Sad Faced Boy

Merrrrrrrrrrrr

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

For about the last month or so I've had this ever increasing itch to start writing again. I'm not sure what it is. I feel manic bouncing between apathy and this desire to do something, anything. I blame in part what I am reading now. I have this tendency to absorb whatever I'm reading to the point where it bleeds over a little bit into my actual life. This isn't so bad when one reads a thing of thing fantasy novel and there are swords and dragons and all kinds of silly crap. It becomes a little bit more of a problem when you are reading a memoir by Augusten Burroughs on his early childhood. Everyone in the book is emotionally damaged in one way or another and while reading it I start to revaluate things I do and see aspects of mental illness what with my compulsive organization and sanding of imperfections on my house. Did I mention the dental picks? Oh sweet dental picks that remove paint from our lead pane windows.

...

About two weeks ago I bought a bunch of music and have been slowly listening my way through it. One album in particular that I am really digging is "New Wave" by Against Me! About a year ago one of SG's coworkers made me a copy of their live album "American's Abroad". At the time I didn't really know anything about Against Me! and my initial listen through made me feel little towards them either way. I have that problem when I listen to music, I've found if I really like it from the start I tend not to like it a year later. Then there are the times when I listen to something and I just can't stand it, so I put the album away and about three or four months later I listen to it again and I love it. This is sort of what happened when I made an MP3 CD awhile back I just happened to get a few of their songs on that disc. There's something about their music. It's raw with this feeling that punk used to have in the 70's before every teenage eyeliner wearing boy decided that punk was the best way to get out their angst that they didn't fit in and that they couldn't hook up with any girls. The guitar rifts are simple and driving more like the powerful undertones you get from a big diesel engine. The lead singer belts out all these meaningful lyrics in what initially makes you think is just him growling tonelessly. It's when you listen closer you realize he's actually growling notes and it sounds pretty damn good. Against Me! when I listen to them leaves me feeling that they are this scottish punk version of of a singer song writer like Ani Difranco. There's the depth of Ani Difranco with the roaring simplicity of old punk music.

A lyric in particular that I really like is from the song "Thrash Unreal".

This night is going to end when we’re damn well ready for it to be over. Worked all week long now the music is playing on our time. We do what we do to get by, and then we need a release.


Seen like that it really lacks the emotional hit you get when it's growled at you by lead singer Tom Gabel but I still really like it. How many times do you hit the weekend and you just need to let go drink a few beers and unwind because all week you've been doing what others want you to do and how many times do you not go get those drinks.