Ead Wood – Emmeline
Road songs tend to be immensely insulting tunes for the people about whom they’re written. Can you imagine being the lady for whom “Beth” was penned? Can she really deal with the excuses about “him and the boys just not being able to find the sound”
The fact is that the vast majority of rock stars are egomaniacs. It’s not easy to prove. It’s ot a theory. Just listen to an interview of any living member of KISS and have a sip of water each time they use the words “I,” “me,” or “on my own.”
You’ll be running to the bathroom every minute or two! And, most importantly, you’ll find yourself disinterested in these people and the way that they treat others. You’ll find yourself needing some of the earnestness of “Ead Wood.”
Lead single “Emmeline” sounds like soft, country-influenced, alt-rock-powered, not unlike Sparklehorse. It’s a beautiful sound! But it’s the lyrics about being the one left behind by a charismatic world traveller that hits hardest. And, it slightly helps put the world, so filled with ego-trips, back in balance.
Andrew Wanders – So Long
A lot of great work has been done by people who thought themselves as good at doing terrible things. Then again, great work has been known to be done by people stuck with a drink in their faces.
The terrible reality, however, is that this is almost always followed by terrible work, unreliability and, if not looked after properly, weekly visitors to physicians who look at you coldly and treat you as if you’re their lousy son.
But who can really see all of that going on? Certainly not the people doing the drinking and the work. It’s up to those who really love them, if they’re lucky enough to have those, to speak up. Andrew Wanders brilliantly recalls such a tale.
“So Long” is a lovely breakup song. It’s the kind of song that drifts in between genres like Lionel Messi does in between defensive lines. It’s the kind of song that details a particular argument and makes it all sound like a universal problem. It is, essentially, a near classic.
