Pop/Punk

[Guest NYankees]

Does anybody here at the forums listen to groups such as Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, SugarCult and All American Rejects?

[Paul Stanley 0]

...

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I like Jimmy Eat World, if that counts

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

Does anybody here at the forums listen to groups such as Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, SugarCult and All American Rejects?

No. God, no.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I don't. Hmm. What can one recommend as a good way to transition out of that music? Weezer? The Clash? Fugazi? The Replacements?

[Skywarp! 0]

^ Rancid, perhaps? Maybe the Toadies?

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Absolutely. I love Fall Out Boy and their hilariously long track titles, it truly is brilliant! And "Of All the Gin Joints in All the World" is from a famous movie!

 

My favorite track is a traditional toss-up though, it changes hourly between "Dance, Dance" and "Sugar, We're Goin' Down."

 

I also listen to The Click Five and AAR, but nothing tops Fall Out Boy!

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

I don't. Hmm. What can one recommend as a good way to transition out of that music? Weezer? The Clash? Fugazi? The Replacements?

Replacements and Husker Du. Of course I'd say that. I don't think Weezer is very good at all, but that might just be my backlash against the baffling levels of critical acclaim they amass.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'd definitely say some old-school punk like The Ramones, maybe even Generation X.

 

But seriously...dude, have you ever looked through this folder?

[vivalaultra 0]

I don't. Hmm. What can one recommend as a good way to transition out of that music? Weezer? The Clash? Fugazi? The Replacements?

 

I'd say The Buzzcocks. They're British and have "cock" in their name, so they're my first choice. My second is The Exploding Hearts because not even death could stop that CD from being great. And possibly Jawbreaker or Jets to Brazil, before they started sounding like All American Rejects or Fall Out Boy.

[Henry Spencer 0]

Jawbreaker and later day Husker Du are good choices, yes.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

The Smiths!

[vivalaultra 0]

Go for The Lucksmiths. They're Austrailian. And The Silver Jews. They're not Austrailian. And Townes Van Zandt. He sounds nothing like any of the forementioned bands, but more people should listen to Townes. God, he's friggin' great. He wrote "Poncho and Lefty".

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

My only run-ins with Townes Van Zandt have been an interview in Songwriters on Songwriting, and a Tindersticks cover of "Kathleen."

[Epic Reine 0]

No, I listen to good music.

[vivalaultra 0]

My only run-ins with Townes Van Zandt have been an interview in Songwriters on Songwriting, and a Tindersticks cover of "Kathleen."

 

Towne's is great. I believe it was Steve Earle who said something to the effect of, "Townes van Zandt is the best songwriter of all time, and I'll say that on Bob Dylan's coffetable with my cowboy boots on." Seriously, he's got kind of an outlaw country type vibe to his stuff. He hung out with Willie and Waylon and the boys, but my God, every single song of his sounds like he could just...off himself at any minute. An interesting anecdote-When he was 14 or so, his parents thought he was depressed, so they sent him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX where he got electroshock therapy. Consequently, he was unable to remember most of his childhood for his adult life. Another good anecdote-When he married his first wife, he told her he was gonna write her a song. So, when he finished and went to play it for her, it was this song called "Waitin' Around to Die" about how he doesn't have anything to live for so he's just gonna sit around and do lots of codeine. He was quoted as saying that his main goal in life was to write a song that nobody would understand. For my money, he's the most underrated American artist of the last half-century. If you're interested in hearing his stuff, I recommend "Live at the Old Quarter". It's Townes at his best in the late 60s before he got even remotely famous. It's a live CD and he has to crack jokes to keep the audience from bursting into tears because his songs are so depressing.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread. Please continue talking about the All American Fall Out Reject Boy.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

Now I'm gonna download For the Sake of the Song and Our Mother The Mountain. Thank you, sir!

[vivalaultra 0]

No problem, but you should really be thanking what's-his-name for talking about the All American Rejects, which served as the impetus for me to recommend that people listen to Townes van Zandt.

[Henry Spencer 0]

I've been meaning to track down some Townes Van Zandt for ages.

[vivalaultra 0]

This is great. My first post in the music folder and I've already hijacked a thread and gotten in good with the afficionados. Uh, yeah...you should get into some Townes. Like I said earlier, Live at the Old Quarter is really good. It has most of his best songs on it. It's just him and a guitar. Our Mother the Mountain is really good, too. It's his second CD and I think it's just amazing how world-weary and tired he sounds, being that he was only like...24 when he recorded it. And most of the songs on it are somewhat orchestrated and such, but Townes still has one of the most stark, achingly sad voices I've ever heard, so it creates an interesting mix. I think Josh Darnielle from The Mountain Goats said that "Tecumseh Valley" is the saddest song ever written, for whatever it's worth.

 

Oh, and while I'm thinking about Townes, there was a biopic that came out recently called "Be Here to Love Me". It's a pretty good summary of his career with interviews from the guys he ran with and some home movies and such. They have this one really great scene in it where Townes is hanging with his old lady and giving a tour of his house...he's like...26 or something at the time...and he's standing there with his blonde ladyfriend and his dog and he's holding a shotgun, a bottle of Jack, and a can of Coke. He tries to get his girlfriend to hold something, but she won't, so he's walking around giving an interview toting this gun and taking swigs of Jack and chasing 'em with Coke. Pure badassness.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

The Exploding Hearts album is totally wonderful. Good call.

[Guest Gunsmoke Bill]

I'd definitely say some old-school punk like The Ramones, maybe even Generation X.

Not necessarily. The Ramones have proved too accessible for their own good with this little new wave of the last couple of years, from a fanbase standpoint moreso than by influence on bubblegum punk newcomers. For someone with terrible taste in music, more specifically "punk" or whatever, they're normally more of a holding pattern than anything else.

[Special K 0]

Fugazi's the shit, but they hardly qualify as 'pop' in my mind. Pick up 13 songs, or better yet, go to their website and order a couple live shows. They're cheap as hell, and it's good listening. The Clash is good shit, but like Fugazi, I consider them a straight punk band, that broadened its horizons, instead of pop/punk, though they were certainly popular. London Calling still kills. Dead Kennedys Kick fucking ass, but I don't think there's much pop to them. Except for 'pull my strings' which is hilarious, and probably my second favorite track of theirs. PLayed once, live.

 

I like MXPX, they're straight pop/punk. I may be prejudiced, though. They're local and play a really fun live show. Doesn't mean I'd buy their albums.

 

I'd reccomend the Cramps. Good sleazy mixture of rockabilly/punk.

 

EDIT: And I did enjoy Green Day's stuff for a while. Taking themselves too seriously was the end of that band for me, though it was hailed as the second coming. Jello Biafra Billy Joel is not.

 

Haven't listened to a lick of Husker du. Always thought they were a hair metal band from their name, must check it out.

 

EDIT X 2: I'd consider 50 foot wave sort of a pop/punk band. They're newer (born from the awesome band Throwing Muses) Golden Ocean is an incredible album.

[Guest Gunsmoke Bill]

On the Fugazi front, no way could you classify them as punk over reliable post-hardcore. They're not that accessible either, except for a few songs.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

Jello Biafra Billy Joel is not.

I think you meant Billie Joe. The mental image of Billy Joel trying to do "Holiday in Cambodia" is nice, though.

[BUTT 0]

Does anybody here at the forums listen to groups such as Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, SugarCult and All American Rejects?

 

Matt Young probably.

[Special K 0]

I think you meant Billie Joe. The mental image of Billy Joel trying to do "Holiday in Cambodia" is nice, though.

 

I feel so very stupid. Point stands though.

 

Plus I'll take 'Stealing people's Mail" over any 'funny' song Green Day's ever done.

 

I still like Green Day's early stuff OK. It was pretty fun and catchy. If their sullen political screeds had a bit of pep, I maybe would still like them, but they're sodden plods with ridiculous lyrics.

 

Back on topic: I think Sleater-Kinney is one of the best current punk bands going. They're branching out, though. In a very good way.

[Guest Sylvan Grenier]

Man, "Waitin' Around To Die" is fantastic. I love the four chords in the beginning, then the floor tom comes rumbling in and the chord progression changes from the intro. That's really cool. The lyrics and vocals are great, too, but I can't help thinking of ol' Townes swigging cough syrup like a certain someone here. Still, powerful haunting song. I'm impressed with TVZ now.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Toxic Narcotic is both unaccessible and not for anybody but those who love drunken misanthropic ramblings in musical form.

[2GOLD 0]

Does anybody here at the forums listen to groups such as Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, SugarCult and All American Rejects?

 

Seen three of them live, would have been all four but the Rejects cancelled. I can tolerate Fall Out Boy but I liked it better when they weren't as well known and playing on FUSE every 20 minutes to the point of being annoying. After seeing them three times, I can say I have no desire to ever see them again. They put on the exact same show no matter where they are. They aren't a bad band at all, just extremely overplayed and overhyped.

 

New Found Glory, I have seen but I will never see again. Very bland music and pretty much made sure I'll never purchase an album. If it wasn't me doing a favor for my girl, I wouldn't have went. The lead singer looks like the son of Quentin Tarantino.

 

Sugarcult is catchy and not a bad band live. I've seen better and heard much better but they are very inoffensive to the ears.

 

All American Rejects, I have no real comment on them live as I haven't seen them and couldn't tell them from about 20 other bands in the genre. They are just kinda there in terms of sound and lyrics.