the pop switch(was Tweedy @ Salon)
I don't understand this almost predictable switch of formerly dubbed alt-twang bands to this pet-sounds pop thing. we've seen it with joe h, jayhwaks, wilco, golden smog, and the old 97's. maybe it's simply because most of them have been musically incestuous to varying degrees recently and in the past, and ole tweedy and louris have rubbed off on each other. not that I'm oppossed to new styles, I'm not sure if I get their new music. I felt this way after "sound of lies", then with "weird tales", now even more so with "fuse" and "summer teeth". some of the new songs on fuse and summerteeth are interesing, but it's not like I'm rushing home to listen to these records every night. why aren't these bands getting more twangy? more rock? punk? it's hard to give up on bands that have given me so much in the past. and these new fangled twang bands, well, seem to be riding the currents instead of causing the ripples themselves. so maybe that's what tweedy is trying to do. I'm not sure how big of a splash he'll make, but I'm glad that he's exploring new directions in his music. -george
RE: the pop switch(was Tweedy @ Salon)
George Figgs wrote: I don't understand this almost predictable switch of formerly dubbed alt-twang bands to this pet-sounds pop thing. we've seen it with joe h, jayhwaks, wilco, golden smog, and the old 97's. Slonedog responds: While a handful (and it is just a handful folks) of the songs on "Summerteeth" (which I think is brilliant) do owe a debt to "Pet Sounds", I don't think either "Sound of Lies" or Joe Henry's new one have much to do with Brian Wilson. The Jayhawks record reminds me more of 70s pop, rock (Big Star, et al) and even psychedelia. Some of the stuff on the Golden Smog record seems to serve as almost a bridge between "Sound of Lies" and "Summerteeth" (I do think Louris and Tweedy influence each other). And Joe Henry's new stuff (some of which is really good, if not as immediately accessible as his earlier alt-country stuff) seems to come from a different planet altogether. And while I haven't heard the new Old 97s record (looking forward to it), I think it's silly to lump all of these efforts together as their "pop thing" or their "Pet Sounds" thing. It's just like some people who see all alt-country bands as sounding the same. Across the above mentioned records and even from track to track, there is a diversity that cannot be that easily categorized.
Re: the pop switch(was Tweedy @ Salon)
Slonedog: While a handful (and it is just a handful folks) of the songs on "Summerteeth" (which I think is brilliant) do owe a debt to "Pet Sounds", I don't think either "Sound of Lies" or Joe Henry's new one have much to do with Brian Wilson. Right on. The Jayhawks' pop turn was pretty Beatlesque, to these ears, while Henry's turn is ... well, follow the bouncing Daniel Lanois. I'm not real impressed with "Fuse," myself, mostly for the songwriting itself rather than the sound. But I do find it sort of an unfortunate marriage of, say, Springsteen and U2. (Altho at times it sounds weirdly like Joe Ely.) The critical/musicians' rediscovery of Brian Wilson in the mid-90s, while a wonderful thing, is leading to way too many lazy uses of the Beach Boys as a metonymy for all things that are pop yet not bubblegum. Weird, weird, weird. Another instance of the syndrome by the way is the Scud Mtn Boys --- Pernice Bros. transformation. Of the group, Joe Pernice is also the one, so far, who seems to me to have the most sophisticated-pop-music chops, with genuine Brian/vdParks attentions *plus* Beatles, 70s pop, Big Star and, for that matter, the likes of Burt Bacharach. Me, I think the pop turn is as much the result of a sudden but sincere, methinks, rediscovery that shiny happy music is not inherently evil, and is a way out of rock's dead ends in a similar way that the adoption of twang influence had been. On the down side, it seems like the late 90s in rock-related music are the equivalent of the early 60s, a transitional time where individual songs are mattering more than albums and tho pop is reborn there are few long-term prospects so far. Which makes me real curious what will happen once this millennial funnybusiness is over, say in 2002-03. Carl W.
RE: the pop switch(was Tweedy @ Salon)
Carl Wilson wrote: Me, I think the pop turn is as much the result of a sudden but sincere, methinks, rediscovery that shiny happy music is not inherently evil, and is a way out of rock's dead ends in a similar way that the adoption of twang influence had been. Slonedog responds: It may be a "way out" creatively but not necessarily commercially. I don't exactly hear radio stations begging for the next "Pet Sounds"-soundalike song. Most of them are looking for the next Matchbox3rdEyeBlindSugarRay one hit wonder. So, while the turn towards pop might expand the audiences of these formerly (once possibly future?) alt-country bands, I don't think it's a path that will lead them to world domination. One more reason that any accusation that these bands are "selling out" just doesn't hold water.
