Better late than never!
Last week we talked with Megan from Bad Sandy about the 2005 Piano Rock/Power Pop record Everything in Transit by Jack’s Mannequin. Go catch up if you missed it, it was a fun episode and the record was kind of a surprise!
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Here are your lucky numbers…
Here’s this week’s playlist. Sticking with 2005 records but I tried to give this a real focus, so I made a playlist that I thought captured the feeling of taking a drive around Santa Monica or Venice, maybe up the PCH? So, I guess put this on and cruise down Google street view to simulate the vibe.
The Pitch
Justin didn’t tell me why he picked this one either but I know why he picked this one. This is right up his alley and I can tell you now, he’s gonna talk about this record in his best of 2021. Where do I land on this one? My first pass through didn’t totally blow my mind but I made a mental note of a few killer moments on the record that I wanted to come back to.
Why is the Midwest so good at shit kicking riffs? Stooges, MC5, Dü and the list goes on. End of Man will earn a few comparisons to Sleater-Kinney at their riffiest and the overall framework is something you could call “Garagey” but there’s just as much Sludge and Acid coursing through their veins. “Vessels” kicks off the record with a thumpy Flipper bassline but the second track “SWF” jabbed the end of a heavy gauge guitar string into my brain with that opening bend and it’s big riff in the chorus. “Slow Burn” pits raunchy Ron Ashton riffs against a Ramonesy backbeat and that’s kind of the winning formula. Sloppy 70s riffs with Surf and Heavy Metal beats battering against each other, laced with sickening(but not sweet) melodies, toe-tickling shag carpeted wah leads, hair raising Psych organs, vibraslap and handclaps and lurching tempos.
The whole record does what I wish most Stoner and Traditional Doom bands would do with their “Children of the Grave” riffs, give them the “Children of the Grave” BPM! “Not Your Home” is the last big highlight of the record for me sounding like a direct nod to “Youth of America” by Wipers without the attention span threatening extra 8 minutes. A few cuts here get lost in the seismic activity and volcanic haze but this kind of Paleolithic Rock’n’Roll almost needs the occasional missed hit for the best songs to really crack your skull open and feast on the goo inside, so I can hardly call that a fault.
That’s all this week
Stay lucky!
Dylan