To The Helpless – Afraid of Yourself?
The unspoken arrangement about rock music, especially when it is being played live, is that the artists get to extract their wildest thoughts in front of people that won’t judge them as if they’re crazy for doing this.
It works in rock music, as well as in the theatre. Sure, you might not get away with yelling at your family members or at passers-by, but it can be respected in the interest of art.
Yes, some have taken this convention and went further, tailoring it to their needs. Bands like KISS or Alice Cooper introduced a horror-themed, campy element to their presentation. In contrast, grunge, deathcore, or nu-metal bands have brought aggression and frustration to their show design.
Spanish group, To The Helpless, rely on similar emotional honesty. Listening to their heartfelt, emotionally-charged music, one can’t help but wonder whether they’ve decided to write these songs as a way of substituting the impossibility of discussing the same topic with their friends? Afraid of Yourself is a cathartic, blunt little punk number.
Big Fang – Same Old Song
The original wave of punk rock groups that earned massive notoriety may have behaved like they wanted to destroy rock n’ roll and start from scratch. However, their dirty little secret was that musically at least, their foundation was built on old-time pop music. Do you know something that sounds more punk than Sex Pistols covering the Monkees’ I’m not your stepping stone?
By the time that the late 1980s rolled around, the big record labels had their hooks firmly in the heart and soul of the record industry. Punk was mostly an ideal that smaller bands had to live by. Bands like Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., and the Replacements could rock as hard as their predecessors but loved writing pop songs.
Now, writing a good pop tune using guitars is one of the hardest things to do if you’re in a band. Big Fang is up to the task. Same Old Song sounds like the tune that arrives in a band’s life after 12 months of dicking around without coming up with any original material. It also sounds like the kind of tune that would save that sort of group and that many would love to hear around the world.
