I mentioned The River & various modern updates recently in my review of the last Gaslight Anthem album, and I thought I'd return to that briefly, just to post the 3 songs in question and see if anyone out there knows of any other direct modern takes/updates/covers/etc.
The original:
Lyrics (from here):
"The River"
I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green
We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride
Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care
But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
that sends me down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride.
The Killers thematic twist/update/take from 2006:
Lyrics:
"This River Is Wild"
Leaves are falling down
On the beautiful ground
I heard a story from the man in red
He said the leaves are falling down
Such a beautiful sound
Son, I think you better go aheadBut you always hold your head up high
Cause it's a long, long, long way down
This town was meant for passing through
But it ain't nothing new
Now go and show them
That the world stayed round
But it's a long, long, long way downYou better run for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
And watch it turn
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you go
Or should I just get along with myselfI never did get along with everybody else
I've been trying hard to do what's right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall from the skyThis river is wild
This river is wildRun for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
Watch it turn
But shake a little
Sometimes I'm nervous when I talk
I shake a little
Sometimes i hate the line I walk
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you goOr should I just get along with myself
I never did get along with everybody else
Ive been trying hard to do whats right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall
From the skyBecause this river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wildNow Adam's taking bombs
And he's stuck on his mom
Because that bitch
Keeps trying to make him prayHe's with the hippie in the park
Coming over the dark
Just trying to get some of that little girl playYou better run for the hills before they burn
Listen to the sound of the world
But watch it turn
I just want to show you what I know
And catch you when the current lets you goOr should I get along with myself
I never did get along with everybody else
I've been trying hard to do whats right
But you know I could stay here all night
And watch the clouds fall from the skyAnd pay this hell in me tonight
Because this river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wild
God speed you boy
This river is wildNow the cards are everywhere face in dust
The fairground
I don't think I ever seen so many headlights
But there's something pulling me
The circus and the crew
Well they're just passing through
Making sure the merry still goes round
But it's a long, long, long way down
And now Gaslight Anthem's take/update/etc. from this year:
"Meet me by the River's Edge"
See I've been here for 28 years.
Pounding sweat beneath these wheels.
We tattooed lines beneath our skin.
No surrender, my Bobby Jean.We've been burned by all our fears.
Just from growing up around here.
Our father's factories marked our cars.
While Eden burned against the stars.And Sally said, Sally said.
I can't take no more regret.
It cut us deep, into our souls.
Came and climbed into our bed.
And Sally said, Sally said.
Meet me by the River's edge.
We're going to wash these sins away.
Or else we won't come back again.You know I had these ballroom dreams.
That, as a child, came to me.
I was a boy in Grandma's arms.
A mother's pride and a wounded heart.
And I was full with fiery wonder.
You wore Audrey Hepburn pearls.
You were the only one who understood me then and the only one who will.And Sally said, Sally said.
I can't take no more regret.
It cut us deep, into our souls.
Came and climbed into our bed.
And Sally said, Sally said.
Meet me by the River's edge.
We're going to wash these sins away.
Or else we won't come back again.And now I drive the 101 on the California night.
And I'm amazed at all the stars beneath that old Hollywood sign.
And they waltz the ballet of the boulevard to a place we never kept.
And I'm not sure if we belong here, if I ever really left, or If I can go home.And Sally said, Sally said.
I can't take no more regret.
It cut us deep, into our souls.
Came and climbed into our bed.
And Sally said, Sally said.
Meet me by the River's edge.
We're going to wash these sins away.
Or else we won't come back again.No retreat. No regrets.
Meet me by the river's edge.
You can see the Gaslight version takes a much more direct angle on Springsteen with some direct quotes in there - just in case you wouldn't pick up otherwise - but I think they manage to do it in a respectful way (although I do think the Bobbie Jean bit may be going a bit far, but it still floats). The Gaslight version also manages, to me, to come off as more personal and invested than the Killers version. Neither is bad, but I think Gaslight does it better. Also, there is some serious cheese in the Killers track, lyrically (the 'bitch' verse) and sonically (the overdone vocals on the chorus).
Of course, I don't think either can touch the emotion, drama, lyrical or musical content of the original. It's just a classic that I think has & will stand the test of time.
[I forgot to post this here first, it wound up on my general blog first, so sorry non-existent legion of readers.]
Have I blogged about these guys before? I'm sure I must have, because I really like them.
Anyway, on to the album.
We have an interesting situation here in the sense that I'm actually going to recommend buying something where every song isn't awesome.
Now, none of them are bad mind you, but some do tend to "flame out" little bit (in the sense of a slowly crashing blimp, not a really gay party), but the crashes themselves are usually worth watching.
Maybe you hear them and immediately go "Hey this is just a punk rock updating of the Jersey Shore Sound, kinda like the last Killers album", or maybe you just hear the bits and pieces of a modern Springsteen kinda thing going on (in the same spirit as the Hold Steady - but coming from a completely different angle). Or maybe you just like good modern rock and roll - which seems to get labeled as "punk rock" a lot in the genre tags. And maybe it is, maybe the two are so enmeshed now that it doesn't matter...because I can definitely hear the punk influence here, but I'd still have to say it tends more strongly towards the rock. Any which way you come at it, if you like flavors of rock, I think you'll really like this band and this album.
So, I'll embed what I think is the best song, and then what I think is the weakest song below so we have the whole spectrum out there.
Here's "The '59 Sound", which is either a really touching personal story, or a "great and beautiful lie".
And now here's "Even Cowgirls get the Blues", which sounds different from the rest of the album, and just doesn't do it for me.
So, somewhere in between there lies the rest of the album.
It starts off really strong with 5 good songs, then stumbles just a little bit with the almost-there-but-still-too-awkward "Miles Davis and the Cool", then kinda does the Ellen DeGenres running-after-trip thing (sorry, can't find a vid link! :( ) for a 3 tracks. Nothing horrible, just not quite connecting. There is a random cameo from the Bosstones singer doing bgvs in one of the songs. I should note that nothing here is as jarring as the Killer's "Uncle Johnny". Jesus that was a bad song in the middle of a good album.
It starts to pick back up again with"Meet me by the River's Edge", a modern take on "The River" run through the "No Surrender" blender. In this case, our protagonists aren't going to the river as an escape, but rather as the escape - instead of a stopgap, it's a catalyst. It's an interesting take, and just for that it gets points. Another random Killer's comment, since both bands are doing the same kind of thing (except in the Killer's case it was only for one album) - Gaslight does a better "The River" update than the Killers. I think you could argue (I'm not sure I would though) that the Killer's track is a better song, but I think Gaslight does a better thematic update. "Meet me ..." sounds much less forced than "This River is Wild" in its approach to me. Neither can touch the original.
After that are 2 nice, mellow songs that I haven't really had a chance to get into yet. I'm usually listening on the bus, or downstairs with the giant heater running behind me, so mellow tracks are often lost on me for a while.
So, why should I buy this you say? Don't I normally recommend against buying an album that has songs that aren't 90% stellar? Yeah, for the most part I do. But sometimes I make exceptions for things that are exceptional for one reason or another.
Part of that "exceptional" comes from the amazingness that is their first album - Sink or Swim. That one is just freaking killer, amazing debut album and it's just another sign of how screwed up the music industry is that it didn't at least kinda jump off. Maybe that's a good thing though and they'll get in "the hard way" and be better for it. I kinda doubt it, but I'm hopefully. We need more bands crafting songs of substance and kicking ass.
Also, I should add that the album itself is pretty damn close to 90%, even if certain tracks falter a little bit. As a whole it just holds together.
This band hit the ground running, and I'm hopefully that they don't pull a Bloc Party on album #3, whenever that comes out.
Final Judgment: 87.3%
This was a really tough decision, and may get revised in the future. I think for some people it's gonna be a 95% album, but those 3 songs in the middle just haven't done it for me yet, so that is gonna bring things down. As a note, anything I rate over 85% is a "go out and buy me!!". Sink or Swim is probably around a 92-93%.
If I were I making music in a band right now, I'd hope it would sound something like Gaslight. Not exactly, but it's definitely the kind of vibe I'd enjoy and in the area I'd be going for.
I'll leave you with a track called "Wooderson" from the first album:
Two songs for election day.
Hopefully it will be closer to the first than the second.
The first came up in my random play on my phone on the way home, the second I was reminded of by a conversation with my wife about the brilliant, if challenging, "Tunnel of Love" album.
Today brings you two songs (via me), separated by 27 years and without much in common.
The first:
And the second, much more current and fairly different sounding track:
Good stuff.
For some reason the other day I got to thinking about bands that write songs about their pets. Probably because I was listening to the Weakerthans at some point. Oh yeah! It was because I was doing that little blog about them...so anyway, here's the song in question and a couple more.
First up is the Suicide Machines with Sometimes I Don't Mind, about someone's dog I presume. Otherwise it's really creepy.
Then the Weakerthans song I mentioned, Plea from a Cat named Virtue and a track from the final Red House Painters album (Old Ramon), Wop-a-Din-Din to close things out. Both cat tracks. I can't say I've liked either of our cats enough to write them a song. They've been ok I guess...well, Breakfast was really annoying and I really wasn't sad to get rid of him other than that left Zuri without a playmate. Oh well, Z will be chasing her around the house soon enough...then we'll see if she still whines for attention! Mu ha ha. Hah.
...that came up yesterday in the car on my mp3 player:
Tegan & Sara - I Hear Noises
Arctic Monkey - Florescent Adolescent
Both of these songs I love, for completely different reasons.
I Hear Noises is really kind of cheesy lyrically, but I think
it works really well sonic-ly as part of the whole package and is a great example of T&S having fun with their music and not taking it too seriously (something they got caught up in on the most recent album IMHO).
Lyrics are as follows, roughly:
I am disappointed
Every morning that I wake up
I am disappointed by the feeling
Of waking up next to you
You call me up, let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
It's so unwelcome yeahI hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside youMy health is failing me
So I flip on the television
And watch sad movies
And look for sad sick people like me
Call me up, and let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
I'm so unwelcome
I'm so unwelcomeI hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside youWe could go
(We could go)
We could go through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
We go in through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
We go in through the front door
(Through the front door)
We could go
(We could go)
I come in through the front door
Through the front door
And the pills they will not
Will not
Will not
Will not let me go
And I will not
Will not
Will not let you drink yourself alone
Call me up and let me know that
That my sick guilt is so unwelcome
You're so unwelcome
You're so unwelcomeI hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness in your voice
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you
I hear noises in the darkness
I hear sadness inside you
I hear sadness inside you
Pretty cheesy right (even if it is addressing a serious emotional state)? Well, take a listen (to the link above). I think the whole song works and work quite well. I love that 3rd line and the s-hiss on the first "sick".
Florescent Adolescent, on the other hand, has much "wittier" lyrics that snap with cynicism and bitterness. It's a bit repetitive tempo-wise, but lots of fun. I love the regular jumbly-rhyme of the lyrics thrown over the lurching gait of the drums & lead line.
You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Nothing seems as pretty as the past though
That Bloody Mary's lacking in Tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up...Flicking through a little book of sex tips
Remember when the boys were all electric?
Now when she's told she's gonna get it
I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it
Clinging to not getting sentimental
Said she wasn't going but she went still
Likes her gentlemen not to be gentle
Was it a mecca dobber or a betting pencil?Oh the boy's a slag
The best you ever had
The best you ever had
Is just a memory and those dreams
Weren't as daft as they seem
Not as daft as they seem
My love when you dream them up
Oh, so where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where did you go? Woah.Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You're just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.Falling about
You took a left off Last Laugh Lane
You're just sounding it out
You're not coming back again.You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress
Discarded all the naughty nights with niceness
Landed in a very common crisis
Everything's in order in a black hole
Is anything as pretty as the past though?
That Bloody Mary's lacking in tabasco
Remember when you used to be a rascal?
What is an 85% album? Well, one that's not 95% ...something that's very good, and that I recommend buying, but it may have an obvious flaw (1-2 weak songs) or have an irregular flow, etc. I'd say if you can get a deal on an online purchase of an album I put at this quality, go for it.
Here's the first one:
The Weakerthans: Reconstruction Site
The brainchild of John K. Samson, ex-Propagandhi
bassist, it's maybe not what you'd expect from him (at least me with my
extremely limited familiarity with Propagandhi wouldn't expect this).
Very semi-mellow, sometimes each song running a bit too much
alikenessintoanother. That alikeness would be one flaw, the other would
be that you (me anyway) can feel how some songs come so close to
kicking astronomical ass, but then just slip off kilter and still wind
up very good, but shy of greatness. But sometimes that's ok and all is
good, things don't have to be perfect. Flaws have their own kind of
beauty.
Here are two tracks from this album. Eventually I'll put another one up when I do my post about songs about pets. I highly recommend picking it up if you like relaxing, yet energetic post-punk indie rock. Whatever that means.
I'm trying to remember where/how I first heard these guys and I just can't. I think I may have heard One Great City on some indie radio show long ago in LA.
Is there an image better known in punk rock than this one? (Ok, maybe this 
one
- man that reminds me, I have a magazine cover print of that somewhere
without the album lettering on it. Man is that awesome! Gotta find it).
Well, the two are 10 years apart (79-89), so they might as well just represent different generations of punk/ska/fuckers, which is all good. Hmm, that begs the question of what would be the '99 equivalent? Out Come the Wolves is '98, but that image isn't nearly as used. I'm not sure what to say here, thoughts from the peanut gallery? What was the *THE* punk cover image of the late 90s? So there has to be some level of popularity involved here, no uber obscure cd that you swear is the second coming.
Anyway, back to the message at hand. An album with a rating of 95% (or more) - Energy (even the bonus tracks added later keep up to the standard of quality). It's at least 95, maybe higher - the whole thing is surprisingly consistent. Obviously it's a given that you have to enjoy this kind of music so if you don't it will probably just sound like shite. Hey, to each its own.
Op Ivy is probably the most influential punk bank of my generation - even though I didn't get into them until years after they broke up (I think I first heard them and got the CD in '95 or '96. Possibly '94, but I'm leaning towards later), I'm still proud to have them as part of my generation's musical chunk. Sure, the Clash was still making music in '86, and the Ramones were going at least until the early 00s, but I count them as the previous chunk.
It doesn't
hurt that two of the members (Tim Armstrong & Matt Freeman) went
on to form Rancid, another of my favorite bands. Or that another
(Jesse Michaels) went on to form Big Rig (whose ep I still haven't
tracked down) and Common Rider, which I really like. Anyway, here's
three tracks to check out, if you like 'em and somehow haven't got the
cd - track it down.
Man, several things break my heart more than good bands going to shit (like people who kill their kids, they should be killed until dead), but it's up there.
Lets look at two today shall we?
Case study #1: Everclear
Not the "coolest" band in the world. Nonetheless, their second and third albums were genuinely good modern rock IMHO. Full of angst and creativity, personal and gritty - and yet still accessible and sometimes catchy. They went from that to some of the lamest pansy shit I have ever heard. Basically, standard alt-rock radio fair. And now, 5(?) albums later they are still churning out 100% crap. Take a listen to the shyte on their myspace page. Their suck knob is stuck on 14. Of course, the fact that the singer replaced the entire rest of the band is usually a clue in that direction...
Check out these two tracks I like, and then one I don't like. Sorry, I can't stomach posting more than one piece of crap. It's painful. It's like Art (the singer-songwriter) got blown by a carebear (probably Tenderheart bear, that saucy little punk likes to suck all the spit and vinegar out of the creative, reducing them to Disney-cringe-worthy sonic filth) and all the goodness drained away.
Case study #2: My Little Dog China
You prrrrrobably haven't heard of these guys. No, I'm really serious. But anyway, they put out one really good album in the early '90s. It was one of very few decent "Christian" cds to come out in that time period, and in fact the only decent grunge cd that I can remember coming out of the Christian music scene. Now, I don't have a problem with musicians being a given religion or whatever, as long as it doesn't fuck with their music. But often (85% or more of the time) Christian is pure, unadulterated suck. Ok, that's not quite true - it's usually quite adulterated. It gets run through some kind of processed machine (kind of like Disney music) and comes out sounding like trite, childish, bullshit with the lyrics (again) at the complexity level of a bad Disney artist.
So, when I was a young Christian (of which it should be obvious that I am no longer either) it was awesome to find groups that were both populated by Christian musicians and not raped by the suck-knob. MLDC sounded like they could have actually come out of the grunge scene, and their lyrics were smart enough that they didn't beat you over the head with shit. Well, recently I found out that they made another album beyond the one I so enjoyed back in the day - they made it about 10 years later in fact. Hmm, only one original member - the singer/songwriter. Do I sense a trend?
So I ordered said disc on ebay for $5 or so, why not right? Take a chance! OUCH. I got BURNED. The suck knob was wedged up the rectum and ripped out the mouth pulling trite, childish, standard go-Jesus fair lyrics with it. Now, it is nowhere near the bottom of that trite/stupid pile, but it is quite visibly resting amidst that rubble.
Here's two good tracks from the first album, and one painful track from the more recent one. Also notice that all the "bite" is gone from the sound. Sucked out by the wannabe-mainstream Christian music industry possibly. Or maybe a certain sneaky carebear...
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