Scuzz Sundays: Limp Bizkit – “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)”

June 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

Get your bandannas, masks, the crew and motorbikes at the ready. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Fred Durst (Lead Vocals), John Otto (Drums), Sam Rivers (Bass Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Wes Borland (Guitars/Vocals) and DJ Lethal (Turntables/Sampling/Programming) in a Covid-era promo (2020) (Photo by Kerrang.com)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – and we all know what time it is – as we revisit a heavy rock staple of the Emo period between the late-1990’s up to the mid-2000’s, all in the name of a little Scuzz TV, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An unusual UK #1 Singles Chart hit for the controversial Florida-native Rap-Rock 5-piece group Limp Bizkit, ‘Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)’ was a pop culture talking point when it appealed to the masses in 2000, taken from their third studio album ‘Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog Flavoured Water’, reaching the top 10 of several European countries and becoming their highest-charting single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was everywhere – being used for The Undertaker’s entrance as the “American Badass” character in WWE for a few years. It was also made famous by ‘The Fast and The Furious’, ‘American Dad’, and by MLB player Scott Rolen. As of now, Limp Bizkit have just announced a UK Tour for next year and continue to work on their unreleased sixth album, ‘Stampede Of The Disco Elephants’. Despite troubles within the press and contentious live festival performances, Limp Bizkit have been nominated for three Grammy Awards, and they have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Roll up below.

The chart success of ‘Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)’ for Limp Bizkit in 2000 was bolstered by the memorable remix entitled ‘Rollin (Urban Assault Vehicle)’ which was put together by the quite popular hip-hop artists of the time DMX, Method Man and Redman. It was produced by Swizz Beats, and it was included as a bonus track for their ‘Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog Flavoured Water’ album. Of course, the leading actor of Ben Stiller appearing in the music video was a hot topic, too. As for the music without it’s branching tools, we’re given a fairly standard Nu-Metal rock tune built on bright melodicism and turntable scratching from DJ Lethal. Being the #1 hit they are predominantly known for, it’s exactly what you would come to expect from them. The verses come thick and fast, with a wall of huge-sounding guitar riffs that drive the aggression forwards at a brisk pace. I won’t even try to break the lyrics down because it’s so quick and nonsensical, but it’s mostly a rap-oriented delivery that constantly reminds you to put your hands up and just turn up the volume dial on your stereo to the max. There’s absolutely no substance to anything at all, with a vocal delivery that feels very squeaky and amateur. It’s still catchy though, with Fred Durst shouting a barrage of nonsense at a breakneck speed, chanting meaningless words like “Get it on, Every day and every night”, but with a flailing flow that just about lets him pull it off. I was never finding myself bored either, since there’s always enough going on within the jangled instrumentation to keep the speed gliding along. It’s an incoherent mess, with a cluttered soundscape, but there’s also plenty to smile at here. It’s not taking itself too seriously, and I think that’s both it’s greatest strength and it’s most unfortunate flipside. There’s unintentional comedy, but there’s also a delightful sense of silly to indulge into. On the whole, it’s pretty toxic, but also a strange sort of genius.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Limp Bizkit Presents: Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” (LP) (Released on October 17th, 2000) (via Interscope Records/Flip Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for reaching the end of your daily blog post – and make sure to join me tomorrow for a brand new Punk full-blaster that I would pitch as an alternative anthem to a certain European football competition that is happening at the moment. 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: Cypress Hill – “(Rock) Superstar”

March 28, 2021 — Leave a comment

The spiritual “Black Goat” of the Latin American Rap-Metal picture. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: DJ Muggs, Louis “B-Real” Freese & Eric “Eric Bobbo” Corea (Date n/a) (Photo via Medium.com)

Good Afternoon to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, yet again, it’s time for our weekly throw back to the relics of the Emo era world from between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, to see if the ‘classics’ hold up to that moniker, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Fronted by “The Black Goat” DJ Muggs (who has just put out some more solo material with a new album, for the record) – Cypress Hill, although technically still active, were California-based cornerstones of the Scuzz TV era. They sometimes got polarizing reviews from audiences and critics in a Nickelback or Imagine Dragons sort-of way, but they are still largely seen as the main pioneers of West Coast Hip-Hop from the 90’s, and the group have still sold their way to over 20 million units globally. In 2019, they became the first ever Latin-American rap group to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. ‘(Rock) Superstar’ was a UK Top 20 single taken from their fifth studio album, ‘Skull & Bones’, released in 2000. It closely resembles the preceding single, ‘(Rap) Superstar’ in it’s duology subject matter, where the album was even divided into two sections on seperate discs – one exploring Rap-Rock and the other exploring Nu-Metal, by way of comparing and contrasting the band’s experiences with these two sub-genres. Check out the music video, with a cameo from Coal Chamber’s bassist Nadja Peulen, below.

If you are less familiar with Cypress Hill – each of the group’s members have always notably advocated for medical and recreational use of Cannabis in the States, which is a crucial stage of their mythos. Collaborations is another – with the 2000 release of ‘Skull & Bones’ alone seeing guest musicians like Chino Moren from Deftones, Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine, Dino Cazares from Fear Factory, and even the ‘Rap God’ himself – Eminem – pulling in some appearances. Back to the matter at hand, however, we can see some blurring of the lines between melodic Hip-Hop and commercial Metal on ‘(Rock) Superstar’. The track paints it’s dark tonal picture with the spoken word into by Chino Moreno of Deftones, before a tense violin string and slowly building drum beats gives the track a downbeat vibe. Lines like “I remember the days when I was a young kid growing up/Looking in the mirror dreamin’ bout blowing up” and “I wish it was all fun and games, but the price is high” look back at the dark edges of our childhood dreams. Sen Dogg recites a slightly more involved verse later on, following from the ballad-style narrative that B-Real delivers, rapping the likes of “You wanna look shanty in the Bentley/Be a snob and never act friendly” and “I heard that some never give full to the fullest/That’s while fools end up dining on the bullet” as the string section intensifies. The chorus sees DJ Muggs lay down a Trap beat, as “So you wanna be a rock superstar, And live large, a big house, 5 cars, you’re in charge” and “Comin’ up in the world don’t trust nobody, Gotta look over your shoulder constantly” permeate through the dramatic instrumentation and the harsh synth tones. I get an overall Hamilton vibe from this track – a strikingly similar one, as a matter of fact, while rich String instrumentation and heavily Rap-inspired Spoken Word sections tell the narrative with an intensely cinematic and character-driven style. The subject matter of the track isn’t particularly interesting, but the feel of Paranoia is easy to identify with, as a listener, and the beats remain mostly the same, although there is some decent guitar work going on here, with some distorted sounds and delayed pedal effects contributing to the atmosphere. The vocals feel slightly out-of-place with the Hip-Hop influences, but the drums on the hook make for some palpable aggression. To sum it up, I feel that it works. While there’s nothing here that truly blows me away, it feels different to the type of music that was around elsewhere in the day, and some effort clearly went into building the atmosphere here. An odd sense of commercial roots bogs it down a little and the pure singing abilities aren’t the best and feel a little ‘amateur dramatics’ overall, but the hooks are pretty enjoyable and the Hamiltion-style rapping is fun too. All in all – I’ll give it a thumbs up.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Skull & Bones” (Released on April 25th, 2000) (via Columbia Records)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow to do it all over again – with a new post that features a rising star Indie Rock 4-piece band who have been playing all over the UK and Ireland since they formed in 2015, but they are from West Lothian, Scotland. The band’s material has been used in a national advertising campaign for Strongbow cider. Their new single was released in support of the Scottish Refugee Council, with the quartet donating the budget for the video to the charity. 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: Saliva – “Click Click Boom”

March 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

When we finish the daily jobs – we’ll round them off with a BOOM! It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Wayne Swinny (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Paul Crosby (Drums/Percussion), Bobby Amaru (Lead Vocals/Keyboard) and Brad Stewart (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) (2016) (Photo via PR)

Who doesn’t love a good use of Onomatopoeia? Hello, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for our weekly throwback to the relics of Pop-Punk and Emo-style releases that you may vaguely remember from around the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, as we bring these Frankenstein’s monsters back to life and we find out if they can walk the walk to modern standards. Saliva were a Memphis-based US Hard Rock band who are still technically active, although they’ve had several different line-up’s over the years and they haven’t released anything new since 2018. Most famously known for tracks like “Always”, “Ladies and Gentlemen” – and, perhaps most notably, “Click Click Boom” – Saliva have had a few hits troubling the US Mainstream Rock Songs chart and the Alternative Airplay charts before. Saliva released their self-titled debut album through Mark Yoshida’s Rockingchair Records back in 1998, before signing with major label Atlantic Records, who heavily promoted their follow-up records, “Every Six Seconds”, which was released in 2001, and eventually went on to receive a Platinum certification via the RIAA, despite some lukewarm reviews. “Click Click Boom” was also the theme track for then-WWF (WWE)’s No Mercy 2001 PPV. Let’s stream it below.

Although “Click Click Boom” didn’t make much of an impact on the commercial charts, you may recognise the tune because it has somehow been ingrained into popular culture because it’s been featured in so many different film, TV and video game productions. The long list includes ‘Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ (2006), ‘The Fast and The Furious’ (2001), ‘UFC 2009 Undisputed’ (2009) and ‘Project Gotham Racing’ (2001), among other entertainment titles. It was also put on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, but no lyric edits were actually made. Encyclopedic knowledge aside, “Click Click Boom” is more-or-less still the Nu Metal-by-numbers track you may remember, with vocalist Wayne Swinny singing about his band causing commercial dominance globally. Lines like “I’m on the radio station, Touring the nation, Leaving the scene in devastation” and “I’m coming down with a new style, and you know it’s buck wild” making these meanings abundantly clear, recited over a Rap-Metal delivery. A heavy set of guitar chords boost the instrumentation forwards, with a propelling bass guitar melody and a loud set of drum notes conjuring up a Pop-oriented hook, followed by a slightly lighter bridge of similarly, but slowed, chugging guitar patterns. Themes of childhood are also touched on, with lines like “Just a kid with a pad and a pen, and a big imagination” which is ironic because the track doesn’t have anything that expressive to say, and so it feels rather contradictory. Lyrical gripes aside, the line of “Make it, break it, take it, Until i’m overrated” was enough to elicit a slight chuckle from me. Overall, the track feels like a watered-down Rage Against The Machine, with a croaking vocal delivery somewhat downplaying the otherwise decent delivery. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained by it. While this track is pretty crap by all means, I think it has some charm in the fame-lusting themes that isn’t really heard in today’s Nu-Metal standards, and I could picture the track being good fun when it’s performed to a live crowd and a throbbing mosh-pit. So, in conclusion, although the track isn’t amazing by any stretch of the mind, I think it’s fine for what it is if you don’t take it so seriously.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Every Six Seconds” (LP) (Released in July, 2001) (via Island Records)

When the job is done, don’t forget to add a BOOM at the end, Just for good measure. I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your Sunday in peace for now, but please feel free to join me again tomorrow as I begin to curate another week’s worth of recommended music listening picks for you. We’re celebrating International Women’s Day with an archive track, released in 2014 to critical acclaim and commercial success, from an influential US songwriter and producer who was included twice in NPR’s list of the “200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women” in 2019, and she contributed backing vocals for Swans on their 2014 record, “To Be Kind”. Did you also know that she once dated supermodel and actress Cara Delevinge from 2014 to 2016 too? 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: OPM – “El Capitan”

February 28, 2021 — Leave a comment

Captain Hook never made it to Admiral – it didn’t Pan out for him. It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Cover Art for “Menace To Sobriety” (Released on August 15th, 2000) (via Atlantic Records)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for another entry in our “Scuzz Sunday” series where we revisit one of the landmark releases of the Pop-Punk genre and Emo-Rock movement of my childhood, between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s, to see whether the final nail has been put in the coffin of credibility for these relics, a light modification of my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This week’s pick is one that I didn’t even remember initially, meanwhile, it comes from a group with quite a few hits to their name. Although it sounds like the drug ‘Opium’, the Los-Angeles based Rap-Metal band OPM’s name actually stands for “Open People’s Minds”, and they were formed in 1996 by John E. Necro and Geoff Turney in a ‘chance’ meeting on a short bus ride through two mutual friends they were each dating. Although they had never played live together at this point, Atlantic Records still took a gamble and signed them up. They broke out with “Heaven Is A Halfpipe”, which saw chart success internationally and won the Kerrang! Award for ‘Best Single’ in 2000, along with getting to play the single live on an episode of Top Of The Pops. Their debut album, “Menace To Sobriety”, was released in 2000, and it also spawned popular singles in “El Capitan” and “Stash Up” – the former of which was written about the band’s favourite type of rum, although it sounds a lot like ‘Captain’. Later re-recorded in 2012 for the “Heaven Can Wait” EP, the track was originally a #20 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Let’s refresh our memories with it below.

OPM are still making music, and “Menace To Sobriety” was given a 15-year anniversary reissue in 2015. One interesting little fact about this record is that there is also a ‘Clean’ version of the album that exists – where most of the profanities and bad language, and the references to drugs as well, have been essentially edited out of the original recording from the explicit lyrics. Famously re-mixed by IDM producers SoulChild (the duo of Stuart Bradbury and Damien Mendis) in 2001, OPM have sadly fallen down into a fair amount of obscurity since their well-known three singles peaked for them, and their albums since haven’t left much of a mark on relevancy. “El Capitan” is one of their most beloved tracks for their fanbase though, with light sampling effects mixing with the gentle hip-hop production and the heavy reggae-ska influences to express their affections for a rum brand. It was high on product placements for certain, but they were falling within the same wheelhouse as Rap-Rock groups like Less Than Jake and Sum 41 around the time. Starting with an “La La La La La La La”, the track springs to life with a piano sample and a surprisingly light guitar melody. Lines like “I like it on Ice with a Coca Cola, I sip it from LA to Capitola” and “I’ve been rockin since the 1900’s, microphone and two 1200’s” are rapped by each member of the band, in turn, above a relaxed bass guitar riff and a summery vibe. The material becomes much darker in the second half of the track, where the narrative becomes about getting a girl pregnant while being under the influence of alcohol, a theme that you would probably never be allowed to do these days. The final verse goes for a slight “breath of fresh air” attitude, saying that the real Captain Morgan wasn’t much fun, but according to the band, “He sure made a good ass bottle of rum”, in their own lyrics. I think where the track stutters is that it doesn’t have anything creative to say to me, and I’m failing to see where much of the art lies here. It’s just pretty short on ideas overall. However, I still thought that parts of the track were good, particularly the first verse where the instrumentation feels quite funky and bright. Reggae was a very clear inspiration for the band, and I like how the music isn’t heavy. It’s far from a retread of what other bands were doing at the time, but I found the subject matter of teen pregnancy later in the track to be distasteful and unsettling, thus letting it down in the process. The rhyming is a little basic, but the sampling feels fresh. I just wish the band had gone a slightly different route with the lyrics, and simply not “gone there”. It is not a total failure, though, for what it’s worth. I liked it until the second verse, and if it was re-written, it would be a bit more likeable.

Pictured: John E. Necro (Lead Vocals), Geoff Turney (Lead Guitar), Jonathan Williams (Keyboard), Etienne Franc (Bass Guitar) & Gary P. Dean (Drums) (Date n/a) (Photo via The Moshville Times)

That’s it for another week, and we’ve also reached the end of another month too. Please feel free to join me again tomorrow, where I’ll be trying to kick off the new month of March in style with a recent floor filler from a Reading-born electronic music producer who has collaborated with many artists including Nile Rogers, JP Cooper, Clairo, Ray BLK, Frances and LANY – with the featured vocalist of tomorrow’s track being Canadian R&B project RHYE, who we covered just a short week ago on the blog as a solo artist. 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: Sum 41 vs. Tenacious D – “Things I Want”

December 27, 2020 — Leave a comment

Like the Justice League – here is another collaboration for the ages! It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Pictured: Deryck Whibley (Lead Vocals/Multi-Instrumentalist), Dave Baksh (Lead Guitar), Jason McCaslin (Bass Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Tom Thacker (Keyboard/Rhythm Guitar) and Frank Zummo (Drums/Synths/Percussion) (in Oct. 2016) (Photo Credit: Jonathan Weiner/Rolling Stone)

The New Mutants. The Young Avengers. Take up your pick as we get obscurer and obscurer – but Tenacious D vs. Sum 41 are shaping up to be the superhero team for trashy Emo-Punk. I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for a festive edition of Scuzz Sundays, the weekly feature where we get in touch with one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk Christmas past, to see whether the sounds from the late-90’s until the mid-00’s can hold up to quality and value today – in 2020! “Things I Want” is a rare find for either fanbase of the Rap-Rock heavyweights Sum 41 or the Hollywood-famous Alt-Metal duo Tenacious D, because it’s tricky to find on any album these days. It was once shared on MySpace (Remember that? No… neither do I…) by both groups back in the 00’s, but it was originally included on “Kevin & Bean Present: Swallow My Eggnogg”, a Def Jam Records compilation of festive-themed Skate-Punk singles and other Hard Rock/Pop-Grunge rarities. The true release date of this LP is pretty unclear to me – as I have three sources of research saying different years to me. However, the most reliable of these sources is Discogs.com, which lists the CD package as a 2001 release. Thankfully, the rare single has been lifted and restored by some lucky users on the video sharing platforms YouTube and DailyMotion. According to the Fandom wiki of Tenacious D, Epic Records once produced a few not-for-public-sales release promos for this track, before it was recorded in 1999. Let’s hear the results of it below.

When you come to think of it – it’s odd that “Things I Want” was doomed to be published on an obscure festive Pop-Punk compilation album, since both parties of Tenacious D and Sum 41 had gained fame and star power within the genre at the time, and they would have had the pushing power of A&R and label representatives to score a quick hit with the novelty of the track, but perhaps it was more of a passion project than an interest in easy commerce which drove the project forward for the two tribes. In whatever case, “Things I Want” still saw the light of day. It is quite surprising, given the circumstances – if not totally unexpected – “Things I Want” does still sound much like you would expect a Sum 41 and Tenacious D collaboration to sound like. Teenage humor and brash guitar lines mix with the quirky Jack Black vocals and the festive intro to create an alternative to your bog-standard Christmas music fare, one which sounds more rooted in classic Metal from Black’s part and the quick, shredding bass guitar lines are produced by Sum 41’s line-up. Lines like: “I wanna see-through jump suit that fits me tight/I want all of the Beatles copyrights” and “I wanna chop Florida off the map/I want Pamela Anderson’s speedo top” bring the Emo-Rock subculture to the forefront, with Black declaring: “There’s a lot of cool s**t I want” over the top of soaring electric guitar solos and melodic, quick Drum time signatures. The lyrics don’t go beyond the basic humorous list of items shtick a great deal, but the fast-paced guitar chords and the generally fast instrumentation keeps the flowing pace going. Overall, I didn’t expect to like this much – just because it was dumped onto a random compilation LP that I had not heard of prior to this, but it certainly exceeded my predictions for it. While I think the jokes ware thinner a little towards the end and it’s not the most Chrismassy festive track out there, it’s still some good fun and it doesn’t take itself very seriously at all – and that’s for it’s own benefits. The instrumentation is also quite entertaining, and that frantic pacing takes a bit of skill. It’s pretty decent, although it’s all about the giving and not the receiving.

Pictured: Jack Black & Kyle Gass of Tenacious D (in 2018) (Photo by Ricardo DeAratanha/LA Times)

Thank you for checking out my latest Festive post! I have got more tricks from up my sleeve of my Christmas jumper tomorrow – where we’re going to be taking an in-depth look at a festive track that was released brand new for this year. It comes from a popular English singer-songwriter and theater performer who has released eight studio albums to date, and she has been commonly known as one of Britain’s greatest soul singers. She’s recently celebrated 25 years of her career in music. 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: System Of A Down – “Protect The Land”

November 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

Get your Chop Suey ready at the double – IT has finally happened! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Serj Tankian (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard), Daron Malakian (Lead Guitar. Backing Vocals), Shavo Odadijian (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) & John Dolmayan (Drums) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to type up about your 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! WELL! This took 15 years, and a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia to happen, but… IT HAS! SYSTEM OF A DOWN ARE BACK! The Alternative Metal icons played a major role in my upbringing – as with countless others – in getting me into the Alternative music scene for the rest of my life, and after the band fell out 15 years ago due to ideological and artistic creative conflict, they have bonded together in the studio once again in an effort to raise awareness of the war going down in their native country, as every member of the group is of an Armenian descent. The Nu Metal icons had crossover hits with the likes of “Chop Suey”, “Toxicity” and “B.Y.O.B.” back in their heyday, and it’s easy to argue that they are one of the most influential groups, not just of the metal genres, but of Rock music in general. As mentioned, the band have released their first new output, after years of rumors and speculation that seemingly was false. “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”, both of which are available to purchase now on their Bandcamp page, with the proceeds from sales going towards the Armenia Fund, and it was recorded to raise awareness of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict that started in September. “Protect The Land” has it’s own full music video. Let’s check it out below.

Shavo Odadijian, the band’s bassist, said the new music was “bigger than our ego’s” in relation to the band re-uniting after creative difficulties caused their original split in support of their country’s armed forces amidst a “dire and serious war being perpetrated upon [their] cultural homelands”, as the 4-piece dropped the two new tracks onto the unsuspecting public on Friday. Whereas “Genocidal Humanoidz” wouldn’t feel very out of place on their “Toxicity” output back in the day, “Protect The Land” feels more alike to the Prog-Metal style the Nu Metal icons explored on “Mezmerize”, back in 2005. Built on a towering bass guitar riff and a propulsive drum timing signature, “Protect The Land” sees the outspoken, Political Alternative Metal musicians go back to what they know, and seemingly reveling in that experience. Serj Tankian plays off a swaying lead guitar riff from Daron Malakian, as he sets big lyrical hooks like “The enemy of man is his own decay” and “Would you stay, and take a stand?” over the top of a concise bass guitar rhythm and a well-delivered, straightforward lead guitar riff that permeates through the track at a quick, sharp pace that doesn’t let up. The chorus is very anthemic, as Tankian chants: “Our history and victory and legacy we send” and “From scavengers and invaders, Those who protect the land” above a fragmented, but melodic, lead guitar riff and a climactic drum part. The instrumentation is heavy, but the vocals and the interplay between the members of the band manage to convey an emphatic sense of warmth – one that we haven’t quite heard in Metal for quite a while, I think. This just emphasizes what a great moment this really is for Metal and for Music in 2020, with vocals that feel expressive and political, just as we’re used to hearing from the band. There are some nice vocal harmonies throughout, and the switch-up of tone, with a more somber pace and a larger focus on the messages of the vocals, in the bridge are a good touch. The track is perhaps a bit reliant on repetition, but it mostly feels well-written and old-school. Does it represent their best ever work? Probably not – but it works really well overall because of the element of the suprise and the underlying warmth which expands the Heavy melodies well. For a first go in 15 years – The results are essential!

PIctured: System Of A Down at an awards ceremony (2014) (Photo Credit: Lester Cohen/Getty Images)

Thank you for reading my latest post! Please feel free to join me tomorrow, once again, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the brand new single from an emerging independent Dallas-based Dream-Pop singer-songwriter which REALLY made me think “Wow” – You will not forgive yourself if you decide to miss this next one out tomorrow! All will be revealed, then! 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/

Scuzz Sundays: N.E.R.D. – “Rockstar (Jason Nevins Remix)”

August 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

19 years on, is this cult classic still good enough to geek out over? It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “In Search Of…” (Released on August 6th, 2001) (via Star Trak/Virgin Records/EMI)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! We’ve quickly reached another weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, where we dig out a Pop-Punk or an Emo-Rock relic, released between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s, the likes of which would have been played on the Scuzz TV channel, to see whether the childhood classics can hold up to current quality standards! N.E.R.D. is actually one of the groups that I’m still quite fond of, and it was the starring vehicle for Pharrell Williams (Yes…. That Pharrell) before he started to write drastically overplayed songs about being happy. (Yes…You know the one). An Alternative Hip-Hop group inspired by the Funk Rock sounds of the late-70’s, N.E.R.D. had a large stint with Virgin/EMI, before later signing to the Star Trak Entertainment indie label, which was founded by The Neptunes in 2002. Their debut album, “In Search Of..”, saw the light of day in August of 2001, meaning that N.E.R.D. have recently been celebrating the 19-year anniversary of it’s release. The record was actually fairly significant, especially for abridging the 90’s Hip-Hop sounds and the Electronic Punk sounds together to develop Rap-Metal. It still remains to be an Emo-Rock record, however, and it’s gone on to sell over 63,000 copies in the US. “Rockstar” was one of the most commercially-known songs taken off the record, and the iconic Jason Nevins remix of this track was prominently featured in Burnout Paradise, a 2007 racing video game published by EA and developed by Criterion, which has been fondly considered a classic of it’s own media. Let’s listen to “Rockstar (Jason Nevins Remix)” via burninrubber0, on YouTube, below.

The trio’s first chart hit in Australia, and a Top 20 chart hit in the UK, hit the spot between catchy, electronic Synth production and cohesive, expressive R&B sensibilities to pull melodic Hip-Hop and quirky Alternative Rock together to pop-cultural success. However, for me anyways, it’s the remix of the track by Los Angeles-based electronic composer Jason Nevins which had really pushed the progression of the two genres forward cohesively. Driven by a bombastic acid-electro strobe beat which evokes the rip-roaring engine of a middle-aged man’s car and a relentless line of upbeat guitar samples, it increases the off-kilter production qualities of the original track to very fun results. Pharrell raps: “You don’t succeed, Cause’ you hesitate/You think we’re flyin’, but we’ll levitate” and “Somethin’ on your chest, better get it off/There’ll be no one left when we set it off” laid over a very quickly paced, cut-off reverb effect that simply doesn’t let up, although the original’s vocals are left audibly intact. Nevins flickers between numerous key changes and distorting different vocal sections of the track, to keep the beats feeling hard to predict the entire way through it’s remixed duration. The cult-favourite bridge feels almost violent, as Pharrell raps: “No one ever really dies, You believe that?” and “Well if not, for you/It’s almost over now, almost over now” over hazy, stuttered synth lines and virtuosic, looped Drum stabs. This has a very 00’s feel to it, and it seemingly embraces the Pop-Punk and Emo-Pop trends of the time, before subverting them with a full-on club banger. It feels like a true breath of fresh air, while having a nostalgic effect in the 19 years later on. What a very good way to kick off the second year of our Scuzz Sundays series, eh?

Pictured: Pharrell Williams (Lead Vocals/Multi-Instrumentalist/Writer/Producer), Chad Hugo (Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar/Sampling) and Shay Hayley (Drums/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2018) (Photo by Graham Walzer / NYT / Redux)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at a (quite) recent track that I sadly didn’t quite get around to spotlighting beforehand, at the time of it’s release. This anthem comes from the collaborative EP project of a singer-songwriter and percussionist from Guinea Conakry, West Africa – who has teamed up with a London-based composer who mixes his floor-fillers at the Phantasy Sound Studios in London, whose debut album was selected as the “Record Of The Month” by Rough Trade in 2015.

Scuzz Sundays 1st Anniversary Special: The Bloodhound Gang – “The Bad Touch”

August 23, 2020 — Leave a comment

Honestly, I can’t actually believe that I’m doing this, but it’s a special Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Jimmy Pop (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jared Hasslehoff (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), DJ Q-Ball (Keyboards/Synths/Turntables/Producer), Daniel P. Carter (Lead Guitar) and The Yin (Drums (2015) (via WeGow.com)

Oh, boy! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and we’ve reached the time of the week where we have a look back at an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic, one that would have been played on the defunct Scuzz TV channel, from the late 1990’s to the mid-2000’s, to see if it can live up to it’s stature! We’ve actually reached the point of an entire year since I began running the feature on the blog, so, therefore, to mark the milestone, we’re actually going there, with… THAT track. Of course, I’m talking about The Bloodhoung Gang’s “The Bad Touch”, a track that was on a VERY significantly heavy rotation on Scuzz TV, for all of the wrong reasons… I feel. It’s known for it’s very silly, memorable music video that made the track become a sizable hit commercially, peaking at #4 in the UK Singles Chart and #52 on the US Billboard Hot 100, alongside a #1 chart position in European countries including Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and a few others. This track came from the group’s third studio album, “Hooray For Boobies”… Yep, which was also released in October 1999 in the UK and the rest of Europe, with a US release early in the year thereafter. In case you were wondering, The Bloodhound Gang were a band who have done quite well for themselves, as they have sold more than 6 million copies of their albums worldwide. I guess, after “The Bad Touch”, they at least had a core fanbase to follow them. The 5-piece went on a hiatus in 2015. Let’s get this over with… with “The Bad Touch” below.

Referenced by Eminem in his hit – “The Real Slim Shady”, The Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch” is the exemplary track that bought Rap-Rock to the masses in a way that, for at least some merit, is still remembered to this day. The lyrics are sexual and vulgar, as Jimmy Pop (yeah, an apt name, for sure) recites: “Sweat baby, Sweat baby, Sex is a Texas drought” and “So, put your hands down my pants and I’ll be you’ll feel nuts” after a synth-led intro that introduces retro 80’s synth beats and a noticeable element of Space-Pop into the mix. The chorus trades nothing for no subtlety, as Pop unforgettably raps: “You and me/Baby me, Nothing but mammals/So, let’s do it like they do on the Discovery channel”, as he pairs up a very basic rhyme with a melodic Synth instrumental, with very little guitar-based instrumentation to be seen or heard. The rest of the track plods along with it’s established style, as Pop matches simplistic Hop-based hooks with repeating Synth instrumentals, with the odd “Gettin’ horny now” to remind us of the intentionally crass and deliberately oversexualised lyricism, with sexual references with every single turn, and a calming Synth bed undertone to complement the Innuendo-heavy vocals. To be fair, the music video is still rather funny and it elicits a decent chuckle out of me, and the refrains are slightly catchy, so I’m not going to take a No.2 all over this. The trouble is, however, you may notice how the sound never really progresses in any major ways. It never really gets to a point where it gets outright explicit, and, melodically, it’s just the same couple of hooks getting repeated over strikingly familiar Synth instrumental sections and the same old rap chorus. It gets tedious for the wrong reasons, and it simply just doesn’t quite go anywhere. But, where would we all be without this? Blissfully unaware… Perhaps?

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hooray For Boobies” (Album) (Released on October 4th, 1999) (via Geffen Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Scuzz Sundays will return for the foreseeable future, and although I’ve just about covered all of the main tracks taken from the era, I’ve still got plenty of sources to gather memories from and some lesser-known tracks that could have something interesting to them. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at the new single from an established Australian Psychedelic Rock act who recently collaborated with Mike Skinner on his latest mixtape as The Streets. He also won the “Best Song Of The Year 2016” trophy at the APRA Awards in 2016. 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/