Come Around Sundown: Three Cheers For Mediocrity

Ground Zero

Hello. My name is Mark. Thanks to the ever expanding horizons of communication technology, this is my blog, and thus new my avenue to share my thoughts on some things. As it so happens, most things I have thoughts on usually have to do with music. Well, there's other things too, but for whatever reason music seems to be the one thing on which I can at times formulate thoughts into somewhat of an organized fashion, and who knows? it might actually result in something worth reading. Yeah, so I'm a geek.  I do take music pretty seriously. However, don't get the idea that I'm a pretentious music snob. (OK, so maybe I can be at times). Although, I do have my share of guilty pleasures. I usually appreciate music that is based on honest songwriting, originality, and/or genuine authenticity. Sometimes though, I like music that's just plain catchy. However, at the same time it really should have some kind of substance. I also think music is extremely important. Music helps us create our world. Our own world that is, outside of our everyday menial realities. Perhaps trivial to some, but it's something that is tangible and real that can help us interpret the world around us from a myriad of perspectives. It also helps us find who we are. Songs, (and albums for that matter), can serve as snapshots or photo albums if you will, of moments, periods, or entire eras of our own lifetime. In many cases, they can be actual life-changing catalysts that help us transition into new phases of our lives.

     Although I was not brought up in an overtly musical environment, it was something I latched onto pretty enthusiastically at an early age. One of my earliest childhood memories is discovering Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison  on 8-Track in my parents' rather modest tape collection. I was pretty sure it was country music, just because that's all my parents listened to, but this guy was singing from prison. How bad ass is that? Of course, I later realized that he never actually served time, and that the album was of a performance for prisoners. However at the time this seemed pretty hardcore, although I never did actually listen to the tape.  I then shortly thereafter first heard Johnny Cash when I found another 8-Track tape with the song "Ring of Fire" on it. This became my first favourite song at about 5 years old. So the soundtrack of my early childhood mostly consisted of various types of country music. The honky tonk stylings of George Jones and Loretta Lynn through my mother, and the outlaw sounds of Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson by way of my father. It was from the exposure to this music that helped me appreciate the simple, honest and soulful ethic of this type of songwriting. When I was 11 years old, a relative had introduced me to the Copperhead Road album by Steve Earle. I was instantly taken with this entire record. It was essentially country, but at the same time it had such a gritty, rough-around-the-edges rock feel throughout.  I felt like this was country music that was my own, and not my parents. Fuck you Randy Travis. So, It was very shortly after this that it so happened that he was coming to town to play the Halifax Metro Centre. I managed to get my cousin to take me to the show, and this became my very first concert. He then returned the very following year on The Hard Way tour, which then became my second concert.
      Also, being a child of the 80's I became aware of lots of pop music of the era, which would eventually lend to my admiration of a solid pop hook. I mean, "Jessie's Girl" is just a damn catchy song. I don't mind admitting that. In the years of my pre-adolescence, my cousins would introduce me to Guns 'n Roses, Kiss, and Metallica. After having been pummeled with the onslaught of Conway Twitty and Charley Pride for so many years, this would prove to be a apt venue for my rebellion. The late 80's and into the early 90's my listening rotation consisted of a heavy diet of Metallica, G'NR, AC/DC and Aerosmith. This routine was suddenly shattered in September of 1991 when I saw the premiere of the video for Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Being 13 at the time, I was privileged enough to witness the complete change of cultural landscape at that time, which all began with this one song. From there came Pearl Jam's Ten, Alice In Chains' Dirt, and so on. So the first half of the nineties for me rotated around this new "alternative" revolution, as well as a deeper admiration for metal in the vein of Slayer and Pantera. (Metallica, of course having served as a gateway). As a result of leaning heavily on these 2 niches, Tool's Undertow and Rage Against The Machine's first album also became very important. Not to mention Soundgarden's Superunknown.

     So once more in my teenage life, my musical leanings would again be completely shaken in late 1995. This was the first time I heard Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves. A friend played it for me and it, quite literally, changed my life. Although previously aware of this type of music, this was my true baptism into the world of punk rock. Although, just in time for the oft-dismissed neo-punk revival, but for me it was all very new and exciting. (Having been born in 1978, I missed it the first time around). Not entirely unlike the charming simplicity of a good country song, a punk song I would find, could just as easily say so much with so much emotion across the back of 3 chords. It wouldn't be long thereafter that I would then seek out The Ramones and The Sex Pistols.
    It was also 1995 that I received my first acoustic guitar for Christmas. Having previously been hacking away at Metallica and Pantera riffs on my Yamaha RGX for the previous few years, I was introduced to a new avenue of musical expression. I began to dig up some of my parents' old Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson tapes, and started buying CD's by John Prine and Kris Kristofferson. Around 1996 or so I was awakened to the musical regality that is Neil Young.  Rust Never Sleeps seemed to be the apotheosis of everything that I loved about music at that time. Genuine acoustic folk ballads juxtaposed against the cacophony of a wall of noise and feedback. It was shortly after this that I discovered who would be my favourite band for many years to come. Social Distortion. I bought their self-titled album from 1990 after hearing their cover of "Ring of Fire" on the CKDU punk hour that used to be on every Friday night. This album further ingrained my devotion to punk rock, and was something I felt that spoke to me, as Mike Ness seamlessly blurred the lines between punk and country. Contemporary country music at the time had become nothing short of a production fueled novelty, which  just ended up being another branch of top 40 pop music. Social D's covers of country standards like "Making Believe" and "Ring of Fire", as well as their original songs seemed to fill the void left by what actually passed for valid country music at that time. I also found solace in Steve Earle's post-rehab records, and Johnny Cash's American series albums.
  
    My most recent obsession has been The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound. This record is the sound of pure rock 'n roll bliss. I listened to this album so much that both of my sons, now aged 9 and 5, both know the words to every song, and have to come to also love the band. Their following album, American Slang which came out this year, has also become a fixture in our house. So, in an effort to score some "cool Dad" points, and expose the boys to some real rock culture, I bought tickets for us all to see them play at the House of Blues in Boston last August. Here we were on the balcony section with by far the 2 youngest kids in the venue, rocking out and singing out every word of every song. This is so far one the most rewarding moments of my adult life.

    So these are just a few chosen highlights of my life of musical awakening. I still avidly listen to all of the albums I mentioned, in addition to a plethora of many others. I will say I am a big fan of the album format. I own approximately 300 vinyl records and about 600 CD's that I still actually play on my stereo. My iPod also has about 18,000 songs that are mostly part of full albums. I think a good record is the great artistic statement. Fusing together 10-15 songs to create one cohesive package can be the ultimate product of uncompromised artistic focus and vision. I'll forever lament the death of the album format by way of the MP3 revolution. (Although, I am guilty of benefitting from the technology myself). It's very rare that I listen to anything without listening to the album in it's entirety, and don't even usually skip the weaker tracks. In other words, it's not often that I use the "Shuffle" function.
    So, I'll be utilizing this blog to hammer out some thoughts on some of my favourite albums, as well as some not-so-favourite ones. Maybe even a few "top" lists here and there, in pure High Fidelity fashion. (Of course, one of my favourite movies). You know, just for fun.