Fever: The Album That Finally Made America Love Kylie Minogue

by KevinLeave a Comment on Fever: The Album That Finally Made America Love Kylie Minogue

Best Record of 2001: Day 55

Cover art courtesy of Parlophone.

Good morning!

We’re in for a treat today, as Lavender Sound (Max Freedman) takes the wheel and shares his take on Kylie Minogue’s Fever LP.

Today, as part of the Best Album of 2001 series, Lavender Sound (Max Freedman) is back to share his take on Kylie Minogue’s Fever album. He previously covered Björk’s Vespertine.

The words—and work— below the jump are all his, and I’m beyond grateful he let me share this with everyone! I think you’ll dig it, too. When you’re done here, please be sure to check out more of his work at Lavender Sound and his interview series over at the Creative Independent!

KA—

Even shimmering gold hot pants couldn’t break Kylie Minogue in the United States. After the Australian pop icon ditched everyday pop lyricism and production for sleeker, more trip-hop-indebted introspection on her sixth album, 1997’s Impossible Princess, she pivoted back hard to highly accessible pop with 2000’s “Spinning Around,” kicking off the cycle for her seventh album, Light Years, with the music video with the legendary hot pants. And yet, despite Kylie dominating the U.K. and Australian pop charts from her 1987 debut album Kylie onward and “Spinning Around” handily going to #1 in both countries, it didn’t even touch the Billboard Hot 100. It had all the musical ingredients necessary to be her first big U.S. hit since Kylie’s “The Loco-Motion,” which went to #3 here in 1988 (though two prior covers of it, by Little Eva in 1962 and Grand Funk Railroad in 1974, both went to #1): Kylie rides a disco-funk arrangement into pure ecstasy and sounds equally commanding whether she’s singing into the skies or coming on all sultry. It’s basically the platonic ideal of a pop song, and yet, nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Something shifted when Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” arrived the next year to introduce her eighth album, 2001’s Fever. Not only did “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” reach #7 in the U.S., but it also went to #1 in every other country where it was promoted. From the wordless “la, la, la / la, la, la, la, la” chorus to the playfully cyborgian beat and Kylie’s enraptured yet close-to-the-chest vocal performance, it’s about as hypnotic as pop music gets. With one song, she finally had the world under her spell, so much so that Fever went on to sell over a million copies stateside.

I think there was a hunger for music like Fever by the time it arrived on October 1, 2001. About seven months prior, Daft Punk’s Discovery brought French house, a clear influence on “Spinning Around,” to the masses, and at points, Fever is steeped in the genre too. Two of its greatest highlights, “Love at First Sight” and “In Your Eyes,” might as well be Bangalter/Homem-Christo productions, what with their flickering guitars and glorious choruses that explode forth from their tightly wound verses. But if Fever were just a repeat of territory Kylie had traversed, it would’ve been uneventful. Instead, the album abounds with silky, computer-perfect beats that both gradually seep and vigorously hammer right into the cerebellum. The music’s robotic energy only emphasizes the humanity in Kylie’s smooth, sensual vocal performances, and the rich production and hook-packed melodies won over even some rockist skeptics in 2001. Poptimism was a few years away, but Fever was helping to plant the seeds.

And how could it not? The joyously brash thump and shuffle of “Give It To Me,” with a euphoric chorus awash in massive vocal harmonies, is sugar in song form. The title track’s Neptunes-like low-end is as menacing as it is alluring, with the fever Kylie sings about inevitably infecting your ears, mind, and body too. (The song’s metaphor of a crush as a fever is about as lyrically innovative as Fever gets, and the fact that the album goes so hard despite its merely passable lyrics is a reminder that pop music’s effectiveness can sit entirely in its sound if what’s being sung isn’t full-on cringe.) “More More More,” which opens the album, latches on right away with synthetic toms that sound like they’re a tad on the fritz, only locking in further with a slinky bassline, gleaming synths, and Kylie’s liberated vocal performance.

And these aren’t even the singles! Seriously, the run of singles from this album is just insane, as are the music videos released to promote them. “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” is, of course, Kylie’s signature song, but just as iconic is the mega-cleavage hoodie-minidress she wears in the video full of humanoid-looking dancers in tracksuits pulling off all kinds of striking choreography. Few people have looked as genuinely joyous as Kylie does while she dances throughout the “Love at First Sight” video in which, even though she’s just wearing a simple white tank top (and, wildly, cargo pants). Her aura jumps out from the arrays of brightly-fashioned, brightly-wigged dancers who are, yes, dressed like cyborgs. A similar enthusiasm and commitment to her performance radiates from everything she does in the humanoid-heavy “In Your Eyes” video, even though its lighting is much darker.

“Come Into My World,” both in terms of its visuals and its music, is something else entirely. I still can’t quite figure out how Michel Gondry made the video happen even though he previously directed at least two videos with similar special effects. It’s just Kylie walking the same circle in Paris four times, but it’s also so much more: Each time she completes a lap, another version of her, wearing the exact same outfit, appears, and with each lap, the chaos around her — bikers brawling, a mattress thrown out of a window — swells further, elevating the drama and hilarity. I’m tempted to read the video as a commentary on how, when things recur, they often intensify, because that’s the magic of so many pop songs and especially “Come Into My World.” Its verse-chorus-bridge song structure, with each refrain bursting brighter than the last, is nothing new in its form, but as the synths plink and tremble and Kylie breaks out her innermost seductress, she achieves irresistible pop perfection.

From its videos to its actual music, Fever was cutting-edge pop in 2001, and it still sounds distinct today. Its impact was clear in the years to come: Without it, Madonna probably would’ve avoided the DJ-set feel of 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor, and Britney Spears’ 2007 pop bible Blackout might have sounded too strange for mainstream acceptance. All kinds of pop musicians today cite Fever and Kylie in general as an influence, especially Dua Lipa, whose nu-disco sound on 2020’s smash-hit Future Nostalgia is a direct heir to “Love at First Sight.” I mean, hell, its 2021 reissue even has a track named “Fever.”

And yet, for all Fever’s impact and innovation, not everyone agrees with me that it’s Kylie’s best album. Depending on who you ask, that’s Light Years, Fever’s R&B-infused 2003 follow-up Body Language, 2010’s Aphrodite (think Fever if Stuart Price, who produced Confessions on a Dancefloor, worked on it), or 2023’s Tension, on which Kylie embraced the nu-disco genre she helped birth and found a whole new legion of young fans some 35 years into her career. “I’m a star, babe, babe, babe / Do this all day, day, day,” she chants at the outset of Tension’s title track. She’s always found endless elation in her music.

On Fever, for the first time, the whole world got to feel it.

Bottom Line: I think many people might be surprised to learn that I am unironically and unabashedly a Kylie Minogue fan. From the S.A.W.- fueled debut record through the more refined sound in the mid-90s and beyond, I’ve always found something I like on each of her records. Fever has the added bonus (?) of my associating it with one of my favorite trips overseas. Visiting Malta in early 2002, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” was literally everywhere (Natalie Imbruglia too, for that matter, but that’s a story for another time). Listening now, 25 years on, I’m surprised at how well it holds up. Kylie for the win.

Thank you again to Max for today’s post! Please be sure to check out more of his work over at Lavender Sound! Any thoughts on this record? Agree/disagree with Max’s take? Sound off in the comments!

Check out the full bracket here.

Info on the tourney, voting, and more is here.

A Quick Look at New Order’s ‘Get Ready’

by KevinLeave a Comment on A Quick Look at New Order’s ‘Get Ready’

Best Record of 2001: Day 54

Cover art courtesy of London/Reprise Records

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at ‘Get Ready’ by New Order

It took 8 years to get the band back together for what would ultimately be their final record in their original form. Get Ready isn’t a bad album; it just feels like watching a show that ran for a season too long. With the exception of “Crystal,” and ”60 Miles an Hour,” I’m not sure I could ID any other track by sound alone. It just never established itself in my head.

“(the title) could mean anything or nothing. I thought it was just nice; New Order, Get Ready; ‘cause we are, we’re getting ready for the next phase of our musical lives both physically and mentally, so it’s quite a simple thing but it’s very pertinent

~Peter Hook

In hindsight, part of that is because I was — and am — so invested in the band’s earlier work. 8 years is a long time, and if you’re still enjoying the band’s “old stuff,” it’s easy not to put much stock in a new release with a new(er) sound.

I seem to be in the minority here, as it was well-received by many critics, with David Browne of Entertainment Weekly describing it as a “stunning and confident return to form.” It had guests such as Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie.

Get Ready had all the ingredients to top this list, and yet…

New Order have a lot of tracks that can read like an elegy– to say nothing of Low Life’s “Elegia.” But perhaps none feel as melancholic as “Run Wild.”

Open hearts, empty spaces
Dusty roads to distant places
But all the time when I’m alone
I think of you and how you’ve grown
Far and wide, sweet and simple
Jehovah knows that I’ve been sinful
But if Jesus comes to take your hand
I won’t let go, I won’t let go

Recorded in the wake of manager & longtime friend Rob Gretton’s passing, this feels like a goodbye as the band moves on to its next chapter.

Bottom Line: Sure, this might not be my favorite record by the band, but it’s New order! There might be a universe where I vote against them, but this ain’t it.

Tell me: Any thoughts on this one? Where would you rank Get Ready? Sound off in the comments!

A Quick Look at Life Without Buildings’ ‘Any Other City’

by KevinLeave a Comment on A Quick Look at Life Without Buildings’ ‘Any Other City’

Best Record of 2001: Day 52

Cover art courtesy of Tugboat Records

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at Life Without Buildings’ Any Other City.

When I listen to a band like Life Without Buildings, I think about the music, sure, but mostly I think about the listeners. There are a lot of bands that exist today only in the memory of those lucky enough to be able to say, “I was there.”

LWB feels like one of those bands you found through a friend of a friend, or maybe even their roommate. They were playing in the back of some garage in a plumbing warehouse, or on the fourth floor of a walk-up, and you had to say a secret phrase to get in.

You could still sometimes smoke indoors in those days, but you’d stand near an open window to be cool toward everyone else. It smelled like humanity, but you equated that with a good time, so it never fazed you. Any physical media was nearly impossible to come by. Maybe somebody had a burned CD they’d lend you. Maybe.

Life Without Buildings was a short-lived, mathy art-rock band from Glasgow fronted by Sue Tompkins. The band was named after a B-side by Japan. That they were one-and-done, studio-wise, only adds to the lore, though there’s a live album out there too. Makes it easy for the completists, I ‘spose.

The most distinct part of Life Without Buildings is Tompkins— or rather her vocals, which can be talk-singing, spoken word, or a (much) drier version of Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser’s wordplay. When she says, “No details, but I’m gonna persuade you,” on “PS Exclusive,” you have no choice but to believe her. And she’s right.

The songs are repetitive, but never boring. It’s art-rock, but never pretentious. I suspect none of them really felt precious about any of it, which is part of why it works. Sure, they walked so bands like Current Affair and Dry Cleaning could run, but what I hope they realize is that in 2001 this was a risk. And a novel one at that.

A quote from Reddit sums it up:

Formed a band in college, released one 10/10 album, and then broke up never to play again” is the only acceptable indie-band trajectory. All other bands are posers, nepos, or tryhards, sorry.

That’s worth a chuckle, but I’m not sure I 100% co-sign. Besides, Tompkins hasn’t totally vanished — she can be found on a couple of Sleaford Mods tracks — but this band ended exactly the way it always was destined to. Some movies should never have a sequel.

If you don’t like this on the first pass, give it another spin. And maybe a third. At some point, they’re going to persuade you.

Bottom Line: This was up against Firewater’s Psychopharmacology, which seems to have a lot of champions in the best Album community. I liked it well enough, but not enough to vote against Any Other City.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!

Discussion: What’re You Listening To?

by KevinLeave a Comment on Discussion: What’re You Listening To?

The longest-running parlor game for music fans might be arguing about which era of Van Halen is the best.

A close second: what song defines your generation?

The answers are almost always a tell: Boomers might point to The Beatles, The Stones, or Dylan. Gen X often lands on something like “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha…well, the answer gets fuzzier. That’s probably also a tell. (Spoiler: I’m old.)

Writing for NPR recently, Hazel Cills flipped the question a little, asking instead: Can an entire generation be defined by one song?

To me, a definitive millennial song can’t just be a song that failed to reach listeners beyond my specific generation (those born between the years of 1981 to 1996, to pick one of the possible date ranges demarcating the cohort). It also can’t simply be a hit that was popular with a huge swath of millennials. For a song to be definitively millennial, it also has to speak to the millennial identity. Millennials have been saddled with many of those simplistic stereotypes listed above, but also a lot of harsh realities….The music culture that defined our coming of age, from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, went through its own massive disruptions that influenced not just listeners but also artists: the rise of illegal downloading and the streaming culture that came after, social media platforms like Youtube and Myspace that birthed a new generation of stars, the invention of MP3 players like the iPod and the explosion of festival culture. Millennial music, regardless of genre, embodies the collision of these realities.

One can make the same case with supporting arguments for whichever cohort you choose, and while I have my own ideas on what “Has” to be the song of my people, I don’t know if an entire generation can be distilled down to one track. It’s a fun exercise, and for GenX there’s certainly no shortage of 5-star candidates, but it also encompasses a group born between 1965 and 1980. Can you paint an entire generation with a broad brush? Probably not, but it doesn’t stop us from trying.

Still, it’s a fun exercise—and maybe that’s the point. While we’ll likely never reach a consensus or land on a definitive answer, the conversation itself tells us something about how we hear music and how we see ourselves.

Tell me, what do you think?

KA—

P.S. The answer to Q1 is always the DLR era.

P.P.S. Huge shout to friend of the newsletter Chris B RRT for sending over this link to Shakedown’s ‘Heat It Up’ record, featuring one Rollo Steele.

On to the music…

It will not surprise you to read that this playlist is extremely Gen X-coded, with tracks from Sonic Youth, Luscious Jackson, and more. There’s also a nod to older cohorts with George Harrison and Lindsey Buckingham in the mix, and of course a ton of brand new tracks from the likes of The Maureens, Van Chamberlain and Long Relief.


Side A is tracks 1-14 (ends with “Greensburg”). Side B is tracks 15-27.

Other sources: Apple | Qobuz | YouTube Music |
Note: Both YT & Qobuz are missing a couple of tracks this week.

Now it’s your turn.

Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to? Whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs S/T EP vs. Lightning Bolt’s Ride the Skies

by KevinLeave a Comment on Yeah Yeah Yeahs S/T EP vs. Lightning Bolt’s Ride the Skies

Best Record of 2001: Day 50

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at Yeah Yeah Yeahs self-titled EP.

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s self-titled, 5-song EP was self-released on their own Shifty label in 2001.

Their decidedly garage-punk sound featured guitarist Nick Zinner, drummer Brian Chase, and no bassist. No matter; even in these early days, everything orbits around frontwoman Karen O. Her vocals are hard to pin down– she coos one minute, screams the next (see also: the entire chorus of “Art Star”), and occasionally works in a sort of disaffected monotone

The synths and more polished sound would come in time, but here they’re still incubating, and it’s very much rough around the edges. Whether that was because they were still finding their legs or an intentional aesthetic choice, the end run is the same. Nick Zinner’s riffs do a lot of weight-bearing. They’re basic, but that’s all that was called for here.

The first thing we hear is Karen O repeating “the bigger, the better” on “Bang.” Signing to a major… Fever to Tell (or It’s Blitz!- whichever’s your fave)…a bazillion kids being introduced to “Maps” by whoever picked it while playing Rock Band and then being bewildered by the rest of their catalog…and so on. That would all come in time.

But it all starts here in peak “Meet me in the bathroom” New York… You don’t need to know this is their first EP to know it’s some of their earliest work. And like anything, if you stare too long or overthink it, you can find nits to pick. But it’s ‘01 in the hippest quarters of NYC. Who tf has time for that?!

This is up against Lightning Bolt’s Ride The Skies, and I gotta tell ya, I’m really struggling to reach for positives here. I know there’re plenty of noise rock people out there, but this is not my tribe. Nothing wrong with that, of course. We like what we like! But god damn this whole thing felt like a test. It probably didn’t help that I was listening at work. At any given time I have 6 monitors, two radios, a teletype printer, and about 30 tabs open, and it can feel like what this record sounds like.

There’s a spot on “The Faire Folk” where I thought the noodling was reminiscent of AC/DC’s riff on AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. That was about all I could salvage from this.

Bottom Line: Karen O & co for the W.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!

A Quick Look at ‘White Blood Cells’ at 25

by KevinLeave a Comment on A Quick Look at ‘White Blood Cells’ at 25

Best Record of 2001: Day 49

Cover art courtesy of Sympathy For the record Industry

Good morning!
Today we’re taking a quick look at The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells

I catch myself whenever I hear Seven Nation Army ring out from the soccer stand. What a song to co-opt! How odd that a band that’s not exactly obsessed with fame still has 1000s of people singing that song 20+ years on. Is there anyone else in that rarified air? My bemusement aside, Elephant is a solid record. How so much sound can come from two people is beyond me, but here we are. Other than some backing vocals, it really is just the two of them. Meg White’s drumming is simple (and simple is never easy), and Jack White’s guitar (and piano) take us from soccer stand fodder to swamp flats on tracks like “I Want to be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart.” It’s a no-skips record, even if not everything would sound good being yelled from a terrace.

If Elephant is what put the duo on the map, White Blood Cells is what lays the groundwork. I can almost guarantee at some point today someone will work “masterpiece” into the discourse or refer to it as art. The latter is true- all music is art. The former? Mmmm…I don’t know.

Fair play to “Fell In Love with a Girl “; it’s one of the best singles we’ve come across in Round 1. It’s loud, euphoric, and the kind of messy that says, “I want you to think this didn’t take any effort, but we spent days making it that way.” That sort of disheveled sound taps the same roots that DBT’s Southern Rock Opera did earlier in the week, as well as the likes of MC5 (which, I mean, sure. The White Stripes are from Detroit after all.)

Contrived or not, that simplicity works here—and as mentioned above— simple is never easy. Ask your favorite drummer. As a reformed one myself, I never miss a chance to defend Meg White from people that say “she’s not that good.” First, she’s more talented than 99.99999% of the people that say this, and second, see above. Playing a rudimentary style is easy…for about a minute. Doing it consistently and in a way that matches Jack White’s all-over-the-place stylings is anything but.

Did people do this with VU’s Moe Tucker? Maybe, but I doubt it. Look, I can be as snarky as anyone, but the boo boys can fuck off into the sun with all that.

(Exhale)

The sneering hipster take from Serious Music People ™ is that the basic, stripped-down style is a deficit. Really, it’s their superpower. Sometimes you just want some teeth and something that’s unapologetically loud…. even tracks like “I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman” and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known” both of which which, I guess, count as slower tracks here, still have a little intentional grit and edge to ‘em. “We’re Going to Be Friends” is a bit too twee for this record, but people love it, so (Kanye shrug).

This band has always been polarizing, mostly, I think, because their records bring out the worst in the Rock Guy™ and Hipster tribes. So be it. In the meantime, with its mix of blues-y tracks and face melters, White Blood Cells will still be a punchy record that locked in the pair’s style.

Bottom Line: This is the #3 seed in the tourney, and I can’t see it slowing down anytime before Round 4 where it’ll likely face off against Kylie Minogue. Today it’s up against Squarepusher, who seem like almost an afterthought in comparison. Took the safe bet on this one; my bracket pick and vote will be for White Blood Cells.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!

Ladytron’s ‘604’ vs. My Morning Jacket’s ‘At Dawn’

by KevinLeave a Comment on Ladytron’s ‘604’ vs. My Morning Jacket’s ‘At Dawn’

Best Record of 2001: Day 48

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at Ladytron’s 604 as it faces off against At Dawn by My Morning Jacket.

There was a time when I would buy records based solely on the label. Dischord never missed. 4AD? Odds were high you’d love what they were issuing. K Records? Whether or not it matched my tastes was up for grabs, but you could bank on it being something quirky, and that screamed “Olympia.” Wax Trax! was the gift that kept on giving for a kid who was both into hardcore and synth pop. The late ’80s and early ’90s were wildly dissonant for me musically. Nettwerk was right there too, with offerings sometimes less for the dance floor, more toward the after-after-after party. I was always happy to take a flyer on these types of records, even if I didn’t bat 1.000.

Seeing Ladytron’s 604 was on Nettwerk, I was surprised I’d missed them. Turns out that just the reissue was on the label, but that doesn’t explain how I’d missed the band entirely. I guess by ’01 I’d tuned everything out, even stalwart genres like synthpop.

Reading up a bit, I kept seeing “electroclash” tossed around, and maybe it’s just me, but I’m not seeing it. What I am seeing is a band whose members 110% have a Kraftwerk record or two in their collection. Stereolab as well, right down to the dueling female vocalists—and stylings—in Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie. They’re cooler than you, but don’t flaunt it. The sort of icy personality that would also definitely let you bum a dart. Tracks like “CSKA Sofia” are a bit of spacy noodling, but “Paco!” is pure uncut new wave, and I’m here for it. You could’ve told me this was released in ’89, and I would’ve believed you. It’s the sort of thing I spent a lot of time listening to while riding the bus downtown to places like Dudley’s (RIP) to pick up some import or another. Same story with Playgirl and Discotraxx.

In fact, I could swear I’ve heard these all before. They’re just vaguely familiar enough to convince me I have, even though I know otherwise.

At 16 tracks, it’s a bit too long. There’s an incredible 10–11 track record in here. Some of the padding feels like a mandate to flesh out the song count to “fill” the CD (were we still doing this in ’01? I can’t see any other reason why “Laughing Cavalier” made the cut.), but the good far outweighs the bad.

I’m bummed I missed this before, but I’m happy to have found it as part of this challenge. This is one I’ll definitely be returning to.

I can tell you that had I heard My Morning Jacket’s At Dawn in 2001, I would’ve had no time for it. I had no taste for this sort of woozy Americana jam-band stuff. Times change. It’s not bad! “Lowdown” reminded me of those slow summer mornings where it’s already humid, but the searing heat hasn’t yet kicked in. If I had a front porch, I’d sit out there and listen to this sort of thing while watching the world go by. “Xmas Curtain” has a nice slide guitar (or steel pedal, who knows?) that, in ’01, would’ve had me spraining my finger by smashing the fast-forward button. 25 years on, and I find that sort of thing endearing… in limited doses. It works here.

Similar to 604, there is a 10-track “10” in here somewhere. A couple of tracks went straight onto my playlists, a few were objectively pleasant— if not for me—and a couple left me shaking my head. Put your lighters down, this is not a ballad band. I will be fine never hearing “If It Smashes Down” or “I Needed It Most” again. I would’ve scotched this in a hot second 25 years ago, and almost did just now. Sorry, not sorry. Tracks like the aforementioned “Lowdown” and “Just Because I Do” are what they do best.

Bottom Line: So! We’ve got two wildly different new-to-me records whose only common ground was the year of release. On paper, this should be a lock for Ladytron. Once a synth kid, always a synth kid. But My Morning Jacket was better than I was expecting. If I’m honest, I’d be okay with either of these going through to Round 2. We could do worse.

Looking at my bracket, I have Ladytron pegged as winning Round 1. Apparently, I’d already taken a flyer on 604. Hopefully it pays off.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!

A Quick Look at Drive By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera at 25

by KevinLeave a Comment on A Quick Look at Drive By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera at 25

Best Record of 2001: Day 47

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a quick look at Drive By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera.

The irony of a concept album about the “duality of the Southern thing” being released in the immediate fallout of 9/11 isn’t lost on me. Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera is a concept album that kinda sorta follows the story of the fictional band Betamax Guillotine, which is loosely based on the real band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

That means it takes place in Alabama, and if you’ve ever been to Alabama, you know just how hot, humid, and angry a place can get. It’s a place where the air can kill you and, at the very least, influences every corner of your life. And in this universe, the Confederate flag, muscle cars, and Bear Bryant reign supreme.

Why bother recording a semi-fictional concept record focused on Southern identity and rock music’s place in it? For DBT, it was a way to delve into the South’s influence on American rock while at the same time reckoning with the stereotypes and skepticism that still plague this part of the country. If nothing else, using Lynyrd Skynyrd gave them a sort of scaffolding to work with. The first part starts in the late ‘80s and captures the supercharged existence of people just on the cusp of adulthood and those grappling with one that didn’t quite turn out as planned.

The Skynyrd theme is carried all the way to the final track, “Angels and Fuselage,” which takes on the plane crash the band was in and the one a bunch of them didn’t walk away from.

Or put another way, why not?

This is the band’s only double LP, and it uses all the runway to tell the story they wanted to tell—and the way they wanted to tell it. To my ear, it feels as ambitious as it does claustrophobic. A record made in a place where swamp coolers give their lives fighting a battle they were never gonna win, and where horsepower under your hood says as much about you as your family name.

Structured as a two-part story across its two discs, Southern Rock Opera is the record that put the band on the map and launched a thousand message boards. There are quotable lines around every bend and riffs that hit harder than a midsummer thunderstorm. It sounds as good on Alabama back roads as it does at a suburban barbecue, and while I’m not sure the cargo-shorts collective truly gets the message 100% of the time, it’s not for lack of trying.

Best tracks? Take your pick; there’s plenty of them. No one gets out of Zip City alive.

Bottom Line: This is up against Tricky’s Blowback LP. Shame really, as it’s a solid record that drew an awful seeding. The suburban dads are my people and bands like DBT are our totems. Southern Rock Opera for the win.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!

A Quick Look at R.E.M.’s ‘Reveal’ at 25

by KevinLeave a Comment on A Quick Look at R.E.M.’s ‘Reveal’ at 25

Best Record of 2001: Day 46

Cover art courtesy of Warner Brothers

Good morning!

Today we’re taking a look at R.E.M.’s 2001 LP, Reveal.

Sometime ago, I raised some eyebrows not by declaring that Document was R.E.M.’s best record (a relatively safe pick, tbh), but by ranking Out of Time so high and slotting in AFTP so low at 9th.

There were a couple of caveats and carve-outs (it’s my list!). First, Up punches above its weight for the simple reason that no other song so perfectly describes the feel of an airport at 03:30 AM as Airportman does. This is a side of travel few see, but one that’s been my world for most of my adult life.

Second—and I think more relevant here—REM’s discography can be broken into three distinct eras, and the order you slot these records in depends a lot on which one your on-ramp was in. For me, this was Green and Eponymous. The latter is a comp, but there’s a very real calculus behind why the former sits at #5 for me.

I also feel like the post-Bill Berry years are a sort of denouement for the band. If the cut-out bins were anything to go by, this was the era that many listeners passed on. It certainly was for me, though YMMV.

Really, I think the one thing most fans can agree on is that Around the Sun has a lock on last place. Pretty much everything else is up for grabs.

That said, something has to come in next to last, and up until now, that something for me has usually been Reveal.

By this point, I’d kind of checked out. I’d still give any new release at least a cursory glance, but I was perfectly happy to stay behind, enjoying Green, Out of Time, and even Monster. Up was interesting- an appreciation that grew over time, but Reveal passed me by entirely. Knowing me, I probably dismissed it out of hand. No Bill Berry? No, thank you. Never mind the reasons behind his (very amicable and very necessary) reasons for leaving. I could be pretentious that way—not unlike my gatekeeping ancestors who felt the same way for anything post-IRS. Really, I think it was 10 years too early for me. I wasn’t ready.

Listening again, I’m surprised at how solid the first three tracks are. I’ve long held a soft spot for “All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)” but “The Lifting” is a lot better than I’d remebered. It’s a harkening back to something closer to their earlier sound; almost an antidote to the way Up left off. Maybe a reminder to all of us that 3/4s of the band we grew up on was still there/ Maybe it was a reminder to themselves.

“Disappear” is a bit of a dirge, which…ok. I mean, I know that plays with a huge part of the fan base, but I prefer my R.E.M. a little more jangly, thankyouverymuch. Ditto “Saturn Return.” “Beat A Drum” pulls things up a bit and reminds me of the Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys. Not my bag, but it’s objectively pleasant.

“Imitation of Life” was the “big” single of the album, and its catchiness and hook make a solid case for why it deserved to be. The video reminds me of Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” with trippy effects. Actually, a lot of videos from this era went all in on this motif. Were we into this back in the day? These didn’t look like any parties I was going to, I’ll tell you that for free. And I like the wistful vibe that closer “Beachball” sends us out on.

As noted, Up has long punched above its weight thanks to Airportman. That’s an all-timer for extremely niche reasons, but Reveal took that same nose for experimentation and pulled it into a much sharper focus.

Going in, I wasn’t really sure what I was gonna get. Time can be kind or cruel in equal measure. But after years of slagging off the last 1/3 of the discography, I was really hoping for redemption. And I’m happy to say it came. None of my top 5 is at risk, but even just typing this, I think it deserves to be scooched up at least a notch or two.

Bottom Line: This is up against Super Furry Animals’ Rings Around the World LP. a record that has a fervent fan base. I can certainly repsect that, but sometimes you gotta dance with who brang ya, ands this is one of those times. R.E.M. for both bracket pick and my vote today.

Any thoughts on either of these records? Agree/disagree with my take? Sound off in the comments!