New York Dolls Announce Australian Tour!

Record Revolution Bookmark

Print it out on some cardboard stock and Rock & Read.

Today's Vinyl Purchase: Johnny Thunders - So Alone (Original Pressing)

One of my biggest musical pet peeves is to see Johnny Thunders described as a Punk guitarist.  Though he created some Punk standards, like Born To Lose and Chinese Rocks, at his core JT was a Rock & Roll guitarist.  His solo LP proves that fact with covers of Carman/Spickard's "Pipeline," Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rollin' Stone," and the Shangri-Las "Great Big Kiss."  

His flaws and addictions often lead music critics to forget about his contributions and they ignore his talent.  Pigeon-holing him in the Punk genre is an easy way to say, "That junkie had a couple good tunes, but he was only a Punk guitarist anyways."  Fuck the critics.

Math Rock Does Not Compute!

Jerkin' around on YouTube, in between the nut-smashing skateboarders and the vinyl collectors, I recently discovered a genre of music I'd not seen nor heard of:  Math Rock.  Before I comment, let me give you some examples:

If you suffered through that, you now have a good idea of what Math Rock is all about - endless noodling and a complete lack of groove.  The musicians' talent is not in question here.  Obviously they can play the hell out of their instruments, but I don't get how with all that talent they can't make me wanna nod my head!  It reminds me of ELP or King Crimson or Yes.  Soulless music reliant upon listeners falling into a trance.  Maybe that's how they expect to sell records - by brainwashing listeners into stumbling, zombie-like, to Amazon.com and clicking "purchase."  Now, don't think I'm just a dumb prick who refuses to expand my library of CDs.  I enjoy Chuck Berry as much as Lemmy as much as the Smiths.  I like a lot of stuff - but not this dreck:

Maybe I am missing something.  I went to Wiki to learn a little about Math Rock:  "Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), angular melodies, and dissonant chords."  OK, well now I have a good understanding of why it is impossible to sing to it in the car or get my son to like it.  Dissonant, start-stop, "atypical" rhythms...ugh.  Here is a good example, though.  From the first snare, you can imagine shooting yourself if you were forced to listen to the entire thing (I dare ya!).



OK, you've suffered enough.  Here is a pallet-cleanser for ya: