ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO three days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT annoyingly high
RATING ★★★★★
I thought by not listening to them for a few days, that they might release their grip. I seem to be sadly mistaken. Today, there was yet another return to their first album, this time one of the least good tracks. It feels less tight than the rest, formless in places. Whilst that is undoubtedly the intention, and it does form a good counterpoint in its place on the album, it does not make for a particularly arresting song.
Showing posts with label Violent Femmes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Violent Femmes. Show all posts
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Violent Femmes - Please Do Not Go
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rising farce
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes again? There are no songs of theirs that I dislike, howver writing about them for this many days in a row is a little tiresome. Please Do Not Go features a nice sing-a-long chorus. It is a slower song and, as ever, the up front Mariachi bass is great. There is a little falsetto singing in this one too. Nice.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rising farce
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes again? There are no songs of theirs that I dislike, howver writing about them for this many days in a row is a little tiresome. Please Do Not Go features a nice sing-a-long chorus. It is a slower song and, as ever, the up front Mariachi bass is great. There is a little falsetto singing in this one too. Nice.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Violent Femmes - Black Girls
ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned good
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes return this morning with another song from their second album and one that is a particular favourite of mine. It starts out in fairly typical Femmes style, with some up-tempo drums and that distinctive bass guitar sound, which soon evolves when tenor sax comes in to augment the first verses. However, it is not until those verses are finished that the song really breaks new territory, with a choppy, hard-blown sax solo that edges into Pharoah Sanders-style freedom, which is followed by some bird-call vibrato trumpet and then a Jew's harp. Even more oddness follows that, when all the the blown instruments start trading off each other. It is a magnificent piece in its setting, at once seemingly at odds with the folky punk (or possible punkish folk) of the Femmes, whilst at the same time being the logical extension of, and perfectly complimentary to, it. Singer Gano returns for the ending, almost yelling lines about "digging black girls" which in itself seems pointedly at odds with the faith-inspired verse the precedes it. Marvellous.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned good
RATING ★★★★★
The Violent Femmes return this morning with another song from their second album and one that is a particular favourite of mine. It starts out in fairly typical Femmes style, with some up-tempo drums and that distinctive bass guitar sound, which soon evolves when tenor sax comes in to augment the first verses. However, it is not until those verses are finished that the song really breaks new territory, with a choppy, hard-blown sax solo that edges into Pharoah Sanders-style freedom, which is followed by some bird-call vibrato trumpet and then a Jew's harp. Even more oddness follows that, when all the the blown instruments start trading off each other. It is a magnificent piece in its setting, at once seemingly at odds with the folky punk (or possible punkish folk) of the Femmes, whilst at the same time being the logical extension of, and perfectly complimentary to, it. Singer Gano returns for the ending, almost yelling lines about "digging black girls" which in itself seems pointedly at odds with the faith-inspired verse the precedes it. Marvellous.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground
ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty high
RATING ★★★★★
After the last couple of morning songs, yesterday turned into Violent Femmes day, with three of their albums (which is all I have) on constant rotation. Most listeners rarely move beyond their classic first album and this is a real shame because the second album is just as good. It was culled from the same writing period as the first, and so contains something of the same flavour, yet it is a more ambitious and sonically diverse album. Today it was its title track that was with me when I woke.
Of the songs on the album, Hallowed Ground is the one closest musically to the first album, structured as it is around the strong up-front bass and guitar, although with the addition of some piano. Where it differs is through its the lyrics. Previously, they were centred around a post-pubescent world, on this album singer Gordon Gano's faith is the common theme. This song is a statement of faithful defiance against the coming apocalypse, which was close at the time of writing, and whilst the faith is strong it is not overt. This is not one of the brethren looking to bring you into the fold, rather it is a young man quietly asserting his beliefs.
Many found this statement of faith a reason to turn away from the Violent Femmes and it does seem at odds with the prevailing sentiments of rock music. Yet this was and remains more of an indictment of the listener than of what is a great album.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty high
RATING ★★★★★
After the last couple of morning songs, yesterday turned into Violent Femmes day, with three of their albums (which is all I have) on constant rotation. Most listeners rarely move beyond their classic first album and this is a real shame because the second album is just as good. It was culled from the same writing period as the first, and so contains something of the same flavour, yet it is a more ambitious and sonically diverse album. Today it was its title track that was with me when I woke.
Of the songs on the album, Hallowed Ground is the one closest musically to the first album, structured as it is around the strong up-front bass and guitar, although with the addition of some piano. Where it differs is through its the lyrics. Previously, they were centred around a post-pubescent world, on this album singer Gordon Gano's faith is the common theme. This song is a statement of faithful defiance against the coming apocalypse, which was close at the time of writing, and whilst the faith is strong it is not overt. This is not one of the brethren looking to bring you into the fold, rather it is a young man quietly asserting his beliefs.
Many found this statement of faith a reason to turn away from the Violent Femmes and it does seem at odds with the prevailing sentiments of rock music. Yet this was and remains more of an indictment of the listener than of what is a great album.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO very early this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not waking to it would have been a surprise
RATING ★★★★★
A stand out track from a stand out album. It is not the most obvious stand out track on the album and the album is not one of the most stand out albums in the world. Both are slow builders. The lyrics from the song repeat again and again on an internal loop long after the album has stopped playing, the album slowly, eventually has become a hit, popular with an endless tide of post-adolesents, an album to take to heart at that impressionable time and to never let go of.
As well as the endlessly repeating hook of the lyrics, Gone Daddy Gone has a xylophone* solo. A xylophone solo. If this does not convince you of its greatness, you ought not be here. Go now.
*that's the one with the wooden bars
LAST LISTENED TO very early this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not waking to it would have been a surprise
RATING ★★★★★
A stand out track from a stand out album. It is not the most obvious stand out track on the album and the album is not one of the most stand out albums in the world. Both are slow builders. The lyrics from the song repeat again and again on an internal loop long after the album has stopped playing, the album slowly, eventually has become a hit, popular with an endless tide of post-adolesents, an album to take to heart at that impressionable time and to never let go of.
As well as the endlessly repeating hook of the lyrics, Gone Daddy Gone has a xylophone* solo. A xylophone solo. If this does not convince you of its greatness, you ought not be here. Go now.
*that's the one with the wooden bars
Sunday, July 30, 2006
[repetition]
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT high
RATING
I always feel cheated by two days of the same song in a row. It's just so unimaginitive.
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT high
RATING
I always feel cheated by two days of the same song in a row. It's just so unimaginitive.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
The Violent Femmes - Add It Up
ORIGINATION Violent Femmes
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as much as ever
RATING
For some reason, this album more than any other sends me straight back to when i was first listening to it some fifteen years ago. That was when i became a student, which is no coincidence as this record seems to be something of a freshers' discovery year on year. There's a good chance that this is all down to this song. And when it get's down to it, it's because this is the 'why can't i get just one f**k?' song. There is much more to the song than this, of course, but that is all anyone is ever going to remember.
Add It Up, clearly the Violent Femmes song, is spiky and awkward and was made by the (then) teenage trio in their classic guitar/bass/drums format. There is an anger and passion here, which is backed up by both strong and quite sophisticated playing and writing. The level of sophistication seems just a bit unlikely for teenages, but it is none the less apparent. Also strange is that the song (like the album) seems somewhat out of time, in that it's incredibly hard to place it in any given period. That it was recorded in '83 is either all the explanation you need or just further muddying.
It's a great song, much like its parent album. The Violent Femmes went on to record plenty other good great music but somehow they just never quite made the big time. Maybe they just happened at the wrong time.
Further Violent Femmes songs: Never Tell
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as much as ever
RATING
For some reason, this album more than any other sends me straight back to when i was first listening to it some fifteen years ago. That was when i became a student, which is no coincidence as this record seems to be something of a freshers' discovery year on year. There's a good chance that this is all down to this song. And when it get's down to it, it's because this is the 'why can't i get just one f**k?' song. There is much more to the song than this, of course, but that is all anyone is ever going to remember.
Add It Up, clearly the Violent Femmes song, is spiky and awkward and was made by the (then) teenage trio in their classic guitar/bass/drums format. There is an anger and passion here, which is backed up by both strong and quite sophisticated playing and writing. The level of sophistication seems just a bit unlikely for teenages, but it is none the less apparent. Also strange is that the song (like the album) seems somewhat out of time, in that it's incredibly hard to place it in any given period. That it was recorded in '83 is either all the explanation you need or just further muddying.
It's a great song, much like its parent album. The Violent Femmes went on to record plenty other good great music but somehow they just never quite made the big time. Maybe they just happened at the wrong time.
Further Violent Femmes songs: Never Tell
Friday, January 20, 2006
Violent Femmes - Never Tell
ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING
The Violent Femmes are one of those '80s cult bands that you kinda, sorta, might have heard of but you're not sure why. Yes? The reason for this was because their first (self titled) LP was something of an underground hit. Formed of a post-punk sound that owed almost as much to folk, the album captured perfectly the band's teenage angst. Consequently, a few of the singles from this album went on to become staple sounds for alternate teenagers all across the globe. Indeed, i can't recall going to an 'alternative disco' and not hearing one of their songs during my teen years.
Never Tell is from their second album. It's an album that shows the band having grown considerably in not just confidence but sound. It's a far more adult album, even through the group had barely left their teens. That said it's still a passionate album, especially this track and not only the vocals but in the fiery guitar playing which is reminiscent of parts of the Velvet Underground's debut. It's a masterful song, one of many from this album.
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING
The Violent Femmes are one of those '80s cult bands that you kinda, sorta, might have heard of but you're not sure why. Yes? The reason for this was because their first (self titled) LP was something of an underground hit. Formed of a post-punk sound that owed almost as much to folk, the album captured perfectly the band's teenage angst. Consequently, a few of the singles from this album went on to become staple sounds for alternate teenagers all across the globe. Indeed, i can't recall going to an 'alternative disco' and not hearing one of their songs during my teen years.
Never Tell is from their second album. It's an album that shows the band having grown considerably in not just confidence but sound. It's a far more adult album, even through the group had barely left their teens. That said it's still a passionate album, especially this track and not only the vocals but in the fiery guitar playing which is reminiscent of parts of the Velvet Underground's debut. It's a masterful song, one of many from this album.
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