I Came Undone In This City.  I Blame It On the Restaurants. But It Was Probably The Drugs.

I Came Undone In This City. I Blame It On the Restaurants. But It Was Probably The Drugs.

Except for some Mogwai and Explosions In the Sky, I typically don’t gravitate toward vocal-less, jammy music. but the times, they are a changin’….

 

 

 

Take 50% of DC post hardcore legends Fugazi found in the form of bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty, throw in some mysterious dude (at least to me) in the shape of Anthony Pirog.  Mixed together, this trio plays some serious Hendrix-ish, surf punky, garage rock as The Messthetics who just released their first full length album, interestingly enough, on the famously historic DC hardcore punk label staple, Dischord Records. Nine songs of pure, balls to the walls  jamming.  I personally enjoy such tracks as “Quantum Path” and “Serpent Tongue.”

 

 

And then you have the 2/3 post-hardcore super group High Disciple, consisting of drummer Christopher Daly (Texas Is the Reason, 108, Jets to Brazil, Resurrection),  Scott St. Hilaire (Lifetime, The Fire Still Burns) along with Larry DiGiovanni of Dub For Light fame, offering 5 star, Class A, space dub reggae music for your listening pleasure. The music remains consistently super chill and relaxed, so whether you walking down a NYC street enjoying a Starbucks unsweetened black or green iced tea, clearing the house gutters of leaves, or even getting lost while hiking in Acadia National Park  in Maine recently, these 6 songs will provide balance, serenity and a perfect soundtrack to our otherwise bland existence.  Digging such cuts as “Tranquility” and “Gate Crasher.”

 

 

And because of this latest interest in instrumentally jammy music, I sought out the 2012 Heavy Blanket self-titled album to blow the dust off and give it a better listen since I have unfairly not done so in the past. This trio is a project by none other than guitar Jedi Knight and demi-god, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., two high school friends and a crazy back story of Tuba pot smoking, counterfeit money, jail and revenge on Pearl Jam.   While the funny back story may most likely bullshit, the music isn’t with J’s signature Big Muff’ed licks clearly and evidently present.  Check out such songs as “Dr. Marten Blues” and “Spit in the Eye.”

Oh what else…..oh yeah, The Menzingers recently released a new single, “Toy Soldier”. Though not as solid as many of other their many other kick ass songs (seems a little rushed and awkwardly disjointed at times), still decent enough…

 

And then Beantown Hardcore kings,  Slapshot,  just released a new record, Make America Hate Again. No surprises here with Choke and Co. and that is sometimes a good thing. Straightforward, in your face hardcore brutality you expect from the band. Decent release but must admit I gravitate towards their 2014 self titled release more.  Check out the song “Edge Break Your Face.”

 

 

And speaking of hardcore, been deeply intrigued by the latest release by NYHC heavyweights, Burn, entitled Do or Die (2017). Since their self titled release on Revelation Records, I was always attracted to this band because of their unique approach to an easily played out genre. When you mix Guitarist Gavin Van Vlack’s  avante guard, pedal heavy riffs with Chaka Malik’s off-kilter but still balanced singing approach proves to be a lethal combination. Release that concoction into an energetic live setting, you may want to take out extra liability insurance because trust me, the venue with catch fire and….well…burn to the fucking ground.  Songs like “Fate” and album title track are just two of many gems.

 

And to end things Hardcore, I tend to seek out LA Hardcore royalty, Strife’s live release from their 2017 sold out Troubadour show in LA . Though the band being over the whole straight edge thing, this record is a fantastic capture of the band, playing classic songs throughout their hefty discography.  Killer live tracks of “Blistered” and “Through and Through” can be found here among many others.

 

 

Oh wait, one more thing hardcore….the latest Turnstile album, Time & Space (2017), was brought to my attention via a friend’s text while driving back from Boston/PAX East 2018 with my now 14 yo earlier this year.  “Dude check this song “Generator”  out” immediately turned into me checking out the entire album multiple times on the drive home to Jersey. T&S is 25 minutes of pure, serious punk rock perfection without taking itself too seriously.  I hear a lot of other influences buried in the music, especially Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno for Pyros) inspired vocals. This Baltimore suburban outfit was on my friend’s upstate NY label, Reaper Records before jumping to the “majors” (Roadrunner) where the didn’t really do much for me, but now due to the latest record, they do a lot!

 

An unfortunate reality for many opening bands is that they rarely catch our attention which is highly unfair to them because we are all so selfishly focused on seeing the main act. All this changed when I caught Oakland’s Feral Ohms catching my otherwise ODD-tinged attention, opening up for the Hot Snakes at San Francisco’s hottest new club, The August this past May when work brought me to nearby Sacramento. The band name is very fitting as this trio spit out song after song of rabid, eardrum damaging, rock n roll – just how I like it!  If tracks “Love Damage” “Living Junkyard” don’t do it for you then….oh I don’t know….

 

And don’t get me started on San Diego’s Hot Snakes because I just wont shut the fuck up since they my latest musical obsession at the moment. Not only does their recent release, Jericho Sirens, continue to blow my mind, but their live shows are a life changing experience.  The intensity the band belts out on stage is aptly described as “post hardcore garage rock” and is immeasurably, well…INTENSE…the only word I can use to describe this four piece outfit whose members played in other boastful west coast acts like Drive Like Jehu, Night Marchers, Rocket from the Crypt, etc.  An added bonus is college pal Jason Kourkounis drums for this lethal foursome.  Watching “Jay” play that night in San Fran brought all those Buffalo basement shows memories quickly back….sigh.

 

 

Finally, Rochester, NY’s Indie rock pop superstars,  Forevers, quickly return with their first full length release, Between the Banners, Beneath The Floors (2018), even while still enjoying the residual high off their 2017 ep release, Cotton Thrones that made my same year “best of” list. Think The Replacements. Think the Afghan Wigs meets Guided By Voices with a sprinkle of lyrical witticism a la Hold Steady and even U2 in the mix.  And may I dare suggest one of my guilty pleasures, Third Eye Blind is also lurking in their musical shadows when I hear David Baumgartner (also of Muler), Nick Walter  Chris Reeg and Darren Dewispelaere  latest collected, impressive efforts?  I also hear a band who really, really like their Moog and puts it to the test.  Tracks “Wait It Out”, and first released single “ Mattress” are just a few of standouts.  The band’s latest offerings is not yet offered in digital media format but you can find (and buy) taste samples right here…. https://forevers1.bandcamp.com/releases

See my Spotify playlist below trying to capture as much music mentioned above as possible.

Until next time….xo

PJH

 

What Caught My Musical Attention In 2017 AD…Part 2 of 2

What Caught My Musical Attention In 2017 AD…Part 2 of 2

Ladies and Gentlemen, I humbly present to you part 2 of 2…..

I have updated the Spotify playlist from Part I to include songs from each of the bands below…..see below it is now COMPLETE.

I am now stuffed, sun-burned and enlightened, hence I shall deep dive back into the musical past…but from what I heard with some early musical releases by the likes of Buffalo Tom (GODS), Superchunk, Brian Fallon, Mudhoney, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Royal They, among others, sounding like 2018 is going to be a kick butt musical year!

Will find you at the tail end…

17. Iron Chic – You Can’t Stay Here- I accidentally stumbled upon this band via Spotify following a Gaslight Anthem playlist with their “hit” “Cutesy Monster” while shopping at a Wegmans in a far away, foreign NJ town while waiting out a birthday party my son was attending. The Menzinger’s nuttier first cousin from Long Island, NY, this punk -n- roll band makes a surprising return after some testing personal challenges with this new release.  I can’t get enough of the song “You Can’t Stay Safe.”

18. Matthew Ryan – Hustle Up Starlings a solid release from this Pennsylvania bred veteran whom I first heard sharing the same stage at a Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem, The Horrible Crowes) acoustic show. While it doesn’t kick me as square in the groin like 2014’s Boxers, a lot of ground is made up with songs like “(I Just Died) Like an Aviator.”  and the beautifully chilling “Maybe, I’ll Just Disappear”.

19. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Who Built the Moon? –/Liam Gallagher – As You Were –The Gallagher brothers automatically make my list for numerous reason- OASIS, their working class bravado, their worship for Man City, etc.   The usual warring siblings apparently have buried the hatchet (though I strongly suspect it is part of a larger conspiracy), but you would never guess it from listening to younger Liam’s debut solo release, who clearly has/had a serious bones to pick with his older brother.  While the British Press is eating it up, Paul Weller (legendary front man for the Jam) and I agree the music it is just more Beady Eye (dressed in a shorter skirt), Liam’s first post-Oasis effort that had inspirations for the stars but never quite made it out of the stratosphere to crash and burn.    Songs like “For What It’s Worth” and “Greedy Soul” aren’t too shabby.  On the other hand, after two albums of Oasis-tinged guitar rock, Noel Gallagher decides to explore some of his other musical interest and have fun with this latest offering. “Holy Mountain”, “Black and White Sunshine” and “Dead In the Water” are some of the songs I gravitate towards.   Ultimately, nothing mind-blowing from either brother which gives further proof for them to cut the shit, re-unite Oasis and conquer the universe.

20. The 65s – Wolves And Men – This 2 song EP from this  Lyndhurst, NJ band continues to proves they are veterans in playing rock music properly since 2009 – that is, heavy, loud and raw.  I really dig the song “As My Body Numbs.”

22. Battery – For the Rejected by the Rejected – After a 20 year hiatus, this nation’s capital “youth crew”  who I have seen live many times return with more straight ahead blazing hardcore with some gut-chuckling song titles (“Has Been”, “Go Back to the Gym”).  Another great gym workout motivator.

 

24.  Morrissey-Low In High School – Similar to 2014’s  World Peace Is None of Your Business, Moz’s latest release wasn’t designed to win over a huge legion of new fans and quite possibly an (deliberate?) effort to shave off a couple of layers of old.  Rather, it is for us die-hard fans that will blindly defend him to death with one eye while rolling the other at his ongoing antics.  But dig deep and you find some gems, like the opening track, “My Love, I’d Do Anything for You”, along “I Wish you Lonely” and “Jacky’s Only Happy When She is Up On the Stage.”  More importantly, Morrissey remains what we all love about him – brutally honest, beautifully brilliant,Wildeanly witty and at times, annoyingly infuriating.  It is unfortunate that many critics allow their own biases get in the way, frustrated that they can’t pigeonhole the Mancunian God  into a neatly social/political package with a bow, hence taking swipes at his art.


25. French Postcard –Misc. – another SOMA NJ band turning heads with kick-ass music with their heavy dream-swirl,  fuzz-gaze, psych-rock approach to their art, resulting in many fine tunes. (Bandcamp only: https://frenchpostcard.bandcamp.com/).


26. Quicksand – Interiors – Despite the original band lineup, not sure what makes this a “new album” from these NYHC post-hardcore kings since the music lost a lot of that relied upon “groove” found perfectly on 1990’s S/T, 1993’s Slip and 1995’s Manic Compression.  Front-man Walter Schreifels  is singing more like he is in Rivals Schools or Walking Concert and is still hooked on his guitar effect pedals he discovered in Dead Heavens.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a great record and one of 2017’s best releases, just not very Quicksand, IMHO, and if someone played it for me with out disclosing the band, I would immediately recognize Walter’ vocals for just another one of many of his projects.  If you approach Interiors album like, let’s say the latest Star Wars film, it is definitely a decent, fun release, just don’t ask too many questions.

27. Nihiloceros — S/T- from the ashes of the fab Samantha (RIP) comes Brooklyn’s finest moment in “Trash Pop.” Their debut 5 song EP showcases heavy rocking, pumping, fun songs that will put a shake in your rump and a pep in your promenading.   Front man Mike Borchardt and Co. sounds like they are having a blast and the last laugh at the same time.

 

28. The National – Sleep Well Beast – Like Radiohead, I consider The National a “mood band”, an interesting phenomena where 1.) no other music is working, 2.) hear a “mood band” 3.)have an epiphany that it was the”mood band” you were craving but would have never figured it out unless you heard them.  Interestingly, this baby steps, better than expected release from this Ohio born band has many Kid A/Amnesiac noise flirtations scattered throughout, with songs like, “Turtleneck” and “No One Else Will Be There” and “Day I Die” being some of the many standouts with the latter tune easily fitting nicely on 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me.

29. Plaid Dracula – Plaid Sabbath –  This Brooklyn, NY fuzz drenched glam rock trio are taken no prisoners with their this 3 song EP release.  Their song “Bitch Cannon III” is worth the price of admission alone.  If still too much, just steal it….it’s worth the jail time….

 

 

30. Dead Stars – Perfect Patterns – The Brooklyn, NY trio continue their straight forward, 12 song barrage of fuzzed out pop that doesn’t miss a note from last years Bright Colors.  Songs like “Precious Things” and “Pink Clouds” will have your foot tapping and head bobbing.

 

31. Husker Du -Savage Young Du – a huge 4 LP/3 CDs release (with massive amounts of photos, a hardcover book, “flyerography” and even reported matching packing tape) of remastered, original board tapes, demos, and session masters before the St. Paul (you heard me right) trio landed on the infamous SST Records.  Too many good songs to choose from, so be my guess…

 


32 . Atom Driver -Slack JawFor fans of the West Coast, Rocket From the Crypt/Night Marchers (hey Jay!),/Drive Like Jehu thingy, this New Brunswick, NJ super-group trio banded in 2016 and already offering you this ball-crushing 5 song EP of post-punk mayhem that knocks the wind out of you and have you begging for more.  Don’t believe me…try songs like “Slack Jaw” and “Hate Me Now.”  And if that aint enough, check out their other ass-whupping 2017 released EP, In The West, on Bandcamp:(https://atomdriver.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-west).

Ok…ready for it….and yes, I saved for last on purpose.


33. U2 – Songs of Experience yeah no shit, I can’t even believe it made the list either but after multiple listens, something finally clicked in the middle of a 10 mile run, which reminded of similar click with the same said band 30+ years ago, when I openly despised them at Red Rocks and adored them by Live Aid 85, which made me realize that my perspective may have been stubbornly a tad off after so much recent bouts of disappointment. Yes, ridiculously over-produced, but if you can manage to look beyond the shimmering packaging, the borderline electronic drums that I can’t even believe Larry Mullen Jr. allowed to be released, the obvious band boardroom scheming with their marketing team and attorneys close by,  and finally the Rolling Stone Magazine  $Blind$ Protectionism (they have payroll to meet, you know), songs like “Get Out of Your Own Way” into “American Soul”, “The Showman” and “Red Flag Day” are decent and will fit in nicely with their 35 year backlog.  Not sure how much I will listen to this latest offering, but I can’t honestly keep ripping on a band when I sometimes have two delay pedals on my pedal board, nor can I play favorites with the kids and turn a blind eye to adore the vain antics of Stephen Patrick while pretending to tsk tsk Paul for doing the same.  Besides, their anthem “With Or Without You” is etched into the bottom of my soul as it was on the car radio 30 years ago when I first learned of the eventual inevitable passing of my mom, marking the first and only time I ever cried about it and still makes me think of that moment every time I’ve heard it since.  And being an 1/2 Mick, it is definitely an Irish thang….

At least maybe I can ween my boys off Coldplay with this offering…who knows….

OK, going to lawyer up now…then diving adieu xoxo

U2 are a Christian band giving you a gift called “Songs Of Innocence”.  Why you wanna be so shitty?

U2 are a Christian band giving you a gift called “Songs Of Innocence”. Why you wanna be so shitty?

Songs Of Innocence U2 Album review by Keith Hartel

U2biquity is nothing to fear.

ALBUME REVIEW: Here’s how Christian I think U2 is: I think they’re the benevolent equivalent of Mel Gibson, or, expressed more economically: Bizarro Mel Gibson. They take the title of their new album from William Blake, who can be described as a “Christian mystic”. Do you think U2 put a lot of thought into what they call this thing they’re giving to half a billion people? I’m gonna guess the answer is yes. So what’s a mystic? The way I’d describe is it is a mystic is someone who experiences the divine as subjective reality . Throughout history, there have always been nay-sayers who find these people insane. Sometimes they even kill mystics. Assuming Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure, one could make an argument that he was not literally “the son of God” any more than anyone else, but his mystical experiences convinced him that he was, and he went around talking about it. Big mistake. And now they wanna kill U2 too.

William Blake and U2 Songs Of Innocence

In terms of how much attention each of their new albums receives upon release, I believe U2 may be on top of the longest winning streak in rock and roll history. Last I heard, U2 are Christians (except for Adam Clayton, which is why he’s the one that went out with Naomi Campbell, I guess.) Since they’re Irish, religion isn’t simply a comforting aspect of their lives, or such is my speculation. What’s impressive about this to me is they don’t advertise or emphasize their spirituality but it has always been reflected in their work. This means they are in the faith, hope and love business, rather than the anger and selfishness business. For the most part, all my favorite artists are geniuses at expressing negativity, from John Lennon all the way down. I love that shit. If Nick Cave or Leonard Cohen or Elliott Smith of Kurt Cobain (extra points for suicides!) are selling darkness and despair I will put mustard (alcohol?) on that shit and gobble it down. But that’s the easy way. BTW: I gotta mention Cohen and Cave have also written many powerfully uplifting songs that express real feelings of transcendent sacred hope. Here’s an interesting snippet of Jim Morrison talking about where I’m going with this:

“A PIECE OF MUSIC IS THE PURE EXPRESSION OF JOY (1968) – JIM MORRISON

Apple and U2 have colluded to revolutionize what it means when a new album comes out, at least this once. What I’m interested in is what they have decided would be the thing they give to basically every person in the civilized world. So U2 being U2 and Apple being Apple, I believe careful consideration has gone into what they’re dumping into everyone’s library. A band doesn’t end up in U2’s position by accident. U2 always worked hard towards the aim of being being the biggest band in the world. U2 in general and Bono in particular have been committed to using their powers for good to the point of near absurdity. I find the reaction to their new free album to be cynical and jaded beyond all rationality, but that’s probably just because I’m looking at my Facebook feed, which consists primarily of crabby old punk rockers in their 40s and 50s who are living in the year 1983 (like myself). But boy, oh boy, do people love making wisecracks about U2 giving them an album they never asked for. The sheer effrontery of this grand gesture has got legions of middle-aged men acting like the snotty adolescent older daughter on all my favorite “golden age of TV” cable serials. It’s just another thing coming at you over the computer, get into it or ignore it or delete it but if you’re complaining about it it’s because you LOVE complaining. I love complaining. Complaining reinforces the ego with beautiful efficiency. But for me, this is no such occasion. I find “Songs Of Innocence” to be inspiring and uplifting and it gives me hope for the future of rock and roll and for humanity.

U2 have the elements of a “real” band. You can really hear the contribution of each of the four members on every song. Like the Who, each member has an idiosyncratically individual musical personality expressed through their style but like the Ramones there is no virtuosity, no element superfluous to the expression of the song. This is consistently the case throughout the album. Bono in particular is singing as beautifully Bono-like as ever but he sounds more interested in the song than he is in his own Bono-nature. He’s not going a step past what is needed. On any other U2 album from “Unforgettable Fire” onward Bono gets a little too rich for my blood, but never on this album.

The first song is “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)”. They come out pushing all the right buttons for U2-80s-new wave nostalgia. They’re coming at you with the “whoa whoahs” and the moody minimalist piano vibes of “New Year’s Day”, then the Edge comes in sounding more crunchy and lo-fi than ever. This guitar is loud and distorted and rocking hard and obnoxious but NOT Ramones-like, which is a good choice. When the groove kicks in I like to imagine they were thinking of Adam and the Ants. It has the stick clicks of “Antmusic” and the “Whoah whoas” associated with Adam and the Ants (and also U2, of course). A little of the old military snare. They always were good at using the snare drum to remind you of a military band and thus the underpinning haunting subconscious knowledge of the ongoing inevitability of the never-ending horrors of war. It’s an Irish thing, these people didn’t just discover terrorism over the last 15 years. This is the first of many songs that evokes the “War” album for me, which is the best U2 ever were. Take into consideration once again, the demographic they’re appealing to is EVERYBODY. Also, most people who like U2 at all have liked them for a REALLY LONG TIME, decades. These guys have been around the block enough to know what side their bread is buttered on. All of us Gen-x-ers grew up with U2, whether we cared to or not. What I like about this song is it seems to say “remember that feeling, it has always been there”. No music gets under your skin like the stuff you got into when you were 14. Ask the surviving Beatles and Stones, who have always embraced this truth. This song is about connecting with what it means to find the healing powers of rock and roll at the most painful and confusing part of life, the transition of adolescence. It’s also a sexy and exciting time, full of the feeling of possibility and the FUTURE. I think this song expresses all of that. For me personally it does somewhat remind me of my favorite band when I was 13 and this song in particular:

and also around the same time I was way into this:

And the hook for the first song on their latest and biggest new album contains the lines:

“Everything I ever lost now has been returned, the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard”

That’s very beautiful to me. It takes me back to when music really was the thing that made sense out of the world. Before I grew up and “figured it all out” and worked out my “philosophy of life”. What’s REALLY deep about it is this: from U2’s Christian perspective, “everything I ever lost” can only mean the connection to God, or the collective-consciousness, “the higher power”, the ONE, the thing bigger than yourself, the thing that the so-called “soul” is said to be hooked into. The pursuit of ecstatic connection triggered by the mysterious powers of music (like, how does it work? Why does it DO that to us?) is an expression of this spiritual longing, just like the booze and drugs and sex and all the other good stuff. Television, for Christ’s sake! ANYTHING to feel connected and immersed in something larger than yourself that you can lose yourself in. So this song and this chorus contain for me all that is needed to show that U2 is back and they have something worthwhile to say to us. Remember, they’re old too, they’re in the same boat. This is a line that fits and is simple and contains the whole meaning of life. And it’s catchy and it has a good beat. The Edge does not lean on special effects here and he’s playing some real satisfying punk rock rhythm guitar. I’m assuming this song had to have been written and recordedy before the recent death of Tommy Ramone, which triggered a wave of nostalgia ultimately resulting in the canonization of the Ramones as second most important band ever. If this is indeed the case, U2 has their finger on the pulse in a way that continues to be SPOOKY! They do a great job of making an anthemic rocker that doesn’t in any way attempt to sound like the Ramones. “Vertigo” sounded more like the Ramones than this one does. They got good taste.

The second song is “Every Breaking Wave”. This song is shamelessly evocative of “With or Without You”, but faster, more driving, which only takes it slightly past the excitement level of “Every Breath You Take” by the Police, but I’m really digging it. As a matter of fact, because you can easily picture Sting singing these verses, for the first time ever I know for a fact that I find Bono a million times less annoying than Sting. But this is a cool, middling Police-type song. I like the line, “Every gambler knows that to lose is what you’re really there for”. I’m not a gambler, but I’m familiar with the concept, it’s a big part of the psychology of self-destruction. Contrary to Bono’s assertion, I’m sure there’s a lot of gamblers out there who think they want the thrill of victory but Bono’s talking about the self-examining self-destroyer, who really knows he’s his own worst enemy all along. That’s a lot of extrapolation from one simple lyric and a great example of the strength of Bono’s words on this album. From the unique perspective of the Christian rock star, I find this to be a line that expresses sincere empathy and compassion, without judgement. You don’t get as big as U2 without making a deal with the devil, and I believe Bono is quietly and non-self-aggrandizingly grappling with his own demons, whatever form they may take. This song is about not waiting for the next big thing to make your life worthwhile. “To be swept off our feet and stop chasing every breaking wave” and “I thought I heard the Captain’s voice, it’s hard to listen while you preach” are examples of Bono sharing moments when he discovers humility is where fulfillment lies. “Are we so hopeless against the tide?” Good fucking question the song is asking. This is a song about strength in spiritual surrender, which is the only strength there is that won’t ultimately result in eating yourself alive, somehow. “We’re in love with defeat” has to do with the human condition in general. Did I say this song is about surrender? Bono uses a sweet falsetto that uncharactistically makes him softer at the peak of the melody. The message I take from this song is “the kingdom of heaven is within.” It’s catchy, it’s got a good beat.

I love an album that puts the best song 3rd, and for me this is clearly one of them. On “California” they kick into my favorite groove which my friend calls “The Sex Pistols beat” but I think of it as “the ‘Funtime’ beat” and here’s a couple favorite examples:

IGGY POP – THE IDIOT – FUNTIME

DAVID BOWIE – RED SAILS

But it makes me want to dance like this:

SCENE FROM FOOTLOOSE

Now I’m really digging this album. It is building momentum, the tempo is faster, dancier, but still rocking and the message is super-duper Christian! “There is no end to love”. As far as I’m concerned, that’s up there with “All You Need Is Love” and “The love you take is equal to the love you make”, as far as I’m concerned at the moment. This is a great song about Universal Cosmic Love. Warning: this Love does not disintegrate haters, it absorbs them. We got us a new Van Morrison here, Irish mysticism expressed directly and simply. That may be wishful thinking on my part, but there’s no denying this groove don’t quit. This is some super-entertaining new wave power pop. The synths in the chorus sound warmly soothing in a way that reminds me of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” (again with the 80s retro), but there’s also some subtle tasty string arrangement sounding stuff and then the Edge takes a melodic guitar solo that is more straightforward in expression of simple and loud and fat melody than I can ever remember hearing him do, he sounds like more like Television and the Skids, which he always credited as primary influences. Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton (from here on in referred to as “the rhythm section”) are appropriately propulsive. There is no song ever written where it is more obvious when you’re hearing The Hook and I mean that in the best possible sense. My favorite “whoa-whoahs” on the album. It’s real catchy and has a really good beat. Unfortunately, for me it’s all downhill from here. Plenty of quality U2 for the next 40 minutes or so, but I could listen to “California” all day. I hereby declare it is my favorite U2 song of all time.

This next “Song For Someone” starts with a nice acoustic Edge guitar. This is sort of a nice new “One”, if you want that kind of thing. I like it better than “One” which, again, is a little rich for my blood. Yet another “classic-U2” sounding song on the album. Again, in his guitar solo, The Edge evokes his primary original influence, Stuart Adamson of the Skids:

THE SKIDS – CHARADE

Stuart Adamson went on to further refine his bagpipe-like melodic guitar style with a band called Big Country. He’s dead now.

“Iris” has the band as one rhythm unit. This is real old school U2, “Where The Streets Have No Name” with a little of the mood of the “War” album style but faster and leaner and meaner. The Edge has got his delay back and he remembers how to use it. Not a bad song, but maybe the closest they get to doing “U2-by-numbers” on this album. It’s a fairly silly love song (some people want to fill the world with them). I like the ending tagline “Free yourself to be yourself, only you can see yourself”. Positive energy!

“Volcano” starts with bass and drums, almost like an old Pixies tune. The chorus reminds me a bit of Siouxsie and the Banshees with maybe even a little REM “This One Goes Out To The One I Love” thrown in via the guitar line at the end. The 80s mood continues, this is the point of the album where I’m starting to suspect they front loaded all the really good songs, but that’s no crime. Total album track, not bad. There’s some nice guitar on here, as always. Single note-lines rather than chords makes it sort of modern-sounding.

“Raised By Wolves” builds tension through the first two verses with some typically minimalist U2 style piano, gradually increasing in volume. This song is about growing up in the urban blight of war-torn Dublin, and the tension builds until the chorus bursts out : “Raised by wolves, stronger than fear”. And what’s stronger than fear? Conventional wisdom says the answer is love, but they don’t come right out and say that, sneaky Christians that they are. The pattern of evoking nostalgia for the classic, early, “innocent” U2 is continued. On this track it’s a nice little bit of “New Year’s Day” style piano. So we’re back where we started once again, pretty much in a good way.

“Cedarwood” is all over the place. It’s got some incongruously non U2-like heaviosity that reminds me at times of Soundgarden’s “Spoonman” of all things and some great melodic bass playing from Adam Clayton. This song seems like it was built out of leftover parts that were too good to be thrown out. Every part is stylistically different, but it sounds like it should be four different developed songs instead of one string of different ideas. It’s all good, except I don’t think it works as a song.

“Sleep Like a Baby” has nice minimalistic synth work. These sounds reminds me of stuff like U2’s early contemporaries: Yazoo, early Depeche Mode, Heaven 17 and good old Human League mores than U2. Bono’s singing in a style and using some sort of vocal phasing effect that makes him sound like Marc Bolan, which is pretty fucking cool. The song ends up sounding almost like a cross between U2 and the Eurhythmics. Bono hits an incredibly high falsetto in this tune, so high it’s like he almost disappears into it. And the outré solo-is super rude and fuzztonish. Nice groove and sound, not a great song.

“This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now” sets up some nice vibes with acoustic guitar, more classic-style U2 piano and a group vocal that makes me think once again of the “War” album. Getting towards the end of this album, I’m thinking U2’s own “songs of innocence” culminated on their third album, “War”. Remember, they had the picture of the same little kid on the first album and the third album (and a handful of import singles, and the video for “Two Hearts Beat As One”). “War” was the end of the innocence for these boys. That was the album where they hit their stride stylistically and became big rock stars in America. Say, I wonder if that’s presently being rereleased on iTunes, in remastered form? (along with the rest of their catalogue) Wouldn’t that be something?

Now all of a sudden, at the last song, the plot thickens! Is U2 trying to edge themselves into the Beatles/Bowie/Stones/Elvis Costello category of artists who can sell you their old classics over and over again? The reason I ask this is I gotta say, I loved the first three U2 albums when I was a kid but I have never owned them since the advent of the compact disc, because I was too cool to buy U2 records when their latest hit was consistently omnipresent all throughout MTV’s entire music video playing era. But I’m starting to feel like I want to own those first three albums again, and it’s this album that is making me feel this way. You gotta be a certain age to get the urge to buy albums, or a weirdo. And that’s why Ace Frehley is at number 2 in the charts and Bowie releases a new old album every year.

So I digress, the second last song’s got “Soldier, soldier” in it and when U2’s got a gang of voices singing about anything to do with war, it’s gonna remind you of “War” in some way or other. The Edge is doing some great, semi-Radioheadish electric guitar in it in the intro. Or is it ZZ Top? And then it goes disco. A more 70s version of “Achtung-era” U2, another winning period for the group. As a matter of fact I’m gonna say it’s got “Achtung” verses and “War” choruses. The Edge is playing some real cool spiky single note rhythms on this. Even with all these assets the song seems to deserve it’s placement as second last song on the album, a traditional dead spot. Not that anyone’s ever gonna listen to the whole thing all the way through. AND it’s the longest song on the album! Nice touch. I guess it just HAD to have that superfluous acoustic breakdown!

So finally, the last song is a long, slow, boring thing called “The Troubles”. Starts out with some female voices. It’s a moody song that maybe gets into that mood of “One” but with a different approach. I’m not loving these lady vocals at the end of the album. This song starts from a low place dynamically, but really seems to try to have “moments”. Seems like all icing. At least they give The Edge the last word, with a long strong outré solo that is very traditionally Edge-like.

It occurs to me this album could actually be great it if it were 15 minutes shorter. The 35 minute album! That’s what I really miss and it’s one of the reasons we used to listen to entire albums. Overall, I enjoy this U2 album. It’s got all the elements I like about them and a few great songs. I don’t think they owe anyone an apology.

RELATED: What is going on with Tom Petty that he feels a need to rock so fucking hard at this specific time?

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American Independence & 4th of July Songs

American Independence & 4th of July Songs

American US upside down flag

...And we want to be free to kick out the jams


It used to be that there was nothing more American than beer, bar-b-ques, Air Conditioners, TVs, car washes, and rock music. You could always count on things that were made proudly in the good ole’ U.S.A. We know where this went. However, the one thing though that will always remain true is on this very short playlist is american made rock-n-roll until they figure out how to outsource that shit. Ok with the exception of the U2 track you know what I am getting at. Here’s some choice ones. Happy 4th!

Kick Out The Jams MP3 by The MC5
4th Of July MP3 by U2 from Unforgettable Fire
Youth of America MP3 by The Wipers
American Heavy Metal Weekend MP3 by The Circle Jerks from Wonderful
Surfin bird bird is the word MP3 by The Trashmen