Well, back to what I do best. Don't laugh.
Song #1: The Night Before by The Beatles (Help!, 1965, Track 2)
Well, I needed a group slightly older and slightly more famous than The Kinks to review. Why not The Beatles? This is going to be fun...
Musically, this song is nothing special for The Beatles. There's a reliable but simple drum beat, a guitar playing along. Really, nothing that impressive. The tune is pretty much Beatles classic, but nothing groundbreaking.
Vocally, what can I say? McCartney is neither particularly good or bad here. Honestly, this is one of the most bloody average songs I've ever had to review. Sure, it's decent, but not good enough to discuss in depth and it's not nearly bad enough to rant about. It's just freaking average.
Lyrically, this song is not good and not bad. The averageness is killing me. Well, this couple parted ways after a night together and upon meeting up, the woman is acting differently. Differently how? I don't know. This song is so bloody vague. I understand the sentiment, that the good times they had will be remembered even though they no longer really get along, but I just really come up with anything to say. OK, enough with the blandness. I really don't like comparing things to the Beatles because they are really the band that springs to mind when I think "beyond criticism". I don't mean that they're perfect, they aren't, but that people put them on a pedestal.
Song #2: Sweet 16 by Green Day (¡Uno!, 2012, Track 10)
Musically, this song seems a little bit slower than the majority of this album and I'd even go so far as to call it sentimental. Compared to the rock sound, "slower" doesn't mean a slow song, just one with less of a driving drum beat, a quieter guitar and strange place between relaxed and upbeat.
Vocally, the sentimentality is really obvious. If I didn't know what this song was, I wouldn't have thought Armstrong until the chorus, at least. It's a pleasant change, and I think Armstrong definitely has the range to pull this kind of song off occasionally. I mean, it's hardly "The Luckiest", but it shows a little more (non-rage) emotion out of a band that doesn't seem to do that very often.
I have a question about this song. What does "Jane Street" mean? Is it a well known location or just something Green Day invented? It probably means nothing to the lyrics but I'm curious. Anyway, the song is pretty basic. The narrator missed the past, will always remember his sweetheart when she was 16.. or he was 16... or both or something like that. I think there's also a mention of how kids will always have this kind of romance. To be perfectly honest, this song doesn't give a very cohesive story. There are only two verses, which just describe a character... or two different characters, I don't know, without actually saying much about them. To be perfectly honest, you don't really need a plot. The title says it all, although I was hoping Green Day would subvert it somehow. Meh. A little bit of sincerity never hurt anyone.
Song #3: Makin' Out by Pomplamoose (Tribute to Famous People, 2010(?), Track 8)
First things first, this song is a cover (as the album title may suggest). The original song was by a man named Mark Owen. Never heard of him, or the original version of my song, so his version will not be mentioned here. If anyone has gone to the trouble of hearing both versions and one is clearly superior, please tell me why in the comments. Now, I don't think I've mentioned Pomplamoose before, and they deserve a look at. My introduction to the group came from their involvement with Ben Folds in the YouTube videosong Things You Think. A quick tally of all the artists I've been introduced to by being a fan of Ben Folds:
Regina Spektor (Collaboration)
The Clash (Cover)
Pomplamoose (Collaboration)
Nick Hornby (Collaboration. Yeah, he isn't a singer, but so what?)
William Shatner (Collaboration with Fear of Pop)
Fear of Pop (Side-Project)
8in8 (Side-Project)
Elliott Smith (Inspiration for "Late")
Among others. Is still hold my experiences with Shatner's "music" career against him. Anyway, I became much more interested in Pomplamoose after Nash from TGWTG.com devoted an episode of "The Music Chair" to Pomplamoose (Nash is the same guy who introduced me to Jonathan Coulton). Honestly, they had me at the gratuitous faux-French name. I do like French, especially gratuitously.
Musically, this song is very stripped back. Although I know Pomplamoose can do much more elaborate songs musically, it is clear the vocals are the main draw here. At times the music quietly bumbling along in the background just sounds unnecessary. Seriously, Dawn's vocals can hold up a song on their own. Why the music?
Vocally, as previously stated, Dawn's vocals are good. In this song she seems to be rather wavering, but I feel this is to stay more in touch with the lyrics of the song and the overall tone rather than a reflection on Dawn's style. At points there is a strange echo effect (actually, it might always be there, but it is more prominent here and there), which normally would be used to emphasise a strong vocal delivery, and just feels misused in this song. This is one of those situations where I feel I need to re-emphasise that I am not a musician and judge these things with no authority, just the textbook definition of an uninformed opinion. Although, to be fair to reader's intelligence, you probably realise that by this point in the post.
The lyrics to this song compared to the vocal delivery confuses me a little, and I think a knowledge of the original would assist that, but I'm not going to bother. My internet is a little bit shit, and I don't want to watch any YouTube I don't have to for the next 2 years or so. God-damn TPG. Anyway, the song is about a woman in a relationship with an absolute arsehole, at least by the lyrics. Sure, the couple seems happy enough, but the partner just keeps telling the woman to shut up. Add to this a vocal delivery much more relevant for a soppy love song, and I really start to wonder what the dynamic between the two is. To bring this wondering to a head, consider the lyric "You'll be the one that knocks the man out I was beating up" and I really would like to know what the two are doing in their free time. Anyway, the lyrics are quirky enough, if not a little strange, and certainly leave a lot of questions, many of which I feel are deliberate. Hear that, majority of music I whine about? Deliberately leaving me confused. Remember that line for the next interview, It'll shut someone up.
Overall:
Musically, this s too easy. Green Day, without a doubt. I like The Beatles and Pomplamoose, but Green Day is closer to my preferred genres. On top of that this particular Beatles song was so bloody dull, and the Pomplamoose song was pretty much music-free. I've got to give runner-up to The Beatles.
Vocally, another easy pick. Dawn of Pomplamoose is the clear winner, and this may have something to do with my natural preference for female vocalists, but I stand by the choice anyway. The runner-up is McCartney again, as whenever Armstrong slows down his accent picks up, and I'm not a big fan of it.
Lyrically, Makin' Out is the clear winner, as it held my attention for an entire song, which is an entire song longer than either of the others. The problem with both of the other songs is that they leave so much up to guesswork. Who? What? Why? When? Not so much how, but all the W's. I guess I'm going to have to go for Sweet 16, as the word count for my discussion of it is slightly longer than Song #1. Both redefined the concept of blandness. Congratulations.
Winners:
1. Makin' Out by Pomplamoose (originally by Mark Owen)
2. Sweet 16 by Green Day
3. The Night Before by The Beatles
There are no more words but for: Meh. Also: NO KINKS!
Feedback welcome.
H. Rourke
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