Song of the Day No.53

Oh No, I Tried

by Right Away, Great Captain (The Eventually Home, 2008)

Under this guise Andy Hull is free to submerge himself in the life of a 17^th century sailor through song. His trilogy of albums away from indie rock band Manchester Orchestra and folk rock group Bad Books have centred on a sailor returning home to find he has been betrayed by his wife, with his brother. Between the three groups Hull is proving to be quite a prolific songwriter, although to moderate critical and commercial success. Let's see if the third installment can make a better impression.

Much of this album is emotive and effecting with lonesome guitar and vocals providing most of the atmosphere to complement the subject matter. 'Oh No, I Tried' is different however, feeling quite ditty-esque from the start. A bouncy acoustic guitar provides steady head-bobbing guidance with the rhythm of the lyrics adding to the light-heartedness. Backing vocals join as the song starts to build before a piano provides a momentary jaunty distraction from the repeated chants of “Oh no, I tried, oh no I tried”.

AR

Song Of The Day No.34

Idiot Son

by Red Red Meat (Bunny Gets Paid, 1995)

It only took a name change and an addition to the line-up the group to find their sound and release a debut on their own record label, Perishable Records. After being invited on a ten-date tour with another Chicago outfit, The Smashing Pumpkins, Red Red Meat became the first Chicago band to sign to Sub Pop Records. Bunny Gets Paid was the band's second effort on Sub-Pop and is generally regarded as the best as the band made a concerted effort to produce a cleaner, fuzz-reduced album embracing the blues and folk roots they'd always had.

'Idiot Son' is a coming together of the bands influences on display. A skuzzy guitar plugs in and starts the song with a simple but effective riff, then a little in a twanging slide guitar penetrates both the vocals and the fuzz to add to the noise. The reverberating guitar falls away leaving the slide to take centre-stage zipping around Tim Rutili's ever-so-slightly gravelled vocals. The guitars continue to clatter and clammer for attention, driven on by the steady drum beat, until the fade. In this song indie-rock makes the blues louder and the blues makes indie-rock rawer.

AR