Today’s Track: The Cribs – “Running Into You”

November 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

You’re tuned into One Track At At A Time – and this is my Crib! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Gary Jarman (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Ryan Jarman (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Ross Jarman (Drums/Percussion) (Taken in August 2017) (Photo Credit: Phil Smithies for DIYmag.com)

I’m so glad that I could run into you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to type up all about your daily track on the blog, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A new Friday tends to mean a new crop of new album releases – this week’s handful including the likes of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Kali Uchis and erm… BTS…. for those fans of K-Pop who may be reading this. However, we also have “Night Network”, the eighth studio album to come from British indie rock trio The Cribs, who were once known for having The ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as a part of their line-up. It’s gained a score of 84 on Metacritic to symbolise “Universal Acclaim” so far, with NME calling it: “The Cribs’ best album in 11 years” in their 10/10 review, and it has also received very positive reviews from DIY Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit and Clash Music, among some others, too. It’s being praised for it’s sharp observations, it’s tight and focused songwriting, and it’s variation of tones following the band’s legal troubles. It is also the first album of which the band have fully produced themselves. Not bad at all, for a band whose last four albums had charted within the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, and, in 2012, earned the annual NME Award for “Outstanding Contribution To Music”. Without further ado, let’s take a listen to the lead single – “Running Into You” – below.

I can’t emphatically say that I’m particularly familiar with The Cribs’ output for the most part – but I know how they’re one of the few British rock bands to properly hold up a “cult” status over the last 16 years. “Running Into You” is a track that aims to evoke a very nostalgic feeling, and embrace the feel of going to a crowd-pleasing gig at a time well, being brutally honest, we can’t. In fact, the band didn’t really know if there would be an eighth album on the cards for them, following a legal dispute with their management, and it was only when resident Foo Fighter Dave Grohl offered up his Studio 606 in Los Angeles to them, when these tables began to turn for them. Something about “Running Into You” felt unappealing and brash to me at first, with an unpolished series of guitar riffs and a Pop Punk-ish vocal pitch that made it feel more like a demo than a finished product to me at first. Meanwhile, the more that I listen, the more textures and the more qualities begin to show. It feels very anthemic throughout, with Ryan Jarman singing: “Find me on the balcony, the new owner’s tore down/Watching you in my memory/Waiting for me to come back around” and “I’m sitting on the swings/With the freedom that you gave to me/The clock stopped long ago, but life still went on” in the two verses, over the top of a sonic set of piercing bass guitar lines and heavy, slightly distorting drum beats. The chorus is a very simple one, as the Jarman boys chant: “They’re always running/They’re always running into you” above the weaving lead guitar riffs and the, for the lack of a better term, – ‘filthy’ instrumentation. The renowned punk-style guitar sound feels cutting and acute, with vocals that feel dignified and “laddish”, but it sounds as though The Cribs are really exposing some charm in that here. With the vocals playing with themes of memory and reminiscence, it manages to feel retro and antique, to an extent. In a nutshell, it feels unapologetically ‘indie’, but rooted in proper ‘indie’, due to it’s raw-edged feel and lack of auto-tune, rather than ‘indie bollocks’, as I like to call it. The band seem to elicit a sense of ’embracing the sub-culture of just screaming along at a gig, with a beer in one hand, while you’re left clutching onto your best mate, with a pop-driven and sun-soaked feel being replaced by a rain-filled rock of their live affinity. Catchy, but unashamedly unpolished – so I think the album just may be worth a listen for me.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Night Network” (Released on November 20th, 2020) (via Sonic Blew)

As a part of our Scuzz Sundays feature, we previously took a look at “Men’s Needs” from The Cribs’ typically most well-known studio LP release, “Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever”, which was released back in 2007. Don’t forget to, if you enjoyed the style of the new material, trace them back here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/12/scuzz-sundays-the-cribs-mens-needs/

Pictured: The Cribs (Gary, Ryan, Ross Jarman) with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr (2011) (Wegow.com)

Thank you for checking out your daily track on the blog! There ain’t no rest for the wicked, so I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, as we build up to Scuzz Sundays with an in-depth look at a new EP release that dropped today from a fairly mysterious UK Synth-Punk trio, who are seemingly named after a type of glue that I bet you used a lot in the primary school days. Please like the Facebook page for the blog to receive all my updates here: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Fugazi – “Burning Too” (1989)

November 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Affordable live gigs for all ages – Now, those were the days… It is time for a new post!

Pictured: Ian McKaye (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar), Joe Lally (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Guy Picciotto (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Brendan Canty (Drums/Percussion) (Photo via PunkTastic.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like usual, I’m here to type up all about today’s track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I’ve got a “Golden Track” in store for you today to get your weekend started, as we’re taking a look at “Burning Too” from the early discography of the Cult favourite Post-Punk group, Fugazi. The track was released way back in 1989 as part of the “13 Songs” mixtape, a compilation of previously released work from their EP’s and Demo tapes prior to the band’s six albums later on. The band were formed in Washington, DC in 1986 by lead guitarist and vocalist Ian MacKaye – also including multi-instrumentalist Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. The band were a huge influence on the likes of Lorde, Bloc Party and Paramore, and despite taking an indefinite hiatus in 2003, Fugazi still managed to tour around the world and achieve a wealth of both critical and commercial success. As well as being noticed for their DIY-transcending style of Post-Hardcore music, Fugazi have also been held up over the decades for their ethical management practices. They were firmly rooted in Anti-Commercialism, and they would always offer the likes of low record and low ticket prices for their fans, and they allowed all ages of people to attend their concerts with affordable access, and were also significant for the live videos they used to release, allowing their own artistry documentation to be open to their fans. Dischord Records was the label that they used to release their self-produced material on. Take a listen to “Burning Too” below.

Fugazi were never ones to be reclusive from their fans, and they were well-known for their progressive political perspectives too, with MacKaye telling Loud & Quiet in an interview: “I was like ‘Where’s the counter-culture?, it seemed so real to me as a child, but as a teenager it was gone” in a response to the Anti-War practices and lack of LGBT support in his upbringing. Albeit a compilation, “13 Songs” has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It’s the forward-thinking songwriting strategies that MacKaye used and the ethical practices of the band that have made them a very influential name, and the small nuances of their work, within and outside of, recorded material that come together on “Burning Too”, a track with a balanced drive and flavour. The lyricism ultimately feels quite cryptic and provocative, with hooks like: “Anytime but now/Anywhere but here/Anyone but me” that reflect a seeking of identity, all the while that MacKaye and Piccioto are engaged in a vocally interlocked duel. These were recorded over the top of “Indie” guitar sounds and dissonant drum beats that feel rooted in DIY production, giving off the raw and unpolished feel of the textures. While the first half of the track are suggesting personal lyrical themes, the next half are much more driven by politics and very unified action, as MacKaye and Piccioto deliver: “We have a responsibility/To use our abilities to keep this place alive” and “Right here, right now/Do it”, calling for physicality to the sound of “Do it. NOW. Do it” as a cascading bass guitar riff lurks in, and the simple tonal textures join the fray. It obviously doesn’t sound massively produced, but I feel that adds a charm to their ethical messages, and we owe appreciation to their influence on the industry.

Pictured: Cover Art for "13 Songs" (Album/LP) (Released in September 1989) (via Dischord Records) — Pictured: Cover Art for “13 Songs” (Album/LP) (Released in September 1989) (via Dischord Records)

Thank you for reading my new post! Scuzz Sunday is back in two days time, but, in the meantime – please check back in with me again tomorrow for an in-depth look at the collaborative new single from a very established British Synthpop group who have Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominations, as well as critical acclaim and commercial success, to their belt – Who have teamed up with the former frontman of the 90’s group, Pulp! 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: Soil – “Halo”

September 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

Someone’s been adding more soil to my lawn… The plot thickens. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Ryan McCombs (Lead Vocals), Adam Zadel (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tim King (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and T.J. Taylor (Drums) (in Apr. 2019) (Photo provided by The Firmament)

Good Morning to you! 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 up about a different piece of music every day! Today is Scuzz Sunday, and that means it’s finally time to dig out another late-1990’s to mid-2000’s Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic to see how it holds up in the present day! Often stylized as SOiL by the US group themselves, Soil are an American Hard-Rock band that are currently enjoying the pleasure of selling over two million records globally. Soil were formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1997 and were signed to J Records, a now-defunct indie imprint label of Sony Records. “Halo” was the lead single from “Scars”, their second full-length album release, which was released in September 2001, and it was their first major record label release. This gave Soil a decent amount of attention from the press, and it also gave the band a hefty degree of commercial success, still being pin-pointed as the reference point to the band’s mainstream success to this day. Let’s have a look back at their hit single “Halo” below.

“Halo” may sadly have nothing at all to do with Beyoncé’s mainstream hit track of the same name, but it is still listed as the top track by Soil on iTunes. “Halo” starts off with a poetic verse that McCombs delivers over the top of a Post-Grunge set of heavy guitar riffs, exclaiming: “I’m the man, I’m the king, I’m the one, that’s pure inside” to a violent and aggressive delivery. A catchy, rhythmic chorus follows up on this, as McCombs delivers a memorable line of “I will stone you, stone you, My little halo” at a breakneck pace above the crescendo of heavy guitar riffs, with a slight Synth bassline to provide for a quick breather afterwards. The single is frantically paced, with a musically dense interlude of hulking electric guitar riffs and the delayed pedal effect on the bass guitar line, following the highly reverberated lead vocal effects. The drum signature pattern is very fast, as expected. We get a breakdown near the end, with a Nu-Metal feel to the melodicism of the reverb effects, and a few repeats of the chorus aim to leave us in a very mosh pit-ready mood. For me personally, it all feels a bit treadmill. I feel it’s a decent effort from the band and there’s some punchy, rhythmic hooks to the lead vocals and guitar riffs, but there just isn’t enough of anything surprising or intriguing for it to leave too much of a lasting impression on me. The lyrics are a bit ambiguous, but they never feel as though they’re playing with many conventions of the Nu-Metal genre. Instead, the guitar rhythms and drum patterns feel steady and crowd-pleasing, but never capturing a unique essence to take things to the next level. To conclude, I think that “Halo” is still rather catchy and the lead vocals complement the melodic Hard Rock/Post-Grunge crossover sound reasonably well, but it is lacking in a certain extra fuel to the fire. It’s all just nicely above-average.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Scars” (Album/LP) (Released on September 11th, 2020) (via J Records)

Thank you very much for reading this week’s edition of my Scuzz Sundays series on the blog. As per usual, I will be back at it again tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the brand new single from a British Synthpop duo, mainly known for their work in the 1980’s and 1990’s, particularly popular with the LGBT community, who recently performed a half-hour live session for BBC Radio 2’s Live At Home virtual festival performance weekend. 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: Transplants – “Diamonds and Guns”

September 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Diamonds Are Forever, or will they disappear with this 2002 tune? It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Cover Art for “Transplants” (Self-Titled) (Released on October 21st, 2002) (via Hellcat Records)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! We’ve reached yet another installment of Scuzz Sundays on the blog, which means that it’s time for our weekly look back at an Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic released between the late-1990’s and mid-2000’s, named as a way of tribute to the now-defunct rock music video TV channel Scuzz, to see if the classics haven’t lost their quality. “Diamonds and Guns” reached #27 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002, and it was performed by the US Pop-Punk/Rap-Metal 3-piece collective, Transplants. This was mainly a side project of Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and Death March’s Rob Aston (also known as ‘Skinhead Rob’), who later recruited Blink-182’s Travis Barker as their drummer, and they officially formed the trio and started the new project. This came with a self-titled LP that was released in the same year, via Hellcat Records. Since then, it hasn’t seen a great deal of longevity as Transplants have been on-and-off hiatus, once in 2003 and then again in 2010, but they’ve had three album releases under their wing in the time since. Most recently, the group released “In A Warzone”, in 2013. Their self-titled LP, however, reads like a who’s-who of the commercial pop-punk scene of their time, in terms of the guest list. It included contribution’s from AFI’s Davey Havok, The Distillers’ Brody Dalle, The Nerve Agents’ Eric Ozenne and several more, even including Armstrong’s Rancid bandmates Matt Freeman and Lars Fredricskon. Their biggest commercial hit, “Diamonds and Guns” features Funkdoobiest’s Son Doobie, and all four of these guys star in the official music video, which Epitath Records have thankfully preserved for your enjoyment below. Let’s have a listen back to “Diamonds and Guns”, down below.

With audio production of the self-titled LP being handled by Tim Armstrong and Dave Carlock in Armstrong’s basement, this came across slightly more as an independently written “passion project”, as opposed to a label-driven and manufactured release that some of Transplant’s members native bands were likely subject to. Surprisingly, the single opens with an insistent Piano melody that basically glides along the top of a rolling, cascading guitar loop, above a woozy, neo-psychedelic backing vocal. The lead vocals feel mellow at first, with Armstrong reciting: “Bombs going off in Sierra Leone/Taken more shots than Karl Malone” over the top of zany bass guitar hooks. As we get to the chorus, it begins to sound more tense and rickety. The band chant: “It’s a wicked world that we live in/It’s cruel and unforgiving” under a slick reverb effect, before pulsating lines of drum synths introduce a more sonic direction to the palette. Alas, it never goes full-throttle drum and bass, since we settle into the fluttering piano hook and the bitter guitar patterns again. The lyrics are hard-hitting and of a darkly political subject matter, with the lines: “From those who bust shots to those who stuff cops, To those who serve rocks on all the hard blocks” sticking out among the rest in particular. Overall, it feels like more a fusion of psychedelic rock and rap-rock than pop-punk and rap-metal, and I think it works pretty strongly, unexpectedly so. It sounds fairly experimental for the three guys involved, and I imagine the creative freedom that comes off, essentially, a side-project like this, does them a few favours for this. The rap interlude reminds me of Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” (Which came out a year prior) with Doobie’s blunted delivery and stifling lyricism, with pleasantly dark classic rock sensibilities that evoke The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” to me. These results feel quite inspired, and these characteristics give it it’s unique edge.

Pictured: Tim Armstrong (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar), Robert Aston (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Travis Barker (Drums/Percussion/Sampling/Loops) (in 2013) (Photo Credit: Jason Tate/Chorus.fm)

Thank you for reading this post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off another seven days worth of daily musings. We will be starting off the week with an in-depth look at a recent single from a Malian 4-piece rock group who have made the track their first to ever be sung entirely in English. This band were formed in Bamako after they were forced to leave their homes in response to the Malian Civil War in 2012 and the resulting imposition of Sharia law. 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: Silverbacks – “Dunkirk”

August 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

An exciting new band who aim to exchange Gold for the price of silver! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fad” (Album/LP) (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Central Tones Ltd.)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I am typing up about your daily track on the blog – as per usual – because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Not to be confused with a breed of Gorillas of the same name, Silverbacks are a new 5-piece indie rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The group have been making strong waves stateside and internationally, with their D.I.Y. rock sound that harkens back to the taut rhythm drive of late-70’s Indie Punk, while incorporating a NYC Synth-Punk style reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem, and paying tribute to the quintessential New York sound with a discordant element of No-Wave. They have been working with Girl Band bassist Daniel Fox, as a producer, on their debut album, “Fad”, which has garnered critical acclaim since it’s release in mid-July of this year, via Central Tones. Fun fact, the band were supposed to play a gig at my local venue of The Sugar Mill in Stoke-On-Trent back in May, and I was planning on going to check them out because I had heard of them before, but well… We all know how that turned out! Let’s just check them out now, instead – with “Dunkirk” – below.

Ireland has become somewhat of a signature area in the development of an emerging guitar sound, with the ascending popularity of aggressive Indie Punk outfits like Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital and Bambara, a market of which I get the sense that Silverbacks are tapping into with “Dunkirk”, but they stand up to these acts with their comparatively more melodic pull, as they are also trying to quietly sneak into the NYC No-Wave revival scene. The track, lyrically, is a dystopian re-imagining of the events of the Battle Of Dunkirk in 1940, with Daniel O’ Kelly using snarky hooks like: “A safety pin right through the ear/40 years of manhood” and “Swinging arms, Beating commuters on the tarmac beaches of Dunkirk” to rhythmically bring things up to date with the exploration of masculinity and domestic-ism as themes. An “every punk trick in the book” signals a knowing nod to a churning Bass guitar hook that takes the steady Lead guitar hook to a more fiery place and creates a rougher energy, to counteract the cleaner production style used in the verses. The chorus explores the idea of the Dunkirk beaches now being a holiday resort for the OAP crowd, with a sarcastic undertone of couples in failing marriages in similar vein to The Sex Pistols’ “Holiday In The Sun”, as his vocals grow in disorientation and precedes a high-pitched interlude. The delivery has a Drone quality to it, and the guitar riffs remain to be driven by intellect. The tension gets calmed down by an upbeat bass guitar riff that comes out of nowhere, forming up a Math-Rock inspired outro that suprised me as a listener, and deviates from the D.I.Y. punk style that it was building towards at a gradual place. Overall, the guitar work feels impressive and the sound pays off in challenging the conventions of a typical indie punk act. I probably wouldn’t choose to listen intently to it, as I’ve never been a part of the musical world it’s catering towards and it mainly washes over me quite a bit, which makes it quite difficult for me to feel that I can judge a record like this. For what it is worth, however, I think they’re a stronger part of the popular new Irish punk scene, but it is sadly not a sound that I’m really into – it’s just not “my thing”. But, I feel it is technically good, and worth a listen.

Pictured: Daniel O’ Kelly (Lead Vocals/Writer), Killian O’ Kelly (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals/Producer), Peadar Kearney (Lead Guitar), Emma Hanlon (Bass Guitar) and Gary Wickham (Drums/Percussion) (in 2020) (via PR)

Thank you for reading today’s blog post! Tomorrow marks the signal for a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the time of the week where we take a look back at an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic from between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s. Shockingly, we’ll be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the feature with an in-depth look back at a terrible tune that was a predominant part of the Scuzz TV era… But most fans probably would not have it any other way! 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: Drowning Pool – “Bodies”

August 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the FL-OOOOOOOOR! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Sinner” (Released on June 5th, 2001) (via Wind-Up Entertainment Ltd.)

You know what time it is! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! It is Scuzz Sunday, which means it’s time for us to dig out an Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic from between the late-1990’s to the mid-2000’s to see if it can live up to modern standards, named in tribute to the defunct Scuzz TV channel. “Bodies” was an absolute staple of the “Scuzz” rock era. The track was credited to Drowning Pool, an American Heavy Metal band from Texas, and the track was the lead single from their debut album, “Sinner”, released in 2001. “Bodies” is the track that Drowning Pool are primarily known for, and bizarrely, it has been featured in plenty of TV shows, commercials and films. An interesting, fun fact about “Bodies” is that despite it’s growing popularity in the mainstream at the time of it’s release, the track was banned from radio airplay, being taken off radio stations, in light of the 9/11 attacks because it was considered to be “Inappropriate” in the wake of the terrorist events – Let the bodies hit the floor below.

If you hit play, then you can expect a significant amount of screaming. This track was considered to be “Drowning Pool’s finest moment” on “Sinner” by Rolling Stone, and the lyrics are often misinterpreted as being linked to the 2011 Arizona shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, but it’s really just about the brotherhood of a ‘Mosh-Pit’, as the band issued in a statement. “Let the bodies hit the floor” is obviously the main hook, and it’s vocal delivery gradually increases in aggression with key changes which get telegraphed by vocalist Dave Williams as he counts up from one to four, as it reaches a dramatic conclusion. The guitar riffs feel rickety in the verses, at a high energy with an exciting tension. The vocals in the verses are fairly more clean, as Williams recites filler lines like: “Beaten why for?, Can’t take much more” and “Push me again/This is the end” over a whispered delivery above a screeching bass guitar riff and a static drum pattern, as we build up to the chorus. Speaking of the chorus, it’s loud and brash in equal measure. Williams feels broken in his lyricism, shouting “Let The Bodies Hit The Floor” to mark a contrast to the softer vocals in the verses. There’s a delayed use of a “Wah Pedal” and a harsh, rumbling drum signature, to make up the melodic structure of the heavy, unadulterated sound of the chorus. If we’re being honest, it’s incessantly cheesy and it’s inherently stupid, but, I think it’s a relatively fun song. The problem is there’s a time and a place for this kind of music, and 9:53am (at time of writing) on a Sunday Morning is not really the intended time and setting for the listening of a track like this. At least, the guitar work is energetic and Williams puts in a fun vocal performance for what it is, but the sound wares rather thin as we reach the ending stages of the piece. Sadly, it’s been relegated to silly memes in the decades since. Now, I’m off to Church – odd as that likely seems!

Pictured: Dave Williams (Lead Vocals), C.J. Pierce (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Stevie Benton (Bass Guitar/Rhythm Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals) and Mike Luce (Drums/Percussion) (in 2001) (via The PRP/MetalSucks.net)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at the brand new single from an English Indie Rock 3-piece who are making their highly-anticipated return from an 11-year hiatus! The trio began their reunion period with a charity concert in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust at The Royal Albert Hall in London on 29th March, 2019. 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: Asylums – “Platitudes”

August 7, 2020 — Leave a comment

On the new album from this UK D.I.Y. quartet – Insanity Rules! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Luke Branch (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jazz Miel (Lead Guitar), Michael “Mike” Webster (Bass Guitar/Occasional Unclean Vocals) and Henry Tyler (Drums/Percussion) (2020) (Featured Image by Pixalvision)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your daily post on the blog, as per usual, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Formed in 2014, Asylums are a four-piece Indie Punk group based in Southend from the UK, comprised of Luke Branch (Lead Vocals/), Jazz Miel (Lead Guitar), Mike Webster (Bass Guitar) and Henry Tyler (Drums). Branch and Miel launched their very own independent record label, Cool Thing Records, before they recruited Webster and Tyler to form the band. For their third album release, “Genetic Cabaret”, which became available to buy or stream on July 17th of this year, the band have incorporated slower numbers, and leaned into an Art-Rock direction to promote musical themes of unity and rebellion alongside social commentary that points a sarcastic finger at social trends. On “Platitudes”, Branch told the media: “Lyrically it’s certainly influenced by some of the empty political messaging that was going on in early 2019 but spliced together with some topics present in the David Cronenberg, J. G. Ballard and Stephen King work I was obsessing over during its incubation.”, and he began production with a old 808 drum machine and a synth. Let’s have a listen below.

Asylums looked to Steve Albini (The Pixies, Nirvana) to help produce their new album, and although the sound is very makeshift and admittedly quite noisy, it’s lyrically more sophisticated than it may seem on the basic surface with literary references to Cronenberg, King and J.G. Ballard. Starting off with a razor-sharp lead guitar riff, Branch ponders: “Is this the loneliest day of the year?”, and “Don’t get me down, I keep my ear to the ground”, a lone feeling that many of us have shared so far this year. An obvious punk edge is ignited from the chanting vocal refrain of the main chorus: “We speak in Platitudes” as Tyler drums along to a rapid time signature and Miel wraps a winding lead guitar riff around some delayed pedal effects from Webster on the Bass Guitar. The lyrics sound bitter and caustic, especially when Branch adds in: “P**s on your parade/There is no better love than the love that is leading you astray”, preceding a harmonic section where Branch closes the track with a vocal observation on the futility of life in an oppressive society. As bizzare as it may seem, a Pop structure is hinted towards by the involved guitar-led hooks, but the drum parts by Tyler and the bass guitar work from Webster feels aggressive and combative enough to hide the quality beneath the DIY, left unpolished sound. Your mileage may vary on the vocals, as the adolescent delivery sounds quite Scuzz Sundays-esque as a more mature, smoky delivery has not developed yet. Aside from this factor not being tapped into yet, I feel that “Platitudes” is a decent turn-around from the group. The wide range of literary influences feels interesting, and the expressive sense of societal chaos and trauma in the overall sound is rooted in the musical culture of Prog. Punk bands like IDLES and The Murder Capital, a notion that you could say “speaks in Platitudes.” They’re growing and I think the best is yet to come from them, but I like it.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Platitudes” (Single) (Released on June 5th, 2020) (via Cool Thing Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Don’t forget that your new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays is arriving in two days time! Meanwhile, I’ll be switching thing up tomorrow with an in-depth look at an R&B, Soul and Alternative Hip-Hop artist who has released not one – but two – albums so far this year. She has also hosted a radio show for Apple Music, and she has acted in a 2019 indie film, “Angelfish”. 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: Courting – “David Bryne’s Badside”

July 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

David Bryne’s Badside or more like a pain in the backside? It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Courting in a press photoshoot to promote “David Bryne’s Badside” (2020) (Photo Credit: Maisie Delaney)

It looks like the sun is finally out – presenting a perfect opportunity to a spot of fresh, new indie Britpop! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “David Bryne’s Badside” is only the third single release for Courting, an indie punk 4-piece from Merseyside, Liverpool with too many Sean’s in the band’s line-up to count precisely, but it’s a playfully titled little punk ditty that evidently shows how far the youngsters have come since they adopted the “Take That covers band” moniker for their biography, as a joke, on Bandcamp. Courting draw from a wide range of rock-centric influences such as Blur, Pulp, L.C.D. Soundsystem, Pavement and Parquet Courts. The quartet express their love for embellishing referential lyrics to niche fragments of British culture in their songwriting, and the band’s frontman, Sean, has been writing: “songs about anything that we want to” for the band, since the age of 14. Their new track is named after David Byrne, the former lead member of Talking Heads, but the link is obscured by a track that’s actually a metaphor for Class Tourism, and the band told So Young Magazine that it deals with the themes of English Racism. It’s impressive that four people so young know who David Byrne is. Try not to get on his badside, down below.

A razor-sharp punk number that’s written mainly about Class Tourisn and common Racism, and a little about TV quiz programme The Chase, Courting told the press: “We wanted to write something that took on musical tropes from old Brit-Pop music”, while, for me, it sounds quite a little more akin to Post-Hardcore revivalist bands like Fontaines D.C. and The Murder Capital, as opposed to Cast or Ocean Colour Scene. It starts off with a conventional, mid-tempo pop-rock bass guitar riff, before Sean remarks: “He spits at the people when they’re not his own” and “I thought we united, he says it’s his home”, as a lively and high-energy lead guitar arrangement brings a halt to the Britpop-like opening riff, and takes the intensity up a notch. Sean howls, in the pre-chorus: “We want it easy, keep it polite, don’t want to get on David Bryne’s badside”, over the top of a string section and a drum beat. Moving on to the chorus, it’s a lot more personal and anecdotal: “Now he’s afraid to go outside, To feed the ducks, To unionise, They keep on telling him, just go back home”, while Sean reverts from his lippy side, to subvert our prior expectations with the introduction of a sampled Saxophone melody, which is followed up by a carousing lead guitar solo, before the re-introduction of the opening, more 90’s-driven guitar hook to the mix. The writing is quick-witted and observational, especially where Sean cuts off the ongoing bass refrain with: “Built in England he wonders, a Britishman’s labour” and “It’s painful to watch, as he watches The Chase” with a bitter tone in his voice. His pitch is contrasted with a nifty “Wooh” prior to the Brass instrumentation. I heard this, for the first time, on John Kennedy’s X-Posure show, but it’s since got a B-list spot on BBC Radio 6Music, and it was initially a track that I found difficult to emotionally connect with, because I’ve never been a part of the shouty punk world. Upon further listening, it’s nicely become a grower. I think the best is yet to come from them, but it’s fine and it’s serviceable, with a structure that sounds inspired by The Strokes, and it’s surprisingly varied in it’s instrumental use. A toe-tapper that feels fun and eclectic.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “David Bryne’s Badside” (Single) (Released on May 15th, 2020) (via Nice Swan Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with your weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays! It’s the long-awaited time of the week where we take a stroll down the memory lane of late-1990’s to mid-200’s emo-rock and pop-punk releases, and I pick one to examine whether it can still hold a candle to modern standards! f 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: Box Car Racer – “I Feel So”

June 14, 2020 — Leave a comment

A band who sadly didn’t get the chance to land in the Pole Position! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Box Car Racer” (LP) (Released on May 21st, 2002) (via MCA Records)

It’s time for a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! Scuzz Sundays, named after the now-defunct Scuzz rock music video freeview TV channel, is the time of the week where we look back at an emo-rock or pop-punk classic from between the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s to see if it lives to modern standards! “I Feel So” was a single released by San Diego alternative punk band Box Car Racer in 2002 for their self-titled debut album. The band featured two former Blink-182 members in frontman Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker, who led the project with guitarist David Kennedy, formerly of Hazel Street, and bassist Anthony Celestino. Their self-titled album, based upon DeLonge’s post-hardcore influences, is a concept record detailing an Apocalyptic event, told through a range of sonically-directed tracks that feel bleak and grim in tone. MCA Records, their label, were looking for a commercial hit from the band, so they deemed it to be an experimental project and gave it little promotion, as a result of this. Despite this, the album was a mild commercial success off the back of positive reviews from fans and critics. Sadly, the band’s success was very short-lived, as creative disagreements between DeLonge, Barker and the remaining members of Blink-182 during the production of the album, along with a lukewarm A&R relationship with MCA Records, led to the band’s split soon after the album’s tour, meaning they only released the one album, making it their eponymous debut LP. Time to have a listen to ‘I Feel So’ below.

A track which reached #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart in the US, Box Car Racer’s “I Feel So” is one of the more accessible works to come from the quick project, but even so, you can still hear a decent inkling of the album’s less conventional approach in this more pop-punk driven single. It starts off with a piano intro which feels delicate and fragile, that is, until the blast of an explosive bass guitar groove cranks up the pressure a notch. The extra layers of distorted noise-rock lies beneath the early lyrics: “Sometimes I wish I was brave/I wish I was stronger/I wish I could feel no pain”, as Tom DeLonge emotionally punishes himself while the electric guitar harmonies congregate their way around percussive drum breaks and minimalist piano melodies. The guitar riffs sound intentionally unrefined, in comparison to power-pop releases of the time, as Tom DeLonge blames himself for his own wrongdoings: “I feel so mad/I feel so angry/I feel so callous/So lost, confused, again”, in the chorus, which is filled with grunge-led arrangements patched together by indignant acoustic guitar riffs, fast-paced drum notes and brief piano lulls, with a lack of a focus on synths. The vocals are a bit of a minor letdown, as the songwriting could have done with a bit more depth and variety: “I wish I was shy/I wish I was honest”, DeLonge’s voice is a bit cheesy and fairly alike to commercial pop-punk favourites like Blink-182, funnily enough, and Sum 41 too – So your mileage could vary on this. Personally, I feel they establish the apocalyptic themes of the album in a reasonable way. Overall, it feels expressive – it might have just been the right record in the right place at the right time, but solid effort has been put into the contrasted instrumentation and the visual design. DeLonge and Barker walked away from it relatively unscathed, as the two reconciled with their former Blink-182 bandmates, and the cult success of this record led to the two writing parts of Blink-182’s next album in 2003, which was heavily influenced by Box Car Racer in it’s experimental, post-punk approach. From time to time, it’s great to have a little side project like this!

Pictured: Tom DeLonge (Lead Vocals/Lead Writer/Producer), Travis Barker (Keyboard/Drums/Piano/Percussion), David Kennedy (Lead Guitar) and Anthony Celestino (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) (2002) (Photo Credit: upsetmagazine.com)

Thank you for reading this post! As always, 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 tomorrow to kick off the week with an in-depth look at a brand spanking new track from an English Electronic Neo-Soul duo, one of my personal favourites, who are signed to Tatemae Recordings and the project’s name translates to “True Feelings” in Japanese! 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/