“Nobody has ever handled the transition from boy-band babyhood to grown-up pop stardom more cannily than Justin Timberlake.”

cough Michael Jackson cough

Meanwhile, in the moshpit… My Chemical Romance release The Black Parade.

All together now: “When I was… A young boy…”

Perhaps the last rock subculture to really break into the mainstream, emo had been brewing for a while before it took over with a vengeance for a brief period in the mid-00s. Like every sub-genre (grunge, metal, punk, Britpop) there was plenty of debate about what actually constituted emo and whether it included your favourite band or not, but the public face of the genre were clearly My Chemical Romance. MCR had made a decent impact with their 2004 sophomore album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and stirred up enough misguided outrage to inspire a condemnatory Daily Mail article in the UK, a good marker for any half-decent rock band to aspire to, so the stage was set for their moment.

The Black Parade was their leap to the big time. Like Green Day’s American Idiot two years before it, it was an epic rock-opera concept album and dealt with life and death as seen through the eyes of a terminally ill young man known as The Patient. Musically, it took all those things that weren’t cool in 2006 – power ballads, wailing guitars, huge choruses, Liza Minelli – and turned them into strengths. The (near) title track made the top in the UK, Teenagers was a power-punk anthem for the ages, I Don’t Love You, Cancer and Disenchanted brought the required emotion and the likes of This Is How I Disappear and House Of Wolves proved that the band could still rock like bastards.

MCR’s commercial peak didn’t last long – just one more, much sunnier and much less successful album would follow in 2010 before they split – but their reunion tours remain a huge deal and I would argue that they struck a chord with the music-listening public that no hard rock band has managed to do since then.  Just ask the MCR-my.

https://youtu.be/k6EQAOmJrbw

Point of order: Fergie appears to be mixing up London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is the one that opens and closes therefore it could be said to ‘go down’ and back up the comparison to Fergie and her proclivity for going downtown. Whereas London Bridge just sits there doing what bridges do. If you can’t trust pop stars for accuracy who can you trust?

Then again ‘London Bridge is down’ was the code used for notifying those in charge that the Queen was dead and if the royals can’t get it right what chance has Fergie got?

Now that I’ve got the pedantry out my system, I’m onboard with a 7. Just the fact that it isn’t BEP; My Humps gives it a boost and I like its brash in your face nature

Meanwhile, at the perfect songs side of town . . . 

Silversun Pickups released Little Lover so Polite and Lazy Eye.

Two amazing songs from their debut, Carnavas, that just ride those guitars, incorporating elements of shoegaze into a more poppier sound, the way the extended solo just goes in Lazy Eye is cosmic, while in Little Lover it appears to be ripping the song appart, but it both, the catchiness of the sounds are never lost. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_zvGIBreoI

Meanwhile, in the Swedish part of town . . . 

Peter, Bjorn and John released Writer’s Block.

Their third album, the band is named after the first name of each of its members and all those pop instincts and melodies that the people get over there from drinking the water, the cold or the fjords are beautifully present here in a mix of guitars, soft and loud, erratic beats, off kilter drums, some noise, handclaps, all a big stew. Forget all the songs that topped Billboard, Young Folks (with the help of Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes) is THE song of the year. But it’s not the only peak, we get plenty of fuzzed out pop nuggets like Objects of my Affection (this song also, wow), Amsterdam, Start to Melt (listen to that wall of guitar), Up Against the Wall (this one gets another wow) Paris 2004, (heck,  relistening now, i should’ve just put perfect album at the beginning). Let’s add Roll the Credits and just call it a day. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iArXv64tCJA

They should rename themselves the Hitler Youth or something and that should stop the censoring of their posts.

It was also how I discovered that they were both Smiths.

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black.

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It was just mentioned how Fergie seemed to be more accessible to the masses simply by virtue of being white. With Amy Winehouse, she was clearly indebted to black styles, but it’s also the case that she impressed the world by virtue of her clear talent as a performer.

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It certainly didn’t hurt that she was calling back to the inviting sounds of 60s girl group and soul, something that hadn’t been in radio pop since the early 00s. She leaned into her bad girl image, but did so against the sweet romantic vibes of a more innocent time.

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Like any artist who dies when their star is still on the rise, it’s hard not to hear the pain that’s infused in this music. The pain was always part of her art, and part of the appeal, but we shouldn’t overlook the joyful exuberance that’s there as well.

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Rest in Peace, Amy.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs_d5kwYqX8

Meanwhile, at your local Planet Fitness…

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OK Go released the video for their song “Here It Goes Again”. In an instant, they were transformed from a mid-tier indie rock band into a music video collective that happens to also make music. 

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I’ve probably seen this video 50+ times over the years, and I never get bored of watching the diverse choreography that they were able to achieve with such a simple concept. It syncs up really well with the song and matches its power pop energy perfectly. 

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I enjoy plenty of other OK Go songs and their accompanying videos, especially “White Knuckles”, “Writing’s on the Wall” and “Upside Down & Inside Out”, but this one will always reign supreme for me. 

https://youtu.be/dTAAsCNK7RA

Ware the fuck is Jessie

wow shout out to caroline for going old school with a tuesday release, god i miss tuesday release days. had NO idea this was out so early in the week and now i am dying to leave this lecture so i can listen to it. Great write up chris!