We're Not Who You Think We Are
Album: Bug
Year: 1988
Poor J Mascis. Born too late to ever be part of the pantheon of guitar heroes, doomed to be putting long, noisy solos into songs for a target audience that frowns upon that sort of thing.
Hurrah for J Mascis! One of the last of the guitar heroes, keeping the flame of the long noisy guitar solo long after everybody else gave it up.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #317: Dinosaur Jr. – “Freak Scene”
Album: Doughboy Hollow
Year: 1991
Like most bands, The Died Pretty’s music got slicker as they got older and more technically proficient. This, in and of itself isn’t a bad development, especially since it’s pretty much the most natural thing in the world.
The key, of course, is to find the balance between your youthful enthusiasm and your adult chops. For The Died Pretty, the album where they found that balance was 1991’s Doughboy Hollow.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #316 – The Died Pretty – “Doused”
Single, 1984
Even in these days of downloads and playlists, people pay attention to what label an artist records for. ’twas ever thus. And a great rule of thumb is this: if a label is named after one of your favorite songs, then the odds are even greater that you’re going to like the vast majority of what they put out.
So it was with me and the What Goes On, a UK label that that released some of my favorite records of the 1980s. Because it was named after my favorite Velvet Underground song, I immediately figured their tastes were simpatico with mine. Which is how I discovered The Died Pretty.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #315: The Died Pretty – “Out of The Unknown”
Album: Go Girl Crazy!
Year: 1975
So the weirdest thing happened. As I’ve mentioned before, I try to write these a week or two in advance, so that I have a chance to be thinking about the song (at least subconsciously) for a while before I finally hit the “Publish” button.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I accidentally published yesterday’s post about “Master Race Rock” instead of saving it as a draft. I didn’t even realize it until the next day, when I got a Facebook message from Andy Shernoff — the guy who called the shots on Go Girl Crazy! — thanking me for the post. What the what?
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #314: The Dictators – “Two Tub Man”
Album: Go Girl Crazy!
Year: 1975.
There may be records that are funnier than Go Girl Crazy! There may be records that rock more than Go Girl Crazy!
But in the four quadrant graph charting records that are funny and records that rock, Go Girl Crazy is right there in the upper right-hand corner. No record in the history of recorded music has combined as many jokes with as much rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
Oh, and by the way, it’s a key record in the inevitable confluence of punk rock and heavy metal, providing a bridge between the Stooges and (especially) the New York Dolls and the late 70s punks, and of course the grunge bands with a sense of humour. (Which I guess was Mudhoney.)
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #313: The Dictators – “Master Race Rock”
Album: New Traditionalists
Year: 1981
Given how much video contributed to their aesthetic, it’s so weird to think that Devo became an arena-level act prior to the advent of MTV, but by the time 1981 had ended, they were big enough to play the Selland Arena in Fresno.
Which, of course, Tim and I went to, and while I don’t recall very much about it all these years later, I seem to remember that they played some of those videos on a huge screen while they were playing the accompanying songs.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #312: Devo – “Beautiful World”
Album: Freedom of Choice
Year: 1980.
When 1979’s Duty Now For The Future came and went with neither the cultural nor musical impact of the debut album, it kinda felt like Devo was a one-trick novelty act, which is why what they pulled off with 1980’s Freedom of Choice seemed so impressive.
Which was, improbably, a top 25 album and a top 15 single. Now I know what you’re thinking: the success of “Whip It” must have been driven by MTV. Which makes sense, as the video was so memorable. There’s one small problem with that, though: MTV didn’t debut for a full year after Freedom of Choice was released.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #311: Devo – “Freedom of Choice”
Album:. Q Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo!
Year: 1978
While it wasn’t as much of a mind-fuck as Elvis Costello’s legendary performance, I still have vivid memories of Devo performing on Saturday Night Live.
First off, only a week after The Rolling Stones came on (and killed) as both host and musical guest, Devo did their utter de-construction of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (which almost made this list just for Mothersbaugh’s amazing “babybabybabymaybemaybembaybe” section) and later they did “Jocko Homo.”
Even now, “Jocko Homo” is a weird fucking song, so imagine how it hit me in 1978. I’d read about Devo in CREEM, of course, I don’t think I’d actually heard them until they played SNL. What even was this?
Album: Q. Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!
Year: 1978
Arriving with a full-blown mythology that was half genius and half sub-genius, tons of jokes (many of them dirty ones), and bigger guitars than you’d expect from a band full of robots, Q. Are We Not Men A. We Are Devo! was far deeper than the new wave novelty it presented itself as.
Sure, they dressed up in silly costumes and wrote tight, precision-tooled songs, but Devo’s dirty little secret was that Mark Mothersbaugh & Gerald Casale were also pretty great pop tunesmiths.
Album: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Year: 1970
Well now. “Layla.” Right? A song so great at conveying the anguish that Eric Clapton felt about wanting to fuck his best friend’s wife that the bad vibes emanating from every note were enough to keep from an epidemic of Laylas from being born in the 1970s. Not even the most fanatical devotee of the song would want to subject their child to that kind of karma.
Are you sick of this song? Be truthful now. Back when classic rock radio was called “rock radio,” it was pretty much played every single day on every single station for years and years and years. Maybe it still is, I dunno.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #308: Derek & The Dominos – “Layla”