A) Galaxie 500 – Today
RykoDisc re-issue of their first LP and first 7 inch single, both originally released on Boston-area indie label Aurora in 1988. I was a little cynical about this band for a long time. I didn’t take to singer Dean Wareham's post-Galaxie band, Luna. The breathy vocals and neo-Grateful Dead college jangle jam weren’t anything I could wrap my mind around. Because of that band, I really didn’t even want to care about the Galaxie 500.
Also, being a huge Velvet Underground, the fact that they [Galaxie 500] were touted in their day as a resurrected VU seemed unappealing, much like the unbearable crop of contemporary bands laying claim to Joy Division’s unique sound. It’s entirely artifice. Inexcusable, inconsequential stylistic thievery sans the lyrical or sonic depth of either of those brilliant, immortal acts.
Then I got really into the Damon and Naomi with Ghost LP that was released in 2001 by Sub Pop. I received it, listened to it, enjoyed it and quickly shelved it. Recently though I rediscovered it while in a temporary Summer-funk. It was sunny outside and I was down for a stretch of time. A strange combo, sunny skies and downcast feelings … it makes for difficulty in deciding what to listen to. One day I picked up that Damon and Naomi with Ghost LP and played it. That and Big Stars' 3rd/Sister Lover were all I listened to for a while.
That led me to this Galaxie 500 re-issue that I stumbled upon while passing time in a San Francisco music store mid-way through the summer. It was bought knowing that Damon and Naomi were the rhythm section. True it sounds much like a pre-Loaded Velvet Underground. It also treads very closely to the path set before them by Crazy Rhythms era Feelies. But they also perform a really nice, sprawling version of the Modern Lovers “Don’t Let Your Youth Go To Waste” in which Wareham’s wispy, limp-wristed vocalizing really works in tribute to Jonathan Richman’s self-conscious whine.
The first four songs are incredibly solid. The first track Flowers, a swinging mid-tempo pop song with the vocals buried deeply in thick echo. The second track, Pictures, follows in a similar vein but picks up the tempo a little, sounding like a ’69 Velvet Underground outtake. The third, Parking Lot, is the first “rocker” of the album, the production is an astounding blend of garage band lo-fi primitivism and crystal clear psychedelic pop. The fourth track is the aforementioned Modern Lovers cover.
As the album plays out some feelings are confirmed, the album does lag at some point, aspersions cast must be recanted, there is definitely some depth to this stylized band. All in all this is a pretty solid album and even the songs that fall short have some interesting elements. The addition of their reverb soaked jangle-pop first single, Tugboat, makes it worthwhile for that songs beautiful droning, freaked-out simplicity.
listen to Tugboat and Parking Lot on the Gone Vs. Gone "Mild Anxiety" podcast
at http://mildanxiety.podOmatic.com
B) the Melvins – (a) Senile Animal
Born in the 80’s, the Melvins totally ruled the 90’s and have consistently remained innovative, never second guessing themselves. I would like to say that they are the Ramones of the 21st century; unchanged, true to their purpose at every turn, never languishing while continuously remaining just outside of the mainstream. I would like to say that, but they are nothing like the Ramones. They’re the Melvins, and they are an institution onto themselves.
At some point in the early 90’s Kurt Cobain was quoted as saying that “the Melvins are the past, present and future of music”. Interesting that as time wore on that seemed to have become a truism, with their Lysol album opening the doors for a whole future of gloom, noise metal (Sunn O))), Grey Daturas, Growing, etc.), and their Bullhead album kicking off a wave of 70’s metal inspired “stoner” rockers (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, Japan’s inspirationally named Boris, etc.). Weirder still that the Melvins hearkened the future of rock, metal, punk, whatever; all while eschewing the virtues of 70’s dinosaurs like Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, the Cars and Alice Cooper.
Now, over 20 years later (‘06), the Melvins are still around re-inventing themselves in the face of everything contemporary. This is their first album as a four-piece, featuring bassist Jared Warren (ex-Karp) and Coady Willis (formerly of Murder City Devils). The stand-out thing about this album is that, after a radical line-up change, the Melvins sound has toned itself down considerably. This is much more of a straightforward rock album, and that may be the Melvins greatest stylistic departure to date. There are few noise freak-outs and no long drones, just some heavy (albeit weird, Melvins-style) rock.
The album is mixed together, much like their recent four-piece live sets, to play as one long song. Or, more appropriately, as a string of song parts that rise and fall between heavy droning metal (a la “Halo of Flies” era Cooper), mercifully short, complex and sincere twin-kit drum jams, blazing frenetic post-hardcore, and strangely uncharacteristic near-pop. The frantic pace of the album, coupled with strange timing and intricately interwoven song parts, make it a difficult album to pick out individual tracks from.
One would have to pay close attention to figure the specific point when various shifts coincide with a new song (rather than a new section of a song), and the nature of this beast is that it pummels the listener into dazed oblivion, not keen attention. Surrender your desire for conventional, popular song structures and favorite sing-a-long parts, rather, lose yourself in an ocean of low-end fury.
Listen to Melvins - A History of Bad Men (which sounds curiously like an update of their mid-90's classic single Night Goat) on the Gone Vs. Gone "Mild Anxiety" podcast
at http://mildanxiety.podOmatic.com
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