Something geeky...
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
A-side: Birdhouse In Your Soul
B-Side: Hot Cha
(Elektra 1990)
Ahh, They Might Be Giants, a couple of blokes called John, playing strange instruments, singing songs with unusual subject matters, often very witty, and yet never falling into the trap of being overtly kooky or goofy, which helps them not wear out their welcome. They've been around for years and are still going - apparently they split themselves these days between doing the music they've always done, and recording albums of songs about Maths, Physics and the like for kids.
When I'm thinking of They Might Be Giants I'm always reminded of a bus journey I took from Gloucester to Manchester with my friend Jex, around 1991/92. We were chatting, and the conversation turned, as it often did, to music. Jex asked me to guess who I thought was the band that he was most impressed with at that time. I spent ages making wrong and ill-considered guess, and he started to give me clues, citing things like their instrumentation, their clever lyricism, their propensity to short and to the point songs. Eventually I arrived at They Might Be Giants. At the time I conceded the point and admitted they were an admirable band indeed, even though I thought they weren't up to scratch compared to some of the bands I'd guessed. I get it now though - I completely understand what he was on about, and now I think they are a band worthy of high esteem.
Birdhouse In Your Soul was the breakout hit for They Might Be Giants, it marked the transition from an indie label to a major, and an in-road into the charts. Of course it was ultimately their only big hit - but it did at least put them into the public consciousness. Birdhouse In Your Soul is a bouncy song with an engaging organ sound, jolly blast of horns. Lyrically it is darker than that, I think (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). It's ostensibly sung from the point of view of a night-light, looking after its charge, but is the night-light the only friend this person has, and who looks after the light when it's alone. Odd - but something to think about. Any song that can (non-gratuitously) include the word filibuster has to have something going for it!
More oddness on the flip side with Hot Cha. I'm not sure what the time signature is on Hot Cha, but it's not 4/4, the horns on this side are staccato and parping, punctuating the jazzy 40's feel of the music. There's a great piano breakdown in the middle. Then after less than two minutes it stops. I think the brevity of the song has led me to dismiss this tune before, and not really to listen to it, but I'll admit that it's grown on me. Short, and certainly sweet.
I'd encourage everyone to let a little They Might Be Giants into their soul.
Next time some indie miserablism...
Loud, shouty and very silly...
LUNACHICKS
A-side: Cookie Monster
B-Side: Complication
(Blast First 1990)
There were many all female grunge bands around in the early 90's. Many were politically motivated pushing feminist agendas, and rallying against sexism, others were proving their point, not with political diatribes, but just by simply rocking out as well as any all bloke band could. Lunachicks probably don't fit too well into the first category, and an argument could well be made for the second one, but on the limited evidence that I have I would say that their main agenda was to have fun.
Cookie Monster from Sesame Street is a character I feel a certain affinity with, a love of particular baked goods being just one shared attribute. It seemed, then, almost inevitable that I would buy this single - which was cemented into certainty by the fact that the above sleeve is actually a wrap-around fold-out poster, which I'm afraid that I'm unable to replicate in it's full glory here. (i.e. it's too big for my scanner, and I'm sure that it's family appropriate!). However to give you an impression I've included back of the sleeve showing the band.
Cookie Monster is a nursery counting song liberally coated in grunge trappings. The vocals are growling, the instruments are fast and noisy. There are actual Cookie Monster impersonations as backing vocals. Part way through is slows right down to a grindcore style, before speeding up again to breakneck speed, coming to a sudden stop. It's not big, it's not clever, but it is very silly, and for that I love it.
To be honest the b-side is more of the same - you didn't expect it to be anything else did you? It's similarly noisy stop/start hardcore, but without the Cookie Monster hook. The title - Complication - is the only lyric that is intelligible. It's got a a good driving sound, and is good for what it is, but I have no desire to listen to it again. Can't really say much more than that.
An enjoyable record overall, that I probably won't listen to very often, but nonetheless I think it's important that records like this do exist, and there is a place for silliness.
Next time something a little geekish...
Laid back and quirky, it's...
PAVEMENT
A-side: Gold Soundz
Kneeling Bus
B-Side: Strings Of Nashville
Exit Theory
(Big Cat 1994)
Pavement are often lumped in with the whole grunge movement of the early to mid 90's, but I'm not sure how grunge they really were. Sure they had loud and occasionally abrasive guitars, but their sound seemed to have it's roots less in punk and early heavy metal than other grunge archetypes. Indeed they owe as much to the laid back sounds of 70's west coast style soft rock. This is definitely a good thing, as it is something that singles them them out from the crowd. Not that standing out from the crowd was any problem for Pavement - the band they get most compared to is The Fall, not necessarily because of sonic similarities but more for the fact the they plow their own furrow on the peripheries of any scene that happens to be about. Just like the Fall, they employ a different styles and sounds to come up with their own unique Pavement-ness, that is instantly recognisable as their own.
Gold Soundz is from a 4-track EP, (haven't had one of them for bit!) The title track is mellow grunge overlaid with chiming indie guitars. The singer has a distinct nasal voice, that once you've accepted it, is not unpleasant. It's upbeat and poppy, whilst remaining perfectly relaxed. There's nothing radical on show here, but it's got enough of a something to leave you with a lasting memory of the tune. The other track on the a-side of this record is Kneeling Bus. Just like Gold Soundz this has a stop/start signature, that is recognisably Pavement. It's a spiky sounding instrumental, that is fuzzy and short - and as such there is little else to say about it.
Strings of Nashville, the first song on the b-side, instantly makes me think of later period Velvet Underground. It's got an easy vibe, that's as much about atmosphere as it is about song. The vocals and almost hidden and practically impenetrable. There is a slightly spooky feel to the sound, enhanced by the impression that the whole thing is ever so slight off-key. More atmosphere is by the instrumentation being sparse, and the addition wave sound effects during the song. Just like on the a-side, the second song here is almost a short afterthought. Exit Theory is a set of disjointed sound, there is a sudden build up to noise, which dissolves into chaos and is over in seconds.
At the end of the day this I quite like this record, not as much as some other Pavement songs, but Gold Soundz works well as a single. The overall effect is something that is oddly feelgood.
Next time some proper noisy grunge...
