Tag: rock

212. Foxygen

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(April 2019) I have completed episode 212 of my “opus project.” This edition: FOXYGEN. It’s exceedingly difficult to characterize their music, so here goes: Imagine Olivia Tremor Control reincarnated as a duo in Los Angeles as the love child of Ty Segall and Lou Reed, mixed with early Beck, mid-period Kinks, Satanic-era Stones, Oh Sees, late Beck, and a sprinkling of ELO and Zappa. That might be Foxygen, for now, because their next sound could be completely different. Fun fact: their latest album came out yesterday, setting the OP record for quickest incorporation of a new release.

Favorite album: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

Favorite song: San Francisco

Compared to expectations: same

foxygen

210. fIREHOSE

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(April 2019) I have completed episode 210 of my “opus project.” This edition: fIREHOSE. I finished Minutemen, so I naturally started fIREHOSE next as it featured its two surviving members. This is what I should have been listening to in the 1980s instead of whatever I was listening to. Early fIREHOSE is much better than later fIREHOSE. Mike Watt is an incredible bass player.

Favorite album: If’n

Favorite song: Honey, Please

Compared to expectations: ↓

Ifn_Firehose_Album_cover

205. Green Day

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(March 2019) I have completed episode 205 of my “opus project.” This edition: GREEN DAY. Based on their radio play, I had dismissed them as safe-space punk for the masses. But with this review, I was selling them far short. The rhythm section is *chef’s kiss* and the guitars are hooky and loud. Early on, the over-production was unsuited to the genre, but as they grew the songwriting caught up and broadened into power pop and guitar rock. Billy Joe’s affected vocals, once irritating and dominating, got better integrated. Green Day is a model for how a band matures and adds dynamism without letting go of their foundational tone.

Favorite album: Insomniac

Favorite song: American Idiot

Favorite power ballad: Redundant

Favorite rock opera: 21st Century Breakdown (better than American Idiot)

Special sauce: Tré Cool

Compared to expectations: ⇑

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203. Weezer

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(February 2019) I have completed episode 203 of my “opus project.” This edition: WEEZER. I just listened to 12 Weezer albums and the only songs I remember are Buddy Holly and the Sweater Song. The fun of their debut album – the right sound with the right attitude at the right moment – serves to accentuate the banality of the following releases, with the most sterile lyrics I’ve heard since I did Foreigner.

Favorite album: Weezer (the Blue Album)

Favorite song: Undone — The Sweater Song

Compared to expectations: ↓

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202. Love

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(February 2019) I have completed episode 202 of my “opus project.” This edition: LOVE. The distinctive style of this late 60s band is hard to label — “thespian hippy” is my best attempt. After their masterpiece, Forever Changes, their sound became more conventional for the era. Also noted (for the time) for the racial diversity of their lineup.

Favorite album: Forever Changes

Favorite song: Seven and Seven Is

Compared to expectations: same

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200. The Mamas and the Papas

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(January 2019) I have completed episode 200 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS. Groovy, hippy, warm rays of sunshine to bring a smile to your face. And, oh, those harmonies! Their run was brief, but their role in popularizing folk rock was huge.

Favorite album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears

Favorite song: Got a Feelin’

Special sauce: Mama Cass

Compared to expectations: same

TheMamasAndThePapas-IfYouCanBelieveYourEyesAndEars.jpg

198. Gang of Four

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(January 2019) I have completed episode 198 of my “opus project.” This edition: GANG OF FOUR. The first two albums are great post-punk material. But then they adopt 80s synths and I lose interest, and my interest finds no reason to return on the several unremarkable albums after that.

Favorite album: Entertainment!

Favorite song: Ether

Compared to expectations: ↓

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197. The Beau Brummels

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(January 2019) I have completed episode 197 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE BEAU BRUMMELS. Before there was the San Francisco Sound, there was The Beau Brummels. This relatively unknown Bay Area outfit not only earned the distinction as perhaps the first American band to mimic the music of the British Invasion, they also introduced folk rock before the Byrds popularized it.

Favorite album: Triangle

Favorite song: Laugh Laugh

Compared to expectations: same

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193. The Monkees

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(December 2018) I have completed episode 193 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MONKEES. Laugh if you must, but they put out some enduringly good music. While the Pre-Fab Four’s famous songs were written by others, their best albums came once they gained more creative control, earning a place among the pantheon of essential acts of the late ’60s golden age. The first two reunion albums are trash, but their 2016 album is quite good* and, for a Christmas album, so is 2018’s Christmas Party.

Favorite album: The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees

Favorite song: Pleasant Valley Sunday

Favorite song written by a Monkee: While I Cry

Best reunion album: Good Times! (2016)

Special sauce Mike Nesmith

Compared to expectations: same

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* good, in large part because it was produced by Adam Schlesinger, with tracks from Fountains of Wayne bandmates Brian Young and Jody Porter