Green Day stream of consciousness at the 21st Century Breakdown.

Green Day obviously needs no introduction but the thing that struck me instantaneously about this album was the immediacy, the intensity and the energy. Whether one argues successfully that this is no longer pure punk but rather a diluted and refined remix of all that’s worth keeping of punk and ditching the baggage, it works and retains the edge.
In the order of tracks and the breakdown between different sets the album has a certain concept feel, almost a punk opera idea without the rock pretensions.
‘Know your enemy’, track number three was the first single and all too predictable for that. There are better single options in ‘Viva la Gloria’ and ‘Before the lobotomy’. That’s all personal opinion and the Green Day brain’s trust must know what they are doing with marketing and spinning the band into the nether regions of mega stardom.
Some of the lyrics betray a band that are American through and through and despite this patriotic vision being a little off-key on a punk styled album these guys stood up to George W. Bush in his own backyard in Texas so they have the street cred and dare I whisper it, the pedigree.
Whatever my opinion is this album is set for the heart of the sun and personal memorable moments include the throwaway one liner lyrics like “I never made it as a working class hero” and the bass attitude on ‘Last of the American girls.
The bleeding edge riffs, the manic drums, plaintive almost 70’s style vocals and the split second timing and tempo changes betray a band so together they can turn on the gas at will and then level out again only to amp it up on a cue. There is of course the little matter of stadium rock anthems that sticks in my throat like a fishbone, but that’s a personal matter.
I bought the CD before I had seen any hype and I have kept it that way by not really chatting arbitrarily about the album with musical, feedback clones and running for the door if it comes on the radio, in the pub or uninvited on a vehicle sound system.
I am thoroughly enjoying it but want to keep it that way and the surest way to kill the beat is to be forced to listen to something ad infinitum when you never chose to.
These guys have a serious passion that reminds me of a great book, ‘Passion is a fashion’, written about the legend that was and still is The Clash.

See book review here

Guns n’ Roses are now a real illusion as Axl tinkers with a legend.

Chinese Democracy is the title of the latest handout from “Guns n’ Roses”, those cowboys from yesteryear who welcomed us to the jungle and then built plenty of rock illusions. This current lineup bears little resemblance in names or sound to the legend that took the known world kicking and screaming into the jungle.  

Axl should have left it all there and moved on to movies as this release is overdone, overworked, underpaid and almost neutered in the attempt to throw in every effect and tech item barring the kitchen garbage disposal unit.

It’s listenable, hummable and almost whistlable if I could whistle for the dog but raw music at the edge with only the jungle around, this ain’t.

I wouldn’t want to be around to listen to what Slash might have to say about this and I also see a meaning in the title that extends to a polite phrase for a dictatorship run by a bit of a control freak.

Having said all this, the album isn’t bad it’s just that Axl should not have called the band by the old name then it could have been judged on its own terms and merits. Now the history, the baggage and the rumbles lurk behind every lick and that is too big a stage for this current crew to fill.

“What we have here is failure to communicate, some men you just can’t reach…”

There’s a time to let the past go and turn a page before becoming just a footnote to a legend in rock history. Will the real Guns n’ Roses please stand up. 

P.S. Where the f##k are Slash and Izzy? (quoting a disgruntled disciple from the jungle days)

“I can’t find my way back, my way  anymore…”  Lyrics by Axl  ‘Madacascar’ off Chinese Democracy.

Understated is the key word when listening to the Black Hotels.

Listening to a new album for the first time for me is always a moment of serendipity.  A moment to savour, deeper than meditation and more meaningful than hugging trees. Of course, this applies only to albums I’ve been waiting to listen to for a while, not just arbitrary crap.

It’s impossible to make a valid judgement after one listening, in fact it’s probably impossible until the listenings number at least five with  double digit sleeps in between.

There are albums that resonate immediately only to wear thin and out after weeks, sometimes days. Then there are albums that don’t figure immediately only to click at a later stage. It’s all in the timing, the stuff that is happening at that particular moment in the world of work, romance, illicit love affairs, drug deals, roadtrips and arbitrary interaction with other humans.

The Black Hotels are a South African indie band and their latest album is entitled ‘films for the new century’ and it has a great photo of the band in a recording studio laying down some sounds. The front has a pic of a dude with crazy sunglasses holding up his hands acknowledging applause or else trying to stop the tide.

The first time I heard the Black Hotels five-track EP with the hummables ‘Natalie’ and ‘Beautiful Mornings’, I was immediately wowed and felt a part of something magic.

The latest offering continues the journey of a magic carpet ride. No overwhelming pyrotechnics here. No intimidating overkill and definitely no rockstar excess.

Simple, beautiful crafted tunes, melodies and some harmonies. Understated is a key word for the Black Hotels and live they are tight and focused with the ship not just afloat and drifting but aimed at a specific destination. This aim changes as a result of an intense appreciation for detail and an insane desire for that perfect sound.

There have been some attempts to categorise musical influences which with a group like this is like hunting for a spaceship in the universe but here’s my shot at the big time. Bee Gees, Clash, Johnny Cash, Evoid, The Kinks and REM.

There are enough hooks lurking just below a slightly muddied surface and singalong lines to satisfy the most demanding and discerning listener and yet there is an indefinable, difficult to put a finger on, something mssing.

Something, possibly in and of itself quite unremarkable, unimportant in the overall scheme of things and yet critical in completing the Black Hotels jigsaw puzzle.

“We walk a fine line between love and yesterday, it’s like a movie where the bad guy gets away…  from ‘Black Rose’ on the new album.

Understatement can be a powerful weapon but there is an edge lacking here, a mast to pin the colours to, the constant threat of a 40 megaton warhead or just being in the right place at the right time and being heard by somebody important prepared to back an obviously talented band.

That’s me logging off with some of those tunes still spinning in my head leaving me wondering why there are always different opinions and angles from all and sundry regardless of how cool the music actually is.

The band is:

John Boyd – Guitar, vocals

Lisa Campbell – Bass, vocals

Warrick Poultney – Drums

Neil White – Lead guitarist

Matthew Fink  -   Synthesiser and glockenspieel

Management – john@kcmc.co.za, 084 310 9817

Catch the Black Hotels on Facebook.