Wednesday 10 February 2010

30 Years, the Final Part

This is it then. My top three albums of the past 30 years. Like I said at the start, these may not be the most influential or the most well known, but they are the three that I can put on at any time and enjoy. I also said I was quite surprised by the results, and I stand by that!

First up is Wish We Never Met by The Gadjits. They were a ska punk-ish band (with a touch of rockabilly) from Kansas who, through differences and
a lack of recognisable success, have split up - which is a shame. Their sound is underpinned by a quality organ and lead singer Zach's brilliant voice. The subject matters revolve around the seedy underbelly of midwestern life.

The first time I came across them was on a compilation album from Hellcat Records, founded by Rancid's Tim Armstrong. On that was the brilliant Bad GaDJit. This is a great starting point when trying to discover the Gadjits.

In Angel and a Devil
they sing about the choices you make when growing up with regards to drugs. It's also a track that conjures up memories of Sublime, with cool guitars and rhythm.

A cheeky track is Manuhkin, which seems to be about having sex with a blow-up doll with the faces of famous people grafted on to it. It's quite tender, but always with a glint in its eye.

There's so many good songs on here that it was so hard to pick out just three. Somebody's Wife, Outsider and Cowboys Always Win are rollicking, organ-heavy tracks; Carnival Sense is a rock 'n' roll-style fun track; and Jenny Jones (Leave the Death Rock Kids Alone) is a choral ribbing of US chat shows like Montel and, obviously, Jenny Jones, that see a teen dressed differently and automatically presume they're evil.

Do try to get this album, it's just pure enjoyability. And cool as hell.

I mentioned Tim Armstrong in the Gadjits' write-up, and he's back here in my second favourite album.

Rancid are often compared to The Clash, which is praise of the highest order. However, in the self-titled album and And Out Come the Wolves, they were White Riot era Clash. They didn't seem to have anything to suggest they could come up with a Sandinista or London Calling.

How wrong that assumption was.

Life Won't Wait is a full blown punk classic. While contemporaries NOFX were goofing around (brilliantly, I may add!) and Green Day seemed to be going faux-political, Rancid went serious - and it paid off massively.

Not that you'd know from the start. The Intro is straight from the early albums and could easily be pinched from Rats in the Hallway. Bloodclot is a 'hey-ho' thunderbolt, but again, not radically different.

Hoover Street signals that something new is going on here. It's polished, political and powerful. There's plenty of quieter sections to hear Armstrong's lyrics about Salvadorian immigrants living in dire conditions. The chorus is basic, to say the least, but it works. Black Lung lets the listener know that new inspirations have been sought. This album was partially recorded in Jamaica, where the band struck up a friendship with ragga/dancehall star Buju Banton (who features on some tracks). The mix of these styles takes this album to a new level. Despite not being a particular fan of Banton's style, I really love the result.

Rancid? Ragga? Revolution? Perfect! The title track, Life Won't Wait is simply stunning. It mixes ska, ragga and punk to such a degree that it even outshines stuff by The Specials. It was co-written by Rancid with Banton and The Slackers' Vic Ruggiero and features Banton singing in a few verses. It's just sublime and very danceable too. This is a call to every musician - more of this kind of stuff please!

New Dress is a beautifully political song, with kicks. Lyrically it's involved with the break down of Yugoslavia and how the West helped in the independence of those states. However, with independence, the West also brought capitalism to unstable economies and countries, so the result leaves confused youngsters in Nike shoes and what-have-you in a new war-torn nation. Warsaw also offers a view on the rapid spread of capitalism to eastern Europe.

Think of Rancid and there's no chance you'd think of this next track. Crane Fist features rinky-tinky piano a la Jools Holland and samples. Don't take my word about it though, listen to it yourself.

Despite me saying this is a rapid departure from form, Rancid show they still can rock in the style to which their original fans were accustomed. The likes of Leicester Square, Lady Liberty and The Wolf are pure punk - power chords and raucous, soaring choruses. The latter being one of my favourites, rivalling The Clash's White Riot and NOFX's The Brews.

For a 22-track album, it flies by in a flash (well, 60mins) and I'm struggling to think of a track I don't like. Life Won't Wait was released in June 1998. So was 5ive's album. Christ.

Next up is my favourite album. Woo! This was one of the easiest choices I've made. I could probably tell you this decision in my sleep. Quite out of character - especially considering my past nine choices - this band are my favourite. Uncoincidentally, it also contains my favourite song.

It's Levelling the Land by the Levellers from 1991. It kicks off with the anthemic One Way and also contains Liberty Song. There are also a few political songs such as Another Man's Cause, which reveals the futility of war, particularly the Falklands, and how it's the soldiers and their family are most effected, not the decision-makers.

First up for my choices is the campfire-tastic Boatman. It really speaks to me as it's my ideal live, a rover, a boatman and whatever. Plus I love the campfire singalong style of it, but more of that later.

My next choice is another campfire singalong blast, apart from mishearing 'weir' and 'wee'. Have a listen to it - Far from Home. Again the imagery conjured up really appeals to me - a nice, honest life on the road.

The last song on the album tells the not-so-glamourous side of being a traveller. It's a true tale too, and incredibly heart-breaking and anger inducing. The Battle of the Beanfield was a real event in 1985 as a convoy of travellers converged on Stonehenge for a free festival. The police tried their hardest to stop them, laying down exclusion zones and roadblocks. What resulted was disgraceful, view the unedited ITN footage here. The Levellers' song narrates brilliantly.

My final song is a lot more cheerful, it's about the fearlessness of youth. Drinking and smoking and taking 'a drink of the Rev Jimmy Jones' and setting 'the table for the barber Sweeney Todd'. It's The Riverflow and easily my favourite song of, well, ever I think. Upbeat, rollicking and pleasantly lairy.

So there it is, I've quite enjoyed it.






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