Thinking about how I can extend my writing beyond “here’s a dump of album thoughts/reviews” and so far this is what I have come up with. Worn Grooves will (hopefully) be an on-going series about what songs I’ve been unable to quit recently. You know the kind of songs… the ones you listen to 10 times in a day and still can’t stop them from popping into your head.
For now, there is some overlap into what I may have already covered in my usual record-thoughts kind of posts but I will try to make sure that in the future we get out of that territory and into uncharted areas as far as my usual tastes go. For now, here’s my stab at Worn Grooves, Issue #01.
Jets To Brazil’s “One Summer Last Fall” off Four Cornered Night (2000)
Blake Schwarzenbach’s post-Jawbreaker work could be fairly described as “often spotty,” aside from the home run that was Orange Rhyming Dictionary. I have a lot of time for a smattering of songs off both Four Cornered Night and Perfecting Loneliness, but I definitely wouldn’t call them top-to-bottom great records. “One Summer Last Fall” though, has been a song that has stuck with me ever since I heard the record for the first time. It’s the kind of song who’s lyrics will slot themselves into my subconscious no matter what I happen to be going through at the time.
Bayside’s “Boy” off Shudder (2008)
Over on Rate Your Music, I’ve written sort-of-extensively (via reviewing their albums) about how I once thought Bayside were a L.I.E.S. band (Long Island Emo with Screams) and assumed they sounded something like Taking Back Sunday. To my surprise, they were more Alkaline Trio meets The Smoking Popes meets Gatsbys American Dream before they ultimately added a metallic edge to their sound. I listened to their albums all in a row and there are a high volume of earworms scattered across almost every single one of them.
For some reason, “Boy” is the one that really landed for me. The band has recently tried to recapture the effective sound of “Boy’s” climactic gang chant-along “go on, give up / you’ll never win / no crying now, they’re watching him / his blood will boil, the kids will sing / learn to drown, before you learn to swim” on their latest album which is full of those chanting choruses, but with nowhere near as effective results. This is just one of those songs that is brilliantly simplistic in its structure; the early introduction of the chorus, the basic repeat, the “could be a hook in itself” bridge, and the stripped back chorus repeat that leads into the huge chant that builds and builds. Pop music, ain’t it a delight?
Lauran Hibberd's “2nd prettiest girl (in the world)” off Girlfriend Material (2024)
Where Bayside’s entry had connections to a disappointing album, this one comes from a record that I similarly wasn’t as in love with as I had hoped. But the singles off Girlfriend Material? Forget about it, so damn catchy. It can be hard to pull off that boom-boom-clap kind of drum thing, but on “2nd prettiest girl (in the world)” it really works. This also has a pop music thing I love where it’s not just that the chorus is catchy, but there’s little sub-hook type lines that end up being as memorable as the hook that contains them (“and you only asked because Melissa said no”).
Cheekface’s “Popular 2” off It’s Sorted (2024)
This isn’t going to convince anyone already allergic to Cheekface’s quirky-clever sing-talk thing, but damn if this isn’t one of the most major choruses of the year, yea? That segue “and if I never ever am gonna be alone” part of the chorus is just too good.
MU330’s “Favourite Show” off Self-Titled (1999)
I’ve been known to dig on some ska-punk of the third-wave variety over the years, but MU330 were a more recent addition to my rotation in the past few years. They were always described as a ska band that had Weezer-level hooks, and on the Cop Rock referencing “Favourite Show” they really live up to that description.
Horrible Things’ “I Got What I Wanted” off Pretty People (2018)
Pop punk as hook delivery service is maybe one of the most efficient genres in getting earworms buried into your brain in the least amount of seconds possible. Horrible Things (a side project from a member of Hospital Job, itself a side project of The Copyrights members) have enough sub-minute-and-a-half hook-laden songs that I couldn’t figure out which one to pick. Made sense to pick the 59-second one just to prove the point that they deliver maximum melody to runtime ratio.
The Arrivals’ “Water Water Everywhere” off Volatile Molotov (2010)
This is one of those unassuming songs that somehow, over time, becomes a personal anthem. It’s a simple little song about an ordinary night at a bar, a phone call, and an admission of loneliness. Something about the way this song doesn’t tack on a happy ending to its message written on a drugstore postcard makes it all the more effective to me, and something I end up listening to again and again whenever I put the album on.
The Dopamines’ “Don’t Mosh the Organ” off Vices (2012)
This one is less of an earworm situation and just more a general thing; it’s a catchy punk rock song in the vein of Dillinger Four or other orgcore bands, sure, but the alternating of the lyrics “It's not the road you're standing on, it's the miles that you put on” and “It's not the miles that you put on, It's the road that you're on” between the song’s two halves is just really well executed bit of lyricism to me. I also really like the well placed “And they ask me why my road is so immaculate and clean” moment as well.
The whole fade-out fake-out thing feels very “last song of side A” to me and maybe doesn’t make sense outside of the context of the album, but the rest of the song? Jam.
The B-52’s “Mesopotamia” off Mesopotamia (1982)
Last year, I got to see The B-52’s live in Las Vegas as a part of their (now extended) farewell tour/residency. My relationship with the band started like most people - I knew their singles, assumed they were a novelty act, etc. - before discovering their early records when I was in College. My mind was blown by how cool their music was, particularly the underrated and brilliant guitar work from Ricky Wilson (RIP).
I think I underestimated what seeing them live was going to feel like, assuming they’d be a fun show and that’s about it, considering their age and how a core piece of what I love about their sound has been missing since 1985. I certainly wasn’t expecting them to play personal favourite “Mesopotamia” off their EP of the same name, which was culled from botched recording sessions with David Byrne of Talking Heads.
I was pretty overcome with emotion though, realizing how much their music and messages meant to weirdos and outsiders everywhere, myself included. Seeing them on stage, having a blast performing with one another made me damn near cry. Not something I expected to feel watching the world’s party band on stage! But a welcome flood of emotion.
"I was pretty overcome with emotion though, realizing how much their music and messages meant to weirdos and outsiders everywhere, myself included."
For anyone that likes them for more than just 'Love Shack,' this sentence resonates. It certainly does for me, anyway.
As for 'Mesopotamia' itself, I think it's a song that can only be played loud; they groove demands it.
love the new feature!