Carry The 9 – 4th and Forever
The original punk rock was absolutely fantastic. It sounded great, looked great, and it made people like Frank Zappa want to tear out their facial hair in anger. Best of all, it made absolutely no sense to most people. Fantastic!
But, frankly, it had no future. It was in the lyrics to punk’s most famous song. The original music, at least the best of it, was nihilistic. Sure, the people who made it out changed their minds, but they couldn’t have expected new bands to remain as angry.
Nah, bands like Carry The 9, and many others in their generation of punk-rock, turned the music and philosophy into something of a prep rally for endurance. “It’s not about how many times you fall,” and such are the messages that these bands deliver.
Carry The 9’s “4th and Forever,” first of all, sounds like a band still trying to entertain groups of skaters working out ways to lose some of their nervous energy. But it’s also a hopeful song, a tune about meeting hardships and finding ways to overcome them. Punk-rock ain’t a death cult anymore. It’s a handbook on survival.
Bass Drum of Death – Never Gonna Drink About You
Thankfully, there’s no real reason why kids ought to decide between going to college and starting a rock band anymore. By all means, go and get an education! Rock’ n’ roll won’t pay your bills anymore!
There was a short period of time, however, when folks bright and hard-working enough to become doctors and lawyers insisted on using those smarts and ambition to create awfully long rock songs. Nothing like Bass Drum of Death.
And while there is still a minority willing to pore over every single detail of rock compositions that last for longer than the evening news, rock music is, yes, getting back to normal. Once again, short, punchy, dumb rock songs are the norm.
I’m thrilled for the return of Bass Drum of Death and for the fact that I need not think too deeply about where they’ve been or what they want. It’s still a one-two punch that the group uses on songs like “Never Gonna Drink About You.” The music still provides the equivalent of a rockin’ espresso. And, no, we don’t need the 10-minute-long electro-psych remix. Bass Drum of Death would never do this to us.
