Silkworm - Firewater

Drinking music. There's two distinct types of drinking music if you ask me, I mean there's the "fuck yeah, I'm drunk and I don't give a fuck so I'ma sing/shout some songs and not give a fuck" type (Catch 22, Queen, mclusky, Big Black, Oasi-I mean wonderwall etc.) and then there's the "I'm only drinking so that I can forget about my problems because I am so sad, so very very sad" sort of stuff (Matt Elliott, everything else is small time). Silkworm are a band that fit snugly in the middle. They're loud and shouty enough to provide that "fuck yeah" kick but they're gloomy and down enough for that "fuck no" attitude.

Needless to say, I love Silkworm for this very reason.

Firewater is probably my favorite albums of theirs because it's just the right mix between the fuck yeah and the fuck no. I mean, it starts off with the good ol' "GOD DAMN THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT BROUGHT ME AND GOD DAMN YOU, MY FRIEND" shouty number "Nerves". But straight after you've got "Drunk" which is a pretty gloomy number about, well, drinking. The rest of the album follows suite with only one track sticking out like a sore thumb.

That track is called "Miracle Mile". It's a little acoustic number which lacks the fuzz and agression of the rest of the album but makes up for it in pure sincerity.

Oh.

And that kickass, fuzzy as fuck, louder than you can handle guitar solo that kicks in near the end. FUCK YEAH SILKWORM YOU ARE THE BEST BAND EVER.

Dig the likes of Archers of Loaf, Sebadoh and Polvo? Then this should already be in your collection.

Give it a listen

I woke up this morning after a heavy night of drinking with no real memory of what I did last night. I sure hope I didn't buy any more of those 90s american alternative rock albums. Every fucking time.

UT - In Gut's House (1987)

Okay, so now that the holiday season really has come to an end I should hopefully be updating this thing on a regular basis. Don't quote me on that, though.

So what's todays album all about, then? Nothing much, really. Just an amazing, long forgotten, punk album that came out of artsy New York way back in the mid 80s. Disorientated, multi-part vocals are layered over some jagged, atonal guitars with some rather minimilistic drumming that sort of fades into the discordant noise the guitars and vocals produce. It's all very artsy and raw.

Of course, you could argue that it's one of those albums that's easier to appreciate rather than enjoy. Something about a bunch of women playing experimental punk rock must've been pretty impressive back in the day, and it probably holds some significance even now.

But fuck that, I just think it sounds awesome.

Give it a listen

This album is so different, just like me. I'm actually going to BUY this.

LSD and the Search for God - LSD and the Search for God (2007)

Clearly there's only one thing better than LSD, and that's searching for God. So what happens when you do both? You get one of the most mindblowingly awesome shoegaze recordings to be released in recent years.

You like My Bloody Valentine? Good, because that's who these guys sound like. No, really. In the most sincerest form of flattery, LSD and the Search for God have gone down the same path as Algernon Cadwallader ie. sounding almost identical to the bands that are undoubtedly the apple in their eyes. But is that a bad thing? Of course not, after all it's not like Kevin Shields is going to release anything MBV are recording anytime soon, in fact you're probably only going to hear MBV's followup to Loveless once you've completed Duke Nukem Forever a few times. And by that I mean it's not going to happen (seriously, if you didn't get that you should feel bad).

So how does this debut EP from over-complicated named band LSD and the Search for God stand up? Pretty well. It's noisy, it's lush, it's actually pretty beautiful from time to time. In fact, it's got something MBV songs don't have; vocals you can understand (from time to time, of course).

So give it a listen, see what you think. Sure it ain't got a patch on Loveless, but if MBV were to ever release a new album I bet it would sound just like this.

Give it a listen

This shit sounds rad. Hook me up, bro