fuck this band

Mclusky, my favorite obscure band, broke up a few months ago. My temptation to promote them is what led me to developing the idea of a music blog. So it's fitting that my first music tip should be this amazing punk trio.

Nowadays when people think punk rock they think Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Story of the Year etc. But these groups don't completely fill the punk void. In the early nineties groups like Green Day started combining their punk influences with pop sensibility, and now the bands that grew up listening to Green Day have further diluted the original punk energy.

Because some of the intensity has been lost, people look to the screamo bands to get their fix. I can't criticize because I haven't listened to the music enough, but it seems as though the tortured feeling let off by these groups is overdone and ingenuine.

But somewhere hidden amongst all these perversions of punk is an authentic example of the true punk sound and attitude.

Mclusky, the answer to the problem.

Mclusky lets off unconrollable energy with their fast-paced, confrontational, smart-ass (which is sooo much better than whiney) punk rock and does so better, and with more consistency, than any other band around. In my opinion, they jumped onto the throne of crazy-ass-hardrock that Nirvana vacated after In Utero.

But that's not to say they're unoriginal Nirvana clones. Each band had a significant Pixies influence, and each has a very real, abrasive energy about them. However, Mclusky has opted to stay away from Cobain's poetic take on lyrics and instead created their own little niche. Their lyrics are peppered with humor, without distracting from whatever the song's meaning is. Their music's subject matter varies from berating a poorly named appliance store, to parodying the "I'm better than you" mentality... but oftentimes the lyrics appear to be complete nonsense... though what's more enjoyable than absolute craziness ("I am the walrus" anyone?).

Their sounds differ quite a bit as well. One listen will tell you that Mclusky is definitely their own band in an era of imitation.

They've got a killer sound, inventive lyrics, and most importantly, they never get old. If you think you can handle a musical ass-kicking, definitely check out Mclusky. You can go to www.mclusky.net to read about new projects of former Mclusky members, check out lyrics, and listen to / watch mclusky make music.

Song that won't disappoint: "Without MSG I am Nothing" Mclusky. Or try "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues," if you aren't a newcomer to wild rock.
Why?: "Without MSG I am Nothing," is incredibly catchy while being heavy. Mclusky will occasionally use vocals as another instrument, adding addictive noises to the track, and this is a fine example. "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues" is simply the most out-of-control song I've ever listened to, up there with "Tourettes" by Nirvana.

One

(Little trivia before I start: "One" was actually written by Harry Nilsson, the same man who brought us "put the lime in the coconut." He's more well-known for the songs he wrote rather than his performances of them, and at one point the Beatles named him as their favorite musical artist. Three Dog Night, whose band name is taken from an Aboriginal custom of sleeping with a certain number of dogs depending on how cold it is, performed the most famous version of the song.)


I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.

Ahh yes, the one-liner. To most it's just a tidbit of witty humor, but it can also be an exciting style of songs.

I believe you can tell a band is great when they've constructed a flawless song out of repeating one solitary line.

My first experience with this phenomenon was "There Goes My Gun" by the Pixies. Black Francis repeats the line "there goes my gun" over and over again, seperating the verses with even simpler lines... first "looka me" and then "friend or foe."

It's remarkable in it's simplicity, yet you leave the song feeling like you've listened to more than you actually have... in denial that the lyrics consisted almost entirely of the one line "there goes my gun." The first time I listened to it, I found myself trying to remember the other lines; he couldn't possibly have just said the title's name throughout the whole song.

Yet he did, and it worked.

Another great one-liner is "Baby Yeah," by Pavement. Stephen Malkmus starts it off by soothingly singing "Baby, baby, baby... yeah." The song gradually becomes louder and more energetic as he continues to repeat the line, and with each repitition it feels like he's saying something completely new. At the song's conclusion he breaks the habit and spouts off one verse, but it's too little too late to tarnish this song's status as a one-liner.

One of my favorite one-liners is "Chases" by Mclusky. Mclusky is, or was :( noteworthy for their incorporation of sarcastic humor into their songs, and this one is no exception. Jon Chapple shouts the hilarious line "Don't go fuckin' in the barn... because the barn's on fire." As good a reason for refraining from barn-fuckin' as I've ever heard. He's able to keep the song interesting by adjusting his voice... eventually his singing becomes tired as he's out-of-breath, and then he brings it back to an urgent cry.

Sometimes using only a few lines comes across as being lyrically lazy. But nevertheless, it's a testament to the band that they can work within such strict boundaries and still produce an irresistable musical experience.

If you've got a favorite one-liner, go ahead and post it as a comment, I'd be interested in checking it out.



Song that won't disappoint: "Good Morning Captain" by Slint.
Why? It provides a consistently groovy beat throughout the entire song, the lyrics, based off a short story by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, are perfectly eerie, and the desperate cries at the end put the finishing touches on a math rock masterpiece.

when it started

I'm not certain how old I was, but it was back in the days when sit and spin had no sexual connotation.

My father would put in a Doors CD and I'd be on my sit and spin, workin' it. With "Roadhouse Blues" on the speakers, I'd cease my spinning to get a better look at my dad's fantastic harmonica mimicry, believing he was somehow contributing to the soulful sound filling the room. Which was puzzling; I was fairly certain you needed an instrument to be doing that, but he seemed to get along fine with just his hands cupped around his mouth.

Then came the lines I was waiting for... "Ashen Lady!" I wailed. "Ashen Lady! / Give up your vows! / Save our city, right now."

And that's how it always was for me as a little kid growing up. In my free-time I'd put a CD in our only player, spin around in a circle getting dizzy as hell (Spinning: my primitive dancing technique which, due to the dizziness, doubled as a sort of drug when combined with the music. Later it even doubled as a method of self-mutilation when, in a stupor, I stepped directly on a jagged metal piece of a recliner's base, creating a significant gouge in my foot.), and sing along to every song on the CD, as I soon had each of them memorized.

When it started my favorite CD's were For the Lonely , a greatest hits CD by Roy Orbinson, The Bobby Darin Story , Hank Williams Greatest Hits, and an honorable mention to Steppenwolf's 16 Greatest Hits which I would listen to for the track "Sookie Sookie" - a song for which spinning would not suffice, it called for a strainer to be put on my head in conjunction with the spinning to create a truly intense listening experience. At that point I didn't care much for the remainder of the CD, which my mother would always listen to while cleaning the house.

And so that was the foundation of my interest in music. I loved the spinning and singing, prided myself in the memorization, and all the while even the songs I wasn't paying close attention to began to seep into my head and take root.


Song that won't disappoint (word is bond): "Hidden Chambers" - Ghostface Killah ft. Method Man, RZA, Raekwon, Masta Killah

Why? No frills, superb rapping that confronts the listener, coupled with some traditional wu-tang style minimalist production.

Bong Bong!

Dance On Fire

"The music is your only friend,
dance on fire as it intends.
Music is your only friend,
until the end."

-Jim Morrison