Day 0770 - Smash

 The Offspring "Smash" (1994) - got it

 

One of a group of more polished, catchy “pop punk” bands to emerge in the mid 90s (along with bands such as Green Day and Rancid).  

The band had signed to Epitaph records and were recording this, their third album on a tight budget.  Money was so tight that they had to constantly call the studio to utilise downtime between other bands' sessions in order to get a discounted rate of their studio time.  Several of the songs were worked out in the space of a couple of nights to make economical use of the time they had.

The band’s previous album had only sold around 15,000 copies, so they were under no illusions of their music finding a place on mainstream radio or MTV.   Lead single “Come Out and Play” changed all that, becoming a hit.  The album sold millions of copies, effectively setting up Epitaph and the Offspring (though they would soon depart for a major label) for the next few  years.  Guitarist Noodles was working as a school janitor and promised his boss not to quit until the end of the year.  He said that kids who had seen him on MTV would be surprised to see him cleaning.

When the band first started, singer Dexter Holland was on drums... which I find odd, because his high-pitched yell is so distinctive, it makes sense to have him on vocals.

The first track proper "Nitro (Youth Energy)" starts with a surf-rock style drum intro but then kicks into fast punk rock with mildly nihilistic lyrics.  Tracks like "Bad Habit" and "Self Esteem" show the band's humorous, slightly puerile side.   Track "Genocide" has a chord sequence that they seem to have reused on at least the subsequent couple of albums, so I'm not sure if that was an intentional through-line for their albums, or just plagiarising themselves.

While the band would come to be known for a string of novelty pop-punk hits (Pretty Fly for a White Guy, Original Prankster, Hit That), on Smash they were still pretty serious, if catchy, punk business.  

Day 0739 - Gentlemen

Afghan Whigs "Gentlemen" (1993)

The Whigs evolved out of Greg Dulli's former band the Black Republicans, with the goal being that the music should be a meeting place between the Temptations, the Band, and Neil Young playing with Crazy Horse.   I would say that the latter 2 influences are much more to the forefront than the former, though "Faded" has hints of soul, and "I keep coming back" has a nice soul vibe to it too.  It's followed by an emotive instrumental backed with synthesized strings.

Much of the rest of the album though falls into that vibe of 90s alt-rock, a mix of yelling rock vocals and a gentle gravelly croon.  The music is rock but mixes funk, and shoegazey textures into its guitar cauldron.

I enjoyed it well enough, and do like Dulli's work with Mark Langean under the moniker the Gutter Twins.

Day 0717 - Ingénue

K.D. Lang "Ingénue" (1992) - got it

For Lang's second solo album, she largely left her country sound behind in favour of more of a mix of cabaret, pop, alt-country, tango and a few other flavours.   There are times that the style could almost seem musically a bit 'middle-of-the-road', but it is saved by Lang's amazing voice, her painful honesty, and her brilliant songwriting abilities, such as on album opener "Save me"

This is a relatively short write-up, but suffice it to say, I am very much in love with this album, and will be keeping an eye out for a copy (as you can see above, since writing this, I found one).

I can hear the possible influence from this on artists I enjoy such as Amanda Palmer and Pink Martini.

Day 0627 - Tank Battles

Dagmar Krause "Tank Battles" (1988)

Another really interesting find.   It's almost like a demented take on Broadway or Cabaret, which is maybe not surprising given that it featuring arrangement contributions from Greg Cohen.  Cohen had just recently worked on Tom Waits' "Frank's Wild Years" album, which mined similar musical territory.

Krause had started off in singing in clubs in the German Reeperbahn district, and had sung in a number of bands as well as working as a solo artist.   She had become interested in the music of composer Hans Eisler, whose songs focussing on the downtrodden and underground in early-mid 20th century Germany had led his works to be banned by the Nazis and forced Eisler himself into exile.

The album bursts with life, cynicism and humour.  Krause's deep Teutonic voice fits the music to a tee.  Songs like "The song of the whitewash" sound like some weird mix of Marlene Dietrich, Dresden Dolls and the more theatrical parts of Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

Day 0596 - Warehouse: Songs and Stories

Hüsker Dü "Warehouse: Songs and Stories"

Another album born from a tumultuous, confrontational creative relationship.  Songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart were at loggerheads and  the band disbanded during the tour for this album. The break was partly due to their animosity, and partly over drummer Hart's drug use.

Mould had reportedly told Hart that he'd never have more than half the songs on a Hüsker Dü album, and with neither writer wanting to back down, this ended up being a double album.  Mould contributed 11 songs and Hart 9.

While there are some good tracks on here ("She Floated Away" being one that particularly caught my ear); their sound of melodic vocals over distorted guitar and rattling, pounding drums does tire out over the space of 20 songs.  You find yourself yearning for an acoustic or clean guitar, or for them to go further into realms of heaviness.  Faint criticism though, as any of these songs taken on its own would be perfectly listenable.

Day 0486 - Damaged

Black Flag "Damaged" (1981)

Wow, that is an in-your-face punk album!  According to the book, the first few BF recordings had been in a much less intense 70s punk vein.  This album (the first with raging new singer Henry Rollins) slit that vein and spewed forth angry hardcore punk rock, almost crossing into metal in places.  There's not a lot of melody on show here, but it sorts of feels like too much melody would take away from the intensity of the music.

The band were early proponents of the DIY punk scene.  After their record label decided not to release the album, (claiming it was immoral) the band released it themselves.   The band then jumped in a van with their gear and a roadmap to tour the album off their own bat.

Day 0466 - Group Sex

Circle Jerks "Group Sex" (1980)

14 tracks in 15 minutes... it doesn't get much more punk than that, motherfucker!

Keith Morris had left Blackflag to form his own band which he did, forming Circle Jerks with Red Kross guitarist Greg Hetson.

The songs are raucous party tracks and pretty much set down the blueprint for every party punk band to follow e.g. NOFX.

Day 0417 - The Cars

The Cars "The Cars" (1978)

One of the early new-wave albums and a huge pop 'smash' that managed to stay in the US Billboard charts for some 139 weeks.

The quote that accompanies the album's entry in the book reads" I never wanted to really be a musician and I don't care about musicianship that much. I care about style and content" which I guess kind of sums up 80s pop music in general. The prog and fusion bands of the 70s with their virtuosic musicianship, were giving way more and more to glossy new-wave sounds.  Even bands like Queen and Sparks pared back their arrangements and eased up on their more indulgent flashier musicianship to produce simpler arrangements and more (theoretically) accessible pop fare.

This is an enjoyable and recognisable album, every second track seemed to be "that song I've heard on the radio".