A Very Special Episode and Perennial Reviewed
A Very Special Episode – Too Cool
Audiences are always missing something. That’s because nearly nobody in that huge congregation of potential fans is ever entirely satisfied. Nobody’s had enough of the things that make them feel good. And those who understand this and are willing to sell this hunger back to the people are destined to either make a fortune or become extremely famous.
Now, I know that, essentially, this is also what music blogs and publications do. They try to give the impression that something sensational is happening somewhere where you’re not. What are you going to do, but buy a ticket for Stockholm, Berlin or Geneva and see for yourself? What else can you do but knock on the doors of the clubs where this magic is being prepared and demand to be let inside?
But it’s all a bit of an illusion when you come down to it, isn’t it? A Very Special Episode capture the election and inevitable comedown of scene chasing on “Too Cool.” This is seductively half-whispered post-punk poetry about every guitar riff and leather jacket that ought to make your life complete, but won’t. It’s a very clever angle for a song; a mirror helps us see rock music itself.
Perennial – Ready! Steady! Go!
The feeling is that we might have lost our chance with the whole rock n’ roll thing. Sure, we can’t just blame ourselves, and it’s not like we struck the fatal blow. But we were all napping, and when we were awake, nearly none of us thought of questioning the idea that this rock music thing was about to change the world. Of course it was.
Still, now we can take a breather, accept reality and look back at all the moves and how they played out on the board. And we do get the courage to look at how things have been; we need to accept that, likely, there have only been a handful of artists in this rock music thing who actually meant what they were doing, who were desperate enough to be enough and bored enough to be excited.
Perennial is looking to rewrite history. That’s pretty ambitious in itself, but it wouldn’t mean much unless the music was any good. Well, dear reader, “Ready! Steady! Go!” is fantastic, the sound of a Revolution started in 2026 and placed in a time machine intended for 1976. It’s mod-influenced punk-rock with hooks so sharp that you could injure yourself by simply listening to it.
