The Shaky Hands
'To my fairly rock-savvy kid brain it was the most rad rocking that had ever happened.'
Posted 5th November 2008, 7:58pm in Soundtrack
The Shaky Hands aren't just content to tell us what they've spent their lives listening to, they want to introduce us to the influence, and their roadie's love of... erm... Katy Perry?
Nirvana - Even In His Youth
People always talk about songs blowing their mind like suddenly things will never be the same. I think Joe Strummer said that when he heard 'Street Fighting Man' his life was changed. I think it’s a kinda dumb statement. If you go blind or have a limb ripped off your life is probably changed more than it will be the first time you heard Jethro Tull. But you know, I’m not really that into Tull.What I’m saying is not exactly true. There are times when you hear something and instantly know things are much different than they were 30 seconds before. This happened when I was 9 in my Dad's garage. Don’t worry, it’s nothing dirty. It’s actually about Nirvana.
Being 9 when 'Nevermind' came out was weird. It was so huge that even grade school kids new it. It was so huge that you put away your 'Simpsons Sing The Blues' and Weird Al tapes and accepted a real band. It was so huge that I walked the six blocks to the music store alone and spent 3 bucks on the cassette single. The first music I had ever bought in my life. It was a big step, I know, but after all, I was a big kid now.
When I got home I had to listen to it on the dusty paint splattered one speaker tape player in the garage. I had heard 'Teen Spirit' a million times and loved hearing it on my own. It rocked and I was a rock kid. AC-DC was my all time fave and the cover songs my Dad’s band played surely rocked hard. I knew rock well. It was in my 9-year-old blood. 'Teen Spirit' fit right in. It totally rocked.
The B side to the tape had one other song. I knew nothing about it when I turned the tape over and hit play and stood there. The sound that came out was hard to hear. Not Bummer hard but Awesome hard. I knew what it was. This was rock but more rock than anything I had ever heard. That singer was screaming and the guitar was screaming and the bass and drums were screaming and to me it sounded like a bunch of dudes pinning out as hard as they could. To my fairly rock-savvy kid brain it was the most rad rocking that had ever happened. This was THE rock song of all time. I was changed for good, and it was a nice change.
Years went by, fads came in and out, and tastes changed. One constant was that band. The song still kills me. Every time I hear it I’m taken back to the hot garage on Pine Street. It’s still the heaviest shit in my mind. Nirvana still rules. Please don’t forget that.
Biz Markie - Just A Friend
Emo makes me kinda sick. It is a sound that alienates everyone younger than 13 and older than 17. I’m neither so automatically I’m out. Plus I have a beard so I can’t wear make-up.One of the many bad things about emo is the good bands who get cred for starting the genre. Rights Of Spring shred but get no cred for it. That’s bullshit. The true origin lies in a place far deeper than emotional hardcore. The true beginning lies with Biz.
It’s fucking heartbreaking how bad heartbreak can be. We have all felt it and it hurts. Lots of people deal with moody music or cryptic lyrics but Biz Markie used straight to the point storytelling to tell us, the listener, exactly what it feels like to have loved and lost.
Lame assholes like Fall Out Boy may be packing stadiums with tweens, teens, post teens and emotionally stunted twentysometings, but we all know who to thank. Biz. The man who wasn’t afraid to sing like shit over some piano.
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