For the past week or so I have been waiting and waiting for this video to come out. The Creeping Ivies are the best band to come out of Scotland since The Jesus And Mary Chain. Oh and Shirley Manson too of course! That woman is my one true inspiration. So yes, The Creeping Ivies are THAT perfect.
Ghost Train is a brilliant video. It is as eerie as the song. The song sounds like The Cramps got busy with Siouxsie Sioux. That’s always a good thing. The Creeping Ivies are pretty much everything I love about music. They have a creepy sound made by two. They are loud and brutal. For me they are like a freaky version of The Kills. I just bloody adore this band a hell of a lot. I must say, they are my favourite new (ish) band of the year. The EP that it is taken from is stunning.
Don’t put Becca and Duncan into any genre, they go beyond everything that is around right now. Enjoy the video.
The video was done by Ciaran Lyons and you can find out more about him here: www.seaoflyons.com
Maybe it is because I like being asleep more than I like being awake. Mainly because I can’t be a burden to anyone/anything. But when you are out of an evening, and it gets to around 2/3am..there’s a part of you that starts to think “Why am I doing this to myself? I’m not drunk, I’ve still got my shoes and jacket. I’m not drunk, I can walk in a straight line and I know my name.” I don’t understand people who get drunk to the point of losing their shit (or taking a shit in the street) and are just a mess. You know the kind. Everyone knows someone who is all “OH MY GOD I WAS SO DRUNK LAST NIGHT. I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER. ALCOHOL ALCOHOL ALCOHOL.” We all know them, and we probably want to punch them. Or maybe it is just me. I don’t need to drink my weight in wine to wake up with a migraine, it happens most days. Go read a book yo. Anyway, you get this feeling after a certain point. Maybe it is boredom, or maybe it is the desire to just go home and sleep. Or maybe you know there is more to life than this. Bands can sum up this feeling for you. A song can.
I’ve found Cold Cave are the band that do this for me, but this evening I found another band.
Virginia Plain are a Brooklyn based band that sum up this feeling extremely well. There is a word for it, but I’m obviously struggling to find out what the hell it is. Maybe it is boredom. Modern life is a bore. I don’t understand Iphones, Kindles and the point of Instagram. Your photo was taken two fucking seconds ago- IT ISN’T FUCKING VINTAGE. It just pisses me off a lot. I’ve got rage towards it. But I’m the only one who holds this view, so I’m led to believe I cannot vocalise it to anyone. So I don’t. Instead, I’m called various names. I’ve learnt to never say a word to anyone. Fuck it.
So Virginia Plain. They have this classical feel to(I said classical, not vintage fool.) Alfra has a classical voice that sounds so delicate over a dark synth based sound. I think this is one of my weaknesses in life. Described as “Horror-Disco” seems pretty fitting to be honest. They’ll make you want to dance, but in some parts you’ll be scared half to death. Only have. Half death, half lust for life. Possibly. Depends on what kind of disposition you have, I guess.
I’ll just get straight to the point- they’re also from Brooklyn/based there. It seems like anything from BK (look, if Foxy Brown can call it BK so can I. I love Foxy) is pretty incredible. A lot of what I listen to seems to be from there and the West Coast. In my mind this all means “OLIVIA GET THE FUCK OUT OF ENGLAND NOW..GO TO AMERICA.” I am trying, but as ever I guess- I’m not trying hard enough. Brooklyn doesn’t have a specific sound, it just has the ability to produce music that actually means something. Songs that make that crippling feeling at 3am fade away. Songs that make the days less dull. They shake all that loneliness you sometimes feel with something strong enough to give you hope. Maybe I’m being far too cheerful for my own good right now, but that’s my take on it.
Swamp Thing is my favourite track. Hang on actually, it is one of my favourite tracks of the year. I’ve had it on repeat for the past half hour. I don’t want to listen to anything else. You know Sheffield’s finest (and no more..sadly) The Long Blondes? Do you remember Kate Jackson’s clear, crisp and sensual voice? Alfra is EXACTLY the same. A sense of nostalgia is poured all over you as you listen to this song. They remind me so so much of Cold Cave. I love them. I just adore Swamp Thing. I want it playing all the time, it seems nothing else is going to make me happy the rest of the evening so I’ll have it on constant repeat. I want you to do the same so please listen to it here: http://virginiaplain.bandcamp.com/track/swamp-thing
They make you feel as if you are part of an unknown world. Listening to them is a sacred experience. It is a secret. You don’t know if you want to share this moment with anyone. I was torn about writing about them because I thought “I want this band for my own.” Then I realised the whole point of what I do is to give YOU (whoever you may be) some brilliant new bands to fall in love with. This is evidently love at first listen, and has now possibly turned into another obsession that I’ll refuse to shake.
I can only hope they come to the UK. I’d love to see them in some dark dark cave like club, no barrier between you and them, the synths taking over you and sweat pouring out of you. Maybe your own, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. This band will make you feel alive. This band will shake the 3am dread. This band is one of the best things to have happened this year. If not THE best thing to have happened this year.
When I went to Uni in 2006 (I feel old typing that..shit) I pretty much followed the band Gossip up and down the UK on every tour they did between 2006-2008. All my records and posters got signed, handshakes and kisses, tears and hospital trips (I got a bit excited during a few shows, banged my hand on the barrier for a LONG time and my hand had swollen up the size of about 3 melons. Not good, much fun though. I’d do it again..I still do, sometimes.) I adored them. They were my life way before I went to Uni, but this was the only time I was able to see them live. They made me feel at ease with my sexuality, and honestly- if it wasn’t for them I’d be another homosexual in the closet. That isn’t living. Not at all. Every gig I went to made me feel alive, like I was part of something. I was at the front and sang (if you can call it that) as loudly as I could.
It wasn’t just Gossip that blew me away with their live show. Their support act in my eyes, was just as mesmirising as them.
Comanechi were the band I saw support Gossip the very first time I went to a Gossip show. There was just two of them. Simon on guitar and Akiko on drums and vocals. I’m always fascinated by drummers that sing. They probably work harder than most, especially live. Just two of them making this brutal noise. I can’t remember how the crowd felt about them, but I was in love. Maybe because a really hot girl was on drums singing a song about being naked, and I just thought it was the most incredible thing ever.
I bought their EP straight away. I think I told Akiko I loved her or something terribly embarrassing. They became as important as Gossip to me. On some other shows, Akiko would play with her other band Pre. Which you must also go listen to. Comanechi and Pre are both as brutal and as loud as each other.
Alright. Comanechi make music that is loud enough to tear a layer of skin off your face. It is played with such force. You don’t know if you are angry, aroused, hyped up or just in some weird trance. There’s no point in trying to figure it out. Just go with it.
Their songs are short, in your face and noisy. I loved them then, and I love them now. They’ve got a new single out called Major Move on Monday. Be kind and pre-order it here :http://comanechi.bigcartel.com/product/major-move
They have a Punk attitude and play like a Death Metal band. It works. It really works.
aggressive, rowdy and lucid. They deserve to be absolutely huge.
They’re two musicians who I believe are so underrated. By rights this is the kind of music that should be blowing up the airwaves. If you love them, treasure them. Please.
There’s always a band, a song, a record that changes everything for you. It can be specific point in a song that just makes you think “Oh shit..this is it .THIS IS IT.” You don’t care if the end of the world comes because you’re in the midst of hearing something truly incredible. It doesn’t have to be a song from decades ago. It could be a song you heard this week, there’s no time constraint on this. It’s all about that moment, and how it makes you feel. For instance, most of these intense feelings for me, come from hearing Warpaint. Certain songs have precise moments that conjure up this feeling. Beach House too. But if we’re going back in time, I’m taking it back to the time of Velvet Underground.
Velvet Underground indulged in drug riddled, sexually fuelled and decadent lyrics. Thing is, these things are only seen as decadent by those who are small-minded and prudish, you know? No good ever came from being small-minded. I’m not saying let’s all go have drug induced orgies in the street. Can you imagine if that ever happened? “Yeah what happened was..I was err…well, Lou Reed’s voice just turned me on and this happened.” It could happen. Let’s hope it does, just to shock everyone.
I remember first hearing Venus In Furs when I was very very young. My uncle is a HUGE fan of anything Lou Reed has ever done (doubt he rates the Metallica thing.) And I remember one day being played the first Velvet Underground record. It was like some kind of epiphany. I wasn’t just hearing a collection of songs. I was hearing poetry. I was hearing music that would go on to play such a huge role in my life. It is Lou’s lyrics in general that have this wonderful grip on me.
Venus In Furs is a song that hypnotises you. There is something about the way it creeps up on you, swirls itself in and out of you. Then it eventually wraps itself around you like a serpent, holding onto you for the rest of time. You don’t allow yourself to feel this strongly towards any other song because this one..man this one just makes you come alive.
This is just musically. Lyrically it’ll leave you weeping into your hands because you know that there is no other song in the world that has been written like this since. Others probably try to write something as powerful as this. The lyrics in this song are sheer poetry.
The song oozes ideas of bondage and submission. The way Lou delves into this world is in a way that, anyone else would probably make it so smutty and degrading. He does it in a way that sounds like something that just happens, anyone else would make it extremely perverse. Maybe at the time it was.
The intro of the song is carried throughout the song. It sounds a bit like nails on a chalkboard. It makes your face crease up, you squirm. Like you are writhing about in pain. But do you turn away? Nah. Far from it. You keep going. You stay with this. There are parts of this song that mean more to me than any other song I have ever heard. Lou manages to sum up exactly how I feel in one verse. No other song can actually get to the core like he did with this song :
“I am tired, I am weary. I could sleep for a thousand years. A thousand dreams that would awake me. Different colours made of tears.”
I just adore this so much. I guess it is because I constantly feel like this. Tired. Always tired. The rest of the song? I cannot relate to. But, like I’ve stated- this song changed everything for me. It just makes you appreciate music in a different way. It’s on a different level to anything before or after it.
The song is full of sinister lines that make you smirk. If you just listen to the song casually and take nothing in, you’re not listening to it properly. I’ve played the song so many times, and every time I notice a different line to just love.
“Taste the whip, in love not given lightly.”
I think even if you weren’t sure on the subject matter of this brilliant track, this line sums up exactly what it is about. Dark and twisted. Would you have it any other way? Of course you wouldn’t.
If I was going to introduce someone to Velvet Underground (I’d take much pleasure in doing so I reckon) this would be the song I’d use firstly. I suppose if this didn’t do anything for them I’d be hurt in some way ha. Maybe it is THE ultimate Velvet Underground song. I’ll always regard it as one of the greatest songs ever written. I do think though, my heart has a firm attachment to Run Run Run (hence the blog name Gypsy Death And You…reference to The Kills of course!) I just have so much love and respect for Velvet Underground.
Songs as deep and as raw as this do not exist anymore. They do not have that intense build-up within them. I am fascinated by how the intro is throughout and makes you squirm. Play this song to the most uptight and prudish person you know, watch their reaction. You’ll want to film it. Unless they are not a deep thinker. If that’s the case, they won’t get it will they. Shame.
Velvet Underground are a band I feel that when you listen to them for the first time- that’s it. You’re hooked. It doesn’t matter at what point in your life you are turned onto them, their music is timeless. GOOD music is just like that. You still feel part of it no matter what. They started something no one else has managed to even compete with. Those that are influenced by them carry their importance around and spread the word. Velvet Underground went beyond being just a band. Venus In Furs has all these different layers to it then you truly get from listening through headphones. Something takes you over. Hooked and hypnotised. Just how it should be. When a song like this comes from a band’s debut record, you know you have found something life-changing and inspiring.
“Nicole was born inside a volcano. Daniel was born inside a tree. Jonathan was born in a cat’s mouth.”
Then every single part of you knows you have probably found a band you are going to love for a long time. You listen to their music, and you think “What would it be like to be born inside a tree? Or inside a volcano? Or with cats in my mouth?” If you don’t then you are either what society calls “normal” or you are scared to be a bit mental. Or both. If do any of these things, I want us to be best friends. But if you have a Ted Bundy vibe about you then err…maybe not. That’s not good for anyone. Apparently he was a charmer. Okay..okay. Wow.
Eternal Summers are charming. But on the safe kind. Even if one was born inside a volcano. Better than a hospital, right?
You want them to fit in a genre? Don’t bother. Just don’t. When you start wanting to put bands in a category you strip away all they are, and you poison their art. Or something as bad as that. I just love them. And how could you not?
You want songs you can sing along to? CHECK. You want songs that make summer FUN? CHECK. You want a band that make you act a bit crazy? CHECK. What I’m getting at is, that Eternal Summers are fucking brilliant. Stunning and perfect. Dreamy sounds and catchy vocals. It isn’t about who has the best produced record, it is about who puts the most heart into it. They truly play with passion, and that’s lacking in most bands.
They formed back in 2008 originally as a duo. Well, regardless of how many of them are in the band- they’re awesome. You know when you hear something so good and you try to vocalise how much you dig them without sounding like an obsessive dick? That’s pretty much what I’m doing aren’t I? I don’t think I’m doing too well.
I’m not going to tell you who they sound like or anything like that. You know I hate doing that, and honestly I can’t think of anyone else they sound like. Which is a bloody good thing.
Go listen. Spend the rest of the afternoon listening to them.
Brighton. It’s lovely there. Nick Cave lives there. Nick Cave is a GOD. Disagree? Well, why? Just why? I couldn’t trust anyone who didn’t see how much of a genius that man is. He really is. Go listen to him. He’ll change your life. Then go read his novels. Actually, read his novels whilst listening to his music. That’ll probably work out better for you.
Completely different style of music altogether, also from Brighton is 21-year-old Moya (they say you should never state the age of a lady but 21 is an alright age…I remember when I was 21…I prefer 25 to be honest.)
She has a new song out real soon, but I just want to mention a video that was shot underwater. The last video I fell in love with that was shot underwater was Warpaint by Warpaint. I’m evidently able to mention them in anything. I just love them. It’s possibly more than love? Alright. So, Moya did a video underwater :
Lovely isn’t it? Makes you want to go for a swim. I can’t swim..so I’ll have to settle with a bath. Although, I’ve just had a shower.
Her new single, Lost And Found is take from her debut record of the same name (which is out July 2nd.) She’s also covered a Primal Scream track. I’m not a fan of covers usually, but this is beautiful.
Okay so her new single Lost And Found is already out, and next week you should probably go get her debut record.
http://www.moyamusic.com/ Her website has some pretty cool stuff you can download. And if you’re as weird as me, you’ll probably enjoy her clothes and hair.
Remember, 2nd July. Next Monday. Lost And Found is OUT.
I know most of what I listen to would probably just seem like noise to someone else (how you can call The Jesus And Mary Chain “noise” is beyond me, they’re easily one of the best bands to have ever existed, alongside The Gruesomes but hey..people never agree do they.) But I do like music that sounds quite peaceful and ethereal. Bands such as Sons Of An Illustrious Father to Warpaint to Youth Lagoon to the band I’m going to write about.
New York has one of the best music scenes, if you can’t see that then maybe..just maybe you need help? I suggest you look up some New York bands and open your mind/ears. You’ll find something you love, trust me. From Ghost Pal to Friends- you’ll honestly find something that fits your mood.
Most of what I listen to (unintentionally) comes from either New York or the West Coast. I’ve always had an obsession with American bands. I suppose it is because my only solid life goal is to move to LA and write. Typical, right? Right. But the dream has been there since I was 14/15 so this isn’t me trying to be a hipster kid. No. This is a person who’s had the same dream for the past 11 years and doesn’t get handed a chance to do so. They say hard work pays off, and I’m tired of waiting.
Those who are familiar with Sun Kin, Ghost Pal and Sons Of An Illustrious Father should be aware of Hooves. Even if you’re not a fan of those bands, you should probably still dig Hooves.
If you love bands such as Wild Beasts or Stornoway, you’ll love Hooves. There is something so majestic and charming about the music that you may not have heard before. Well, even if you have..it doesn’t matter. Just turn your attention to Hooves, you won’t be disappointed.
Aside from the EP, a new track has just been released called Ocean. They describe themselves as Electronic/Folk. Don’t be a music snob and turn your nose up at it. Sure most that describe themselves in this way are usually a bit, you know-toss. Hooves aren’t. There is something entirely different about them, and although they are relatively new I do hope this year brings them a hell of a lot of recognition.
You can download the EP and Ocean from their bandcamp page. The EP is a lot more ambient than Ocean is. Ocean has more of a Folk feel to it.
Hooves make beautiful music. We are sadly part of a world where dubstep is regarded as a credible music type (I just hate it, a lot.) So it is nice to have something that means something. Which you can find in Hooves, and I truly hope you do.
Okay, I know NOTHING about this band. All I know is that I love them. I love them for reasons that get me so excited about music. SO excited. Like a kid at Christmas, like a tramp finding a sandwich, like..fuck I don’t know. All I know is that I love this band. I’m going to try my best to give you reasons, but you know- they probably won’t make sense.
Alright now. So I love music that has 60s girl group vibe surrounding them. Lo-fi, surfer pop- whatever you want to call it, I love it. I love it because for the most part the lyrics are dark but the music is enough to make you dance like a mental person. I think most of us do dance that way. I could just be speaking for myself there, who cares?! Unless your limbs don’t hurt the morning after, you had a shit time. Base everything on bruises and such.
Shannon & The Clams are awesome. I want to really REALLY express my love for them in a way that is out of control. Write that I love them on my forehead in permanent marker pen and go for a stroll down the street. Tattoo their name across my chest. Write them love-notes to tell them I adore them. But all of this is creepy, and I’m not going for that look. Trying to tame my wild ways. I’m not wild. I am plain and dull. Music. Music. Music. MUSIC.
Shannon & her wonderful clams make music that will shake your bones, infect your skull with catchy songs. Are you in love? Do you like someone who doesn’t know you exist? This band will provide you with woeful songs that will make you feel less alone, and less shite with your ordeal. I thankfully don’t feel this way so I don’t feel like OH MY GOD THIS IS MY LIFE. Instead, I’m just appreciating how brilliant they are. It’s always good when you can remove your emotions and see a different view. More of us should do that.
I found this band by accident. This stands by my point that, accidents are good. Well this kind are anyway. Pissing yourself or shitting yourself is an accident you DON’T want to happen. Finding a band that steals your heart by accident, you DO want that to happen. Let it happen more often. Open your ears, eyes, mind..and legs if you must. SMUT O’CLOCK.
There is so much that I love about this band. You don’t understand. I want YOU to listen to them and feel the same way. I want them to tour the UK so I can stand right in front of them and sing my heart out to the songs. I doubt I’ll be listening to much else now I’ve found them, so learning their songs is an easy task. I’ve got a lot of love to give them, TAKE MY LOVE. I have no idea why I’m having such a ridiculous outburst about them. I guess this was some much-needed excitement I needed, right? RIGHT.
They’re a band you can slap your loved one too. Or the person you are annoyed by the most. I don’t know what I mean by that, hopefully you’ll listen to them and you’ll understand what I mean. Make up your own meaning, I struggle with words most of the time. Ask me to describe my love for a band, I can sort of do. Anything else? Ask my mum. She’s the only one who truly knows me.
I’ve got one suggestion for you as you listen to Shannon & The Clams- get a glass of whiskey or wine. Pour yourself something nice, play their music loud and sing a long as loudly as you can do. It doesn’t matter if you are in tune or not. This band deserves your love, they’ll make you happy. Don’t deny yourself of such joys. I was going to quote Free Your Mind by En Vogue, but I decided not to. I’ll save that for another time.
So go on. GET. Go listen to them and fall in love.
I know NOTHING about the band. I don’t know how many there are, their names, where they are from or what their favourite snack is- all I know is that their music is perfect.
I think the older I get, the less attention I posses. I don’t know, maybe I find it hard to care for things that aren’t dear to me. That sounds arrogant, and I don’t mean it like that at all. I guess because I spent so long caring- I just sort of..stopped. Unless I’m just a massive dickhead, that could be it too. It’s tough to keep being good when it gets launched back in your face, but you carry on anyway. The alternative isn’t so pretty. That’s why music is my solid. The one true love of my life, maybe the only thing I know how to love and will ever love. You don’t get rejection, you don’t get told you are wrong. You get all you need to carry on, what more do you need? It depends on what kind of person you are I suppose. Why cling on when you can let go? This is why I love garage rock kinds of band the most. They have this vulnerability and hopelessness you don’t get anywhere else. You truly connect. I’ve found a fine garage rock kind of band. It made this Tuesday less dull and grim.
Daydream Johnny come from..well, I don’t know where they come from. It doesn’t matter at all. What matters is how awesome they are, and that they really are. Listening to their songs, you get this “Ahh well fuck it. It doesn’t matter much” feeling take over. When a band can make you realise nothing means much, you get this weird bout of courage. I don’t know how or why it happens; but it does. If I had the answers, I probably wouldn’t bother. The things we don’t know, well we will never know. So don#’t beat yourself up trying to find out. Silence is golden, and apples are good for you. Life lessons. I don’t know.
Daydream Johnny are good chums with TEENS, another band that I have so much love for. These bands- you really need them in your life. You’re Sitting Pretty is possibly my favourite track so far. I dig the lyrics a lot. I love the build up to the chorus. Sometimes you cannot explain why you really like a band, you just do. Some bands I can sort of get the words out, some bands I can’t. Your love for them takes over. I hope with all my heart Daydream Johnny get the recognition and respect they truly deserve.
They have essence of lo-fi 60s vibe to a punk stance- they merge everything I love about music into short songs that make you want to sing along in a dirty, dark bar. Sweating with strangers and whiskey being thrown about. To me, that’s my idea of a good time.
Daydream Johnny have a basement band vibe that I adore. I love bands that make you feel as if it is just you watching them rehearse. They’re captivating, ridiculously talented and play with passion. If I had the money, I’d go see them in the States or I’d fly them to the UK. As I can hardly afford to get the bus, I’ll just love them from a distance for now.
“How it stirs me, how it stirs me now. To think my fire burnt them out.”
There is something entirely captivating about a duo. The way they are on stage makes you totally believe in all they do, all they stand for and all that they are. Duos fascinate me because they seem to make more noise than a band with 4+ members. They seem more inclined to prove themselves. They play with such aggression and sincerity. There is one man who I firmly believe as being one of the most underrated guitarists of the past decade. I say decade because that is how long he has been in the band I have followed since the start. All hail Jamie Hince from The Kills. I’ve already written about my love for Alison, so it is only right I delve into my love for Jamie and why I love him so. This could take some time, this may read like a rant that will never make sense. I know of no other way to write it seems.
I love the way Jamie holds the guitar on stage as if it is a machine gun, as he directs it towards Alison and the crowd. The way he moves on stage and makes the sounds of his guitar with his mouth. The way he plays is how a true musician should play. With power, with passion- with a gang mentality. Do or die. That’s what you get from The Kills. The Kills, for me just go beyond being a band. They become a way of life. Anyone who truly truly loves and adores this band will know what I mean. The way he plays is enough to make me want to start my own duo with someone I can menacingly yet playfully point a guitar at. But I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I just cannot and will not ever be able to play an instrument. I’m okay with absorbing all the music I can from the bands I love rather than try start my own thing.
What fascinates me about Jamie is how he manages to make so many sounds without making you get all confused about what you are hearing. You take in every single note, you take it all in and it becomes part of you. Something takes over. When I listen to songs like Fuck The People or Pull A U, it feels likes some kind of brutal tension building up. With Alison’s delicate vocals and Jamie’s aggressive guitar playing you become so enthralled with what you are hearing. What do you do? Do you just sit there? NO. You fucking dance/move as if you are possessed, as if you are about to start a fight. Why be gentle when you can make a mess.
Their debut record, Keep On Your Mean Side will ALWAYS be my favourite record by them. I personally feel it shows Jamie at his most aggressive. The record starts with Superstition. You combine THAT scream Alison does with his guitar skills, you fast become aware that you are about to hear one of the best records of all time. It is one of the very few records that instilled something in me that goes beyond words. It is one of those records that I will always look back on and think, “this record defines so much for me.” The Kills aren’t just a band I listen to for any specific reason other than I just HAVE to. It becomes part of my routine. I play them in the shower, singing Jamie’s guitar parts which sometimes causes my mum to yell “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?!” I just have to constantly have their thrashing and passionate sounds in my ear. Since I first heard them all those years ago, I have not gone a day without listening to them. I love watching how, when Jamie plays it is like he controls how Alison moves on the stage. At times she stalks the stage like a panther. Then you see her move as if something is taking her over. It is the crowd, the energy and the way Jamie plays. Their chemistry goes beyond being able to put into words. It is sacred, but you feel part of it. How she spins around and bends her body from how Jamie slays the guitar causes you to move the same. They both control you in their own way. Jamie causes you to move like a person possessed and Alison captivates you with how she stares deep into you as she sings the songs that own your heart.
One thing I truly appreciate about Jamie’s guitar playing is that you never hear any sadness. With some guitarists, they can make it sound sad. With Jamie it always sounds so full, hopeful, passionate, raw and alive. Pots And Pans is a prime example of this. For me that song just seems so hopeful. I’m not sure what the hope is directed at, but there is something positive there. I’m not sure if I could pick a favourite track by The Kills but I know Keep On Your Mean Side is my favourite record.
Nostalgia and questions fill you as you listen to The Kills. Jamie’s guitar playing makes you feel like you are battling everyone around you. You are part of this road trip that they are taking you on. You’ve been on it for so long, and you know you will never leave. Do or die. Do or die. It will never leave. You feel like you are on some chase. Desert road or highway, you are being sought after by the law. Or someone who possibly hates you. The windows are down, dust hits your face, drive harder, drive faster. Don’t give up. That’s how he makes you feel. You cannot give up. Then Alison’s voice makes you feel comforted. They are on this journey with you. The music is your keeper, your safety net. For me, my lifeline. There is no deeper or greater love.
A band can sum up a generation. A band can be your life. A band can be that friend at 4am when you have no idea what is going on. A band can be that thing you lean on as you stumble home in a drunken haze. A band can be the hangover cure. A band can be the ultimate cure. A band can lead you to wherever you want to go. For me, The Kills are that band. It was love at first listen (and sight of course.)
It does piss me off that Jamie doesn’t get the recognition that he really deserves, but it makes you treasure his genius even more. When I walk around listening to them, I feel like nothing or no one can touch me. They make me feel invincible, less alone and capable. They give me something that I’ll never get anywhere else. The Kills are home. The Kills are all I know. Their lyrics, their songs are like a guide. “It’s alright, to be mean.”
When I saw them live, it was like my eyes had been opened up to another world. I denounced all that came before, all that came after was to be compared to that moment. If it doesn’t move me or make me feel like that night or like a record by The Kills does- then I don’t want to know. I want to feel like my soul has been shaken. That my face has been confronted with Jamie’s machine gun moves. A brutal force takes over and you realise- YOU ARE FUCKING ALIVE.
The Kills give me hope. They have proven that you do not need much to be heard. And if they can’t hear you- be a bit more mean (alright so I cannot be mean and I’m too gentle for my own good ssshusssh.) and turn it up a touch more louder. Don’t let them take you alive, and always ALWAYS put up a fight.
It feels wrong to write about Jamie without falling back on Alison. They are two of the most important people in my life that I’ll never meet. When a band change your life, you feel as if you have so much to say. I haven’t even covered half of how I feel. The love is there though, the love will always be there.
Beat In My Bones. 