fourth vocal harmonies being a staple of Staley’s vocal work throughout his time and influence in the band. Lyrics like “I believe them bones are me/Some say we’re born into the grave” have a sense of prescience and bleak tragedy to them, while later lyrics like “Dust rise right on over my time/Empty fossil of the new scene” are given a lightly uplifting sense of black humor, where the absurdity of realizing that you’re going to die one day, no matter what, rings true. Staley commands his presence on the track with a nasal tone which seems to shift tones as he keeps holding the voice for longer and longer, but ruminating on your death is never truly considered to feel like an outlandish prediction due to the gritty textures of the guitars. It is mostly about our morality as human beings and how the thought that your knowledge or experiences can simply end when you’re gone for good is important, as opposed to lingering solely on how we’re all going to pass away eventually. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea due to it’s bleak theme, although it is not necessarily executed as such by Staley and the band, and the track ends just a little too abruptly for my personal liking. However, it seems like it has aged pretty well because the lyrics still have a relevance and the Glam Metal influences still seem relatively fresh. Rest in peace – Layne Staley.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Dirt’ (LP/Album) (Released on September 29th, 1992) (via Columbia Records)

Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, as your support always means so much. I will be back tomorrow to review the latest single by a Statford-born singer-songwriter who used to be the keyboardist of Mercury Prize-winning New Rave band Klaxons and he is married to the actress Keira Knightley, of all people. He previously fronted Shock Machine and his new Soulwax-produced album will be released in July.

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Today’s Track: Jordana – ‘Catch My Drift’

February 14, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Face The Wall’ (LP) (Available from May 5th, 2022) (via Grand Jury Music)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I hope that your eardrums are ready for yet 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! A 20-year-old singer songwriter originally from Wichita, Kansas who I believe is based in Los Angeles, California – Jordana Nye is another in a long line of Bedroom Pop artists that has something unique to offer, and I gave her unanimous praise for her mid-pandemic singles ‘I Guess This Is Life’ and ‘Reason’ on the blog in 2020 when I discovered her. Her musical career began when her father, who was an organist at her local church, encouraged her to learn how to play instruments, and so she started on the Violin before picking up the Guitar, and she also went on to busk on the boardwalk of North Beach, Maryland when she was 13. Later, she released her debut album – ‘Classical Notions Of Self-Happiness’ – in 2019 that she entirely self-released and self-produced in her bedroom, and, in December 2020, she released a combination of two EP’s – ‘Something To Say To You’ – to essentially form up her second album. She has also collaborated with Magdalena Bay, TV Girl, Jordan Woods and producer MELVV and she will be supporting Wallows on tour in May 2020. Currently signed to Grand Jury Music, Jordana is back and she will release her next full-length LP, ‘Face The Wall’, on May 20th. She played every instrument on it by herself and it was co-produced by Cameron Hale (Claud, Khalid, Neon Trees). So far, her music has toed a line between a brevity of genres including Grunge, Lo-Fi Pop, Pop-Punk and Alternative Folk – but it has always been her notably playful personality and her gently philosophical style of songwriting that has stood out for me. On her Bandcamp page, her album’s listing has hinted at veganism, religion, upbringing and sexuality as themes to be explored on the record. “The album title has a few meanings to me”, Nye says in a press release, adding, “Mostly, it’s about not giving up. The wall can be anything in your way. The album is sort of a reminder to myself that I have to face those things, and I can’t take the easy route and turn around”. Check out the latest single – ‘Catch My Drift’ – below.

‘Face The Wall’ is Jordana’s first album to be recorded in a studio instead of her home, and she has solo headline shows planned to take place across the US in June 2022. Along with the music video for ‘Catch My Drift’, she says, “This song is about going back and forth with your feelings for someone when they make you question whether they are even reciprocated. The song is about realizing you shouldn’t be totally dependent on anybody, and that it’s a waste of energy”, in her press release. A natural choice for a single, ‘Catch My Drift’ is a catchy Pop-driven Punk number that, with its music video, transports you back to the mid-00’s where Pop-Punk reigned supreme with female artists like Avril Lavigne and Paramore’s Hayley Williams filling the air with care-free and commercial anthems about reasoned dismissals of ex-lovers, but Jordana doesn’t just pull the nostalgia card and she decorates the throwback with her personal commentary. I also love how she fills the video with a caricature of characters, like the bassist and the drummer, that are played by herself dressed in questionable outfits. It feels almost like Aphex Twin and the ‘Come To Daddy’ video by concept, and it definitely conveys her sense of humor in a fun way. It helps that the frenetic guitar riffs, with a water-tight bridge that reminds me of the 80’s and echoes the likes of Simple Minds or The Cure, are very catchy and fit the fairly light-hearted tone of the melodies. The Synths are fast and furious too, aiding the lyrics where Jordana croons hooks like “I hate to say I told you so/It’s no mistake to be alone” and “Do you catch my drift?/Are you picking up what I’m putting down” with the sense that she’s not holding her breath for wish fulfillment. There’s an excellent mixture of strength and vulnerability in her vocals and the propulsive bass and drums combo of the chorus wraps up her lovesick pain with a feeling of progression and moving forwards in personal matters. I certainly think that, if an act with a more known name or a higher profile released this exact same single tomorrow – like Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo – it would get played all over the likes of BBC Radio 1 or BBC Radio 2. Therefore, it is a pity that she’s not one of them and she doesn’t quite have the same following yet. However, this is still a punchy and effortlessly likeable preview of the upcoming album that we can take pride in keeping to ourselves a little bit, although I really want for people to hear Jordana’s music and get the experience of hearing her voice. Every one of her tracks have been an absolute joy for me to listen to so far and I can’t wait to see how the new album shakes up because I strongly feel that Jordana is a real talent. Retro, accessible and intimate – ‘Catch My Drift’ is incredibly irresistible.

Pictured: Jordana Nye in a photoshoot for the ‘Something To Say To You’ EP (2020) (Photo Credit: Jacob Clark)

If this post has inspired you to check out some of Jordana’s other great material, you can get started on her discography with my post about ‘I Guess This Is Life’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/10/todays-track-jordana-i-guess-this-is-life/. Alternatively, there’s another ‘Reason’ for you to check out her earlier work here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/12/07/todays-track-jordana-reason/.

Pictured: Jordana in an official photoshoot for ‘Something To Say To You’ EP (2020) (Photo by Grand Jury Music)

That brings us to the end of the page for another roughly 24-hour period, and I have little else to say than to thank you for taking some time out of your day to check out this music today. Feel welcome to come back tomorrow, where we will be listening to some fresh music from a South Carolina-born producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and graphic designer who is usually recognized as one of the pioneers of the Chillwave movement from the 2010’s. He collaborated with Flume during 2020.

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Way Back Wednesdays: The Smashing Pumpkins – ‘Cherub Rock’

February 9, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Billy Corgan (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter/Producer), James Iha (Bass Guitar), Jeff Schroeder (Keyboard/Rhythm Guitar) & Jimmy Chamberlain (Drums/Percussion) in a press shot for ‘Cyr’ (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m here to deliver a ‘Smashing’ new entry into our exhaustive library of weekly ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ posts on the blog as we remember some of the seminal sounds of the past with another daily track on the blog, given how it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! TNA promoter, of all surprising side hustles, Billy Corgan is a 90’s-leaning songwriter with an artistic drive who always puts a great effort into the visual aspects and the guitar effects within his material. Although some of his Smashing Pumpkins work has varied in quality, he is still going today and, as I’ve mentioned on the blog in previous relevant posts, he is never without inherently uninteresting ideas and one of his risks paid off neatly with ‘Cherub Rock’, a 1993 hit that was taken from his band’s second studio album – ‘Siamese Dream’ – that was unveiled to the globe as the first single from the release at the time. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for ‘Best Hard Rock Performance’ and it was later covered by Rochester-based indie rock band Roses Are Red in 2005. ‘Cherub Rock’ was one of the last songs to be written for ‘Siamese Dream’ and it peaked at #31 in the UK Singles Chart. The influences and lyrics of ‘Siamese Dream’ stood out among other Alt-Rock releases at the time despite recording sessions fraught with high tensions and some difficulties, and it was regarded as one of the most critically-acclaimed alternative albums of the 90’s by institutions like Rolling Stone. Let’s revisit ‘Cherub Rock’ below.

Although ‘Cherub Rock’ was not as widely marketable or commercially successful as ‘Today’ by critics upon its initial release, it remains to be a fan favourite and it was given a new lease of fresh life during the 00’s when it was included on the playable soundtracks of popular rhythm action video game franchises like ‘Guitar Hero’ and ‘Rocksmith’ available for multiple console platforms. Starting off with marching drums that remind me of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who arrived on the scene a bit later on, that morphs into a prominent set of guitar riffs that have a heavy Grunge aura to them, we thrust defiantly into fuzzy and soft instrumentation that is energetic and driving in its excess of feedback. This glitched delivery has a clear Shoegaze element that also points towards My Bloody Valentine or Ride with the textually thick balance of hypnotic Post-Punk and high-cadence melodic precursor to mid-90’s Brit-Pop. Lyrically, Corgan relates to his own relationship with the ‘Indie’ music community of the 90’s and his perceptions within the larger media, with forceful lyrics like “Doesn’t matter what you believe in/Stay cool” that encourages you to follow your instincts as an artistic matter and “Hipsters unite/Come align for the big fight to rock for you” that carry his determined ethos to bring rag-tag gangs together to enjoy music socially and within a communal environment that is free for you to express yourself in as an artist or audience member, with a bad-tempered hook of “Let me out” that mirror the relationship of a songwriter and a record label getting sour as towering creative differences ware on. Corgan delivers one of his most fiesty vocal performances and the soaring guitar solo is a highlight in showcasing his skills as a guitar player. What is interesting is how he recorded the prominent effect section of his guitar parts by recording the music to two different tapes at simultaneous fashion, and he clearly alters the speed of one of his tapes. What this means is that it makes the effects feel as though they are not really coming from the guitar, leaning into his Shoegaze influences most directly. Overall, ‘Cherub Rock’ still sounds great as the lyrics ring true, the instrumentation is more diverse than it may feel at first glance, and you have a well-informed vocal performance by Corgan who layers his furious songwriting on top of the stellar drums and the distortion-drenched guitar melodies to build up a cascading wall of sound around him as to convey his emotions with a swelling buoyancy. Drifting through Shoegaze, Alternative Rock, Electronica, Psych-Rock, Prog-Punk and Dream Rock through a vicious cycle that is paced coherently, ‘Cherub Rock’ could represent Corgan at his most creative and most visually detailed.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Siamese Dream’ (LP) (Released on July 27th, 1993) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

If you’re looking to smash some more pumpkins, you’ve come to the right place. You can get festive with my write-up of the rare track ‘Christmas Time’ from 1997 here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/12/19/santas-scuzz-sundays-the-smashing-pumpkins-christmas-time/. You can dive into some of Corgan’s latest material with ‘Wyttch’, a promotional single taken from his 2020 album ‘Cyr’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/27/todays-track-the-smashing-pumpkins-wyttch/. Or take a trip to the moon with my older assessment of ‘Tonight, Tonight’ with this post: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/27/scuzz-sundays-the-smashing-pumpkins-tonight-tonight/.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Mellan Collie and The Infinite Sadness’ (LP) (Released in 1995) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

Thank you for checking out my latest post, and it is always a pleasure to join you in remembering the creatives who bought the excellently produced LP ‘Mellan Collie and The Infinite Sadness’ to the world in the 90’s. I’ll be back tomorrow, however, with a large emphasis on fresh new music as I introduce you to a very interesting Berlin-based Experimental Rock musician who made a name for themselves as a part of LA’s LGBT community of underground producers. They have performed alongside Charli XCX and Flume, and they’ve received positive support from the likes of Mixmag.

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Today’s Track: Parquet Courts – ‘Walking At A Downtown Pace’

November 11, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Sympathy For Life’ (Released on October 22, 2021) (via Rough Trade Records)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to jive along to yet another daily 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! First of all, apologies for teasing this week’s ‘New Album Release Fridays’ pick at the bottom of the page yesterday a day early – where we’ll be looking at the exciting new album release from the multi-time ARIA Award winning indie female singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett – my brain thought it was Thursday. The fact is that we’ve got one more regular shout-out to go before then, and it’s a golden one coming from the NYC-based Post-Rock quartet Parquet Courts. I really enjoyed their previous album, 2018’s ‘Wide Awake’, and I’ve seen plenty of very positive reactions for their follow-up album – ‘Sympathy For Life’ – which was released late in October via Rough Trade Records – from fellow members of the BBC Radio 6 Music Listeners Group community on Facebook. It has also received positive reviews from Pitchfork, Paste and Pop Matters, also including a five-star review from NME and some lovely words from Professor Skye’s Record Reviews on YouTube, which is one of my favourite channels on the viral platform. Produced by The XX’s mainstay Rodaidh McDonald and musician John Parish, the Garage Rock 4-piece’s new album takes some influence from bands like Primal Scream and Talking Heads. The Grunge-inflicted group have been around for quite a long time, and ‘Sympathy For Life’ is actually their seventh main LP release overall. According to ringleader Austin Brown, “Wide Awake was a record you could put on at a party. Sympathy For Life is influenced by the party itself”, and the band recorded the main bulk of the tracks pre-pandemic in England before they flew back to New York just a couple of days before the official Lockdown periods began. They flirted with the idea of tweaking songs and adding new content for the album, but they decided to just keep working on the songs they had already developed and just delay the release. The lead single, ‘Walking At A Downtown Pace’, comes with an excellent music video put together by the street photographer David Arnold, who captures a diverse array of surrealist and frenetic scenes throughout the band’s city of New York as he captures choreographed chaos in a one-shot technique. On that note, let’s check it out below.

Talking more about their new album’s origins, Brown explains, “Most of the songs were created by taking long improvisations and moulding them through our own editing.”, adding, “The biggest asset we have as artists is the band. After ten years together, our greatest instrument is each other. The purest expression of Parquet Courts is when we are improvising”, in their new album’s description. This sense of improvisational genesis is easily detectable in the scattered guitar riffs and the unclean vocals of ‘Walking At A Downtown Pace’, where the band pin their initial jamming sessions into a delectable drum groove created by Max Savage, who manages to nod clearly towards Disco and Funk in his filtered style. Meanwhile, lyricist Andrew Savage places us on a curbside as we watch the world go by in the complimentary music video. His lyrics, with wry and witty sections like “I’ve found a reason to exist/Written on the tile of the platform wall/Begging not to go extinct to all those who saw”, plays upon a numb reflection of his own disassociation from society. Other lyrics, like “Combining sound from the corners that you use yourself to tune/Like a Piano, well-tuned and walking slowly”, slip his mood down. These sections provide an interesting contrast to the bombastic nature of the music that swirls around him, acting passively like irrepressible downtown traffic and crowded neighborhoods, that warp around the somber analysis from our lead man as the narrator. All in all, ‘Walking At A Downtown Pace’ plays to the strengths of the band in showing off their outstanding ability to deliver bleak observations in the form of catchy grooves that hint towards other, more light-hearted genres than their typical categorization as a Post-Punk or Garage-Rock outfit. The kind of tune that can make you want to nod your head in slight happiness or nod in agreement to the songwriting, it establishes the band in the same ilk of King Gizzard and Dry Cleaning in how they clearly love to just jam a ton of content in the studio together and give us their better takes as their audience. The final results clearly bring a smile to your face.

  • Pictured: Andrew Savage (Co-Lead Vocals/Co-Lead Guitar), Austin Brown (Co-Lead Vocals/Co-Lead Guitar), Sean Yeaton (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Max Savage (Drums) (2018) (Photo via PR)

My introduction to the band and another song done in a similar style was ‘Wide Awake’, which has also been previously featured on the site. If you’ve had a blast ‘Walking At A Downtown Pace’ with them just now, why not give it a shot here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/18/todays-track-parquet-courts-wide-awake/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Wide Awake’ (LP) (Released on May 18th, 2018) (via Rough Trade Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for joining me on the blog today, and if you’ve already caught up with yesterday’s post or paid your full attention to today’s, let’s see if you can guess what I’ll be covering tomorrow *winks*.

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Way Back Wednesdays: The Runaways – “Black Leather”

October 13, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘And Now… The Runaways’ (LP) (Released in 1978) (via Cherry Red Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for me to drop a written ‘Cherry Bomb’ into your line of sight for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It is a pity that an all-female Punk rock band are still a bit of a novelty in 2021. There are a couple – such as Dream Wife, Shonen Knife and Sleater-Kinney – but The Runaways were widely considered to be the first group of gals to really do it when they formed in 1976, and, despite only being around as a band for a few years together, became an international sensation in territories like Japan, where ‘Cherry Bomb’ was a particular smash hit. Their time came to an end with the release of ‘And Now… The Runaways’ in 1978, which was their first and only album without Vicki Blue as their bassist, who left the project. The record seemed to get a rather contentious response from their fans, as the LP went through a period of ‘developmental hell’ where they brought a producer, John Alcock, on board for the first time, who reportedly tried to phase Joan Jett out of proceedings a little and he recruited Laurie McAllister as a new bassist shortly after the record was released to the public. The record also has a few cover songs instead of original tracks, such as ‘Black Leather’, a track originally written and performed by The Sex Pistols in 1980. However, as time wore on, the record earned a cult following because it served as a great introduction to The Runaways for a new generation of fans and it also exhibited a harder, more diverse variety of sounds than we heard The Runaways explore before. Let’s spin the highlight ‘Black Leather’ below.

‘And Now.. The Runaways’ received a remastered release by fan favourite revivalists Cherry Red Records a few years ago, and most of the album’s bass parts were actually played by Lita Ford. For your information, a coming-of-age biopic movie about The Runaways – titled after the band – was released in 2010, which starred Kristen Stewart as Cherie Currie, who actually played the role to perfection. It was directed by Italian-Canadian filmmaker Floria Sigismondi in her feature-length debut, and it also starred the likes of Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon, and it earned a worldwide gross of over $4.6 million. The 5-piece loved their black leather fashion, and their take on The Sex Pistols lesser-known 1980 original was a feisty ode to their rebellious philosophy. The guitar melodies come thick and fast, while lyrics like “Well, he’s all geared up, walking down the street/I can see the smile, dripping down his sleeve” and “It’s late at night, and I’m all alone/I can hear the boots getting hear her home” flirt with Slasher horror movie tropes and reveals some more maturity for The Runaways, who previously sang about leaving their parents behind or misbehaving at school quite regularly in earlier releases. It definitely sounds like they were running away from something or someone, however, and you can see what I’ve done there. The overall instrumentation is a fairly good combination of pre-established Grunge and of-the-time underground Punk sounds, with some more catchy Pop-oriented hooks and rhythmic sequences in the chorus, where lines like “He’s clawing at the door/I can’t take it anymore” stick out a little from the pack on paper. The vocals feel raw and nicely unpolished, while the rapid fire drums and guitar combo has a rough edge to it. The vocals also sound a little jagged and disjointed in the mix however, and I think it’s because they simply feel a little disorienting in how it flows with the rest of the mixture, as opposed to it being a bad vocal performance on its own. I don’t think ‘Black Leather’ is their strongest, however, but it makes a good pick for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ because it feels underrated and less obvious or over-played than other options from their discography. The music had not changed as much as some older fans seemed to think at the time, but it simply sounds heavier and less polished. All in all – it was a decent and more adult-oriented evolution for the group despite its flaws.

  • Pictured: Joan Jett (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Sandy West (Drums/Percussion), Micki Steele (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Lita Ford (Lead Guitar/Acoustic Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Cherrie Curie (Tambourine/Snare Drum) in LA (1976) (Photo by Bob Gruen)

Thank you for checking out my latest post and thank you for your continued support for my work. I’ll be back with a new episode of my ‘The Subculture Sessions’ podcast that you can stream on Spotify, and I’ll have another new daily post on the blog as usual. I’ll be introducing you to one of my favourite recent discoveries, who I heard on a recent episode of ‘The New Music Fix’ hosted by John Ravenscroft. They are a new London-based electronic duo of multi-instrumentalists who have been in the studio with Skrillex and Park Hye Jin – and they’ve worked in A&R for Silver Bear Recordings.

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Scuzz Sundays: SPAN – “Found”

February 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

Two albums – but they sold 55 million units during their life SPAN. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Jarle Bernhoft (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Fridtjof Nilsen (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Kim Nordbaek (Bass Guitar/Vocals) and Fredrik Wallumrød (Drums) (2004) (Photo by Metal Express Radio)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke and this is “Scuzz Sunday”, our special weekly feature on the blog where we take a leisurely stroll down the memory lane of the ancient Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk releases, taken from between the time of the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, to see if these old dogs can still do any tricks – and that’s because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Formed out of the ashes of prior bands, Squid and Explicit Lyrics, Span was a short-lived 4-piece band fronted by Norweigan singer Jarle Bernhoft. You’d be forgiven for not remembering their second album, “Vs. Time”, but their debut LP, “Mass Distraction”, was a sizable commercial hit. At the end of the day, Span still managed to sell over 55 million units of their records worldwide, and they spent a brief period touring in the US after selling out a headline tour in the UK and Norway. They also got to work with big-time producer, Gil Norton (The Pixies, Echo & The Bunnymen, Terrorvision) on “Mass Distraction”, which reached the Top 5 of the Norwegian charts in it’s heyday. So, what went wrong? Well, issues with their label (Island Records) led to US record deals with Geffen Records and Interscope Records falling through, and their debut LP saw an underwhelming delayed release in that market when much of their hype died down. It led to the follow-up only releasing in Norway, and although it did pretty well there, the band decided to call it quits after failing to recoup their costs and momentum in 2005, and the band posted a note on their website to announce this. Let’s relive those days with the single “Found” below.

Regrettably, I think the story of SPAN is a simple one and one that history repeats – it’s simply one of those bands who you cling to in your adolescence, but nobody really knew of them (Hands up those of you who remember “She Might” by Noise Next Door) or had really heard of their break-up (BoyKillBoy, anyone?) and that just closed the lid of can of worms. It’s an amicable situation for the quartet, though, with the band stating they “no longer share a common dream and ambition” and they had “decided to end this while we are still the best of friends” in 2005, and the members have all embarked on decent solo careers in the years since, with Joff Nilsen developing a TV career and Jarle Bernhoft has released numerous solo albums, so none of them were scarred much by the folding of the project. Span obviously had a vibrant Pop sensibility, as you probably noticed when you heard “Found” just a minute ago. The opening of the track reminded me of Foo Fighters, while the deadpan and more psych-driven harmonics of the distorted guitars made me think of Queens Of The Stone Age, and the rapid time signatures made me think of Maximo Park. It was a very contemporary sound at the time, and, for me, it feels like a mis-mash of a few of the era’s most popular groups. The lyrics are steadfast and the words are very hook-led, with an explosive refrain of “Vital information that can not be found” breaking into a Rage Against The Machine-ish guitar riffs that chugs along like a steam engine train on a collision course to Snowdon. The verses are more slower, and veer into basic Hard Rock territory. The verses of “My legs are sleeping, My body is weeping” and “A human disorder/A life on the border, a lack of a plan” are pretty unremarkable, but the themes of mental health are present, and this shows a decent attempt at handling wider issues with a focus on the internal male. The rest of the instrumentation is not minimal, with a duelling vocal from Bernhoft and Nilsen being attacked by a distorted drum part and the similarly trucking bass guitar riff. It feels like something I’d expect to hear on Radio X in the UK, with a very produced sound that just about qualifies as “Indie”. While the overall results are a bit forgettable, it’s an entertaining slice of Emo-centric Rock, with melodic hooks and instrumentation that sounds focused, never quite meandering to the wayside or getting too repetitive. You’d be forgiven for not remembering it, but I think there was talent that was never quite given the right opportunity to flourish here, and I think that a longer run, or a more supported one, for the band, could have encouraged more boldness to succeed.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Mass Distraction” (Released in 2004) (via Island Records)

Thank you for reading my post on the blog today! I’ve got more in store for you tomorrow, and if you’re a fan of your adventurous Alternative Folk, then I’ve hopefully got what should be a treat for you – with brand new music from a Michigan-originated group who have recently been teasing a new follow-up since their last album, released three years ago, with a collection of live-streamed shows entitled “Alive From Whispering Pines”. Best known for their 2015 hit, “The Night We Met”, which has been streamed over 680 million times after being heavily featured in the controversial Netflix drama series, “13 Reasons Why”. 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: Coal Chamber – “Loco”

February 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

A bizarre delight, or nothing but a lump of Coal in St. Nick’s sack? It’s Scuzz Sunday…

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Coal Chamber” (Self-Titled LP) (Released in 1997) (via Roadrunner Records)

Well, here’s another addition to the Lunacy series. It’s Scuzz Sunday – and that means it’s the time of the week where I – Jacob Braybrooke – dig out an ancient relic from the Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk genres between the late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s, to see if they can hold up to quality and value in the current climate – because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! We’ve been riding up a stream of surprisingly decent old Nu-Metal singles over the past few weeks – and Coal Chamber were another group of that same ilk. Formed by Dez Fafara in Los Angeles, California during 1993, the band have had a very on-and-off creative relationship, with the band active from 1993 – 2003, and reuniting from 2011 to 2016, and disbanding again in 2018. Although I wouldn’t say they became a household name like Korn, Evanescence or Nightwish did – their first album still performed very well. Despite some brutal reviews, their self-titled debut LP – released in 1997 via Roadrunner Records – has been certified as Gold in US sales by the RIAA with figures above 500,000 units sold. It was also numbered at #15 on Kerrang’s list of “The 21 Greatest Nu-Metal Albums Of All-Time”, and each of the singles were compiled onto a Greatest Hits album that was issued in 2004. The co-founders, Fafara and Meegs Rascón, would also find moderate success in side projects. Strangely, Ozzy Osbourne used the music video for “Loco” as a starring vehicle. Take a gander below.

Just to clear a few things up, I can inform you that I’m writing this post just before I got to Church like I do on a Sunday morning and, when you come to think of it, I can’t say this is a very appropriate type of art form to be consuming just before that scenario, but, you know, when there’s a job – it needs doing. The band’s primary influences included The Cure, Metallica and Jane’s Addiction. “Loco” shows a few spades of these ideas – both visually and lyrically – but it’s mostly known for it’s two-note guitar riff. A sweeping and dramatic opening riff leads to the mosh-pit drawing refrain of “Pull” as the bass guitars start to chug along. Lines like “Steamroller rollin’ through my haid said/Attached to Loco, Power up Coal” are delivered in a low-pitch grumble, that sells qualities of rage and darkness. The chorus is relatively basic, with “Mi Loco” being repeated over the top of a brooding and whammy-assisted lead guitar melody. A slight breakdown comes near the two-thirds mark, as a hazing line of washing riffs and a slowed vocal delivery, before the dark riffs settle back into their mid-tempo focus again. The chorus can get a little annoying and it lacks substance, but there’s a doofy and not-so serious feeling to the tune that are charmingly endearing. All of the usual tropes of the Nu-Metal genre are here, with slight rap inflictions being created by the slightly melodic nature of the growling, and some guitar riffs that just chug along at a rhythmic pace, as you would expect. The guitar riffs, while not inherently bad, come across as rather dull and uninteresting to me, however. While Nu-Metal music often thrived on the very slight melodicism to the dark toned instrumentation, they weren’t exactly energetic – and “Loco” sadly didn’t manage to pull any of those moves while doing anything interesting. Although I’ve heard worse, ” Loco” fails because of it’s lack of substance, and much of the track just felt “off” to me – with attempts of humor that don’t spark an effortless feeling. In other words, it’s just trying a little too hard, and it felt too abstract. It’s more of an awareness from a band whose music they knew were only filling a gap in the market.

  • Pictured: Dez Fafara (Lead Vocals), Miguel Rascon (Keyboard/Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Nadja Peulen (Bass Guitar) and Mike Cox (Drums/Percussion) (2015) (Photo via Dom Lawson/Metal Hammer)

They can’t all be good! Scuzz Sundays is scheduled to be back at roughly the same time, but on the same day, next week. Until then, we’re going to be kicking off another week of new posts tomorrow. The week stars off with relatively fresh Hip-Hop from a British-Gambian producer who gained exposure from BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and 6Music for his debut album, “Take Me To Coventry”, which got to the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart. He is known for his use of Afrobeat and Drill elements in his Grime music, and his debut single “Frontline” was the most-played track on 1Xtra in 2020. 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: Nirvana – “Heart-Shaped Box”

January 10, 2021 — Leave a comment

I was going to put a bad joke about Nirvana here – but Nevermind. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “In Utero” (LP) (Released on September 13th, 1993) (via DGC Records)

Let’s make up for the lack of notable new releases with a “big name” post! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for a new weekly addition to our Scuzz Sundays canon, the time of the week where we listen back to an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic, which was released between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, all in the name of the defunct Scuzz TV channel, to see if they can hold up to quality in the modern day. “Heart-Shaped Box” was released in 1993, and so it perhaps falls a little before this window. However, it was taken from the last album to ever be released by Nirvana, and Scuzz TV continually played re-runs of Nirvana’s music videos back in the day, and so I’m counting it. I also did not want to go for the most glaringly obvious example of their work – in “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. “Heart-Shaped Box” was the promotional single from their third album, “In Utero”, which was the follow-up LP to the world-famous “Nevermind”, of 1991 fame. The band, including Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and the now-Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, wanted to push “both of the extremes” of their sound for “In Utero”, an album which Kurt Cobain conceded was not as “one-dimensional as Nevermind”. Of course, the group had become a mainstream cultural phenomenon at the time, so the pressure was on for them to deliver the goods on the difficult sequel album. You still can’t walk down any high street in the UK without seeing anyone wearing the smiley Nirvana logo T-shirt, and although I’m not as obsessive about them as their fandom are, it still strikes me to see that Cobain’s trio are still having an influence on modern Rock music and popular music culture. “Heart-Shaped Box” was still a feather in the cap of Nirvana – with a #5 spot on the UK Singles Charts, and further critical acclaim for the music video – which won the Grammy award for “Best Alternative Video” in 1994. Sadly, it was also notable for becoming the last track that Cobain performed live – in Munich, Gemany in 1994 – before his death by suicide later that year. You can still see the Anton Corbijn-directed music video for the track below.

One common misconception about “Heart-Shaped Box” is that the lyrics were influenced by his marriage with Courtney Love – the female lead vocalist of Hole – but as noted in Michael Azerrad’s book, “Come As You Are”, in 1992, the idea came directly from a Heart-Shaped box full of possessions that Love had given to him, with further production ideas throwing around a wholly different title for the track – “Heart-Shaped Coffin”. In any case, “Heart-Shaped Box” attributed to further widespread attention for Cobain’s gang – with the album of “In Utero” having been certified as a 5-time Platinum-selling album, with sales of over 15 million units worldwide. “Heart-Shaped Box” – much like all of the other tracks you’d find on “In Utero” – was intentionally made to feel sharp-edged, and much less polished than the production of tracks like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You Are” from “Nevermind”. It also references a sexual experience with a romantic partner to a pretty explicit degree – as Cobain wails: “Throw down your umbilical noose, so I can climb right back”, to the sound of Noise-Rock guitar chords and feedback-drenched bass guitar riffs that sound pretty jarring, but in a good way, since they sell seething barrages of emotion and retreating Pop-Punk elements in the case of the songwriting. Every verse is supported by a softer backing of frayed vocals and tense progression, with a somewhat laidback delivery of the vocals building tension among the slowly ascending instrumentation. “I got a new complaint, Forever in your debt to your priceless advice” raises the tempo of the chorus, and the angry personality of the vocals. The overall sound manages to become driven by emotional outbursts and reflective songwriting, with a deft lyricism that dynamically changes the instrumentation based on the shifting moods of Cobain’s vocals, with a verse that captures a subtle and raw side to Nirvana’s stardom, mixed with a heavy and abrasive sound that seems more rooted in Nirvana’s grunge roots and the sounds they would likely have explored in their early days. This is hard-hitting – yet rewarding – material.

  • Pictured: Kurt Cobain (Lyricist/Multi-Instrumentalist/Producer), Krist Novoselic (Bass Guitar/Rhythm Guitar) and Dave Grohl (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (1991) (Photo via The Telegraph)

That is all for today – a new entry of Scuzz Sundays will arrive at the same time next week. Until then, why not join me again tomorrow? We’re going to be continuing to explore a Punk and Grunge direction, as we take an in-depth listen to the most recent single to come from the most promising youngster Post-Punk group to come from Liverpool – even though I’m not too sure what the competition of that niche and specific category will be. 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/

New Year’s Eve Special: The Ramones – “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)”

December 31, 2020 — Leave a comment

Medicine to get us all through the end of this dumpster fire of a year. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Brain Drain” (LP) (Released on March 23rd, 1989) (via Sire Records)

Top ‘O’ The Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up about today’s track of the day on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to spotlight a different piece of music every day! As we wave goodbye to 2020, and we look to the future that 2021 holds, we’re going to take a listen back to 1989 for our latest festive track on the blog. Legendary rockers The Ramones are the band in question for today, a group who have been credited for being the first, if not one of the first, true Punk music bands. An amusing story about The Ramones is how they were inspired to record music by their love of The Beatles, and they used to check into hotels under the name of “Paul Ramon” – as a tie-in reference to Sir Paul McCartney. A seasonal offering that was included as a Bonus Track for their eleventh studio album, “Brain Drain”, released in 1989, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight)” was later used on the soundtrack of “Christmas With The Kranks” in 2004. “Brain Drain” was a tough album for every member of the band to partake in, with financial issues and personal issues a-plenty. However, it still contained some of their trademark material, like the huge radio hit “Pet Sematary”, which was used in the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same title. It was also their first album to feature the return of Marky Ramone, their last one to feature Dee Dee Ramone as the bassist and their last to be distributed through Sire Records. Sadly, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” failed to chart in the UK. Let’s take a listen to it below.

Despite having relatively limited commercial success at times – The Ramones still remain to be one of the most influential groups in music of all-time, and they are still well-known in the public eye. Their achievements get merited as such by countless journalists and publications, including being named the second-greatest band of all-time by Spin in 2013, along with being awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame back in 2002. The festive track was originally released as the B-side to “I Wanna Live” in 1987, and a bunch of slightly different versions have been recorded ever since. A slow intro is quickly proceeded by a sharp-edged lead guitar riff, and Joey chants: “Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight with you” in a primitive and yearning tone. This cues for the sleigh bells to get jingling, and Joey laments lines like: “Where is Santa and his sleigh? Tell me why, is it always this way?” and “I love you and you love me, And that’s the way it’s got to be” over the top of delayed pedal effects and suspended chords. An electric Drum melody is briefly noticeable, while the chorus feels more ballard-driven and hook-led, with Joey singing: “Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight with you” while the bass guitar lines continue to amble in and out of the seasonal sounds. The lyrics are written with a witty middle-aged marriage theme, and lines like “All the children are tucked in their beds/Sugarplum fairies dancing in their heads” emphasize these reflections on youth, and the vocals remain Christmassy enough to qualify as an Alternative Christmas single. In fact, it even sounds like an ode to the Phil Spector-produced Christmas tracks for the most part, but with an off-kilter hard rock/soft metal style that includes guitars being played a small fraction out of tune, giving off a Post-Punk facelift to proceedings. The moment may have passed a little, but it is still a robust and solid effort from one of the classics.

  • Pictured; Joey Ramone (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Johnny Ramone (Lead Guitar/Percussion), Dee Dee Ramone (Bass Guitar) & Tommy Ramone (Drums) (1976) (Photo by Roberta Bayley/NYTimes.com)

Thank you for spending some of your New Years Eve right here! Why not ring in the New Year with me again tomorrow? – Where we are going to be taking an in-depth look at a slight hidden gem of a festive track which promises some crowd-pleasing results. It comes from an American Soul singer and businessman who has won five Grammy Awards, and he was once a half of the Southwestern Alternative Hip-Hop duo Gnarls Barkley. It also features a cameo appearance from an ensemble cast of Muppets – the most famous Jim Hension creation of all-time.  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/