It’s too facile by half to just talk about Bowie when you talk about Destroyer, but for real: that’s the reference point here. Obviously, it’s not just replication or anything, but there’s really so much Bowie in Destroyer that it’s hard not to at least acknowledge it.
It is my curse that any time I see the phrase “The Shining”, this is the inescapable result in my brain.
[Read More]Hot Snakes! Hot Snakes! Hot Snakes!
Compare this tune with the Cinerama song from yesterday. It’s a simpler arrangement, but fundamentally the same type of song. But this feels so much better because the focus is where it belongs, on Gedge’s voice and guitar. This comes from Hit Parade 2, which documented the second half of the Wedding Present’s 1992. They put out a single every month, collecting all the tunes on two records. While a bit uneven compared to the albums from that time (as you might expect), they still have a bunch of great material on them and are both worth your time.
[Read More]This is the earliest Destroyer record that I’ve heard, I haven’t gone any earlier than this one. This album is very much a Destroyer record, full of Dan Bejar’s elaborate melodic pop and winding lyrics. I think he’d largely keep getting better, as his style of music pretty much always benefits from additional craft.
Meanwhile, despite mining a similar vein of music, Damon Gough’s stuff didn’t get better as time went on. So, I suppose it doesn’t always work that way, and the lesson as always is I’m an idiot.
[Read More]An outlier on the one and only Germs LP, (GI), this is a live track that is triple the length of anything else on the record. A loose wander of a song, it’s all sneer and skronk, without a whole lot of direction. But the Germs were never really about having a point, so it fits in just fine.
It’s impossible to not nod your head along here. I tried, I’ve done the science.
[Read More]This is almost the full Five Songs experience today, we’re just missing some incomprehensible metal.
Ahh, 1998. With The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at the peak of their popularity, with “The Impression That I Get” as a pretty big hit, it’s not a surprise that there were lots of followers who got record contracts in their wake. And so, Edna’s Goldfish. Difficult not to picture my old Civic when I listen to this.
[Read More]Oh, hell yes. The piano! The swinging drums! Those horns! Goddamn, y’all.
I have a pretty simple opinion on the Police: first three albums yes, last two, no. It’s really kind of that simple. The energy of the punk-influenced early stuff had finally dissipated entirely by the final album, which was chock-a-block with Dad Rock. That’s not to say that I can’t enjoy bits of it, but I just don’t find myself wanting to listen to it either.
[Read More]A side project of Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and DJ Fakts One, the Perceptionists are a good band to check out if you’re a fan of any of the individual artists. Since I like Mr. Lif a lot, that’s what brought me here. I think the star of this album is really Fakts One, who does a great job on the beats. This is the closer to their first album.
[Read More]Your Blues is maybe the most Bowie of Destroyer’s albums, which is really saying something. I feel like I’ve made that comparison before. (looks) Hey, I haven’t! Anyway, this is very Bowie-ish. BOOM FRESH INSIGHT
“Samiam or 411” would be a challenging game at times. It’s also a game that, like, four people are qualified to play.
Listen to how huge those guitars are, they wound like the inside of an industrial machine. And then they all lay out and let the drummer have some? Bliss! It’s a move that so many bands have pulled, and it’s because it works. If I were in a band, I’d have everybody get out and let the dummer have plenty! In fact, maybe we should just have the drummer! Hell yes just drums.
[Read More]I think this is the longest Five Songs yet!
Oooh, have we got a treat today! Doom metal band Inter Arma have always played around with doom’s template and exploring where it could go. On today’s track, they check in on what happens if they stretch things out to 45 minutes. That’s right, this is the entirety of the album as one single track. It’s a delight, and I’m just going to let you all lean in to it.
[Read More]All I can think about for the intro to this song is that this is authentic third-wave gibberish.
Well, it’s happened again: I have no recollection of how this metal album ended up in my collection. As I re-started paying attention to metal, about nine or so years ago, I ended up with a few grab bags and bundles, and I didn’t always digest every album in them. I think this must have been included in one of them.
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