VANDALISBIN – Bottle of Wisdom
I just watched the Bon Jovi documentary. Well, I watched the first five minutes, ran to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, and never came back. I think I’ve seen enough to review it. And I certainly saw enough of it to think it was kinda sad. It’s not just the part about him losing his voice. Mr. Bon Jovi not being able to hit the high notes on “Livin’ On a Prayer” is fairly distressing, but the thousands of cover bands doing the song in bars might be enough to compensate.
What was really distressing is how the singer described finding himself. He didn’t do it right away, mind you. First, he had fun, then he hit, and then he had a family. Then, he realized he had done exactly all of the things he was ever meant to do.
How’s he gonna write any songs from now on? I’m not sure that the grunge bands of the 90s, occasional rivals to pop-metal ever found themselves. Their songs certainly didn’t make it sound like they did.
VANDALISBIN’s “Bottle of Wisdom” belongs to that old alt-rock songwriting school about going looking for yourself and coming back empty-handed. It’s a song about seeing your flaws and not being sure whether to accept them. It’s about being confused. But then again, most great songs are about that, and most great days are about that as well.
SPUR – Out The Window
I suppose punk rock wasn’t just about celebrating people who were amateurs at what they did. Maybe it had more to do with celebrating people who were amateurish in their methods but who could turn on to do things that bordered on the realm of genius and seemed to defy everything that you had been taught about hard work and intelligence.
The fact is that the folks who came out of punk rock and managed to write great songs, tunes that really spoke earnestly to the people in their audience, are still highly revered. Their audiences have been updated. Regardless, even the new recruits look upon the punk rockers with admiration. Many of them set to emulate them. Many of them try to speak just as earnestly to their potential audience.
SPUR’s “Out The Window” calls to mind the moment that punk turned into alternative rock, the instant that loud, rocking musicians figured out that what they really wanted was to become songwriters. SPUR’s work really brings to mind Paul Westerberg’s efforts. “Out The Window” sounds like an acoustic strummed song that could be played in front of a rowdy club audience without any feelings of guilt, shame, or embarrassment. It’s punk rock in that way.
