Complete Discography - Minor Threat

Track list:
  
1. Filler
2. I Don't Wanna Hear It
3. Seeing Red
4. Straight Edge
5. Small Man, Big Mouth
6. Screaming at a Wall
7. Bottled Violence
8. Minor Threat
9. Stand Up
10. 12XU
11. In My Eyes
12. Out of Step (With the World)
13. Guilty of Being White
14. Steppin' Stone
15. Betray
16. It Follows
17. Think Again
18. Look Back and Laugh
19. Sob Story
20. No Reason
21. Little Friend
22. Out of Step
23. Cashing In
24. Stumped
25. Good Guys (Don't Wear White)
26. Salad Days

Running time: 47 minutes
Released: 1989

I am hoping this ends up being another Action Image Exchange, a surprising and intense experience but one well worth stepping outside of my normal boundaries for. Similar crunching of tracks into a small run time, similar provenance (I believe I received both together)... similar outcome? We shall see.

It is pretty amazing how short songs can begin with long notes. I suspect it might be perceptions - they seem long in hindsight because everything that follows is so short and sharp - but nonetheless you can pack a lot into a sub-2 minute runtime if you try. 

The opening exchanges are not as full on or utterly mind blowing as after-impression of Fig 4.0 that comes to my mind, but the pace is vital and the sound is constantly shifting. I guess this form of punk is music's equivalent of sprinters... go all out for a short while, burn out and recover to go again. All action, all mouth, all strut. A million miles from my normal fare, but totally relate-able and enjoyable. I write that with a knowing smirk, because I don't really feel that in the moment. 

I am feeling a detachment from myself, a tiredness and ennui that made starting this listen harder than it should have been and has led to finding ways around doing other things today, too. I am self-aware enough to put the detachment on me though, not the sound. 

I am still tapping along, head bobbing, slight side sway. I am appreciating, but not really feeling it. 

Looking down the track list, the tempo of the album might slow down - the tracks trend longer later, and this concerns me because I can't see these rough edges supporting a more traditional length of piece. Not only that, but it is the constant cutting from one riff to another, one screed to a second, one pulsing, hammering beat to a facsimile, that gives the form its pulse, its lifeblood. Sure the band could write decent tracks, produce skilled output, but the really sweet piece about the short but intense track is that... it doesn't last long enough for its violence, its abrasiveness, to really hit home. It's like the classic trope of being dazed, shocked and surprised by an attack and not realizing the actual physical damage.

Sure enough, as I hit the second half, and the longer tracks (meaning those over 2 minutes - it's not like these are epics) I feel a little bit of the magic wearing off. The repetitions become too frequent, the impact lost by their familiarity. The same tricks have been employed all the way through, but they are seen and heard now, the wow factor is gone. I suppose I can point to my ears starting to feel like they have been assaulted to illustrate that the tone and pace hasn't all gone, but my ethereal detachment has vanished and now I am a glum guy giving less shits. 

You know what though? I would quite like more of this really fast, visceral material. My attempts to find more in the punk field that gels with me have not worked out that well. Steps taken away from the groups or albums I received together as a package have resulted in anemic, impact-less finds. Yet I am loathed to stick my toe in deeper for fear of the bad and the bile that can sometimes swill around counter-cultures. Basically I don't trust myself to find the good stuff and don't want to wade through the shit, which is likely to be actively un-enjoyable. Bad buys in other genres might be boring or bland, but they are less likely to be offensive. 

That same ability to polarise though... that is absolutely critical to the impact. Without it, if these tracks were anodyne, there would be nothing. 

I should be glad for what I have. Isn't that kind of the point of this site?

As ever with these inserts that lie outside the majority direction of these pages, which I guess I would characterise as Folk/Jazz/Singer-Songwriter... cue loss of train of thought. I don't know where I was going with that. It might have been "good to expand horizons", it might have been "quality wins out" it might have been "music has more in common..." or any number of other half-baked or half-formed thoughts.  I am glad for these little inserts though... the harder edge to the guitars, the driving riffs, the shouted lyrics, the additional personality. 

The longest track on the album is Cashing In, at 3:44. Actually I really like this one; there is something cathartic about the commonly repeated chorus. I get the sense that this track has a story behind it and the softer sound on the track is part of a deliberate sell out narrative - but that the band have still managed to make their deliberately half-assed effort sound and feel like them. If you're in, you're in, or something. I'm probably way off base here, but it felt like a statement, and not a face value one. 

The disc meanders to a close really, Good Guys doesn't have the heart, and Salad Days is Minor Threat Lite, not full fat. Overall I am less astounded and enraptured by this than I was hoping to be, but still pretty pleased in the end. Fig 4.0 made more of an impression, And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots stick with me more, but I am pleased to have heard all Minor Threat chose to offer.

Chap With the Wings, Five Rounds Rapid - Thumpermonkey Lives!

Track list:

5. Doughboy
6. Don't Wake Me
8. Melissa Leaves the Wrong Kind of Audit Trail
9. My Debt to Scientology

Running time: 12 minutes
Released: 2006

OK - random insert time. I picked up a few freebies from somewhere after noticing Thumpermonkey had covered Tam Lin, just around the time I was really getting into folk music. I suspect a trainwreck as far as my enjoyment goes, but one has to be sure... I do give them props for the album title though, and the art is interesting, stylistic and bold yet indistinct.

Doughboy is a rap tune, with an American accent. This is not what I was expecting at all. I sit here lost for words... is there some kind of mix up? The tune itself is pretty staid, a decent loop that supports the vocal well enough but its all a little bland. I am just suffering expectation dissonance rather than stunned by brilliance or awfulness. Then I look them up on Bandcamp, find this album and the samples. Track names match; times don't. Play one to check. Yup, something gone wrong here. The freebie songs I grabbed from wherever are decidedly not this album, so I delete them, and proceed to listen to what I can through Bandcamp - which seems happy to stream entire tunes.

Don't Wake me evokes Sweet Billy Pilgrim in places, which to be fair is much more what I was expecting to find. I get track 7, Memory Fat as a "bonus" for the change of approach. Call it a stand in for Doughboy, which I don't go back for. This is more experimental, noisy, growling and faux metal. I don't care for it.

I am left wondering if the error was on my side, did I mislabel something I downloaded, or was the file not what it claimed to be? I guess I'll never know. Anyhow - this will take more than 12 minutes now, as Melissa is almost 7 alone. It's a prog-y rock epic, then. There are some nice points in the guitar work, it reminds me some of And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots, only without the tightness and purpose or visceral appeal to back up an unexpectedly tuneful centre. (Grr. I keep having my browser suggest spellings for perfectly good English; I have never found a way to stop that happening reliably and constantly for non-US English). I have tuned out of Melissa - which whilst it has an amusing title (I wonder is it a euphemism?) has little else to recommend it. In places it sounds like they've recorded a lawnmower (or other small petrol) engine as a component.

The final step on this voyage of oddity is... a lonely piano melody. What? It's actually a rather nice one - not top tier composition or anything, but the way it is recorded evokes a piano alone in an empty auditorium, shadows cloaking around it. It goes a little spikey and high-pitch for my tastes after that, ruining the effect. The contrast between this tune and the prior one was an interesting one, but frankly that is all I have to note.

So, a cock-up of a post, an oddity of an album and a few minutes of my life I won't get back. A few MB cleared up, but an interesting interlude to an otherwise dull day.

Cantando - Bobo Stenson Trio

Track list:

1. Olivia
2. Song of Ruth
3. Wooden Church
4. M
5. Chiquilín de Bachín
6. Pages
7. Don's Kora Song
8. A Fixed Goal
9. Love, I've Found You
10. Liebesode
11. Song of Ruth (variation)

Running time: 77 minutes
Released: 2008

Yet more jazz from northern climes. A bit of a glut, it seems. This is a long one, and not conveniently split into two parts. Bobo Stenson is a Swedish pianist, so I guess I was looking for another gem like Esbjörn Svensson (not that there is any reason why two Swedish jazz pianists leading trios need be alike in any way). I have no strong recollections of these tunes though, so I guess there was nothing that stand out. That said, I doubt I have sat down and really given it time or space before.

The first thing I notice, as I hit play is that these tunes appear to be composed by others. Whilst Stenson leads this trio, he is credited with co-writing just one of the tunes. This is a surprise to me, but there is certainly enough jazz out there to support a recording full of reinterpretations - though admittedly I wouldn't be surprised if my track metadata is innacurate. Olivia is all wandering keys, disconnected bass and playful drums... a lounge-like insouciance (yes the word means what I think it does); I wish I had some of that. This post has been two weeks coming as a result of weddings (not mine), not enough sleep and getting my priorities screwed up. I blame the length of this disc, about as long as CDs ever get. I am forcing myself to do it on a Sunday evening to try to rekindle the drive behind this project. Whilst I have been making excuses, Olivia has kept playing, flitting in and out of my conscious thoughts. It doesn't have a dominant or coherent tune really - more a collection of small snatches of sound. They are nice and all, but it doesn't sustain complete attention or interest for the seven allotted minutes.

There is a stronger theme to Song of Ruth, the piano weaving a sombre and solemn tune around a skittering percussion and sparsely structural bass. I rather like the timbre, but it feels a little overwrought, bearing down on my choice to listen this evening. There are little moments of light though, when the piano reaches the higher registers there is a nice, hopeful musicality to the notes. Whereas the last couple of Nordic jazz listens have been short, snappy tunes for the most part, many of these tunes are longer, echoing the epics of the past. I am not feeling in the mood for lengthy oeuvres, but that is what I face.

Suffice to say that the similarities with Svensson end at being Swedish. Googling whilst Wooden Church struggles to engage me I find that Stenson is 20 years older than Svensson would be were he still with us. This does not surprise me; these tunes have a more traditional, less energetic, feel to them and are failing to excite. Don't get me wrong, the playing is nice and the sounds are pleasant enough, but the lack of urgency and laid back nature of these pieces is failing to grab me in any way. That is probably in part because I am having to force this listen but there is definitely an element of this being a bit too stately for my tastes. The opening of M is the best the disc has been so far, the piano skimming over a lot of high notes, the contrast with a low thrum from the bass and the skittering percussion is sweet and welcome. The tune is pleasant and dominant - the latter hasn't always been true thus far - and a bit more intricate. Something to get stuck in to.

The stronger sounds from the keyboard are a welcome shift in tone, and I find myself really enjoying M as it continues. It shows the wonder a good melody can offer. There is not too much change in bass and drums really from the tracks that preceded M, but the difference in the piano part is huge. More life, more action, more heart. The thing is - you often need percussion and structure for tunes to shine, and not everyone can be the hero all the time. Sometimes it is better for those disciplines to stay in the shadows a little. I can understand the desire to do something a little different, play with preconceptions and have these guys get their times to shine but... pianos are just so much better at carrying!

I am drawn back from a wandering mind by another moment where the "let the others have their day" mindset sticks out. Bass solos just aren't (generally) that interesting, you know. That goes double for drum solos. M appears to be the exception, not the rule; whilst there is more of a tune running through the subsequent number, it doesn't have the same strength of character and the devolution into spotlights for the supporting cast typifies it, making for a forgettable piece. We are then launched into a 13 minute epic, and it is fair to say my hopes are not high. Pages starts at a glacial pace and seems to be shooting for an atmospheric quality that nothing which has gone before suggests will be a success. It manages to be a little haunting, but at the same time it is also largely bland - too much space left around each note, and those notes not conveying enough.

The track goes silent for a second about 3 and a half minutes in. Sound returns with an edgy scratching from the percussion. This is not comfortable listening, but that edginess wouldn't be a problem if the resulting sounds were gripping - instead... well, it sounds a little bit like that one jazz stereotype, the one that, to me as someone who listens to a fair bit of jazz as part of a balanced musical diet, is utterly infuriating. The one that spawned the Jazz Club sketches on The Fast Show (Nice!).

That everyone is separately making it up as they go.

Ugh. I hate that as a throwaway insult but, as much as that is the case, it feels like it applies here. Worse, the 13 minute track is actually made up of several shorter sections that have very different themes. I don't get any sense of cohesion from the piece, no flow, no reason why these disparate sounds have been adjoined in this manner. For my money none of the little snippets are that interesting in and of themselves and they become less so when strung together like this. Pages is a sure fire casualty.

Huh, now that is interesting. The bass-led opening of Don Kora's Song has me thinking of Rodrigo y Gabriela of all things. Something in the cadence of the track has a Latin vibe and the hum of the bass is evocative of their guitar work. It is a huge step up in interest. There is a nice tune there - both melody and bass structure are coming from the keys, though the actual upright bass is contributing, the dominant theme is from the lower register piano, which means Stenson is playing two tunes, albeit one simple and repeating, with one hand each. This gives a nice effect, but arguably the track is more effective when the bassy part is being plucked. Or rather, it would be if the weighting towards the keys was maintained whilst that were happening - in practice the key treble is backed off in the recording. Still, a big step forward and the first sub 6-minute track.

The second "half" of the album is much shorter than the first and we blow through the next two tracks in half the run time of Pages. The first of those is an Ornette Coleman tune (I recognise the name but cannot claim familiarity with his work). I find it a bit tuneless for my taste, and it is best just before it closes. Too little, too late. The second is just over 3 minutes and a much more delicate tune. It suffers a little from too much weight on the wandering bass - the melody would have more impact if it was cleaner and clearer, but making the piano any stronger in and of itself would destroy the delicateness the tune conjures. I like it, to a point but it would be better with a solo piano.

Two to go. Liebesode (not to be confused with Liebestod by And None of Them Knew They Were Robots - there is an unlikely tag for you!) is again longer. It is mournful, with funereal pace. Lonely and sad strings carry the early part of the tune, with the piano hovering in the bass register. I am not sold on the strings here, there isn't much in their part here other than a huge serving of sadness and  it is a little overbearing. When the piano contributes more than the odd note it helps lift the piece and, as we pass 5 minutes, it seems to take over the lead. Alas the pace and timbre are unchanged and it is that stately, sad nature of the track that fails to work for me. The melody has become something of a joy but alas it is fighting against an indifference the rest of the playing did a lot to create.

The final number is a reprise of Song of Ruth and seems to have the keys alone, at least to begin with. Whilst it is a little subdued in tone I find I like it - the clarity of sound on the melody is appreciated, though it becomes dilutes some when the drums join in after a while. This is not a happy song, not played like this at least (I am not familiar with the original composition), but this particular variation does not have the same over-the-top tendency that I found on the earlier version. It gets a bit too busy at the half way mark, the flow of the tune broken up a little by the increase in tempo and complexity but once I adjust to the new level of activity it still has an even keel and better stressing. I think track two is for the chop and I'll just keep this one - it's much more engaging.

Time to go through and cut out some dead wood, then. And just in case anyone expects it now, next time out on these pages won't be more Scandinavian jazz.

Bring Me Sun for Breakfast - Thumpermonkey Lives!

Track list:

1. My Reality is Stronger

Running time: 8 minutes
Released: 2007

Random interlude for a LastFM sourced singleton now. I have no idea what to expect here, I only know that I got to Thumpermonkey Lives! somehow via their version of folk standard Tam Lin. I have just the 8 minute opening track, but there are 4 more available on Bandcamp.

I am struggling to stay awake after a long weekend roleplaying and forcing myself into this listen to postpone my bedtime a little longer. My eyes want to close, and my mind is already shut for business so this may not make much sense. On the plus side it's only 8 minutes to get through.

Unsupported guitar chords; it sounds like it can't decide whether it wants to explode into some jangly Laika and the Cosmonauts style pop or some cheesy Hawaiian movie music. Instead it evolves an understated vocal, a subdued feel. It is a sparse piece - not at all unpleasant, but really odd in its construction, the tension between what is actually delivered and the sound it seems to want to explode into but never does. I hear echoes of And None of Them Knew They Were Robots in there too. The vocal gets less dull over the course of the track, but it wanders all over the shop in terms of tone - weird, understated, angry, punky, Bowie, and a few other flavours on the way. Weird harmonisations in places - by 7 minutes the track generally has a bit more life to it, some heavier chords, a bit of bite, and yet... that is the point the vocals go higher pitched. Very incongruous. This is like a stereotype of prog rock in its oddity, it's inability to settle on what to be. I find it diverting for the full 8 minutes, but a little too random to want to keep.

Breaking in an Angel - Red Animal War

Track list:

1. Weak Bones May Break
2. Anthem
3. Safe In The Air
4. Starter
5. Dark Country
6. Blue Shift
7. From Cold To Colder
8. Heath
9. Hope
10. The Disappearing Act
11. Get-Away Driver

Running time: 44 minutes
Released: 2001

Random interlude time. I think I have this because I really got on with And None of Them Knew They Were Robots so went looking for similar stuff. I don't know how successful that was, or indeed how similar this actually is, but I am reasonably confident that was the path that led me here.

There's certainly a base similarity in the structures on the opening track, and in the less than musical but effective vocal. It is... raw, yet with a nice bright sound in the melody despite the grungy garage rock sentiment. Oh, hey. A midweek evening post. I think its a first for this year. The first track maybe lasts a little long; by three minutes the impact has worn off. There isn't the instant visceral appeal of the Robots here, less emotion bleeding through the singer.

As Anthem starts I find the vocal flat, the slightly off-kilter style nasal and unappealing. The music is distant, alternating between very busy and very melodic, drum-heavy and tuneful. I think that is what appeals about this style - the juxtaposition of sheer noise with some really bright clear and tuneful lines. Its an evolution on punk, keeping the sheer energy and anarchy but harnessing it along with musicality, rather than chucking the latter out. That said, all interest fades from Anthem as the sounds become muted, the vocal long since dead. Long unnecessary lead out, followed by a long lead in to the third track, which is immediately better once the singing arrives - lyrics screamed out with controlled anger and offering the contrast to the tune. Raw emotion in those strained words, a vital ingredient to make this form work. It drains over the course of a track though as expectations reset and baseline, which means that I am finding anything past the three minute mark on these tracks much less interesting than the way they open.

More energy and life in Starter. Faster pace. Its also more obviously bland garage rock. Very generic sound, less craft. The constantly strummed bass note is such a staple, its clichéd. The extra momentum on the track is welcome though - if they could marry that, and the short snappy length, to the hoarse vocal of Safe in the Air and the tuneful/noisy contrast of the first track we might find a sweet spot. Red Animal War show a knack for a more interesting rhythm and structure on Dark Country, which I think is the best track so far - no one element as good as the counterpart on a prior track, but the whole hanging together better... for just under 3 of the 3 minutes 48 seconds anyway. The last minute could very easily not exist and it would be a better song.

This listen is both interesting - I am certain I have never paid attention to any of these tracks before - and frustrating. There's great core appeal here, but the execution is ever so slightly off each time, weak points in every song to offset the strengths that are evident. New favourite, Blue Shift. This one seems to avoid the trap of getting dull after the three minute mark, it shifts tone and tempo around a bit and works.

Isn't it funny how a vocal style can be really great on some tracks and really grate on others? Uncultured shouting is the effect I get from it in the context of From Cold to Colder, and yet I am fairly certain that the delivery is not far removed from the raw and angry sound I liked earlier. Hmm. Random change to acoustic intro, I don't think that was necessary or advisable. Heath is the longest track on the disc, just over 5 minutes and it starts one of the weakest. At its midpoint it has one of the most tuneful and pleasant sections of the album but for all that it is deathly dull. These guys showed that they had more to them than this, and the lighter sound may be more melodic but it doesn't have the heart of the noisier parts.

The opening of Hope has the balance more right - busy, bustling and loud. That is what I want from rockier, punkier music, the energy and life to overwhelm the senses and distract from the assault that is often a rather unpleasant base sound. There is nothing too untuneful here - the vocal aside, just lulls that dispel any sense of momentum. I think my take home from this listen is that I probably shouldn't go looking for more ... hold that thought. The Disappearing Act very strangely turns into a flute piece for a moment. That's a what the hell, out of the blue. Until it collapsed in on itself it had been a promising piece. Where was I? Oh, yes - do not go looking for anything in the same ear-busting, mind blowing category loud screaming punk-y rock; if it comes to me, great, but the up and down on this album suggests more than ever what a miracle in microcosm And None of them Knew They Were Robots was. I rather like bits and pieces of Breaking in an Angel, but as a whole... it ends up as much being defined for me by what it isn't as by what it actually is, and that's a shame.

And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots - And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots

Track list:

1. Falling Figures
2. Idle Vessels
3. Division Formed Thus
4. Instrument
5. Playsets With Lights
6. An Equation
7. Twenty Six O'One

Running time: 27 minutes
Released: 2001

So this disc was my first exposure to hardcore. A blind gift, I found myself loving it completely unexpectedly, not that I went out and bought myself a load, but I did acquire the rest of the Robots available material - I think it was all free on LastFM at one point (some demos still are).

All I knew before I heard it for the first time was that it was derived from punk, so I was expecting tunelessness and anger. Cliched view, I know. When it opened with a great melodic riff I dropped my jaw and was sucked in. There is definitely anger here... Falling Figures builds to an explosive release, screamed vocals faded down behind twanging guitars and punchy drums. The edgier playing is evident in places too but mostly it has tune that engages. To be honest, after the first bout, I could leave the shouting behind quite happily, but the emotion driving it is part of what makes the track one I love. The rest of this mini-album does not quite reach the same standard for me, but then Falling Figures would be a longshot for a place in my top 10 tunes ever so that does not condemn the rest.

To be honest, I could take or leave Idle Vessels, and I am leaning towards leave. There is less melody and the vocal is far messier, general shouting rather than targeted rage, but then the melodies come back in for Division Formed Thus. The tune has drive, pace and space for a more melodic vocal to shine over that engine that keeps it loud but controlled throughout. That is something else I was expecting but did not receive on first listening to these songs: to be blown out of my seat by exceptional volume. No - the levels are sensible, well controlled and set so that the noisier parts of its constructions do not overshadow the more musical. I came in with so many incorrect preconceptions and poor expectations, and - as with Fig 4.0 - had them peeled away one by one. That was a good few years ago now, and I am still enjoying this a lot. Division Formed Thus runs to 6 minutes, which is a little excessive, and I think the song loses its way a bit in the middle but that is about the only real criticism I would chuck at it.

There is a nice, noisy rumble to Instrument - it is more typical of what I was expecting, in my former ignorance, but far better performed and much more palatable than that former position would have held. I would never want to listen to this particular track more than once in a blue moon, but as the midpoint of the album it fits nicely, guitars humming into my skull, but all at a volume that is suitable. It, like Idle Vessels is noisier and less melodic but sandwiched between 2 songs that play up the melodies more. It is a nice little artefact of the construction. Smooth, rough, smooth. Loud, quiet, loud etc. These have been used by other bands in other areas before and they work here too. OK, so the "smooth" has rough edges, but that is a feature not a bug. Playsets With Lights has a nice rhythm and swell to it but the main line that always sticks in my mind is the top end, the guitar melody, and how it closes.

The last two tracks have not memory association to play on, so what is there? An Equation (free download here) splits the loud/quiet dynamic up with elements of both but errs on the loud side, it is also very short and sweet, before giving in to the hooky guitar intro to Twenty Six O'One. This is an intro melody that gives way to the now familiar spiky chorus of a wall of guitars and screamed lyrics which is over like a flash leaving a very sparse tune to bridge to the next hit of rage and fire. Pretty intense stuff, because you are constantly switching between modes, on edge knowing that it could all kick off any second, and yet 4 of these songs give you the opportunity to settle back and enjoy too.

I love the dichotomy of it, the execution is accomplished and so the whole disc works. Was I thinking of ditching something? Not anymore. I think the album would be weaker without any of these tracks. The energy from the loud tracks sustains whilst the melodies of the more musical ones builds an interest that lasts. I do not believe robots could make music this good.