Smog Lyrics Part I

I'm not sure how much of a market there is for this, but I'm going to do a series attempting to interpret Smog lyrics. He writes some weird but evocative phrases.
Here's the first installment:

'Cold Discovery' from the album Dongs of Sevotion.

And though your teeth have gnashed through death
Still you come to me so gently
And find a soft place on your body
And rub me with it

Of this I won't soon forget
You're the one that will remain
You're the one that will remain

Bust a lock with a rock
Don't need a key to have me
This was your cold discovery

We needed a fever then we needed a cure
The bait no longer lured
Say goodbye quick as you can
A car waits for me just across the border

Wish me luck no good luck no bad luck
Just wish me luck in my cold discovery
That you are gone
My cold discovery
That you're the one
That will remain

Oh I can hold a woman
Down on a hardwood floor
Oh I can hold a woman
Down on a hardwood floor
And her teeth can gnash right through me
Looking for a soft place
And of this you won't soon forget
I had no soft place for you to rest
And this was your cold discovery

I can hold a woman
Down on a hardwood floor
I can hold a woman
Down on a hardwood floor
And this was my cold discovery

Few saw it for what it really was

I think this song is about someone coming to terms with the fact that they are emotionally hardened and incapable of a loving relationship. It hints that the relationship may have been an abusive one. There is a contrast between soft and hard; the woman is associated with both softness and hardness ("And though your teeth have gnashed through death/Still you come to me so gently/And find a soft place on your body/And rub me with it") while the man is characterised as hardness alone ("bust a lock with a rock", "hardwood floor", "I had no soft place for you to rest"). The song's view of a functional relationship seems to be that both members need to compliment each other's hardness with the softness that they also possess. If a member of this relationship has only hardness then they cannot compliment the other person.

The woman's "cold discovery" is realising that her lover is emotionally incompatible with her, and does not have the compassion to soften the hardened parts of her personality. The man's "cold discovery" is the realisation that he is like this. He discovers that he is to blame for the failure of the relationship, that although the woman's "teeth can gnash right through him", she still has a softer side. His cold discovery is that cannot say this about himself, which is why the woman is the one that will remain, while he must leave ("a car waits for me just across the border").

The line "I can hold a woman down on a hardwood floor" implies that the man has abused the strength he has over the woman. I don't think it's referring to rape; I get the impression it's about an argument gone too far, that the man is realising how violent he is capable of being. This is the point where they both make a "cold discovery", and the relationship collapses. The man is now in a situation where he must confront the truth about himself. He wants some sort of closure to the relationship but knows he cannot ask for much, after what he has done ("Wish me luck no good luck no bad luck/Just wish me luck in my cold discovery").

The last line is the man's confession of why the relationship ended. That few saw it for what it really was but he admits the blame must rest solely on his hardened shoulders. It's a confronting song.

Eclectic? Really?

A lot of people use the word "eclectic" to describe their taste in music. What this usually means, is that they like rock and/or pop music. Is it really eclectic to listen to Metallica and Jack Johnson? They're both expressions of popular music and both have been played on Top 40 radio. They might not sound the same, but they are both influenced to some degree by blues music, and I don't think they're that far apart, in terms of their genre. Surely, for a music collection to be truly labelled "eclectic", it would need to contain music as broad as classical baroque, jazz, Peking opera, traditional Celtic folk songs, Indigenous Australian music, and Western contemporary music.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with listening to a limited area of music; I have a very limited taste, and nearly all the CDs I have would fall comfortably within the "alternative rock/pop" pigeon hole. I'm just pointing out that it's not eclectic.

Modern Britpop

I'm finding the latest wave of Britpop (I know Britpop died when Oasis released 'Be Here Now' but it's still a cool term) to be quite bland and uninspiring. Bands like The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Babyshambles, Franz Ferdinand, The Cribs, The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys etc... They all sound alike and their sound isn't that great. It seems the days of interesting British bands are over (for the time being anyway). Pulp, Blur, Supergrass etc were good bands with character. Jarvis Cocker was a character (still is), but the members of these current bands all seem like twats (to use the vernacular).

Can anybody recommend some good, new British music?

American Hardcore

The other night I watched American Hardcore, a documentary on the hardcore/punk scene in early 80s America. It's basically just fragmented interviews with people like Henry Rollins and Ian Mackaye, with some live footage of prominent bands. A few things occurred to me when I watched it:

1. I would have been ecstatic about this film about 10 years ago. I loved this music when I was a teenager, but as far as I was aware, there was limited access to American hardcore bands in Tassie. Now, I don't have as much interest in it.

2. All of the hardcore guys that were interviewed, said that they were sick of rock music and thought that punk was boring. They thought that most music had become too generic and they wanted to do something different. What they didn't acknowledge is that most of the hardcore bands from that scene sounded exactly the same! The Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds... there's not a lot of variety.

3. These guys prided themselves on not being able to play their instruments and just making loud, fast noise. However, this film implied that there was a general consensus that Bad Brains were a highly respected hardcore band on the scene because of their music ability and tightness as a band...

4. It's funny to see men in their 50s that are still trying to be punk; still dressing and acting the same way they did when they were 18. Most of these guys came across as huge nerds. Except for Henry Rollins, whom you wouldn't dare call any kind of name.

The best Kings of Leon album

Is Youth and Young Manhood. I don't think they've been able to match the quality of songs on this, their debut album. The Kings have a raw, swampy sound that I'm sure many other bands wish they could replicate. If you are thinking about buying a Kings of Leon album, this is the one to get.

Aha Shake Heartbreak - Not bad. The whole album sounds great, but there aren't as many memorable tunes, as there are on Manhood.

Because of the Times - On this album, the boys went for a more sonic vibe, and it works pretty well. Half of the songs on here are brilliant ('Fans', 'Arizona', 'The Runner', 'On Call'), the rest of the album is decent but not super.

Only by the Night - A grand attempt, and you have to give them credit for trying out a different sound. The songs tick all the boxes but they didn't make me want to re-play them. In my opinion, what made them so exciting on Youth and Young Manhood, is not present on this album (something that I can't really back up, because this album is by far their biggest hit. Clearly I'm in the minority).