Madelyn standing in the pouring rain. Chinatown, Vancouver
Part of me thinks I’ve titled my blog with those same Japandroids lyrics before? huh.
I had a very fulfilling adventure to Coquitlam and Vancouver with Madelyn. Over the couple days we covered a lot of ground. Had some fun times with Grandma and Grandpa and Matt and Andrea. Visited with Paul and Sarah. Saw some sights, explored some city. All the while, pissing rain.
Whenever I visit the lower mainland I get nostalgic and think I want to move back. But then I drive in rush hour traffic and scratch my head. How and why do any of you do it? Life is too short. I’d be a transit cat for sure. (which I love and so does Madelyn).
Driving around one afternoon and sampling the radio I heard the DJ talk about a band called Sick Puppies.
This Aussie band sometimes gets requested on the Zone by people that are into “alternative rock.” I’d never heard of them before so I was intrigued and cranked it up.
Sick Puppies – “Maybe”
I guess. Rock, kinda. Alternative, no.
The DJ even quoted the lyrics on the radio like they were some sort of deep manifesto. Change? Being Unique? Fear? Challenge? Trying for something more? All these great points lost in distortion, soaring vocals and syrupy production.
Alternative rock should push you a little. Its should be vulgar, off center, and intriguing. All I take from “Maybe” is a smooth and even listening experience, if I forget the lyrics. Listening to the message of the song makes me mad. The song takes some basic human emotions and puts virtually no unique spin on them… just presents them. The melodrama violated my ears. Think of the word genuine… then to described Sick Puppies use the antonym. I need something a wee bit more left of the dial. God bless ya if that’s your style of Alternative rock, but it ain’t mine.
I don’t want to be hard on the Sick Puppies. They’re just a band trying to make a buck at rock and roll. They wrote the best song they could and it got played on the radio a half world away. Anyone should be commended by that feat which is truly a unique and challenging thing to do… Maybe I am more upset in the mass buy-in required to create the half world where that is possible. There are worse songs that get played in the mainstream more and better songs that never do. Weirds me out man.
The Replacements – “Left of the Dial”
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 