Author: Terryn Ward Page 2 of 3

In October we got The 1975’s fifth studio album, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. October was the month of “2014 Tumblr” bands coming back with a new, refined, but still distinctive sound. Between The 1975, The Arctic Monkeys, The Wombats, and more the “2014 Tumblr aesthetic” came back with vengeance, due to mass nostalgia for this time from millennials and the “2014 sound” finding popularity with a younger crowd.

But this popularity has only increased with The 1975’s media tour and recent gigs. Matty Healy has reignited fans’ love of his style and personality through interviews and his social media after the release of Being Funny In A Foreign Language. He has gone from simply an indie pop veteran to being essentially renamed the darling of artsy pop rock. And with The 1975’s ongoing tour entitled “The 1975 At Their Very Best” he has proved that title true.

Fans, Celebrities, and the mix between have been seen enjoying the recent 1975 concerts, bringing new support to the popularity of The 1975. On Tiktok, fans post highlights of each show on Tiktok to thousands of waiting fans, meanwhile, influencers post themselves in the pit of the show.

But what does this popularity mean? Some fear it will bring back the toxic environment of early 2010s Tumblr, where the platform was rampant with ED content, grooming of minors, and romanticization of mental health issues. Meanwhile, others point to the problematic nature of Matty Healy, who often makes “dark humor” jokes that can upset many. But nonetheless, it looks like Matty Healy and The 1975 are here to stay, whether in the center of popularity or not.

Back in August, I read Lizzy Goodman’s oral history about the 2000s New York music scene, Meet Me In The Bathroom and I loved every second of it. Made up of interviews with some of the best-known names in modern American music; The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, and more, Meet Me In The Bathroom introduced me to a whole new culture of music and style.

So when the documentary based on the book also titled Meet Me In The Bathroom came out, I had to watch it. In a serendipitous moment, I happened to catch it on cable TV Tuesday night, and let me say, it was pretty good. Although severely limited by runtime and footage from the 2000s, Meet Me In The Bathroom does its best to retell the stories told in the book, mostly through voiceovers. But I think the movie is the best at really showing you what these venues and clubs looked like and felt like. After reading about all these iconic shows and venues, it was so exciting for me to be able to see recordings of Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Julian Casablancas from the Strokes.

Another highlight of the documentary is its portrayal of 9/11. Since I was born in 2003, I understand the immense impact and tragedy that 9/11 holds, but I don’t have the memories to quite grasp the extent of the pain people felt. Meet Me In The Bathroom has heartbreaking footage of these bands struggling with 9/11’s aftermath. Seeing footage of people on the street during the bombing or Paul Banks of Interpol sorting through ashes really gave me an image of what people felt.

And so overall I think the Meet Me In The Bathroom documentary was great, and maybe because I love these bands and that book, or maybe just because it was good. I don’t know.

I am not a sports fan normally. I don’t go to football games or watch basketball. It has just never been my thing, except for the World Cup. I think the magic of the World Cup rests in its scale and in its internationalism. Obviously, the Olympics have the same international factor, and I do enjoy the Olympics, but the scale is far too big for everyone around the world to be watching and cheering for the same game at the same time. When it comes to the World Cup, people across the world tune into one game with two teams, and that is all, massive parts of the world are connected through the experience of this soccer game. You can see this by a simple scroll through Twitter, look at a trending World Cup tag and you will see people of all nationalities, cultures, and backgrounds connecting over the same brief moment.

Here in America, it is assumed everyone in the room knows the latest football news, which is often the case, but only for Americans. Soccer is so much more international, leaving so much more room for people to connect. The World Cup is the perfect outlet for Americans to become more interested in the rest of the world and soccer, and create more international connections.

Either way, let’s go England! It’s coming home! (Home as in their home, not my home, even though I wrote this post I don’t care about American soccer)

Two weeks ago I was listening to my Spotify Discover Weekly, not thinking much of it, when Spotify played me a 2000s indie rock song similar to much of the music I already listen to, that I enjoyed, so I added it to a playlist and left it alone. I honestly forgot the song even existed until later that week when I was listening to that playlist and it came up again. Once I remembered how good that song was I listened to a bunch of the other songs Spotify recommended to me based on it, and I discovered a new genre; 2000s Swedish Punk Rock.

I did not even realize this band was Swedish until I was listening to the other songs recommended to me and they weren’t in English, something that really confused me for about thirty seconds. But the music overall was very good, and there seemed to be a lot of these 2000s indie punk rock bands in Sweden making great music, but they all had very little amounts of monthly listeners. Since then, I’ve been exploring the discographies of bands like The (International) Noise Conspiracy (~25,000 monthly listeners), Fireside (~8000 monthly listeners), Bob Hund (~72,000 monthly listeners), and The Bear Quartet (~3000 monthly listeners). So I guess the point of this post is to get out there and listen to music from other countries, especially those seemingly without big music scenes because you never know when you are going to find the next 2000s Swedish Punk Rock.

The Grammy nominations came out a couple of days ago. And to no one’s surprise, the nominations consisted of pop songs that could be used in a commercial and music from veteran artists past their prime. Now I must say, I do not really listen to or know much about Rap, R and B, Country, or Dance music. So maybe the Grammys did a good job of picking out nominees in those categories. Maybe not. But I know that the nominations for alternative and rock music categories were overall unsurprisingly underwhelming and highlighted the stagnation of modern rock and alternative music.

The Grammys continues to reward bands who are past their prime, but that weren’t recognized at their best because the Grammys were too busy recognizing old players. The Best Rock Performace category is offensive. Beck mimics Neil Young word for word in his cover of a Neil Young song so Beck is obviously rewarded. Some song called So Happy It Hurts gets a nom, and you guessed it, some man with a horrible country twang is boringly so happy that it hurts. Wild Child by The Black Keys and Crawl! by Idles are both fine songs, so I suppose they get my votes, but once again, all the noms are older men (besides Brandi Carlile) who already have acclaim and support so the winner of this award doesn’t even matter.

Best Rock Song is as boring as Best Performace, all male artists (besides Brandi Carlile) in a mix of rock-country or old-school rock that blend together into a meaningless mix of calculated twangs. Obviously, I must recognize that Blackout is a Metal track, but straight up I don’t like metal so I cannot say whether it is good or bad. The one song I think has some originality in this mix is Harmonia’s Dream by The War On Drugs. It has some of its own flavor, unique from the trends that are stripping this category of any originality. So I guess that makes it my pick.

I probably should, and maybe I will write about this more in-depth later, but as of right now I am not going to listen to six albums so I can reduce each one to a sentence for this post. And so, I am just going to say that Machine Gun Kelly in this category is probably the most egregious nomination of the entire Grammys and proof that these people have no idea what they are talking about.

Now, the two alternative categories are where I am the most passionate. While I have issues with these nominations, I must say they are somewhat better than in previous years. But overall many groups are still far too looked over. Also, why do other categories get best song category but Alternative doesn’t? It is ridiculous.

I have to say, while I think there are artists left out of this conversation that really should be included, this list is over all not upsetting for me. Arctic Monkeys, Big Theif, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs have and continue to put out incredibly strong albums. I cannot argue with the magic of Florence Welch’s voice. Wet Leg is a shocker, and I’ll give the Grammys some credit for this, because I do think this is a great song. Great performance? I’m not so sure about that. Wet Leg as the representation of all of new bands and music that gained popularity this year? Not so sure about that either, but I’ll take it. Also, I’m all in for There’d Better Be A Mirrorball in this category, but Spitting Off The Edge Of The World wouldn’t upset me.

Now the Best Alternative Album has some…weird nominations. Cool It Down by Yeah Yeah Yeah’s was amazing and fully has my vote in this category, the new Big Theif wasn’t my favorite of their work, but it was many people’s so I’m totally at peace with that. Fossora is Fossora, if you get it you get it, if you don’t you don’t, but you can’t judge someone either way, so although I get it, I’m surprised to see it on here. Wet Leg again is just so confusing to me. It’s good but I’m not sure if it’s that good and I don’t really understand where the critical acclaim for Wet Leg is coming from. Now..WE..which is obviously the front runner is my biggest problem in the whole category, considering looking at this list I would assume it is the favorite. Arcade Fire stopped putting out good music in the mid-2010s, and considering some of the recent accusations against their main singer, this nomination is really coming at a weird time.

Here is a really messy ramble about my Grammy thoughts. Much love I guess.

In honor of their recently announced UK tour (if only they would come to America) and the article that The Guardian put out earlier this month ranking Pulp songs I decided it was time for me to try and do the impossible. The problem with me attempting to rank Pulp songs is that I like so many of them that my top favorites change depending on my mood that month, so these songs are organized in regards to the album they are on, besides my number one song. Also, there are 23 instead of 20.

Separations

• Death II
• Love Is Blind

Only two songs off of Separations made it onto my top 25; Love Is Blind and Death II. Love is Blind’s magic is chiefly due to Cocker’s enunciation through the song in one of his first performances of his onstage persona that he grew to be known for. Meanwhile, Death II’s instrumentation (or lack thereof) is what makes it shine, a skillful mix of different House and EDM-inspired beep-boops is refreshing and exciting, especially when mixed with Cocker’s flamboyant performance of D-I-S-C-O.

His N Hers

• Babies
• Do You Remember The First Time?
• Razzmatazz
• His ‘N’ Hers
• She’s A Lady

Their first major success, His N Hers is the first full Pulp album that sounds like the Pulp that wrote songs like Common People. The singles Babies and Do You Remember The First Time? are classics that feel like a song played in a coming-of-age film. They are easy to appreciate and well-made, something that I have never had a friend dislike. Razzmatazz took a second to grow on me, but with lyrics like “You’re trying to look like some kind of heiress/But your face is such a mess” you can’t help but love Cocker’s jaded judgment of his ex. Now His ‘N’ Hers isn’t even on the original His N Hers album, and instead only got released with the deluxe version, but nonetheless, it is a classic for Pulp fans. A six-minute song mixing themes of sex and fears (but not sexual fears) it is sharp and daring and one of the best Pulp b-sides ever. Lastly, my favorite song on the album has to be She’s A Lady, a song that I would probably give number one if I didn’t feel like it was such a controversial choice. It’s dramatic, it’s artful, and it makes you dance. I can’t really even explain it, but it is definitely one of the most underrated Pulp songs ever released.

Different Class

• Whisky In The Jar
• Monday Morning
• Bar Italia
• Mis-Shapes
• Underwear
• Sorted For E’s & Wizz
• Disco 2000

Perhaps the best album of the proper Britpop era, Different Class is hard to rank. But I tried my best. These songs all thematically fall into a story throughout the album, so it is hard to re-organize them, but again, I tried. Whisky In The Jar is another B-side, and a cover of an Irish folk song, Pulp’s twist on its rhythm and meter makes the song shine, and besides the use of the word “Daddy-O”, you would never know it’s not a Pulp original. Monday Morning and Bar Italia go hand in hand, both similar in theme and pace. Monday Morning is about the day after partying and the reality of life and work, meanwhile, Bar Italia is Different Class’s closer and is about the after-after party and the reality of that lifestyle. Mis-Shapes highlights the oddballs and stand-outs, essentially the alternative working class, and rallies the troops for a takeover of the rich. Underwear explores the mix between desire and reality, specifically when it comes to sex, and also critiques the expectations for women. Sorted For E’s & Wizz drills into the rave culture at that time, and the individual’s mix of excitement and guilt. Lastly, Disco 2000 is simply about a girl Cocker crushed on growing up, but the mix of nostalgia, disappointment, and longing all pushed into an upbeat pop song makes it a highlight of the album.

This Is Hardcore

• Dishes
• TV Movie
• The Fear
• I’m A Man
• Like A Friend
• Sylvia
• The Day After The Revolution
• This Is Hardcore

This Is Hardcore is by far my favorite Pulp album, and my choice of about half the album shows that, but I think it is the most thematically and musically developed of all the Pulp albums, plus I love the darker Pulp sound. Dishes and TV Movie are both almost sister songs in theme and sound, both slower songs that build and are largely critical of their relationships. I’m A Man explores and exposes male gender roles, meanwhile Sylvia calls out men’s objectifying of complicated beautiful women. Like A Friend is simply a song about unrequited love that grows from a slow ballad to a full rock masterpiece. The Day After The Revolution explores the development and change of self compared to that of a revolution. And The Fear and This Is Hardcore are complex, layered, symphonies about fear, sex, Hollywood, and much more. Choosing specific songs from this album is a struggle because they are all so entwined with each other, you cannot separate them.

Number One: Common People

But overall my number one Pulp song is Common People. It’s a classic for a reason, exploring and calling out the romantization of poverty in a catchy, honest, and brutal way.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that the naughties-British-rock-band The Libertines is by far the most personally significant band I have discovered this year. The Libertines are obviously not a new band nor are they a niche one, but as a young girl in the digital era, sometimes the most exciting new music to listen to is music that is in no way new. And so, although their debut album is older than me, and the members have aged into gray hair, The Libertines are my biggest musical discovery of 2022.

And so here I am, “revisiting” an album about a year older than me. The first time I probably “visited” this album was in June or July, but months of the same album on repeat can change the way you see it. And I have to say, I think that this album has only grown in value for me since my first listen over the summer, and for society since its 2002 release.

In an era where half of modern music is an amateur-musician-trying-to-make-another-pop-punk-song-for-TikTok, bands like the Libertines, which used to be seen by some as unqualified and lazy, can be seen in a new light. Current bands and soloists self-censor and appropriate rebellion, youth, and angst in order to walk the line between edgy and something you can still hear in a Target commercial. Nothing about their music is truly unkempt, spontaneous, or lazy. And while I agree that sloppiness and laziness are not always desirable in music, there is a certain art to it that we can appreciate now more than ever.

Up The Bracket is grimy and standoffish, songs like The Boy Looked at Johnny and Horror Show don’t only discuss drugs and sex, but also use twangy and unstudied guitar riffs to create an atmosphere of party and rebellion. Angst and vulgarity are key to The Libertines’ sound, but the magic of the Libertines is that their music is not caught up in trying to prove its disobedience, it comes naturally amongst social commentary and protest.

In Time For Heroes, rambling guitars are paired with lines like “Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?” and themes like contempt for the mixing of British and American cultures. Death On the Stairs purposely tries to feel as much like a poem as a song and references British-Romantic poetry, all while making dirty jokes and illuding to Pete Doherty’s drug habits. The magic of a Libertines’ song is its mix of authentic lawlessness in sound and theme and its academic references and influences.

And so, although it’s been twenty years, I’d argue that Up The Bracket is more important now than ever. Popular music today is manufactured down to every “spontaneous” detail, and so music that is proud of its impromptu and artistic nature is something people in this day and age. Up The Bracket and The Libertines are just that. Artistically disheveled, poetically dirty, and passionately revolutionary, Up The Bracket was an accomplishment in 2002, and in 2022 it is a masterpiece.

Sorry I couldn’t help the shameless Declan Mckenna debut album “What Do You Think About The Car?” joke. This review has nothing to do with Declan Mckenna (but keep an eye out for my review of his concert later this week), this review is about Arctic Monkeys new album, named you guessed it, The Car.

My history with the Arctic Monkeys is a brief one, I like them. I like at least one song off of pretty much every album. But I don’t think I have ever actually listened to more than AM all the way through. I don’t really know why, I like them! I plan to change this hopefully this week because I want to rank all their albums for a blog post, but I should probably listen to the albums before I try to critique or praise them.

Nonetheless, I was excited for this album to come out! Between the 1975 release last week (which I also hope to review this week) and this album, I am all for the 2014 British rock resurgence. I am very over California bedroom pop. I decided to wait and listen to the album be played song by song with commentary by Alex Turner and Matt Helders on RadioX. But I kind of regret that, because I think the breaks between the songs somewhat ruined the flow of the album for me.

So I relistened a bit the other day, and then for real this morning (the album came out Friday, today is Monday). And I have to say, I love it. At first, it wasn’t really my thing, but turns out the album sounds a lot better on a cold and rainy day than on a depressingly hot and sunny one. I imagine the album really was made for a more sophisticated atmosphere than a 90-degree day in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma.

The atmosphere of the album is perfectly clear within the first minute of the first track, There’d Better Be A Mirrorball. Released as a single in August, There’d Better Be A Mirrorball was instantly decisive among fans, surprised by the Arctic Monkey’s new sound. But after some time, you can’t ignore the charm of this song. It’s smooth, classy, grown-up, yet unique. It’s a perfect opener to the band’s sound for this album.

The other standouts on this album are Body Paint (another single), Big Ideas, and my personal favorite, Sculptures of Anything Goes. Driven by a drum machine, the song mixes the classy, soulful, jazzy, sound of this album with a darker, more ominous tone. And the result is a masterpiece filled with tension and danger, but in a classy James Bond way. More people should mix drum machines and orchestras because I love it.

There is at least one song I feel falls a little short though, and that is I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am. The song is just a little too minimal in instrumentation, yet rhythmically complicated. It’s mostly personal taste, but I find the phrasing and flow (or lack thereof) to be awkward. The song is trying to be suave and groovy, but for me, it achieves the opposite effect.

Overall though, the album is a huge success for Arctic Monkeys. We have been blessed with many well-known bands’ new albums lately and The Car is one of them. Arctic Monkeys has become another band that was able to not get stuck in an old sound and instead evolve and it is great! Only one song is not to my taste, and that is a hard feat. And with the undeniable warmth this album gives off, I’m sure The Car will be on repeat all of my fall and winter.

I’ll begin this post by saying that I wanted to review the new Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album. I wanted to talk about Bjork’s Fossora. But point-blank? It’s all a bit much and I haven’t had the time or energy and now I feel like it isn’t timely.

Either way, in my little reviews and ambitions for more of those reviews I’ve noticed a pattern. All the new music I that think is interesting enough to talk about is by bands that are in no way new. In fact, for most of these artists, you could argue they are past their prime. And yet, the interesting, innovative, and invigorating music that is coming out right now all comes from veterans.

Suede’s Autofiction was a masterpiece and their best album since 1996’s Coming Up. Death Cab For Cutie’s Asphalt Meadows was somewhat mediocre for them, but still was a breath of fresh (not pop punk) air. The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s created a powerful almost meditative electronic rock album. When you look at Spotify’s “All New Indie” playlist, half of the tracks are by bands like Broken Bells, Arctic Monkeys, and Alvvays.

What does this resurgence and rebirth of well-known bands mean? I’m not sure. I can say that many of these bands are releasing their COVID albums, all made in isolation, touched up for a year, and coming out in late 2022. Finding themselves reinspired and motivated after a two-year battle for health and prosperity and security it makes sense that many artists may be called back to their roots.

Recently, SPIN Magazine has been doing these interesting little articles where they ask famous musicians for five albums they cannot live without. I have found this super interesting and would like to make this post about my own music tastes…and then maybe make more posts where I ask people I know. It is just an interesting premise and a fun little thing to write about. So here’s a brief run-through of my own, Terryn musical canon.

Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We- The Cranberries

An album that truly encapsulates the feeling of being a teenage girl. Dolores O’Riordan had one of the most unique and breathtaking voices ever and this album showcases it perfectly. Whispy yet angry, sensitive yet strong, this album has and will continue to define my girlhood.

The Declan Mckenna Discography

I’ve been a massive Declan Mckenna fan since his first full album, What Do You Think About the Car? The first album comforted me and my middle school angst for years until I began to diverge a bit from it as I entered older-high-school age. But his sophomore album that came out in MY junior year is another perfect album from him. The magic of Declan Mckenna is that he manages to grow musically as I grow literally.

Death Cab For Cutie’s Discography

If Declan Mckenna has grown with me, the magic of Death Cab For Cutie is that I’ve been able to discover their discography more and more AS I’ve grown. My parents were massive Death Cab fans when I was young, meaning I’ve been listening to them for pretty much my whole life. Death Cab is a band I explore more and more of their music as I age, and find myself finding a new appreciation for specific songs and albums all the time. I love the band so much, I got the Open Door EP album cover tattooed on my arm.

The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground

This album, and the band as a whole, are a classic for a reason. While many people point to the Beatles for their innovativeness and influence, I think The Velvet Underground was far more innovative and furthermore influential to important bands today. This album is a masterpiece in so many ways, and although I love The Velvet Underground and Nico, I think this album is in many ways equal or superior. Anyone who has overlooked this album needs to go back and give it a listen. It is a treat.

That’s all I’m going to highlight now, but there are many more songs and albums and groups I could point to as well. Here’s a playlist with some of my favs.