Results tagged “Flashback” from SPRG09JR608 Interactive News Darlene Dobkowski

Okay, so New Jersey has its perks minus the smelly factorys of Newark, the shoobies of the "Jersey Shore" (it's the BEACH, not the SHORE.  If only people got it right.), and the lack of things to do. 

Lifetime's Jersey's Best Dancers is one of the few albums I can listen to repeatedly without getting sick of.  Released in 1997, this album has some of the band's best songs on it-- "Turnpike Gates," 25 Cent Giraffes" and "Cut the Tension."  Actually, most of the songs on here are some of the band's best.

Lifetime featured simple music with lyrics that many people can't understand what the hell is being said.  Ari Katz's vocals are as easy to understand as tongues.  Even with the difficult vocals, the music still draws me in.  It's simple, great message (once you actually read the lyrics because guessing them is a lost cause).

Quite a few bands, especially Saves the Day, seemed to follow the music trend that Lifetime set up.  Simple music, good lyrics, catchy but not too catch and great energy.  It seems that people who are fans of Lifetime and other similar bands are long-term fans.  They'll listen to their CDs in their car until they drive people crazy, sing along to every lyric and try to go to their shows.

To end this Flashback, here's a video from a Lifetime reunion show, which I was lucky to be at.  In the video, you can hear how people are singing along.

So this week, I decided to change it up a bit.  I thought since it's my birthday today, I'm going to do two Flashbacks instead of one.  How can you go forward without looking back to where you've been?  Same thing with music, my friends.

Quite a few good things came out of 1986 besides yours truly-- a Black Flag live album.  Who's Got the 10 1/2 was released in March of that year.  The album was recorded at a show in Portland, Oregon.

The band's simple-but-fast music with some deep lyrics made the band what it was.  When Henry Rollins joined, he took the band to another level.  He took the silly lyrics the band used to write and made them based on emotions and serious topics.  Another thing?  He did it in a poetic manner.  His words were deep and he meant every single syllable.

He and the rest of the band set up the blueprint that many bands follow today.  They stayed true to themselves, didn't let anyone affect who they were or what their music meant, and they did it with such passion.  There are some bands out there today that follow this manta and you can tell that it's in everything they do both on and off stage.  It means a lot when a band can do that without being affected by the environment around them

Here's a video of "Rise Above" from the 80s, accompanied with captions probably made on the hunkin' pieces of plastic camcorders used to be.

For 20 years, the Bouncing Souls, a punk band from New Jersey (represent!), have dominated the scene with their fast songs with some random song topics.  Hopeless Romantic, the band's fourth full-length album, features many fan-favorites (and some of my favorites) such as "Hopeless Romantic," "Ole!" and "Kid."  If you go to one of their shows, you're more than likely going to hear those songs among many others.

Throughout the years, they have released many albums, gained many fans and played many shows.  The Bouncing Souls are one of the many staples of punk music, or at least punk in the late 90s and even today.  Their simple music is what makes them who they are.  That and lead singer Greg Attonito's vocals are quite original.  You know when the Souls are playing and you are going to like it no matter what.  Trust me.

Give this and their other albums a listen and see how they stay true to punk and the band's sound throughout the 20 years.  They never let anything affect their music in a negative way.  They did what they did best and stayed with it all of these years.

This year, they're touring all over in support of their 20th anniversary.  They're coming to the Paradise Rock Club in Boston April 30 and May 2.

For this blog, not only am I going to review CDs that came out recently, but I will also post a "Flashback."  This is an album that came out at least 10 years ago that I think you should listen to not only because it is a classic, but also because it is one of many influential CDs that paved the way for music today.  So if you haven't listened to this CD before, give it a try.  If you have a copy of it hiding somewhere in your apartment or it is a playlist on your iPod you never touch, relive some memories.

H2O's second album, Thicker Than Water, came out in 1997, a couple years after the band formed.  The band shows their New York roots in their music, with a good mix of punk and hardcore.  Their lyrics have strong messages, from their straight-edge lifestyle to their strong appreciation for their friends.

This album has so many songs that define it as an album.  I honestly can't pick a song that I don't like.  Listening to just one song makes you want more, especially since none of the songs go over the three-minute mark.  Consider it the Lays chip of the hardcore scene.

The fast music with often-intricate bass parts along with this tattooed lead singer singing his heart out makes for an album that many bands can look to for advice, so to speak.  Every word that lead singer Toby Morse sings is so believable.  He speaks through his heart and that itself makes the music great.

And you know what's the impressive part?  This band is still going strong today.  H2O released their fifth studio album, Nothing to Prove, last year.  This just comes to show that their influence and music can stand the test of time, even though it has been more than ten years.  Music changes often, but if a band can still be popular ten or so years later, that must mean they're doing something right.  I had the chance to see them last year in October and their live performance was better than ever.  They get better with age and it shows in more ways than one.