The Guitar Hero generation.

A couple of weeks ago one of my favourite websites brought the following video to my attention:
Attack Attack! - Stick Stickly


I'll leave it to Buddyhead to make fun of the awfulness of the song (and video). They do a great job, and I'd just be repeating them.

"Do you realize how many friends and family members could have pulled these clowns aside and been like 'Dudes, your band already sucks, let’s maybe not compound the problem by playing like you’re shitting a guitar out of your mangina'? Apparently no one felt like doing that."

But the other thing that struck me about this video/song is how much it made me think of the Guitar Hero episode of South Park. Look at these kids, they look exactly like the kids you'd see at arcades playing Dance Dance Revolution. Like the kids in South Park, their first musical influence came not from bands, but from video games. When asked if they like this music, Kyle replies "Yeah dude, it's Guitar Hero!"

The song itself combines elements of the fairly pedestrian emo-core, metal and rock music that is a staple of Guitar Hero. Like game music it also changes often, and dramatically. And some of the elements seem like they don't belong together - Auto-tuned vocals in the style of T-Pain combined with screaming? Many record labels see video games as a lucrative source of song publishing these days and many songs are released in this media first. In this context such a combination not only makes sense, it's inevitable.

The biggest evidence of the video game influence on Attack Attack!'s musical development comes with the song's biggest change at 2:46. All of a sudden we go from a hardcore breakdown to DDR style dance pop. Right on cue the whole band starts to run on the spot too. Take away their instruments and put a mat with coloured lights on the floor, and it kinda looks like this:
DDR Tournament


I'd say most of their dance moves have their origin in DDR.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Guitar Hero. I was attracted to the concept, but I've tried to play it, and I suck. I find it's nothing like playing a real guitar, and being able to do so seems to make it harder. I do especially bad on songs that I actually know how to play. In fact, I'm pretty much like Randy Marsh:
Randy tries to play Guitar Hero


But then I've never been a big gamer anyway. You could follow Sharon Marsh's argument that "if they spent half the time learning a real instrument as they do playing that game, who knows what they could accomplish". But the fact is the majority of people who play Guitar Hero are gamers, not musicians. They love playing the games, but have no interest in playing music. Sure there's going to be some crossover. Two other members of my band love the games (in the last 2 weeks they've made me play Guitar Hero Metallica at least 3 times, despite sucking at it and not being a Metallica fan). But then music is so universal that there's bound to be a percentage of any culture who will become musicians - even gamers. And that's where we get Attack Attack!

The problem with this song for me is not that it attempts to mash so many styles together. I'm a big fan of bands who take risks and allow themselves to be influenced by styles of music outside their own. It's just that in this case the whole thing seems so forced. The changes sound like they've taken snippets of many different songs and pasted them one after the other. Games may have influenced their musical tastes, but they haven't taught much in the way of songwriting. Other bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan jump around as much, if not more, than Attack Attack!, but their transitions are smoother. And no matter how weird or unexpected the change, there's always a sense of purpose to the song. Bands like Attack Attack! and brokeNCYDE seem to just be trying to shove all their favourite things into the one box, whether they fit or not. For now, this seems to be the influence of games on the music scene. For better or worse, the Guitar Hero generation have arrived.

Mudvayne - Forget to Remember

Forget to Remember is the third single from Mudvayne’s Lost & Found. Lacking the force of Determined or the hooks of Happy?, Forget to Remember is not likely to bring Mudvayne to any unsuspecting audiences, but ahead of their upcoming Big Day Out tour, it is a great reminder of what this band can do.

All of the bands strengths are on display. The opening riff is crunchy and heavy, a glimpse of what’s to come, before it all drops away and Greg Tribbett’s lone guitar leads us into the verse. As the rest of the band join him, Ryan Martinie’s bass proceeds to play around the guitar line rather than with it, while Chad Gray’s clean vocals have gotten better with each album. The pre-chorus is one of the song highlights, switching around established song dynamics to bring the response before the call:

Thoughtlessness (I feel)
Selfishness (I feel)
Hopelessness (I feel)
We’re all dead

The second verse is where drummer Matt McDonough gets to shine. The more straightforward drum beat of the first verse is replaced with a far more complicated rhythm. For the listener this gives the feeling of something which is familiar but slightly unsettling, and only after a few listens do you figure out what has changed. It’s kind of like one of those spot-the-difference pictures, but with music.

Then we hit the chorus, and the energetic release promised in the intro is what comes through. This and the bridge allow the power of Gray’s screams to become the focus. With all bases covered, the band brings it home with another chorus and a few more screams. Forget to Remember doesn’t change any of the conventions of heavy music, or even of Mudvayne, but in this case the focus seems to have been on writing a strong song instead. With a catchy chorus and all the bands strengths included, what better way could they advertise what to expect on their upcoming visit?

(Originally published on FasterLouder)

Behind Crimson Eyes - Prologue: The Art of War/Cherry Blossom Epitaph

It seems Behind Crimson Eyes love nothing more than a good story. But whereas their debut EP Pavour Nocturnus dealt with the transformation into a terror of the night, Prologue, a double A side single, tells the musical story of the band. The two A-sides both show very different aspects of the band, and a noticeable progression from Pavour Nocturnus.

The first track, The Art of War has the most in common with that release, and what the band have made their name for. A single guitar line explodes into a post-hardcore chorus as the words “I scream out your name to the night” are, appropriately enough, screamed out at us. But the verse is what immediately strikes you as the newest element to the band’s sound. This is extra catchy, even for them, with the drumbeat and short bouncy guitar line giving the feel of an ‘80s pop song, but with punk guitars replacing the synths. But hang on, in the second verse, and in the bridge… those ARE synths in the background. There was a minor experimention with electronics to towards the end of Pavour Nocturnus, but this is much more forward.

But that’s nothing compared to the change that Cherry Blossom Epitaph shows. This is a completely new side to the band. Soft and sweetly written, the usual screamings for the chorus are replaced by a female backing vocal, “don’t breathe in to breathe out”. Finally the reasoning behind a double A-side becomes clear. Both songs are well written and could stand on their own, but only really give half the story of what the band can do.

There are two more songs included on the CD as well. If Cherry Blossom Epitaph strays too far from the old sound for anyone, Revenge I – Of the Cradle will bring them right back home. It’s got screaming, it’s got a head banging beat, it’s got the twin guitar attack, and it’s the old Behind Crimson Eyes again. Final track In Memory Of continues the experimentation, again in a slightly different direction. Electronic drums, synth melodies and rhythms and subdued vocals over only a soft guitar melody. It’ll be interesting to see how this accepted by the bands fans, but it’s good to see them already trying something else with their sound. It also leads one to wonder what type of ground they’d cover on a full length release. This is after all, just the prologue…

(Originally published on FasterLouder)

The Butterfly Effect - Phoenix

Phoenix is a bit slower than the average Butterfly Effect song. Not softer by any means, merely working at a slower pace. The space serves them well, as the drums come in and you can visualise the whole band rocking in unison, as surely their fans will in a live arena. But as the lead single for their forthcoming album, Phoenix is a little disappointing. It’s The Butterfly Effect sure, but it’s the same band we heard on Always and One Second of Insanity. Without the benefit of it being a new direction for (Australian mainstream) heavy music that was the strength of those songs.

A few years ago there was a great swell of hope that The Butterfly Effect and Cog would be able to shift the limits of what was acceptable from a local heavy band while still getting national airplay. Both bands have come someway towards achieving that goal. But with the impact of Cog’s The New Normal, The Butterfly Effect hopefully still have something up their sleeves for IMAGO that is a bit more driving than Phoenix.

Phoenix is being released as a single via download only, so you’ll have to hit The Butterfly Effect website if you want a copy to decide for yourself.

(Originally published on FasterLouder)

Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers

Jumpers is the song which really opened up Sleater-Kinney’s latest album The Woods for me. Hidden four songs into the album it never got to make an impact on me during my initial listens, and so the album got pushed to one side, with the thought that despite all the hype I just didn’t see the new work as being up to what the band had delivered in the past.

Then I saw a video of Jumpers performed live. It stuck in my head for weeks on end and forced me to re-examine the whole album. I’m glad I did, as it has since become one of my clear favourites for the year. Hopefully its release as a single will allow the song to have the same effect on anyone who hasn’t yet explored The Woods (and there’s an awesome video to go with it).

Jumpers is a prime example of what the band are capable of at their best. The dual vocals of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein create an absorbing tension during the verse, before giving way to Janet Weiss’ unorthodox drum beat. It’s weird, but it’s perfect for that moment. Then after all the build-up we finally get a release by way of Tucker’s chorus.

“Lonely as a cloud
In the golden state
The longest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent” she wails. Brownstein then takes us through a bridge and deliciously dirty guitar solo before the final verse ends abruptly, making you reach for that repeat button so you can sing along with Tucker again.

The single is backed by two live recordings, which also give you a chance to hear how good this band is live as well as on record. The Wilderness is also taken from The Woods, and does a great job of summarising the theme of the album into one song. The classic You’re No Rock n Roll Fun from All Hands on The Bad One rounds out the disc. Although slightly changed, it is a great reminder of why Sleater-Kinney have been worth paying attention to for all these years.

(Originally published on FasterLouder)