“A Well Respected Man”
The Kinks Lola
I’m not sure what I’ve stumbled upon this week - it’s some sort of Kinks compilation called Lola, not to be mistaken with Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneyground, Part One. It’s a direct import from the UK, with a description about the Kinks that begins to pontificate somewhere around, “Firmly in the driving seat of their talent is Ray Davies, who has shown time and time again a writing talent that looks toward tomorrow rather than just today.” Despite the description, Lola has some of my favorite snippy-on-the-surface, although vaguely depressing Kinks songs, like “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” “A Well Respected Man,” and “Dead End Street,” which is completely depressing. And I do agree with this statement on the back of the album: “They don’t come any better.”
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
The Jam
—Batman Theme
SONG OF THE WEEK: The Jam - “Batman Theme”
by Mara Beckman
The Jam covered Neal Hefti’s “Batman Theme” on their debut album, In The City, because there is an equal need to criticize politics and also to forget all lofty intellectual things and just play a super hero theme song.
A band for a changed England and Adam West’s Batman.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Talking Heads
—People Like Us
SONG OF THE WEEK: Talking Heads - “People Like Us”
by Mara Beckman
John Goodman sings “People Like Us” in the True Stories movie. It’s performed as a cheery country-western ballad, complimentary to the bizarre inhabitants of Virgil, but when David Byrne sings, the song sounds like it’s poking fun at myopia. However you hear it, I’ve always believed the song would be a suitable anthem for a chess group located in the American Midwest, or as background music in an ’80s foreign language educational video, of course contingent on the political stance of that country and whether or not they care about freedom and justice less than love.
I’m choosing a song-of-the-week for the really cool site Lady-Bro! The first one is up now. Enjoy some Talking Heads
“Oh!”
Sleater-Kinney One Beat 2002
This isn’t my first foray into the music of Sleater-Kinney, in fact, someone lent me One Beat when I was a freshman in high school, but my response was mostly derision and annoyance. I legitimately can’t recall the specific reasons behind disliking this album, but I’m comfortable surmising that I was just being a jerk, and probably listened to one song, recognized the genre as challenging to my (previously) myopic view on music, and ran right back to Modest Mouse, or Of Montreal, or most definitely Bright Eyes.
A decade later, I like this album a lot. It’s energetic and political and engaging. It’s the album most S-K loyalists I’ve met have suggested as an introductory album, and I think that’s because it’s accessible to beginners. Sleater-Kinney has roots in the riot grrrl movement of the ’90s (see: Bikini Kill), where feminism met with punk rock and bred aggressive, didactic lady-jams. To that, I say great, but there are still elements of riot grrrl bands I struggle with. With One Beat, I’ve found babes who rock with purpose, but in a less militant manner.
The Birthday Party Prayers on Fire 1981
If the first record I purchased in this new year is prophetic of what I may anticipate as the year progresses, then I anticipate I will be having a very raucous year.
Remember, The Birthday Party is the same band as The Boys Next Door, except with the new moniker came aggression aplenty in every single song.
“Birthday”
The Jesus and Mary Chain “Birthday” (single from Munki 1998)
After being bedridden with the flu I thought the best song to come back with would be one that can function as the most practical and realistic birthday song available.
If you’re like me and your birthday has already passed this year, you can also listen to this song as if it were just another song for Christmas because they say, “And it’s Christmas time again,” and then they say, “In my head, am I dead, in my head,” so it really depends on what your feelings are toward Christmas.
