I can already tell that these guys are about to become my new favorite band. Like some wondrous blend of Arctic Monkeys and the Wonder Stuff, this is the kind of song that makes me giddy. I now need to doublecheck the Lollapalooza lineup to see if they’re playing, because I’m fucking there if they are.
Author: David Medsker (Page 74 of 96)
Late last year, after the annual Bullz-Eye holiday party, a couple members of the music staff did what they do best: they bellied up to the bar and drank some more. We began talking about bands we wish we had seen while we had the chance, which led to a conversation about which bands we’d like to see get back together. Along with some obscure favorites (we will not sleep until Sugarbomb makes another record), the three bands that we all wanted to see get back together were the Police, Squeeze, and Crowded House.
It is now six months later, and guess who’s coming to a shed, pub, or coliseum near you? Yep, the Police, Squeeze, and Crowded House.
What this means, of course, is that we have magical powers, and that by merely wishing something to be, it soon is. It also means that it was only a matter of time before we were wholly corrupted by our newfound abilities, and what began as a good-natured chat about bands that left too soon became a diatribe about which bands just need to freaking stop already. It was therefore decided: for every band that we reunite, another band must be torn asunder. Below is an example of each.
Band that should break up: U2
Listen to the Irish pre-grunge rockers’ grungy early-’80s anthems – such as “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day” – and you hear passion. Fire. Something to live for, and possibly, to die for. The Joshua Tree was the creative and sales apex for the band, and it’s been downhill for the two decades since.
After the live Rattle & Hum album, U2 reinvented itself as an upscale dance-rock band, a pretty cool parlor trick. But their problem was, there was no substance behind the beats, and the band’s relevance eroded. By the time the band rolled into 1997, it had become a parody of itself, promoting its “Pop” tour at K-Marts and hemorrhaging money when no one came to the shows.
It’s 2007, folks. No one’s denying U2’s recaptured its politically astute fan base, but it took terrorism on a massive scale – and the band’s touching, reverent salute to the victims at the following Super Bowl halftime – to get them back. They’re off again, doing poppy, say-little-if-anything tunes, trying to speak to the iPod generation on TV commercials. It’s time for Bono to become the mature, full-time political ambassador we know he can be, and reap the humanitarian good his name and reputation can accomplish. It’s time for The Edge to validate his quirky technique by launching a guitar school. As for the other two guys, they’ll make fine A&R men for record labels. But please, break up the band. There’s nothing left for them to say.– Mojo Flucke, Ph.D.
Band that should reunite: Elastica
Elastica was a band out of time not once, but twice. On their 1995 debut, when they were ripping off Blondie, the Stranglers and Wire – literally, in some cases – their Brit Pop peers were writing love letters to Paul Weller, John Lennon, Scott Walker and Ray Davies. When they finally got around to releasing their second (and last) album The Menace in 2000, the British music scene was mining the mellow gold of Travis and Coldplay, while Radiohead had finally succumbed to the robots. Elastica, meanwhile, were considered hangers-on to a defunct scene that they never belonged to in the first place. Deciding that the band was more trouble than it was worth, lead singer Justine Frischmann threw in the towel in 2001.
If she only knew what the future held. Dance rockers Franz Ferdinand are one of the biggest bands in the world, and the Arctic Monkeys, who reinvented both ‘quirky’ and ‘angular,’ are bigger than Jesus in England. The Futureheads and Shiny Toy Guns? They’re practically Elastica spinoff groups, a la General Public and Fine Young Cannibals forming from the ashes of the English Beat. You know how labels used to re-release the same song a decade after it first charted (Hello, Benny Mardones’ “Into the Night”)? “Your Arse, My Place” would be a Top 10 hit on modern rock radio right now, if given the chance.
Your moment has finally arrived, Justine. Give Donna and Annie a ring and get together for a drink or two. Dust off the gear, plug in, and take these drooling synthesizer dorks to school. –David Medsker
To see the rest of the bands that should break up and bands that should reunite, click here.
Mixed July 10, 1993
Actually, the tape was called “So Fucking Special,” for reasons that will soon become clear for those who haven’t already figured it out. But I’m not that same young punk anymore, and decorum compels me not to lead a piece with an expletive. Drop one in the first line of the piece, sure. But the headline? That’s just crazy.
Side One
“Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car,” U2 (Zooropa)
In retrospect, the actual verses to this song are pretty flat, but hot damn, do I still love that intro and that backward bass line.
“In Yer Face,” 808 State (Ex:El)
To quote Jason Thompson, this album PWNZ. I always wanted to find an a cappella version of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and lay it over top of 808’s “San Francisco.” If anyone can help me find that a cappella, I’d be forever in your debt.
“We Don’t Take/Hack/Charlie X,” Information Society (Hack)
Hack was one of the last records released before the sampling laws forced you to pay anyone and everyone you stole, which effectively killed sampling as an art form. You almost get the sense that they knew the window was closing when they made this song, because this song samples everyone, from James Brown, Beastie Boys and Digital Underground to Kraftwerk and Malcolm McLaren.
“Big Car (Limo Mix),” Severed Heads (Rotund for Success)
I had seen this record in stores for years, and I just knew that it was something that I would like Eventually, I found the 12” at a steep discount, and took the plunge. Now for the strange part: as much as I love this song – and I looooooove this song – I never sought out any of the band’s other stuff, though I’ve been wondering for years where that “All the way to the bottom, Maggie. You’ve made it!” quote came from.
“Thieves Like Us,” New Order (Substance)
The instrumental mix, thank you very much. Do you suppose the Human League contemplated a lawsuit for the song’s similarity to “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”? Speaking of the Human League…
“The Lebanon (extended version),” The Human League (Hysteria)
…and while we’re talking about songs that could have benefited from less singing, I will admit that I never realized how crap the lyrics to this song really were until much later. The music track, though, is fab, and the extended instrumental bits throughout confirm that.
“She Sells,” Roxy Music (Siren)
Most people have forgotten this, if they ever knew it, but Roxy Music used to rock, dude. Love that “Trampled Underfoot” bit right after the chorus.
“People Are Strange,” Echo & the Bunnymen (The Lost Boys Soundtrack)
I had recently upgraded this to CD from LP. Doors songs sound much better when they’re not performed by the Doors.
“Hayfever,” The Trash Can Sinatras (I’ve Seen Everything)
I am not joking when I say that I nearly fell out of the shower the first time I heard this song, I was so blown away. Years later, I joined an email list for fans of the Trash Cans, and one of those fans was…Will Harris. Yep, that’s how we met, for those keeping score at home.
“Sheila Take a Bow,” The Smiths (Louder than Bombs)
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“Ride (Moby’s Odessa Mix),” Soho (Thug)
Moby had done a crazy-ass remix of “Beat It” in 1992, so when I saw that he was working with my Smiths-sampling sistahs, I was intrigued. Imagine my surprise, then, when the track was actually smoothed out rather than ramped up. While no one would ever dance to it, something about that repeated line – which I never quite understood; is she saying “Now the voices fly you”? – hypnotized me. Years later, Moby would pull a similar ambient stunt with Blur’s “Beetlebum.” I was not as amused.
Side Two
“Creep,” Radiohead (Pablo Honey)
I made this tape after visiting my buddy Steve in Cleveland. This song was all over the place that summer, and Steve and I would just walk around imitating the chunk-chunk sound of Johnny Greenwood warming up his guitar for the chorus. I bought a CD single of “Creep” instead of the album because I was convinced that they would be a one-hit wonder, and that this would be all that I would ever need from the band. Huh.
“Hollywood,” World Party (Bang!)
When I made this tape, I wouldn’t have dreamt that one day I would be interviewing Karl Wallinger, World Party’s lead singer. But one day, I did, and he was the coolest.
“Goodnight Song.” Tears for Fears (Elemental)
I was a bit burned out on “Break It Down Again” by this time, so I opted for what I was positive would be the next big hit from the album. Huh.
“The Prisoner,” Howard Jones (Cross That Line)
This one may appear to be a little out of step with everything else, but keep in mind that HoJo released his awesome Greatest Hits album on June 29 of that year. Since I never bought Cross That Line, I was thrilled to finally have this song.
“Second to None,” Electronic (“Feel Every Beat” CD single)
I bought anything and everything associated with the first Electronic album, which meant the collecting of a bunch of crap remixes, a couple decent ones, and this great B-side.
“It Must Be Obvious,” Pet Shop Boys (“So Hard” CD single)
“We’re meant to be friends. That’s what it says in the script,” Neil Tennant said. I couldn’t help but think that he was telling me something, since I was dating someone that I had no business dating. “Everyone knows when they look at us / Because they do, it must be obvious,” he says in the chorus. I always projected that the rest of that sentence was, “It must be obvious that we don’t belong together.” I would date that girl for a total of six years.
“Walking in My Shoes (Random Carpet Mix),” Depeche Mode (“Walking in My Shoes” CD single)
Thanks to his work with Scritti Politti and Seal, I was all about William Orbit in the early ‘90s, and while I am still a huge fan of his Strange Cargo III album, it is now clear to me that everything this man will ever do will sound just like this.
“Cold as Stone,” a-ha (Memorial Beach)
Anyone who hasn’t heard a-ha since the glory days of “Take On Me” and “The Sun Always Shines on TV” will be shocked, shocked when they hear this. Eight minutes in length, with a pseudo-spaghetti western intro and outro and booming drums, this is not your mother’s a-ha. Of course, because it wasn’t their mother’s a-ha, no one cared, and the album stiffed. But they should have cared, damn it.
“UMF,” Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)
There are times when Simon LeBon is as subtle as a jackhammer. “I’m making love to the ultimate mind”? Gee, what ever could that ‘F’ in the title stand for? Still, as British faux-funk goes, this was a fun one, and I always wondered if this would have fared better as a follow-up to “Come Undone” than “Too Much Information” did.
“Deep Forest,” Deep Forest (Deep Forest)
Courtesy of my then-roommate Hope. I never realized until now how much that vocal sounds like Bjork.
“Future Love Paradise (Reprise),” Seal (Future Love EP)
I have at least one alternate version, and in some cases seven versions, of every song from Seal’s first album. This was the last piece to fall, and while this reprise isn’t earth-shattering or anything, it’s still pretty cool.
“Beauty Stab,” ABC (Beauty Stab)
I had a couple minutes of tape to fill, and while ABC’s “rock record” is generally frowned upon, I still dig it.
After a lengthy hiatus — though is it really a hiatus if no one notices that you’ve been gone? — I have returned with an album cover quiz that will either be considered the easiest quiz in the world or the kind of torture that only exists in a “Hostel” movie. Send the answers to davidm [at] bullz-eye.com, where ten lucky winners will receive a mystery .mp3 file from me. Could be a kickass song, or it could be Jason Statham swearing for a minute straight. It all depends on what kind of mood I’m in.
DO NOT POST THE ANSWERS IN THE COMMENT SECTION. Those posts will be deleted, and violators will be publicly flogged. Right, so off we go, then.
No one, but no one, made videos that were more fun than Madness’ vids from the early ’80s. Even better, you could tell that they were having just as much fun making them. You can keep the lightning-quick edit fests of today. Give me fun over stylish any day of the week.
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