Wexford – Moving On
There are some bands whose songs make it very difficult for anyone to open up and follow them in a live context. Just as well adding to a playlist for your personal enjoyment is just as difficult.
These bands are the ones that write about troubles, anguish, and difficulty in a way that makes them sound more like newscasters looking to serve as many as the gritty details as the story requires.
By comparison, all the other bands writing about going to the mall, hating their job, or liking their girlfriends’ tattoos are made to sound naive. What do they have to complain about? Maybe they ought to get out in the world and find some real problems first.
Wexford’s “Moving On” isn’t just an excuse to complain about things or settle scores. It’s the soundtrack to a nervous breakdown and to what happens afterwards once the pieces have to be put back together. The singing is pure desolation and acts as the focal point for the tune. It’s music made to make you feel discomfort. Once you do, it’s hard, for a while, to go back to the songs about cars and girls.
Rudy Nuño – Serenity
Like the French Revolution, the Punk Rock Revolution is still underway. Because of that, it is hard to evaluate precisely what effects it has had on the world. All we can say is that it’s still spreading. And the fact that punk-rock bands don’t always get the headlines on BBC News or the number one position on the singles charts isn’t saying much.
Had you asked a regular Londoner or New Yorker in the late 1970s about who the punks were, you more than likely would’ve been told that they were dangerous hoodlums. Some of them happened to play in bands.
Nowadays, because the spirit and legacy of early punk music are so strong, there are no more requirements about being tough in order to be a punk. In fact, some of the best bands create working-class music, songs that resonate with regular, hard-working people.
Rudy Nuño’s “Serenity” is earnest, blue-collar punk-rock filled with the nostalgia of Bruce Springsteen for walks through the neighbourhood. Like the other important bands in the genre, like The Gaslight Anthem or The Menzingers, the song has big melodies, quotable lyrics, and the kind of music that can be chanted in unison by large crowds. It’s a song about regular life and if Rudy Nuño has done his job right, one that can help give bravery to the people who really need it.
