tguk – on a wire
Originally written 05.16.2002.
tim hooked me up with mp3s for the get up kids’ recent release: “on a wire”. listening to the record as i’m writing this. i’ll agree with the review that peter pointed me to that called it “different”. it’s different alright. i wouldn’t say it’s not poppy, i don’t know if that’s possible for the get up kids, but it doesn’t have some of the infectious cheesyness that marked their last release. it also doesn’t have many of the stylistic elements that they used to define the proto-emo genre on their early records. in a lot of ways, that’s refreshing since the genre has become a bit saturated of late, making tguk a favorite target for the buddyhead set. i still like it of course because, as usual, i’m a late adopter when it comes to music. i started listening to tguk at least a summer after dana first pointed out the record. this album is more of a straight-up rock and roll record – well a poppy kind of rock and roll, but rock and roll nonetheless. it comes off as much less burlesque and histrionic than past releases. not as meditative and plodding as the new amsterdams, but a departure from past recordings to be sure. gone are the simple keyboard hooks (well except for on “the worst idea”, which competes with “stay gone” as the most get up kids of the songs, and my favorite track, but even there they don’t feel the same). they’re replaced by moody guitar licks. also, the vocals sound a bit out of place now. sure there’s melody, but the get up kids vocals have always had a certain haggardness, a bit of raw emotion, and that roughness around the edges, in the context of these new songs, seems like a blemish. all in all, it’s a good record, and perhaps the kind of record that the get up kids need to make. i just can’t seem to get into it in the way that past recordings have captured me. still, as the album winds down with “the worst idea” and “hannah hold on”, i’m reminded enough of their past song writing conventions to nod my head gently and smile. highlights: “stay gone”, “hannah hold on”, “the worst idea”.
i just gave this record another listen, this time with the songs scrambled in between those by other artists. i want to mention that i really like the song “campfire kansas”. i really like it when people write songs that capture moments in their life that are meaningful. this is just a little song about a camping trip, but i find it particularly endearing, probably because i can’t remeber the last time i went camping, but look back fondly about the many days i spent out in the woods during my tenure as a boy scout.
justin sane – life, love, and the pursuit of justice
Originally written 05.17.2002.
already wrote about this record, but i figured while i was writing about records, i might as well write about this one some more. i really, really like it. i think what makes this record good is that it transforms the politics from the anti-flag records into personal politics. “for pat”, “we found a place”, and “thanks for the letter” are all prime examples on this record. in some ways, this is the best sort of political music. fugazi is rarely an explicitly politcal band, but always has a strong sense of personal politics. another thing that this record does is that it gives a look on what’s underneath all of anti-flag’s politics. the beauty of the world that is seperate from materialism and worldly ugliness. in “on the streets tonight”, justin certainly wears his heart on his sleeve, and some might almost say that his crooning about an evening with friends and the gentle pulse of city life is ridiculous. i might even think this, it’s almost too pretty a picture, but it’s a picture that i’ve painted myself, and it’s a view of an idealized world that i would like to be real for some substantial period rather than just the fleeting moments in my life or the three minutes twelve seconds of the song. two tracks later and it’s “61c days turned to nights”, a perfect love song. the lyrics aren’t sublime, but they’re blunt and direct with an honesty that is rarely seen when humans talk about each other. this record isn’t the sound of a thousand kids in a room raising their fists and decrying the government in unison, it’s the sound of a thousand kids sitting in their rooms and reflecting on the state of the world and the state of their lives. while being in the former crowd gives one a sense of accomplishment at the token effort at sedition – you always leave the concert hall sweaty and happy, then you go to bed, the rumble of kids listening to records in their rooms, feeling devestated and hopeful at the same time is the sound that may shake the world off of it’s foundations because all those kids don’t have the satisfaction of a sweaty post-concert night, it’s a night of restless sleep, or maybe, just maybe, a few heavy steps out of the bedroom and into the hollow daylight to make a mark, a mad painter’s brush stroke towards a more beautiful portrait of a broken world. the next to last track on the record “casette deck, road trip, grand canyon” made me laugh the first time i heard it. it sounds like a fucking saves the day song off their acoustic ep. there’s even a part where justin goes “ayeayeaye”, drawing out the vowels like the std vocalist always does. so of course the song sounds great. but on listening to the song again, i realize that the song is better than any std song could ever be. the std songwriter has explicitly stated that he plain makes up characters and situations in his songs, which is cool enough, but even songs that might have some personal commentary are clouded in a certain ambiguity. there’s none of that on this song. it’s personal and blunt and staggering. a great song. quite frankly, i haven’t heard a record that has been this empowering and has made me as excited about making music or listening to it.
refridgeration
Originally written 05.17.2002.
thankfully, the refridgerator in the flat got fixed faster than the phone. the think had been broken for about a week, and it was really nasty. between the rotting food inside and the mildew that was beginning to grow around the area where the freezer had defrosted, the common room reeeked. apparently the gas that provided cooling for refridgerator all leaked out making refridgeration impossible. it will be nice to be able to keep proper food once again.