If you've been following me lately, the closest I've come to actual rock 'n roll has been by way of Niger with Etran De L'air (which absolutely counts, by the way).
This is not due to snobbery. It's just I'm a big believer in the law of diminishing returns, and familiarity breeding contempt. In other words, the very opposite of Classic Rock radio.
I'm also so in awe of music itself that I assume it's a limited resource and we'll eventually run out. So with that kind of mindset, can you blame me for wanting to rotate the crops a bit? Aside from turning me on to all sorts of not rock 'n roll, when I finally do put on a Classic Rock station I actually enjoy it. (Unless, of course, they insist on playing the same shit again and again.)
Another factor that plays into this is that, upon hearing a great "new" band, I no longer immediately buy their entire catalog. It's as if, I don't want to ruin the effect of that first record.
And at the very bottom of it, there's vanity: I don't want to turn into the guy who sits around saying music isn't as good as it used to be. Let's face it, he hasn't listened to anything for decades so why would anyone give a shit what he thinks?
And there are too many of these guys already, and what they're saying is so utterly unoriginal and wrong they should get a new hobby, like gardening or homosexuality. Seriously. It'll do them good.
But in the meantime...
Dramarama: Cineme Verite (1985)
Finally, a good, unique, rock 'n roll album – one that I missed in the mid-80s, even though (actually, because) there were a couple of hits on it. John Easedale's got a limited vocal range (which he only pushes too far once or twice) but he's sure got vision.
And the band backs him up, no matter the style a given song commands, and makes it all come alive.
Ah, but with nary a synth to be found, they were denied stardom. (F*ck Duran Duran, by the way.)
My version is a bit long, with eight extra cuts, but hey, that's what you get with vision. Definitely worth it.
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Fontaines D.C: A Hero's Death (2020)
D.C., as in Dublin City - a far cry from Drama in New Jersey.
And thus almost the opposite of Verite. The lyrics are very basic and repeated like chants. The singer has a deeper voice. The tempos rarely get past medium. And the arrangements are the same throughout.
And yet, it's all very compelling. Maybe because I usually associate this approach with disdain/contempt a la Johnny Rotten in Public Image Limited, whereas here there is a much wider spectrum of feeling tending toward the compassionate and life-affirming
If you consider "life ain't always empty" as a stirring chant, that is. But you had to be there.
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