Grunge

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/

Scuzz Sundays: Blink-182 – “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas”

December 20, 2020 — 1 Comment

They are just interested in All The Small Things – nothing too big. It’s Scuzz Sunday…

  • Pictured: Mark Hoppus (Vocals/Bass Guitar), Travis Barker (Drums) and Matt Skiba (Lead Guitar) (2019) (Photo Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images)

You know what Day it is – but then I just told you, didn’t I? I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for a Christmas edition of our weekly Scuzz Sundays feature, where we take a look back at one of the ghosts of Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk past, first released between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, to see how it holds up today! Well, if there was ever a time where the whole British public – and our friends across the globe – needed cheering up, it’s now. I’m going to try my best to do exactly that with this – “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas” from Blink-182. Following yesterday’s news in the UK, the title of the track feels like it’s weirdly taken on another context now, which is bizarrely fitting of our living situation since I’d chosen it about a week ago now. Nevertheless, originally, it was titled as a parody of “I Will Be Home For Christmas”, the vintage Walter Kent and Kim Gannon classic. It was released in 2001 by the US Pop-Punk megastars Blink-182, but you can also find it on their “Greatest Hits” compilation LP. I’ve yet to do a Scuzz Sundays post on Blink-182, which is a little strange considering how they were cornerstones of the era, but then, I wasn’t ever really that keen on them, to be honest. This single was a huge commercial success for them, however, and it became the band’s biggest hit in Canada, reaching the #1 spot on the charts there. Fill up your stocking with ‘I Won’t Be Home For Christmas’ below.

This was originally recorded in 1997 as a Radio Promo/Jingle – and Alex Robert Ross, of Vice.com, described it as “It is the Family guy of Christmas songs, the New Jersey boardwalk T-shirt of Holiday jams, the gurning, half-stoned brat of Yuletide anti-merriment”, and, even though it usually takes me some convincing to agree with the critics at most times, I think he’s got it pretty spot-on there. A cacophony of toilet humor, penis jokes, American loathing, and Power-Pop guitar chords, make for a prodigal mixture of Tinsel Torment. The vocalist, Mark Hoppus, exclaims: “Outside the Carolers start to sing/I can’t describe the joy they bring/’Cause Joy is something they don’t bring me” in the opening verse, to show a spot of Sass, and later sings: “Well, I guess it’s not cool to freak on Christmas Eve/’Cause the Cops came and arrested me/They had an unfair advantage” in a heavier second chorus. The song structure is a fairly conventional pop one, but the very “Indie”-sounding bass guitar riffs are adorned with ringing Church bells and percussive little Sleigh bell melodies to sell the rather brash frustration of our lead narrator. The chorus plays out with: “It’s Christmas time again/It’s time to be nice to the people you can’t stand all year/I’m growing tired of all this Christmas cheer” above the frantically paced blend of Pop-driven lyricism and the Skate-Punk driven guitar instrumentation. The vocals are admittedly just a bit rough around the edges, but the chorus is perfectly fine, because the overall sound is a fairly catchy and enjoyable one. The lyrics stumble down that fine path between teen rebel and sociopath a little, but the vocal delivery is quite sharp, and I found the Grinch-esque little rhymes to be mildly amusing. This is not a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it. It doesn’t sound too outdated on most accounts – and it fits our times. Before we raise our spirits again, let’s wallow in the sadness a little first.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas” (Released on Oct 16, 2001) (via MCA Records)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post – and hang in there! Join me again tomorrow as we take our minds off the season for a bit of California love from a Swedish Experimental Electronic music composer who really dares to be different, with the title track from an album which he released back in September. He’s set to play Club shows, in Sydney and Adelaide, over in Australia, in March next 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/

Today’s Track: Funkadelic – “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?”

July 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

By that logic, Who says a Music Writer can’t write about Steam trains? New Post Time!

  • Pictured: George Clinton and the numerous recurring members of Funkadelic in a press shot (1976) (via CBC Radio)

I don’t think I’d be fully qualified for the job… although I do love the oily and noisy old things. Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Today, we’re going back to the essential unity sound of the late-1970’s to cheer us up in these distressing times! “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” is the B-Side to Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under A Groove”, an album which is regarded by many critics as the greatest funk album of all-time, and it always goes near the top of “Best Album” lists and polls for it’s related genres. Fronted by George Clinton, a true icon of the business, Funkadelic explored a heavier, more psychedelic sound compared to Clinton’s sister act, Parliament. Funkadelic was very significant in the development of Pop and Rock music, and it’s one of the most celebrated ethnic Black bands in the history of musical culture. On “One Nation Under A Groove”, the Funk collective used themes of unity and acceptance as a thorough-line to creating a “party album” that anybody could enjoy, regardless of sexuality, ethnicity or gender. As the title implies, “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” blurs the lines between Funk, Jazz and Rock, underneath a slightly political undercurrent, and it pursues further influence of Soul. Let’s have a listen down below!

The 2015 vinyl reissue (above) provides crisper quality to an anthem that has always gone down as a classic. Many different members of the band take the lead for the different vocal sections throughout the track, layered below a guitar workout that evokes Heavy pop riffs and the P-Funk of the album’s title track “One Nation Under A Groove”. The vocalists sway to “Who says a Funk band can’t play Rock?” and “Who says a Jazz band can’t play Dance music?” over the top of R&B-inflicted guitar riffs which gradually add layers of new elements of Blues and Soft-Punk as the track’s duration goes on. The verses evoke a hip-hop beat as the vocals go: “We’ve been around for such a while/Be kinda hart not to have a style” and “When times get slower by the mile/We relax and wear a great big smile” as the simmering bass guitar riffs and the roaring kick drum sections create a crescendo and manipulate the ongoing groove as the textures gradually become rougher and smokier. The feedback effects and slightly distorted guitar lines in the later sections could be comparable to a “Funk version of Nirvana”, with a 1960’s Blues “Parade” that struts past the various elements of Funk, Rock, Art-Pop and a slight Grunge sensibility. Most notably, the track came out at a time where “Rock” was often identified as a traditionally “White” genre, while “Hip-Hop” and “Disco” may be dismissed as categorically “Black” music. Along with Jimi Hendrix, they changed the game and they re-wrote the rule book, because Clinton would not play that, instead drawing a live crowd with sounds of politically-driven, but positive and ambitious, Rock and Funk. To conclude, this may be quintessentially “not” the significant Black music sound of the 70’s… Which organically made it become so. That’s totally worth celebrating now more than ever…

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “One Nation Under A Groove” (Released in September 1978) (via Warner Bros. Records)

Previously, I have also covered the album’s main attraction, “One Nation Under A Groove”, as part of my daily post series on the blog. Please take a moment to spread the love and show your support by reading the older blog post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/28/todays-track-funkadelic-one-nation-under-a-groove/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Motor City Madness: The Ultimate Funkadelic Westbound Compilation” (Released in 2006) (via Westbound Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at the brand new project from Natalie Rose Findlay, who is a UK-based indie singer-songwriter from Stockport who has famously supported the likes of The Courteeners, Brandon Flowers, Jake Bugg and Miles Kane on tour. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Scuzz Sundays: Hole – “Celebrity Skin”

July 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

With her new film career, Love spotted the “Hole” in the world of Fame for this record!

  • Pictured: Courtney Love (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Eric Erlandson (Lead Guitar/Unclean Vocals), Melissa Auf De Maur (Bass Guitar/Co-Producer) and Samantha Maloney (Drums/Percussion) (in 2012) (Photo Credit: Luke Letourneau)

Good Morning, it’s time for another weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and this is the time of the week where we take a look back at an emo-rock or pop-punk classic from between the late-1990’s to the mid-2000’s, to see if it can live up to modern standards! On the chopping block this week is Hole’s “Celebrity Skin”, which became a popular chart hit back in September 1998. The title track from the group’s third studio album, the Californian rock band being famously fronted by Courtney Love, is still Hole’s most commercially successful single to date, and it reached #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and it was placed at #126 of NME’s “150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years” list in late 2011. The style of “Celebrity Skin” is a departure from Hole’s work on their previous two albums, “Pretty On The Inside” (1991) and “Live Through This” (1994), with less emphasis on the Punk and Noise-Grunge of the band’s early work and a higher emphasis on hiring Michael Beinhorn, a new producer, to create a definitive, desert rock-alike “Californian Rock” sound that was more viable for commercial success, particularly in the mainstream rock circuit. The album was very successful, gaining positive reviews and selling over 1.4bn copies in the US alone, as of 2013. Let’s take a listen back to the track “Celebrity Skin” below!

Using a bold range of literary influences including poets T.S. Eliot and Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s for songwriting purposes, as well as using a main guitar riff recorded by Billy Corgan, of The Smashing Pumpkins, at a live session, Love released the track in the middle of her uprising film career to convey the track’s lyrical themes of maintaining a public image in the eyes of the media, and the wider observations of an idealized Hollywood. Love opens: “Oh, make me over/I’m all I wanna be/A walking study, in demonology”, in a seamless harmony with the pop-oriented sequences of groove-metal riffs. It transpires to slightly heavier material in the chorus, as Love exclaims: “Hey, I’m so glad you could make it/Yeah, now you’ve really made it/Hey, so glad you could make it now” over the top of an explosive drum part, noisy guitar riffs and dissolved bass guitar hooks. The bridge explores idyllic fashion: “When I wake up in my make-up/It’s too early for that dress/Writed and faded in Hollywood” and the clean post-bridge mocks sexualised modelling: “You better watch out/Oh, what you wish for/It better be worth it/So much to die for” with a polished, fiery emo-punk touch. The track feels slickened by the obvious Smashing Pumpkins-esque guitar framework, and the wider contextual themes of pretty poison, dirty glam and reassured self-loathing feel effective under the very Vegas-like, Desert Rock-inflicted punk sheen. It feels a little overstuffed with backtalk, quotation and the well-documented messiness on the part of Hole’s key collaborators in some parts to work more naturally, but Love’s vocal performance is very strong and I don’t mind the cheesy feel of the angsty guitar riffs too much, as the style meshes with the album’s exploration of themes suitably. It’s a very radio-friendly track that I’m sure you recognize, but it at least has some thought-provoking themes soaked into there. Although I feel the instrumentation choices let it down a little, feeling stiff in places, the songwriting is stronger and it feels polished in the approach of it’s denser context.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Celebrity Skin” (Album) (Released on September 8th, 1998) (via Geffen/DGC Records)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back to business as usual tomorrow, with an in-depth look at an emerging post-punk dance Synths/Drums duo from the UK indie rock circuit who have been active since 2008, and they recently earned a spot on John Kennedy’s X-Posure weekend evening show playlist on Radio X. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Nadine Shah – “Kitchen Sink”

June 29, 2020 — 1 Comment

Does it belong away from the kitchen or on the cutting room floor? It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Nadine Shah in a photoshoot to promote “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” (2020) (Photo by Fraser Taylor)

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening – or Whenever you are reading this! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A British Muslim of Norwegian-Pakistani descent, Nadine Shah is an English songwriter, musician and producer – born in Whitburn, South Tyne and Wear – with a lot of interesting thoughts to get off her chest using the power of music as expression. This has led to her becoming a very critically acclaimed figure who regularly pops up on the British indie music circuit. She’s got four full-length albums to her belt, with her third LP effort “Holiday Destination”, released in 2017, bagging her the “Independent Album Of The Year Award” at the AIM Awards in 2018. It’s been a big week for new releases, and her follow-up to her AIM award-winning LP record came out on Friday. Titled “Kitchen Sink”, the album tackles the role of women in their 30’s in the sense of domestic gender politics, with the album’s tracks chronicling multiple anthology tales of women with the desire to end up anywhere but the kitchen sink. Let’s see her perform “Kitchen Sink” at the Moth Club in Hackney, in front of no live crowd, below.

On the titular track, “Kitchen Sink”, Shah uses a very serious vocal delivery and a haunting post-punk backing track to discuss the expectations that she feels burdened with, referencing her multicultural ethnic background as a literal device to evoke pressure given by her neighbors and onlookers. Shah sings: “Don’t you worry about what the neighbors think/They’re characters from kitchen sink” and “All they see is just a strange face/Whose heritage they cannot trace”, referring to the adversaries as ‘Curtain Twitchers’ during an early verse, over a minimalist bass guitar loop that commands her presence with it’s quiet effect. Shah uses a single line for a chorus: “And, I just let them pass me by”, with the guitar riff increasingly becoming more bitter and aggressive as the track progresses. A stuttering lead guitar solo slowly begins to implode, and a range of distortion effects and mild synth lines end up creating an irregular pattern which implodes at the later points in the track. The vocals are deliberately low-pitched and evoke a very bleak emotion, with a harsh throbbing bass sound meshing with the vocals to craft a Shakespearean style, playing off her snarky remarks. The concept of the album sounds a bit dull and typical of our modern time on paper, but it’s more fun than it sounds. She invokes humor with a bizzare tale of a farmer husband dismissing his wife for his farm on “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” and evokes elements of Samba on the opener “Club Cougar”, about a riotius “Cougar” who dates a much younger man. This adds some accessibility, although she takes herself more seriously on the title track, with low and moody guitar lines conveying a melancholic emotional state. Shah gets lauded by critics, but she doesn’t seem to be that popular in the general public eye. That has the chance to change with “Kitchen Sink” and I hope that it does. It sounds thought-provoking and original, whilst harkening back to the Murder Ballads that Nick Cave bought in the 1990’s as inspiration for her narrated storytelling. Anyone can get something out of it.

  • Pictured: Front Cover Artwork for “Kitchen Sink” (Released on June 26th, 2020) (via Infectious Music)

Back in February, I also covered the lead single “Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)” from the new album “Kitchen Sink” on the blog. Why not have a read of it here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/27/todays-track-nadine-shah-ladies-for-babies-goats-for-love/

  • Pictured: Nadine Shah wins “Independent Album Of The Year” the AIM Awards (2018) (Photo Credit: Callum Baker)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. As I mentioned, it’s been a big weekend for new album releases and so tomorrow, I’m going to be taking a look at another track from “Kick I”, the new album to be released by Venezuelan euro-pop upstart Arca! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Scuzz Sundays: AFI – “Miss Murder”

January 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

I think AFI are going to need Miss Marple to solve this murder! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: AFI (Davey Havock, Jade Puget, Hunte Burgen and Adam Carson) at the MTV Awards (2006) (Zimbio.com)

Happy Scuzz Sunday to you! As usual, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s the day of the week where I take you on a leisurely stroll down memory lane of the late 1990’s-mid 2000’s punk/emo/rock genre, as I revisit some of the artists and tracks which I used to listen to in my childhood, as part of THAT phase. “Miss Murder” by AFI is this week’s special track, a tune which achieved good commercial success, having reached the #44 spot in the UK Singles Chart upon it’s original release in 2006. I vividly remember the dark/gothic music video and I can also remember getting a perfect score of the track on Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock on the Xbox 360. Those were the days, right? It’s taken from AFI’s seventh LP, “DecemberUnderground”, a landmark record in the development of new punk and progressive metal as a genre beyond the commercial emo status. AFI are still popular, having released the “Blood Album” in January 2017.

I still get a real kick from the vocal breakdown in the middle. It’s still deeply satisfying to jam out to! The bass guitar riff, conjoined throughout the track, also comes off as an iconic guitar riff for me, with it’s distinctive three-note structure and it’s large punk-hardcore influence, which echoes throughout the track at a steady, yet confidently upbeat, pace. The track is unashamedly over-the-top and it reminds me of the gothic and operatic style which was being popularized by My Chemical Romance at the time, although the track is produced with even darker qualities which dips into influences from the Glam-Rock bands of the 70’s, such as Black Sabbath. Davey Havock, in his vocal performance, croons: “with just a look/they shook/and heavens bowed before him/simply a look can break you heart, later followed up by “Dreams of his crash won’t pass/Oh, how they all adored him/Beauty will last when spiraled down”, two verses which have a very gloomy and anthemic context to them, although they’re delivered in a slightly tongue-in-cheek, or should I say, smeared black mascara, way. This builds up to a crescendo of chanting vocals and a melodic breakdown of frantic drum beats and precarious bass guitar lines. Havock collapses in fright and leads a choral, shouting bridge. This is finished off with some synthesized beat jitters. The track got a mixed critical reception when it was originally released, although it’s become a cult favourite since. I don’t really understand the reason for the former, as it’s a rare example of an over-the-top, 00’s goth-punk anthem that stands the test of time. Fun fact: the video is directed by Marc Webb, who went on to direct The Amazing Spider-Man films and 500 Days Of Summer. He also directed videos for Jimmy Eat World, Evanescence and Weezer around the same time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “DecemberUnderground” (June 2006) (Interscope Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, with a holiday plan to whisk you away to sunny Jamaica (audibly, not literally, of course!), as we warm up our hearts on a cold January day with a look at a classic Jamaican Rocksteady track from 1967 from a small vocal choir led by Winston Riley, who briefly reformed in 1982 with a re-recorded version of one of their hit singles and a brand new album! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scuzz Sundays: Rage Against The Machine – “Killing In The Name”

December 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

Rage Against The Machine? Put me in front of any computer past 10pm and that’s what the recipe will brew up! Another week, another weekly Scuzz Sunday blog post!

  • Pictured: Zack De La Rocha (Lead Vocals), Tom Morello (Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar), Tim Commerford (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Brad Wilk (Drums, Percussion) (Photo Credits: Niels Van Iperen/Getty Images) (1996)

Well, it’s no happy-clappy Christmas song, but it still hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart for Christmas in 2009. Yes, that’s right, the track sold 50,000 copies on downloads alone (which was a big thing in those days, believe it or not) in a campaign to stop the X-Factor winner from getting the #1 spot for the fifth year in a row. Joe McElderry with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” was the victim, after a string of christmas #1 hits from Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke. Well, if you want to completely disappear from the world without a trace, the way to do it is by going on The X-Factor and winning it! I do have a soft spot for Leona Lewis though, she has a gorgeous voice! Seasons greetings to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m blogging about “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against The Machine, originally released in November 1992, as a single from the self-titled debut LP from Tom Morello’s old band.

I think it’s more Season’s Beatings to you in this case! This is an Alternative Metal classic that doesn’t let up in much of a sentimental context, making it a great fit for the protest that got it to the #1 spot in Christmas 2009. Chosen as it was a protest track about institutional racism and police brutality in the 1990’s, “Killing In The Name” has remained an early 90’s classic because it has a signature guitar riff and a vocal style of lyricism which is raw and aggressive. There are also 17 profantities of the word “fuck”, although this is a surprisingly easy track to cut into a radio edit. The hard rock power of the track is boosted by the frantically-paced drumming and the bass-driven punk chords which put a stamp on the immediate impact of the politically charged sound. Zack De La Rocha gears up for the explosive chorus “and now you do what they told ya”, before he conjures up a storm of heavy lead guitar chords and fast-paced rock production with the chorus: “Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they’re the chosen whites/You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they’re the chosen whites” and he leads a mosh pit into a live crowd with: ” Yeah! Come on! ” to create an overwhelming sense of protest and emotions of miserable anger. It’s cold and brooding, but I think it still qualifies as a credible piece of art because it’s managed to live on in the years since and the lyrical messages are still relevant in the world we’re living our society within today. Overall, it’s one of, if not, the most unconventional Christmas #1 song of all-time, even though it faces very hard competition from Mr. Blobby and Bob The Builder. Yep, it still bangs!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Rage Against The Machine” (Self-Titled debut LP record) (1992)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a new track from a US indie singer-songwriter who has recently started her own solo project after being well-known as the lead member of the Philadelphia-born indie rock band, Hop Along! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: The Wildhearts – “Vanilla Radio”

December 8, 2019 — Leave a comment

The Buggles once said that video killed the radio star… I’m still here! I hope that doesn’t happen to me… I don’t want to die! It’s time for your Scuzz Sunday blog post!

  • Pictured: “The Wildhearts” Official Smiley Bones T-Shirt (2019) (Credit: roundrecords.com)

A constant staple of Scuzz TV’s “The Vault” output, “Vanilla Heart” by British hard rock band The Wildhearts, released in August 2003, is another melodic rock track that I can very fondly remember discovering through the Scuzz TV channel. Having spent the majority of their early time battling their label, East West, in a game of wits, the band made a new breakthrough in their career with their fifth LP record, “The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed”, that same year! “Vanilla Radio” is one of the singles from the record, which was originallty released as part of a B-side compilation, “Riff After Riff After Motherfucking Riff” in November 2002. The popularity of the track, as well as the album, marked a higher cult status in the careers of the Newcastle rockers.

The melodic hard rock jam, which has since led to the band reuniting on 20th anniversary tours and dipping between hiatus in recent years, is not a typical pop-laden jam that you might have expected from the band based on their prior material. It feels like a less obvious choice for a single than other tracks in their discography, but the 4-piece displays a certain boldness and curious level of appeal that gives them more credibility in their packed market. “Vanilla Radio” is a more raw-sounding and aggressive tune, which has a very um…. shouty! chorus, as Ginger implores you to “turn the radio down” and ask “Where’s my Elvis” over a fast-paced line of guitar riffs and abrasive drum stomps, with the cymbals being smashed at a frantic pace. I bet it goes down like a storm on Planet Rock, as the vocal harmonies have no subtlety to them and the overall sound is very reminiscent of an explosive chant breaking out at a loud football stadium. It takes shots at the “play it safe” attitudes of the radio at the time, as Ginger prods the nature of mainstream music when he asks: “Remember radio? Lost in the audio?” as the time signature of the drumming refuses to let up and the vocals take a clear influence from the 90’s-era Britpop genre, with a “say it as it is” mood coming from Blur and Jarvis Cocker. Overall, I’m not sure if the substance is really there and the chant-dominated style can seem a bit premature and laddish for some listeners, but I think it’s a decent record which holds up pretty well and it has a clear, although very in-your-face, message to tell! After all, music is expression of art!

  • Pictured: Ginger (Lead Vocals), CJ (Lead Guitar), Danny McCormack (Bass Guitar) and Ritch Battersby (Drums)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at the new track from a British EDM disc jockey who has just been revealed as one of the headliners of next year’s All Points East Festival in London! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Johnny Kowalski & The Sexy Weirdos – “Chinese Icicles”

November 8, 2019 — Leave a comment

Are you a sexy weirdo or have you ever dated one? It is time for your Friday blog post!

Johnny Kowalski & The Sexy Weirdos (what a great name that is!) are a local experimental rock group from the West Midlands area, hailing from Birmingham, who are as niche as you could possibly get, with 72 subscribers on YouTube and 23 views for the audio of “Chinese Icicles” on YouTube. The band describe themselves on their official website as “Multifarious, rebellious, debauched and fierce”, with their material incorporating elements of Punk, European Folk, Jamaica dub, ska and heavy metal, to create their own unique style. A big shout-out goes to The Vegan Voodoo, Eddie Bammeke, for introducing me to this sound on his OMG Radio show, Slow Motion Riot, which you can hear from 9pm-11pm on Tuesday nights. (tune in at: http://www.omgstaffs.com or download the app). “Chinese Icicles” is a track from their third LP record, “European English”, which was released on September 22, 2017.

“Chinese Icicles” has a very oriental-influenced line throughout, which you could probably assume given the title of the track. The opening of the track has a simple violin arrangement and a mysterious Asian vibe, which takes stuttering backseats to a captivating electric guitar riff and a thrash of drum stomps. The vocals kick in at a later stage, with a psychedelic-tinged chorus on giving yourself to a black void, before Kowalski shouts over the top of the grunge effects with “Long live the new regret, the wider my end gets now”, with the band using all forms of exotic influences to create a track that feels ever eclectic, even if the lyrical content seems unclear and lacking in focus. However, the lyrics aren’t the main takeaway from this track, as it’s the otherworldly, almost fantastical, sound that is designed to take the center stage and it does in very satisfying fashion. Overall, it’s a compelling and interesting track that more people should be talking about. There’s no way you can get bored over the five and a half minute length due to the sheer carnage of the pacing and the composition.

  • Pictured: Johnny Kowalski (Vocals, Guitar), Chris Yates (Bass), Ilias Lintzos (Percussion), Matthew Osborne (Drums) and Katherin McWilliam (Violin)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a new track from a London hip-hop artist with a very eclestic style, which balances indie, rap, soul, funk, art pop and others, describing his own music as “schizophrenic”! 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/