Glamper – Back Chewer
I was always wondered where the really rich and successful musicians bands rehearsed. Now, there aren’t many of those around. But thanks to the bands’ obligation to post content on their social media channels, we now know what we always assumed – they come to rehearse in swanky studios, depend on their techs to set up their guitars and send the recordings over to management for approval. Of course, exceptions might exist. Some bands, for example Green Day, swear that they still rehearse in the smallest of rooms.
That’s a terrible idea, however, no matter comfortable it might be. What kind of songs are you going to come up with if you’re putting the music together in a place that resembles a five-star resort? Nah, rehearsal spaces are supposed to be places that endanger your health. There needs to be mold, a terrible smell, noisy neighbours. And, more than anything, there ought to be the feeling that nobody except for the musicians can get in. Anything can happen and only the band gets to be part of it.
Glamper’s “Back Chewer” sounds like music made inside of a basement positioned deep down an abandoned factory, where have of the ceiling has collapsed due to the rain. It sounds like the music is influenced by conditions that the band has decided to work with rather than against. Glamper sounds like a band who has no supervision and positively no remorse for what they’re doing. They’ve been inspired to make nasty garage rock that settles old scores and scares off potential future rivals.
Fair Call – Idiot
Before rock n’ roll was forced to become subtle and dress itself up in the finest clothes, it was rude, exciting, and smelled of sweat and cheap beer. While record label strategists slowly determine how best to sell rock music for a new generation, let’s not forget of the things that made it great in the first place. Rock songs tell you the truth first and worry about the consequences later.
The great rock bands go on impulse. They’re reckless and smash things up, relationships included , when that’d deemed appropriate. The many biographies of the most famous rockstars reveal people who wasted no time in cutting loose a relationship that no longer worked. Maybe that’s why there are so many versions of the same band on tour today.
Fair Call’s “Idiot” is a revenge song, and by the sound of it an alternative to smashing somebody’s head in. Violence should be taken off the streets, of course, but it always has a place in the recording studio. But it’s not just energy and acrimony that Fair Call brings to the track. Well-placed choruses, strong melodies, and memorable guitar lines sweeten the deal. Time and bad decisions risk catching up to everyone, but Fair Call might just be moving a little too quickly, a little too focused on their priorities for this to happen.
