I was listening to the Pernice Brothers‘ album Live a Little today, and enjoying it immensely. The top was down, the sun was shining, traffic was light, and the band was as tuneful and tasteful as ever.
At one point, one of the tunes sounded an awful lot like “Working Girls” from their previous album, The World Won’t End. I didn’t care. The next song sounded a whole lot like some other Pernice Brothers song I loved. Did I give a shit? No! I realized a great deal of Pernice Brothers songs sound a great deal like other Pernice Brothers songs… and I was perfectly happy with that.
This got me thinking about other bands that are — thankfully — one-trick ponies. You know the bands I mean: bands that only do one thing, over and over — and that disappoint us when they try to do anything else, so good is the one thing they’re good at doing.
I’d like to make a definitive list of Great One-Trick Pony Bands. Will you help? If “yes,” then a word of advice: don’t give me any lazy-ass choices like AC/DC. They’re not a one-trick pony — they used to kick ass in a raw, almost punk kind of way, and now they mostly suck ass, in a stadium-rock kind of way. They look different, they act different, and they sound different. Same goes for lazy answer #2: ZZ Top. Once great, now lame, for many of the same reasons. Also: please don’t list garage/freakbeat revivalists, who try to recreate one-trick pony rock.
A *good* answer would be, say, HVB faves Supagroup: testosterone-fueled ’70s hard rockers who keep making the same album over and over again — and all of them are awesome.
So: gimme your best one-trick pony bands. Hand ’em over!
HVB
You could say that the Go-Betweens recycled 2 songs: McLennan’s tuneful reminiscences and Forster’s prickly laments. Both always seemed to quietly reflect on some lost relationship or ideal.
And Tom Waitts, as he has said that he only creates “Grim Reapers and Grand Weepers.”
Dire Straits and Chris Isaak.
How is Supagroup any different than garage/freakbeat revivalists? They’re just aping another pony.
If two-trick ponies are allowed I’d say Patti Smith. As for one-trick ponies a band I like a lot but have displayed nothing remotely other than a sole trick is Clinic.
Sonic Youth.
Randy Newman
Steve Reich
Jandek
Ramones. I like them short, fast, and lyrically simple.
A lot of the one-trick ponies I’ve seen mentioned here are in fact capable of multiple tricks. But the Ramones — now THERE’s a one-trick pony!
Mod — re: Supagroup — don’t you think that generic, riff-y “hard rock” sound is kind of perennial, like “guitar pop”? To me, there’s a world of difference between slavish impersonation of mid-60s garage and what Supagroup are doing. I’m not saying it’s particularly innovative or anything — but it’s less retro than, say, the Woggles or the Lyres.
I agree, the Ramones is the best answer by far!
Uh… Motorhead?
EX-cellent answer, jeangray!
The first two that came to mind were the Ramones and Motorhead. Since the question asked pertained, as I understood it, to bands we like, I find that, based on the other bands mentioned, one-trick pony for me means “bands who do one thing over and over again and who I could not bear for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.” I am at a loss to think of such a band where I really enjoy listening to, say, a whole album, much less multiple albums.
Brian Setzer for the 2-trick Pony (ok, he had one roots-rock record in-between his Rockabiilly and Swing multi-album stands)
The White Stripes make the same record over and over again. I could add Oasis to this list as well.