Monday, April 8, 2013

4.3.13

On April 3rd I listened to Bush Sixteen Stone, Lenny Kravitz Mama Said, and The Strokes Comedown Machine. It’s What-The-Fuck-Happened-To-You Day.


Gavin Rossdale! What the fuck happened to you?

Remember when Rossdale was a golden God? He won all the dudes over first with a Nirvanesque sound and by calling out his "asshole brother!" Who doesn't have an asshole brother? I don't, but if I did, I'm sure he'd be a total cock. Then all the broads started to notice he was hot as shit. Bush enjoyed a solid three album run right in the middle of the 90's and then he became Mr. Gwen Stefani. And that was pretty much that. 

2011’s comeback The Sea Of Memories was a pretty solid effort and the tour that followed was a super awesome good time, but at the end of the day, No Doubt’s reunion got more attention.

I went into this listen of Sixteen Stone with the hopes of finding a least one forgotten gem that wasn't a single and played a billion times on the radio.

They pretty much picked the bones clean on this one. “Everything Zen,” “Comedown,” “Machinehead,” “Glycerine,” and “Little Things” are your money tracks. And what a collection of singles they are! Album tracks are pretty solid, all just a pube short of being special. I vaguely remember hearing “Alien” quite a few times, from back in the day. The 45 second “X-Girlfriend” is perfect.


Lenny Kravitz! What the fuck happened to you?

At the beginning of the 90’s Lenny Kravitz was the coolest mother fucker on the planet! Let Love Rule gave him plenty of juice! Mama Said put him on the path to King Of The Badasses! Are You Gonna Go My Way was his fuckin’ coronation party! Then in 1995 he put out Circus beginning the long, slow, and painful to watch process of him pissing away every single drop of coolness he had amassed. Just sad. Although, I will say I was pleasantly surprised with his performance in The Hunger Games.

Mama Said is definitely front loaded, the first four songs are slam dunks! The rest of the disc is relatively solid, with only a few trips off the rails. 

Are you ready for this? Kravitz is working on an album he hopes to have out this year. He's planning on calling it Negrophilia. Yep.


The Strokes! What the fuck happened to you?

At the turn of the century The Strokes were leading a charge to save Rock N’ Roll and they pretty much had everyone fooled. I certainly bought into it. They played 45 minute sets and got into “fights” all the time. They were a pack of candy ass trust fund tough guys running NYC's lower east side. 

Twelve years later, they’re not fooling anybody. What a bunch of douches. Seriously? What the fuck is this album? Seriously?

I can’t even tell who they’re trying to sound like from track to track or why they would take a cue from anybody else. Here’s an idea… try and sound like The Strokes! But, I guess those days are long gone. Was there ever really a “The Strokes?”

I’m trying to figure out what the most useless track is and I keep coming back to “One Way Trigger.” I swear to God it sounds like a bunch of little kids are playing A-Ha’s “Take On Me” too fast on accordions in the background.

“Tap Out” is a pretty good contestant. It sounds like a never-to-be-released Passion Pit song with a Pink Floyd inspired guitar solo.

The coolest part about “80’s Comedown Machine” is that it’s built around a sample from The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Eye.” Unless, they just tried to steal that and hoped nobody would notice. I noticed.

Then comes “Partners In Crime.” It starts off wonderfully, filled with promise and a hint of The Strokes of old. Forget it, it goes nowhere. Dopey lyrics and certainly no hook combine for a creepy stroll down memory lane? I dunno.

Is it me, or does the intro to “Chances” sound like a reworked The Cars “Drive?” And does it sound like Julian’s balls got run over by a car while recording this song.

Why isn't "Happy Ending" the last song on the album? Regardless, it’s probably the strongest song on the disc. If they bother working a second single, this should be it.

Tomorrow I will listen to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish, and Big D And The Kids Table. It's Ska Day!


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