The Abysmal State Of Pop Music

Sorry to beat a dead horse; maybe I should just join a different gym.

The videos they play are just so godawful and I do suspect they’re a very fair representation of today’s pop. Every song is the same. Every video is the same.

Today they played a video by Dua Lipa followed by a video of Pia Mia. You can’t make this shit up!

I certainly won’t bother you with either of these videos lest I perpetuate this plague. (Believe me, you’re not missing anything.)

Happy Memorial Day!

A Punk Album You Need

Whenever I listen to these guys, I think perhaps they’re the best punk band ever – or at least they may have been in their prime. You need either The Unboxed Set CD or the Back From Samoa album and the Inside My Brain EP.

To steal from Tom:

Fuckin’ sheep I’m on the rag
They got my balls in a plastic bag

Best minute you’ll spend today:

Worst Video Ever

A new Planet Fitness opened close to my house, so I quit the Y and joined. $10 a month can’t be beat. But the music they play is pure horrible.

I’ve seen this video several times now and I can ignore it no longer. Here’s the plot:

1) There’s this lonely Bro Country guy in the desert.

2) One night he sees something like a falling star very nearby.

3) He checks it out and meets an alien/feral/Native American woman. Nubile and beautiful, of course.

4) They tool around and drink Bud Light (perhaps most offensive).

5) It’s implied that they fuck later. (I’m hoping she has a big lobster claw where her vagina should be.)

The band sickens me too, looking exactly like every band should look these days. The music certainly doesn’t make up for anything.

I would happily offer everyone in this video to ISIS, as my gift.

Old Memories

This track kicks off Alice Cooper’s Muscle Of Love, a CD I just received the other day and haven’t heard for easily 30, maybe 35 years. It brought a big smile to my face, taking me back all those years.

Notes:

1) This was essentially my second rock ‘n’roll album. A friend of mine had introduced me to non-radio rock ‘n’ roll via Billion Dollar Babies prior to us starting catechism class together after not seeing each other for a couple years. I believe I was 12. After listening to Babies for months, I remember shoveling snow in order to buy Alice’s newest, Muscle Of Love. With no internet or older sibling guidance, my best guess was to buy the newest one (I often did this), figuring the newest was the best. It took me years to discover that isn’t true and it took me until years later to discover the best Alice Coopers – Love It To Death, Killer and School’s Out.

2) I had bought the Guess Who’s Share The Land and American Woman albums a couple years before, but then lost interest in music for a while (?!). Such is the life of a little kid.

3) Muscle is the last for the Alice Cooper band. Listening to the entire album one can hear the transition to the soon-to-come solo Alice Cooper. The crappy song ratio increases and the guitar sound is radically different as Glen Buxton was too drunk/drugged to play at this point. The Mick Mashbir/Dick Wagner duo is in full swing here. I imagine they let Michael Bruce still play a little rhythm guitar.

4) It’s also a pretty forgotten/ignored Alice Cooper album and that’s legit. Funny, the first two Alice albums are kind of ignored too, the weirdo Zappa-like Pretties For You and Easy Action. I’ve always counted Love It To Death as their debut.

5) No idea what (Hippo) is supposed to mean. Still don’t.

6) The “big” hit off this album was Teenage Lament ’74. If you remember anything from this album, it’s probably that one. Just found Big Country covering it for another hearty (?!).

Take The Coachella Challenge

Look at the 2016 Coachella lineup and tell me who you’d be interested in seeing. Feel free to tell others about bands they should be interested in seeing.

Here’s my list:

1) Guns ‘N’ Roses – I’m slightly curious.

2) The Damned – Not sure what The Damned is anymore, what kind of music they’re playing or what they represent.

There you have it. I’d happily pay $20 to see GnR in a Philly club if a friend asked me to go along. $15 for the same scenario with The Damned.

P.S. – I didn’t post any links or a nice Coachella picture because I don’t give a shit.

Am I The Only One Who Doesn’t Know This?

I’ve pretty much given up on the new Iggy album. Concept – A+, Execution – D+. But in interviews about the new album, Josh Homme goes on and on about the genius of Iggy’s The Idiot and Lust For Life – two albums I never had nor heard.

So, since they’re real cheapos on Amazon, I bought both. Listened to The Idiot for the first time yesterday and it’s pretty good, initially. Homme talks of the two albums being almost one, with The Idiot as the dark side and Lust For Life the lighter side.

What struck me most about Idiot is Iggy’s China Girl, which, believe it or not, I don’t think I’ve ever heard before.

Don’t know if it’s because I’ve heard the Bowie version a billion-trillion times at this point, but the Iggy version sounds good to me. I always thought Iggy wrote the song and Bowie covered it, but, in actuality, they wrote it together and both recorded it.

What do you think?

Iggy And Josh

Can’t say I’ve looked forward to receiving a musical Amazon shipment in a while as much as I looked forward to this one.

I’ve only listened a couple times so far, but I’m disappointed. For one, Iggy’s vocals are just flat-out bad to me; his range must’ve dropped two octaves since his prime. One listens to Search And Destroy and it’s hard to believe it’s even the same guy.

For two, Iggy’s lyrics are downright silly and amateurish sometimes as well. I’m no stickler for lyrics and silly, amateurish lyrics certainly work for me at times (T. Rex), but perhaps in tandem with the dry, tenor vocals, these are worse, for me at least.

There’s Queens influence all over this album, but not enough for me, as Josh Homme has graciously planted himself firmly into the background for Sir Iggy.

The song I give you here is my favorite, probably by far so far, and it finishes the album. I love the beginning a cappella part, which initially makes no sense but comes around at the end in a very typical, wonderful, grinding, monotonous Queens crunch (although not as powerful as the Queens).

I could see these guys in Philly in a couple weeks, but at $45 for the cheapest ticket, I’m not sure.

I’ll keep at it.