As a high school teacher, I am privy to the latest adolescent viral video and music long before many of you. Rebecca Black’s “Friday”? Carly Rae Jepson? Been there, seen that, vomited, long ago.
So, I must warn you of the latest rage among the Driver’s Ed set, and test your ability to accentuate the positive.
Observe:
I had a where have you lot been hiding moment the first time I heard Comet Gain. I came late to the party, and I was astonished to discover a large back catalogue that touched on so many things: Britpop, The Go-Betweens, ? and The Mysterions, Godard and ’60s British kitchen sink dramas, Mods, Orange Juice, Felt, Bikini Kill, Smash Hits, Northern Soul, the photography of Roger Mayne, hell, even the photo I use at the top of this column, came together and found a place to roost.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/14-Beatnik.mp3|titles=Beatnik] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/07-Ripped-Up-Suit.mp3|titles=Ripped-Up Suit]It’s a literate, spirited, and reverent indie pop that these Londoners make. They tap into something where they sound, and the listener feels, unabashed about being a music geek, and the redemptive and exhilarating power of rock, style, and being smart.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/16-The-Ballad-of-a-Mix-Tape.mp3|titles=The Ballad of a Mix Tape] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/11-Some-of-Us-Dont-Want-to-Be-Saved.mp3|titles=Some of Us Don’t Want to Be Saved]What really comes through for me is the sense that this scrappy cult phenomenon are really psyched to be making records. They’re an indie-pop confection, and the more you eat, the more you want, which is something everyone should love in their favorite bands.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/01-The-Kids-at-the-Club.mp3|titles=The Kids at the Club] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/19-Germ-Of-Youth-Part-II.mp3|titles=Germ of Youth Part II]Check ’em:
Give me about a shotglass of rockabilly. Now I need a pound of delta blues, and add four tablespoons of jet-fueled Los Angeles punk.
Now just a pinch of voodoo, and give me a half pint of 50’s EC horror comics.
Sprinkle liberally with some jazz touches.
Place on the burner
And bring to a boil
Beat. Well.
The Gun Club took a punk attitude to roots rock, rising from the same scene as X and The Blasters. With a name that sounds like he came right out of Faulkner, leader Jeffrey Lee Pierce began as a music writer enamored with glam and reggae. He also was the President of the Blondie fan club, and with his bleached hair, damn if he didn’t look like Debby Harry.
The music pairs well with The Cramps, The Birthday Party/Bad Seeds, Flat Duo Jets, Gallon Drunk, and any other band description where I might use the words swamp, amphetamine, devil, whiskey, or howl.
JLP was always something of a fuck-up, living the Sunset Strip life despite a history of bad health. He died at 37.
Whenever I listen to Dungen, I get caught up in a heady swirl of the senses. To listen to this Swedish band is to encounter and conjure dozens of reference points at once, and I find myself calling forth descriptors.
The ’60s prog-psychedelia awash here is an experience not unlike wine tasting, and all the pretentious verbosity that goes into indentifying aromas and flavors.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2-05-Badsang.mp3|titles=Dungen: Badsang] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-11-Om-Du-Vore-En-Vakthund.mp3|titles=Dungen: Om Du Vore En Vakthund]For instance, with their Ta Det Lugnt: Opulent Kieth Moon drums combine with rich, almost Japanese-flavored vocals, presenting forward Band On The Run-era Wings, and finishing with hints of Coltrane and Brubeck.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-06-Det-Du-T%C3%A4nker-Idag-%C3%84r-Du-I-Morgon.mp3|titles=Dungen: Det Du Tänker Idag Är Du I Morgon] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/07-Så-Blev-Det-Bestämt.mp3|titles=Dungen: Så Blev Det Bestämt]Another one of their pieces opens with a bouquet of patchouli-scented guitar, Bill Evans piano, Mike Oldfield and hints of Metallica and notes of David Gilmour.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06-Fredag.mp3|titles=Dungen: Fredag] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/02-Familj.mp3|titles=Dungen: Familj]Have a try yourself! What do you hear?
(This game can also be played with The Men, Comets on Fire, and Tame Impala.)
Whether your idea of a great guitarist is Jimi Hendrix, John Fahey, Wes Montgomery, Link Wray, John McLaughlin, or Ry Cooder, you’re bound to like something of Bill Frisell. The man is a modest and unassuming musician who is in perpetual motion, playing ragtime, jazz, ambient, rock, bluegrass, and experimental noise.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/17-Have-A-Little-Faith-In-Me.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell:Have a Little Faith in Me] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/07-In-Line.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell:In Line]Frisell always seems to have been around, collaborating with Elvis Costello, John Zorn, Ginger Baker, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Arto Lindsay, Suzanne Vega, Paul Simon, Vic Chestnutt, David Sanborn, Brian Eno, Bono, Jon Hassell, Daniel Lanois, Rickie Lee Jones, Vernon Reid, Elliot Sharp, Van Dyke Parks, Loudon Wainwright, and Earth.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/07-Im-So-Lonesome-I-Could-Cry.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell:I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-06-A-Hard-Rains-A-Gonna-Fall.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall]My first recognition of his solo work was with his gorgeous instrumental covers of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” and John Hiatt’s “Have A Little Faith In Me.” The height of my fandom came when I saw him perform a live soundtrack to films of Buster Keaton (I am in fact a card-carrying member of the International Buster Keaton Society) in Brooklyn.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-01-I-Heard-It-Through-the-Grapevine.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell: I Heard it Through the Grapevine] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Blues-For-Los-Angeles.mp3|titles=Bill Frissell: Blues for Los Angeles]There is something about Frisell’s Americana, something that carries a sense of appreciation of quality, style, wit, and gumption. His Fender Telecaster has provenance, proudly yet quietly displaying its roots. We sense a cultural heritage, listening to his covers and originals, downtown jazz, dive-bomber blues, nostalgic pastiche, country twang, digital loops, or any other genre he sits down to play.
Do you have a favorite he’s contributed to?
I was listening to Spiritualized’s epic “Hey Jane” and the lyric where he references “Sweet Jane on the radio.” For whatever reason, “Jane” is the most rock and roll of all girls. She, in her many guises and personae is the quintessential muse. Who the hell is this Jane chick?
Let’s let ‘er rip with any song title or lyric with Jane in it!
I’ve always been on the fence concerning the Mod or Rocker schism. I do love my Eddie Cochran and Link Wray, but I also love my natty attire, Small Faces, The Creation, and The Action.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07-Brain-1.mp3|titles=The Action: Brain] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01-Come-Around-1.mp3|titles=The Action: Come Around]So, I’m not going to give a Wikipedia-style account of The Action here. Let’s just let them be the soundtrack for an inquiry.
Certainly, the Mods vs. Rockers clashes of the ’60s were overemphasized, and it’s not like they even mattered over here. Is it even a valid argument anymore, or did Ringo do away with the question in his famous Hard Day’s Night quip?
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02-Something-To-Say.mp3|titles=The Action: Something to Say] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02-In-My-Lonely-Room.mp3|titles=The Action: In My Lonely Room]It comes down to a question of the importance of subculture and semiotics: the expressive forms and rituals of our groupings, be they mods, rockers, punks, skinheads, Portland-types, or Brooklyn-types.
This is superficial stuff, to be sure. We become intrigued by the mundane objects—an R.A.F. roundel, motorcycle boots, a safety pin, a flannel shirt—which nonetheless take on a symbolic dimension, and also grant us something of a self-imposed exile.
I don’t give a fuck so much, but there was a time when it was a serious rock-existential dilemma for me: “Wait, can I have a mod target, and love Gene Vincent? Can you do that?” Can I, to bring it up to the present day, dress like Jimmy in Quadrophenia and still be caught dead at Rock of Ages?
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07-Just-Once-In-My-Life.mp3|titles=The Action: Just Once in My Life] [audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/10-Since-I-Lost-My-Baby.mp3|titles=The Action: Since I Lost My Baby]In this context, the music we listen to serves as entertainment, diversion, and relevance, yes, but we also identify, adopting the sounds and their singers as signifiers to help us discover “where do I fit in?”
