tommytomtom

Reuben didn't get the attention they deserved. I'm not saying that they couldn't have done themselves more favours - having more "mystery" seems to be the consensus of the board/review if you want success and adoration. Frankly it seems a bit daft to me - "i like these guys, they can write a killer hook, but they're so damn understandable. I want to go be ignored by someone that doesn't seem to care, so i'll look for someone closer to the zeitgeist."

The lack of attention they got was disproportionate to the high amount of airspace given to talentless no-marks. It's an indictment of the fickleness of some aspects of the music industry that the third album didn't get a review on DiS (as far as i remember), when they most needed support from a previously positive site, and yet when now split up there's a review for this release.

As to one of the previous comments, VFVD is maybe a bit patchy, but contains some moments of pure class especially Jedi and Lights Out. Incidentally, I see Jon and Guy are in a new band here http://www.myspace.com/freezetheatlantic

I love Reuben. They have at least nine of my top 25 most played songs. Cities on fire, going home in an ambulance, lets stop hanging out, song for saturday (relatively weak but still good) stuck in my throat (the best) freddy kreuger of course, some mothers do have em, blamethrower, dusk, i even liked boy as it keeps reminding me of the aspects of me that have compromised more than i ever wanted to. They were a band that i loved seeing where they were going. From an awesome debut album, they kept moving from the comfort zone and deploying massive riffs and choruses, whilst making genuinely interesting songs. And the drumming was awesome.

I hope this is temporary. Otherwise the best i can hope for is three amazing solo projects.

footy footy footy,
Ball ball ball,
Football!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBkTSCLrMIA

...when the same site once claimed that the Sugababes were the most punk thing around:

http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/3051

Diver's throwin' rocks tonight!

...and i'm done.

wtf are "blasts of skronk"?

are surely one of the best platforms he has to get his views across? For me, it smacks of not putting his money where his mouth is essentially.

I see your point that it is a circular argument though. Might just be that they are so firmly established that they can afford to release a couple of politically charged songs and still retain plenty of media interest.

that bands such as Coldplay will talk at length in interviews about their political or social leanings but then when it actually comes to the music, which is what earns them their money, they play it safe and do nothing that would harm the sales.

Anyway, still having bands in the mainsteram to point the finger at erring politicians is necessary - but so few sucessful ones do it. Some of the major artists of the 70s did it. There may be a change from the global to the local in the things being protested about as well - people can really care about life in their estates and neighborhoods, but find it hard to get charged up about two barely distinguishable men in washington. The major political music of the past decade or more may well be hip-hop, which in terms of social stuff rarely seems (to me) to look much beyond the cities and districts the artists are from - as these issues are more important and immediate to them.

Maybe the public are just getting the artists they deserve. If pop idol can guarantee disposable sucess for each and every winner it churns out, and Crazy Frog can be number one by a long distance, its no surprise the record buying public don't want to be challenged in what they listen to.

Have to admit to stopping reading the article about halfway through - damn long - but didn't see a mention of Springsteen; one of the most politically and socially minded mainstream artists of the past 30 years. The most damning song being Born in the USA, which due to it being the 80's and Bruce appearing onstage with the stars and stripes behind him got misconstrued and sung along to by republicans on the campaign trail. Anyway, the Boss is still one to look to.

Man, that was a bit rambling.

haven't you got any Credence?

excellent usage of a Spaced quote. Keep it up.

You can't drink a pint of Bovril!

David Holmes and other's soundtrack for "Out of Sight" - does it count? it's just freakin' brilliant. Kicks off with the Isley Brothers and goes from there. No More Time Outs and Trunk Scene are just the sexiest songs ever. Super crazy freaky sexy.

Also - again slightly off subject - I have the soundtrack to Sopranos series one and its ace. Dylan, Cream, Sly and the family Stone, and one of Bruce's finest songs - State Trooper. Aceness!

for me, the whole album was just such a disappointment. Don't think this would get close to being on Silent Alarm, and its one of the stronger tracks.
And i do agree that its the lyrics that spoil it. They're so high in the mix that the whole songs seem to be focussed on them, so that when they're clunkers (pretty frequently) they really jar.

The things that were for me so exciting about Silent Alarm - the drumming, the bass, and the guitar sound - have all been pushed to the back to showcase the clumsy lyrics.

You want literature level? Listen to Elbow or I am Kloot. Screw it, go listen to Springsteen or Dylan.

...and i had also seen (and was more aware of) the collegiate use of the term.

Howeevr, I think whilst it may carry more implications for the reader (not always deserved in may instances), it jarrs sometimes as it - for my money at least - sometimes seems that reviewers want to write it, instead of people wanting to read it. For the flow of an article, "second" is actually much better. That's just my two pence - i studied chemistry anyway, so it's not like this is my strong suit.

I know this has nothing to do with the review or the record, but why, oh why, oh why, is every flippin' second album now referred to as "sophomore"? I don't know why it grates on me but it does. What's wrong with "second"?!

A quick google tells me "sophomore" actually means three-year-old-horse as well. Figure that one out.

I think this announcement should have been made in a Morbo from Futurama-stylee. And also in the third person:

"Timbaland derides your puny human attempts at music. He will travel to his homeworld Funkatron III to return with a totally pimpin' invasion fleet and destroy all of your bland derivative beats! Cower, non-innovative ape descendants! AH-HAHAHA!"

The invasion fleet would have the spacecraft equivalent of those pneumatics that make cars bounce.

...they got david sneddon (won the first fame academy) who they then cancelled. Or it might have been him that bailed. Anyway, no-one cared. Howver, Lokii and Phoenix Down (i think) played - ace-a-rama! Didn't realise it had gotten so big now?!

For me, Ballad of the Broken Seas illustrates perfectly what the review above was saying. Campbell's voice and music were too lightweight to carry any kind of soul, when Mark Lanegan was shoehorned into the mix. Especially when held up against the duets with PJ Harvey on Bubblegum which are superb. I mean, he got made to sing in a key completely unsuited to him in some of the songs on Broken Seas. He's renowned for having one of the best badassmuthafucka voices in rock, and was made to sound limp-wristed.

But then, I really just like it when he makes mean fuzzy rock, as in Bubblegum and the QOTSA. And got Broken Seas for the Lanegan side, not the Campbell. So I should really just have stuck Bubblegum on again. But then its good to broaden horizons. Hmm.

And Dust by the Screaming Trees is still in my all-time top five albums.

rhymes with "just don't care", and I'm done. Now for an extended washboard solo!