Ain't Nothing But a G Thing

Here we are again, time for you to read another long blog post. This time, it's for the G's. The G's were as interesting as usual, lots of variety mixed with a few things I was not too fond of. There are several artists who I've listened to pretty consistently over the past few years, but there were a few who I hadn't really listened to much less thought about in the past few years. This post will be slightly shorter than the previous post. As anybody who has read even one post on this blog has already figured out, the length of the post depends on the number of artists in the letter's playlist. The F's had twenty nine artists and thirty two paragraphs, the G's had twenty two artists so this post will contain twenty four paragraphs. So sit down, and make sure you've set aside some time, because you're going to be here for a while reading this and watching the videos.

The G's start out with what can best be described as a two and done artist, Gang of Four. Gang of Four contribute two songs to this playlist, but both are from different compilations. The first "To Hell With Poverty," comes from the compilation box set Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The 80's Underground, and the second "Love Like Anthrax" comes from the compilation box set No Thanks: The 70's Punk Rebellion. Gang of Four are considered post-punk by those looking to define their genre, they play punk rock mixed with different musical styles like dub reggae. Their songs, as you might have been able to guess from the title of the first song "To Hell With Poverty," are politically and socially motivated. They write songs about social issues and the problems with the political system. I wasn't really familiar with this band before getting these box sets, but I liked their songs upon first listen. When I moved on to other music, I forgot about these songs for a bit. I was happy to hear them again for this blog. I probably won't seek these songs out, but I look forward to them coming up again when I put my iPod on shuffle. Fans of post-punk should definitely check out Gang of Four.

The next artist is the first artist on the playlist to have the presence of an entire album on the playlist. Garbage is a band out of Madison, Wisconsin who gained mainstream success with their debut album, which went double platinum after its release in 1995. The band was formed by Butch Vig, producer of Nirvana's Nevermind, who along with his two other band mates convinced Scottish singer Shirley Manson to sing for them. The band plays an interesting brand of Alternative Rock that shows influences from bands like Blondie and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I first heard Garbage with the release of their fourth album, 2005's Bleed Like Me, and the single "Why Do You Love Me." I had heard of Garbage before this, but had never bothered to check them out. Shirley Manson and Butch Vig were names I was familiar with but I hadn't heard their music. Some long time Garbage fans weren't big fans of Bleed Like Me as it was even more pop oriented then their previous albums. I liked the album, enjoying Shirley Manson's vocals quite a bit. Listening to it again six years after its release I still enjoy it, but I'm not sure if I were to hear it today for the first time that I would purchase the album again. Honestly I had forgotten about this album before listening to it again for this blog. I had scrolled past it on numerous occasions, but had never bothered to click on it. I recommend Garbage for fans of the 90's brand of Alternative Rock, Blondie, or Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Garbage "Bleed Like Me"


Our first one and done artist, Gatsby's American Dream, follow Garbage on the playlist. Gatsby's American Dream appear on this playlist courtesy of the compilation A Santa Cause: It's A Punk Rock Christmas. Gatsby's American Dream are an indie rock band out of Seattle, and for this compilation they did their own version of the A Charlie Brown Christmas classic "Christmas Time Is Here." The song is an interesting one, very sparse and this is a good thing in my eyes, too often bands try to take classics we all know and love and do big over produced versions. I like this version, the vocals are the main focus and the backing chorus is a nice touch that reminds you of the original. It can't match up to the original song that we all remember from our childhood, but it's not a terrible version.

Gatsby's American Dream are followed by yet another one and done artist, Gene Vincent. Gene Vincent was one for the pioneers or rock and roll and rockabilly music. He began performing in the late 1950's with his band The Blue Caps. The band featured that classic rockabilly style of guitar mixed with stand up bass and sparse drums. You can hear the blues and country influences in the music, and in the way he sings. I've always enjoyed classic rockabilly, and I can definitely hear the beginnings of the genre in this track. The genre that would spawn influential artists such as Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran. I enjoyed this song, and so should anybody who is a fan of Rockabilly.

Next up is a band similar to Gang of Four in the fact that they have multiple tracks on this playlist contributed by compilations. Generation X are a British Punk Rock band who formed in the late 70's. Generation X never really achieved mainstream success and broke up after releasing two albums. The band while punk rock in their overall sound took influence from British pop music too. Their songs weren't as rough or loud as their punk counterparts, this was due to the pop sensibilities of the song writers. Lead singer Billy Idol would go on to commercial success as a solo artist, his most famous songs being "Dancing With Myself," and "White Wedding." Billy Idol became known for his scowl and his spiked bleach blond hair. Idol's music as a solo artist is very similar to the music that he made with Generation X. So if you like Billy Idol than you should like Generation X, and this is the case for me. I like "Dancing With Myself" and "White Wedding" quite a bit, they're probably two of my favorite 80's songs. I hear "White Wedding," on alternative radio stations to this day. I enjoy these songs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The Germs are up next on the playlist with the song "Lexicon Devil." The Germs were a Los Angles Punk rock who formed in the late 70's and had a significant influence on punk acts that followed them despite only releasing one album. The band is very highly regarded among those in the punk rock community, often held up as an example. The band disbanded just a few years after forming and after only one album due to the suicide of lead singer Darby Crash. I first heard of the band when I was becoming more interested in punk rock back in 2005, and often heard The Germs were a good band to check out for those looking to delve deeper into the genre. I like "Lexicon Devil," it's a really good punk song, and one that I will come back to again when I want to hear good punk rock music.

The Get Up Kids make an appearance as a one and done artist on this playlist with the song "Lion And The Lamb," off of the Rock Against Bush: Volume 1 compilation. The song is a low key song, not fast like a punk song but not slow like a ballad might be. It's kind of a mellow sounding song about war and its causes. The band not normally political, most likely wrote this song just for the compilation. The song is a pretty good one for a style of music that I don't listen to very often. The band is often considered part of the "emo" movement that started with Jimmy Eat World in the 90's. The song is enjoyable, but not one I listen to consistently.

The first artist with a significant contributions to the playlist (14%), is Girl Talk. Girl Talk is a DJ based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania named Greg Gillis. Girl Talk specializes in what are called mash-ups. He takes songs from multiple artists and "mashes" them together to create a brand new song. He takes a mix of pop, hip hop, country, alternative, and classic rock to make his tracks. For instance the track "Triple Double" off of his new album All Day starts off with a mix of Phoenix's "1901" and Ludacris' "How Low." The track starts with Ludacris rapping over "1901," and then when he gets to the chorus of "How Low Can You Go?" it is immediately followed by the Phoenix lyric "Fallin, Fallin, Fallin." Girl talk has gained national attention for his mixes, partially due to their high quality but mostly for the fact that he doesn't pay for any of his samples. He samples 373 artists on the album All Day and didn't pay one of them for use of their songs citing "fair use." In order to get away with this, he has been giving away his albums for free. He has offered his last two albums as pay what you feel it's worth, meaning you can download it for free or give him a few bucks for it. I was introduced to Girl Talk by my older brother back in 2006 when he first started gaining national attention for his album Night Ripper. My brother burned me Night Ripper and I've been hooked ever since. I love the mixes he creates, the samples that he puts together makes songs I wouldn't normally like ("How Low") and makes me want to listen. I look forward to his next release whenever that may be. In the mean time, I would love to be able to go see him live for the third time. His concerts are just one big sweaty dance party, and tons of fun! I recommend Girl Talk for anybody who really liked Danger Mouse's mash up of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album.

Girl Talk "Triple Double"



Next up is Los Angles soul artist Gloria Jones and her classic soul song "Tainted Love." The song was made famous by the band Soft Cell but Jones recorded the original. The song is a wonderful example of classic soul at its best. Her voice is beautiful and she has a great backing band. It's a song all about a toxic relationship, she sings about running away from the relationship, she says she needs to "get away from the pain." She sings "Once I ran to you, now I run from you." It's a song about a touchy subject that wasn't talked about a lot back in 1964 when she released the song. I have a soft spot for classic soul, I don't usually seek it out but enjoy it thoroughly when it comes on.

Next up is another artist with multiple albums on this playlist. Gnarls Barkley are a hip hop collaboration between New York DJ/Producer Danger Mouse and Atlanta Rapper/Soul Singer Cee Lo Green. Cee Lo gained notoriety in the 90's for being part of the Atlanta rap group Goodie Mob, a group considered innovative for their time. Danger Mouse as has been mentioned previously on this blog gained attention with his mash ups, and produced the Gorillaz album Demon Days, which will be talked about later on in this post. The two joined forces in 2006 to release their first album St. Elsewhere. The album is a mix of Cee Lo rapping and singing over Danger Mouse produced beats. The album featured the radio smash hit "Crazy." The song was named the song of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine. The album also produced the singles "Smiley Faces," and a cover of the Violent Femmes classic "Gone Daddy Gone," neither of which gained much popularity on the radio. To this day whenever "Crazy" comes on everybody around you will start humming or singing along. The success of Gnarl Barkley led to the sparking of Cee Lo's solo career as a soul artist. I first heard Gnarls Barkley the same way most people did, by hearing "Crazy." The song is a spectacular example of hip hop and soul done right, and is insanely infectious. I really liked the song so I purchased the album, and I was not disappointed. The rest of the album is full of great songs, there really isn't a bad track on the album. The follow up album was The Odd Couple and it was another album just full of great songs, but not quite as good as St. Elsewhere. I look forward to the release of more music from these two gifted musicians.

Gnarls Barkley "Crazy"


Another one and done artist, The Go-Betweens, follow Gnarls Barkley on this playlist. The Go-Between were an Australian Indie Rock band formed near the end of the 70's that gained moderate popularity in Australia and abroad. The song on this playlist is "Cattle And Cane," and is one of their most well respected songs. The song was named one of the Top 30 Australian songs by The Australian Performing Rights Association. The song is a good one, it's got a nice simple sound and is a good listen. I wasn't familiar with this band at all before getting this song from the compilation box set Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The 80's Underground. It was not one of the songs that stood out upon my first couple listens to the box set, and I wasn't familiar with it until this blog. I doubt I'll pay it much more attention after this, but at least I'll recognize it better if it comes on when I put my iPod on shuffle.

The Go Go's are up to bat next. The Go Go's were an all female New Wave rock group that formed at the end of the 70's and gained popularity in the 1980's. Their debut album went double platinum. launching their career to its highest point. The Go Go's are considered to be one of the best all female rock bands, and according to their Wikipedia article they were the first all female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to reach the top of the Billboard charts. The song is a fun new wave pop rock song. It has fun vocals and a good musical arrangement. Their sound paved the way for other New Wave bands who would come along with a similar sound, and you can hear the New Wave style that would become en vogue later in the 80's. I like this song, it's a fun song to listen to and something I enjoy when I comes on. I can't say that I was very familiar with it before the blog, the song was put on my computer by my older brother for the party to celebrate his wedding. I recommend this song to fans of New Wave music.

Next up is an interesting group in The Go! Team. The Go! Team mixes several genres together to form their unique brand of indie rock mixed with hip hop. Lead vocalist Ninja switches back and forth between singing and rapping while being backed by live instruments. The band also employs samples and guest performances to complete this unique style of music. Their hip hop style is closer to the old school style of the 80's and early 90's than today's hip hop, and the live instrumentation routinely employs distorted guitars over lively up tempo drums and varied accompaniment. I first heard The Go! Team back around the time their album Proof of Youth came out back in 2007. I had been reading good things about The Go! Team in music magazines and decided to check them out. I popped down to Ear X-tacy and gave the album a listen. I really liked the first song, the first single, "Grip Like A Vice" so I purchased the album. The rest of the album isn't quite as strong as the opening track, which is a powerful song about how powerful women are. Guest rapper Lisa Lee raps lyrics like "it's a women's world, you've got to give it what you got," and " fly girls, and if you're ready to rock, to help me turn it out?" This for me is probably the best song on the album, and it's such a fun song it is hard to match. The rest of the album is good, but not great. The songs are generally high energy and fun to listen to, but get a little old halfway through the album. I like the album well enough to come back to it occasionally, but not consistently.

The Go! Team "Grip Like A Vice"


Next up, breaking up the larger contributors, is another song off of the much maligned and regretted The Blackest Album: An Industrial Tribute To Metallica. This time the artist destroying a classic Metallica song is Godhead. A band, unlike most of the others, that I have actually heard of. The fact that I have heard of them before doesn't make this song any better. The song is completely electronic, the programming tries to sound a bit like instruments but it doesn't work. There are live instruments in the band, but they're drowned out by the programming. I'm not a fan of this song at all, avoid it.

Next up is a band that I've been thoroughly enjoying for several years now, Gogol Bordello. Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy Punk band that formed in New York City at the end of the 90's. The band features a cadre of foreign nationals, mostly from Russia and the Ukraine, only two of the nine members of the band are from the United States. The band plays punk rock infused with traditional gypsy music, prominently featuring an accordion and fiddle. Lead singer Eugene Hutz is a Ukrainian immigrant, and brings the influence of his world view to the music. The songs routinely switch between English, Portuguese and Russian. Their songs are high energy, and make you want to get out of your seat and dance. This high energy is translated to their live show, where they are known for their frantic high energy performances. The music gets the crowd riled up and the band follows suit, the band is known for riding a bass drum over the heads and hands of their crowd. This is a band that I first heard when I watched them perform on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. They performed the first single off of their third album Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, "Start Wearing Purple." "Start Wearing Purple," has become probably their most well known song to casual observers, and was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Everything is Illuminated. Eugene Hutz has also appeared in several feature films including Everything is Illuminated. I really enjoy their high energy culture infused brand of punk rock. Their songs are infectious and hard not to sing along to. I had the pleasure of seeing them perform live, and would do so again in a heartbeat. I love the cultural mix that comes out in their music. With their most recent album they added a Brazilian influence to the mix, that makes for even more interesting music. Eugene Hutz moved to Brazil before the release of their last album Transcontinental Hustle, and the move is what inspired the album. I recommend Gogol Bordello for fans of cultural music and for fans of bands like Flogging Molly.

Gogol Bordello "American Wedding"


Next up is the first "virtual" band to grace this playlist, The Gorillaz. The Gorillaz is the project of former Blur front man Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. The band consists of animated band members 2D (lead vocals, keyboard, rhythm guitar), Murdoc (bass), Noodle (lead guitar), and Russel (drums). The band plays a mix of styles including: alternative rock, pop, hip hop, and electronic music. The hip hop aspect comes from guest spots by indie hip hop artists such as Del the Funkee Homosapien, and appear as what are called "rap demons" born from Russel. The band gained popularity in 2001 with the track "Clint Eastwood," a slow almost plodding song. The song sounds a bit monotone, featuring the high pitched voice of Damon Albarn as 2D. The track is simple, but that doesn't mean it's bad. The song is repetitive, purposely so, but is broken up in the middle by a rap from Del the Funkee Homosapien. It's a really great mix or styles and the song is a great one. Their style has evolved over the course of their three albums, but has retained some consistency in sound, there is always a mix of slow songs and dance worthy songs. Their second album Demon Days featured similar songs to their debut Gorillaz but not so much so that it was just a repeat. The album and its single "Feel Good Inc." are widely considered to be the bands best work. Albran and Hewitt have created a whole virtual universe for the band, their music videos form the basis of a story about the band that is continued in videos produced for their website and as promos for the albums. There is a story behind this "virtual" band. For instance Noodles disappears from the band in the video for "El Manana", so Murdoc creates a Cyborg version of Noodles out of Noodles' DNA to replace her. There is an entire back story for the cyborg, which I won't go into here but if you're interested you can find it at Cyborg Noodle. I heard the band for the first time back in 2001 when I saw the video for "Clint Eastwood" on MTV. I liked the song a lot, purchased the debut and my love for this band has grown from there. I will enjoy Gorillaz for a long time, and look forward to more music from them. I would recommend Gorillaz to fans of Blur and Indie Rap.

Gorillaz "Feel Good Inc."


Next up is the one and done artist Gossip. Gossip is an indie rock group out of Olympia, Washington. The band plays a mix of dance punk, and indie rock. The band consists of lead singer Beth Ditto, Brace Paine on guitar, and Hannah Blilie on drums. The band plays an upbeat style of rock, with some of the ferocity of punk music mixed in, hence the dance punk label. The band has become an icon in the LGBT community for their music and staunch defense of LGBT rights. The song included on this playlist is the title track off of their breakthrough 2006 album Standing In The Way Of Control. The song is a song that I have been enjoying since my older brother gave it to me. The song features powerful vocals by Ditto which really enhance the musical aspects of the song. I will continue to like this song for the foreseeable future.

The beloved Classic Rock group Grand Funk Railroad follow Gossip on this playlist. The track featured here is their most popular track "We're An American Band." This classic track is an ode to their fans, the band sings about how critics have panned them yet they are loved by audiences. The song is a classic and is very much in the popular rock style of the 70's. I've been familiar with this song for a long time, and I've enjoyed it for just about as long. As I grew older and gained a greater appreciation for the history of rock and roll, I gained even more appreciation for this song. This is probably one of my favorite classic rock songs.

As we enter the bottom quarter of the playlist we have Green Day following Grand Funk Railroad. Green Day are a California punk rock trio that began their career 1987 playing underground clubs in Berkley, California. They were part of a punk scene nick named "snot core," and they gained a large underground following inside this movement. They started gaining notoriety after the release of their second album Kerplunk in 1992, and gained such a large following that they were signed to a major label. The band released their third album Dookie in 1994 on Reprise Records. The band gained an even larger following with this critically acclaimed album, but were considered sellouts by many of their long time fans from the "snot core" scene. The band went on to release Insomniac which also gained wide popularity, but the band lost the public's interest and began to decline. They were losing relevance in the eyes of the music public. The band's popularity rebounded and the skyrocketed with the release of 2004's American Idiot. The album was a sharp change in style for the band, the album was full of serious and politically charged themes. The band had previously showed no interest in politics, their early music had been labeled "snot core" in reference to their youth and often immature themes. American Idiot produced their greatest chart success to date, debuting at number one. The songs are all centered around the life of a character named "The Jesus of Suburbia," and featured several tracks that were much longer than your standard Green Day song (2 songs were over 9 minutes long). The band then released another politically charged "rock opera," 21st Century Breakdown. The albums sound is very similar in style to American Idiot. These two albums renewed their mainstream popularity, and inspired a Broadway musical. I first started listening to Green Day when my older brother gave me Dookie for my birthday. I wasn't so hot on it at first, because I was really big into Metallica at the time. A number of years later and after hearing their songs on the radio for years, I checked the album out again and liked it. I enjoy the pop punk style of Green Day, they know how to write a catchy radio oriented rock song. I enjoy Dookie quite a bit, and I like American Idiot a lot too. I wasn't as big of a fan of 21st Century Breakdown, but it's still a good album. Anybody who likes Blink 182 and Sum 41 will most likely enjoy Green Day.

Green Day "When I Come Around"


Following Green Day we have a one and done artist from the compilation box set Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The 80's Underground, Green On Red. Green on Red were a new wave/psychedelic rock band from Arizona who formed at the end of the 70's, but were most active in the 80's. The song featured here is the title track off of their second album Gravity Talks. The song prominently features the keyboard, a style common to a lot of psychedelic bands from the time. The vocals aren't spectacular, but they fit the song well. I don't know much about this band, and wasn't familiar with this song before the compilation and the blog. It wasn't a stand out song on the compilation for me. It's enjoyable but nothing special.

The final one and done artist, and the second to last artist on the playlist, is Guitar Wolf. Guitar Wolf is a Japanese Noise Punk Trio. The band formed near the end of the 80's, and have become known for their loud, heavily distorted, guitars and aggressive vocals. The track featured here is a cover of the Eddie Cochran classic "Summertime Blues." I like this song and it's loud and aggressive style, but if not for the lyrics it would be very hard to determine what the song was a cover of. I first heard of Guitar Wolf through my older brother, who put this track on my computer, and then as part of a compilation of Japanese bands. While I enjoy this song, the difficulty of finding any Japanese music, outside of the most popular bands, in the US has made it difficult for me to even attempt to dig deeper into this band. I like this song, and so should fans of Japanese rock and roll and noise rock.

The final artist to grace the G's is The Gun Club. The Gun Club were a punk rock band that mixed blues and rockabilly influences. This mix created the roots of a genre of music that would come to be known as psychobilly. The band is one of a group of bands credited for creating the Hollywood rock and roll scene. I first heard of The Gun Club from my older brother, who was a fan, and he gave me their debut album Fire of Love. I like this album, it is an interesting mix of styles. I have heard some modern psychobilly, and it's interesting to hear what is sort of an early version of the genre. The songs are great at really letting their genre influences shine through. You can hear a lot of blues in their slow songs, and then when they speed it up you hear a lot of rockabilly influence. Despite having this album, I hadn't really listened to The Gun Club in depth before this blog. I like the album quite a bit, and am sorry that I hadn't listened to it in depth before now. I'm not sure if I'll delve deeper into this band's Discography, but I'm not opposed to the idea.

The Gun Club "She's Like Heroin To Me"


Well that will do it for the G's, I hope you enjoyed this post. Please leave me comments with thoughts, suggestions, and even corrections if you think I got something wrong. Comments let me know you're reading this, so please be kind and leave one.