Gomez vs. The Wu Tang Clan

Recently I had an impossible decision to make. On August 7, 2011 UK’s Gomez would be visiting for one show only at the Astor Theater, Perth while about an 8 minute drive away, one of the most amazing groups in Hip Hop history, the Wu-Tang Clan, would be visiting all the way from New York.

After a lot of thinking I decided I would see the Wu, being that all but the RZA were attending the show, Western Australia had never seen a full (or almost full) Wu-Tang line up before, and I was certain I would have opportunities to see Gomez again (who I had already seen live at least 9 times, never the Wu) before another Wu show came round. 

So with that tough decision made I accepted it would be Wu-Tang for me. The day before the show I was speaking to a friend who used to work at the Astor and was attending the Gomez show about set times as I had just heard that Wu-Tang weren’t on until 10. He informed me that Gomez needed to be finished up by 10 due to noise restrictions, and just like that I was seeing my favorite band and my favorite rappers on the same night.

Round One: GOMEZ

Anyone who has seen Gomez before can tell you they are a great live band. On seeing them live it becomes clear just how talented each member of the group actually is. Three leads on vocals, regular swapping up of instruments and different sounding songs every time you see them make for a unique show every time.

While their sets are often quite predictable (they do not change it up as much as a band such as Pearl Jam would), they are always enjoyable and usually feature a surprise here or there in the form of an alternative version of a song or the inclusion of an odd track or cover for the fans. Sunday’s fan track came in the form of Waster, a lovely little ditty from their Machismo EP from 2000 (a song I had requested them to play on their Facebook page- yeah I know it was probably a coincidence but I am hanging on to that one).

I did unfortunately have to leave early and so only saw an hour and 15 from the band (which I believe was most of the set anyway). Tracks included (cant remember the order and this it not a complete set list): Here Comes The Breeze, Get Myself Arrested, Bring It On, Fill My Cup, Hangover, Waster, Ruff Stuff, Sweet Virginia, Notice, I Will Take You There, Whatever’s On Your Mind, Airstream Driver & Equalize.

Round Two: WU-TANG CLAN

This was one of the most bizarrely promoted shows I have ever known of. Secretive almost, cryptic posts on facebook, strange competitions, disgruntled fans and all other sorts of controversy could only mean that we were indeed looking at a Wu-Tang Clan show.

From the very beginning it was made clear that all surviving members but the RZA would be in attendance. This sucked a little as the RZA is without a doubt my favorite member of the group (I did see him a while back at Villa Nightclub so it was not the end of the world). Leading up to the event, childish online potty mouths let fly at promoters upon learning that Method Man, who was scheduled to appear, had not made it to Australia. While this was admittedly quite disappointing, the promoters did offer apologies explaining that they had not been given an explanation and there was little they could do about it. That said, we would still be seeing the most complete line-up of the Clan on our shores to date: GZA, Masta Killa, Raekwon, Ghostface, Inspectah Deck, U-God and ODB’s son, Young Dirty stepping into his fathers shoes.

After a text message from a friend in line at Wu-Tang telling me to hurray up, I high tailed it to Metro City and entered, ready for a the Clan. This was without a doubt the biggest crowd I have ever seen at Metro City. All levels were opened up and there was very little room to see anything. It took us a good twenty minutes to find a spot and after some classic hip-hop the Wu-Tang Clan took to the stage.

As far as performances go, the Wu-Tang Clan are not exactly musically sound and are far from a life changing experience. Lyrics are shouted into the mic, feedback rings out from each member yelling at the same time (at one point Ghostface was screaming at the sound tech to turn his mic up, I couldn’t help but think maybe he should have just left it where it was) and songs consisted of 30 seconds to about one minute clips of each track.

That said, it was the mother fu*%ing Wu-Tang Clan and they were a little bit awesome. The crowd’s energy was amazing all night, the set included classics drawn heavily from their earlier days (which many didn’t seem to mind, I would have liked to have seen some newer stuff) and an army of W’s were held high for most of the show.

I knew exactly what I was getting myself into with this show and would be lying if I said I was disappointed. It was pretty special. My only gripe is the same I had when I saw Ghostface a while back at the same venue; Instead of finishing on a high and going out strong, the Clan did the whole ‘we are dirty old men’ thing bringing girls up from the crowd to dance awkwardly on stage while someone hand-picked potential groupies for the after show orgy. As with Ghostface, this went for about twenty minutes right at the end of the show. Given the crowd and fans are primarily young males, this just did not sit well and is the biggest anti-climax to a live show I have ever witnessed.

That aside, the show was great. RZA and the M.E.T.H.O.D. Man were missed, but I am glad I went and am stoked I saw both. The set included snippets from: Bring Da Ruckus, Shame On A Nigga, Clan In Da Front, Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing Ta Fuck With, C.R.E.A.M., Reunited, Gravel Pit, Liquid Swords, 4^th Chamber, Ice Cream, No Said Date, Shimmy Shimmy Ya, Got Your Money, Brooklyn Zoo, Cherchez La Ghost,  and a bunch of other tracks. 

Gomez – Are Your Friends

I really like Gomez. They are without a doubt one of, if not the best bands in existence in 2011. They debuted in 1998 with the brilliant album Bring it On. and have continued to bring it on for 13 years now with a catalog of amazing tunes and exceptional albums. Gomez recently released their 7^th studio album Whatever’s On Your Mind. It is a return to form for Gomez, finding, I think, the perfect balance between their more recent and mature soft-rock sound and the quirkiness and unique sounds of their earlier days.

The band consists primarily of five members, all of which are talented musicians. Gomez’ unique sound comes from a broad and diverse range of influences, talented songwriting and unrivaled vocal delivery from three front men. Each of the vocalists in the band has a distinctly different sound and style and it is when all three sing together that the magic truly happens. The deep husky tones of Ben Ottewell mixed with the sweet pop-sounding styles of Ian Ball and the almost crooner-ish style of Tom Gray make for a diverse and highly original sounding dynamic. The three front men are backed by a solid rhythm section in Paul “Blackie” Blackburn and Olly Peacock.

Asides from killer harmonies, having three different vocalists makes for a refreshing change in sound from track to track and it is possibly this aspect of the group that make Gomez’ records so timeless. When first listening to an album, you will likely be grabbed by one of the three voices. When you listen to the tracks you may find you prefer the ones sung by a particular member of the group. You will smash these songs on repeat over and over until you begin to tire of them. Then you won’t listen to the album for a while. Then you’ll put it on again and find that you are finding songs by one of the other singers more interesting this time round. Then you will repeat the process etc. Their music simply does not become stale.

Vocals are one thing, musicianship and songwriting are another. It is when a band nails all of these areas that a truly special record is made. Gomez have evidently nailed this many times now in the form of seven uniquely brilliant studio releases, an outstanding compilation of outtakes in Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, an excellent pre 2007 retrospective in Five Men In A Hut, a kick-ass live album; Out West and a number of amazing EP’s and singles such as Machismo and Detroit Swing 66/Ping One Down.

Vocal sounds aside, from track to track, the sounds of each song vary quite a bit but always contain a certain unique sort of Gomez sound or swagger evident in every track this band has ever written. It is their distinct sound that sets them aside from the millions of other alternative indie-rock-ish type bands that share the genre. They are simply unlike anyone else making music today and certainly were unlike anyone in 1998 when Bring It On was released.

New album; Whatever’s On Your Mind is not the band’s strongest release to date, but it is an outstanding effort. Gomez have proven to be reliable in that they simply do not disappoint. In 13 years of listening to their music, I have never once felt let down by a release. Even Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, a collection of unreleased tracks and outtakes was and remains an amazing album in itself. It is hard to rank albums of a band like Gomez when they set the bar so high. My least favorite Gomez album; A New Tide is still a much stronger and better release than many other albums from many other bands that I enjoy.

While undoubtedly successful, they remain criminally underrated and underappreciated in popular circles. It simply does not make sense that they are not headlining festivals and being showered with the praise and love that they deserve. I guess the beauty of their ‘supporting slot’ status is being able to see them in intimate venues and clubs such as Fremantle’s Fly By Night.

I can not emphasize enough how amazing this band is. They may take a few listens, they may not become your favorite band of all time, but I challenge you to give them a good go and not become hooked.

Bring It On [1998]

Debut from the band and a nice introduction to who they are. Contains many fan favorites such as Get Miles, Whippin’ Piccadilly, Make No Sound, Tijuana Lady and Get Myself Arrested. Every track is killer, for me, personally, highlights include; Free to Run, Love Is Better than A Warm Trombone and Bubblegum Years. This album for me was a classic example of how their sound can grow on you. I was originally lured in by Ben Ottewell’s voice and thrashed the tracks he features on. As I listened more I started to enjoy the Tom Gray led tracks a little more. Now I enjoy the whole album track for track for the amazing debut that it is.

Liquid Skin [1999]

The whole difficult second album thing was no thing for this band. They followed up the brilliance of Bring It On with an arguably stronger release in Liquid Skin. Liquid Skin shares a similar feeling to Bring It On, it has the vibe of being the debut albums elder, more mature brother. The crowd pleasers on this album include: Hangover, Bring It On, We Haven’t Turned Around and Rhythm & Blues Alibi. This whole album is amazing and picking favorite tracks is difficult. I do really like Devil Will Ride and Revolutionary Kind, but I think, a bit like Bring It On, this album is best listened to as a whole, rather than in pieces as it is superbly constructed.

Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline [2000]

This is collection of outtakes, b-sides and rarities that flows like an album. There are some amazing tracks on here and it could have quite easily been released as the band’s third album. The fact that an outtake compilation so strong could be released of the back of only two albums says a lot about the caliber of this band. Notable tracks include Bring Your Lovin’ Back Here, Flavors and the epic Buena Vista.

Machismo [2000] & Detroit Swing 66/Ping One Down [2002]

In my opinion two of the best EP’s of all time. Most of the tracks on the Detroit Swing… EP can be found on the Five Men In A Hut compilation but the Machismo EP is well worth tracking down. The EP contains five awesome tracks totally around 24 minutes. Machismo marked the beginning of a new more electronic sounding Gomez as evident in the title track. Touchin’ Up is simply a beautiful song and Waster is about as much fun as you can have in a song. It was around the release of the Machismo EP that saw the bands first visit to Perth, Western Australia, with a concert at Metro City. This show confirmed for me the brilliance of this band as their live show was equal to if not better than their recordings, something not all bands as complex as Gomez can pull off.

In Our Gun [2002]

Marked the first real significant change in sound for the band. A more electronic sound was making its way into the tracks, creating a real different sound in In Our Gun compared the their two previous albums. Shot Shot, Ruff Stuff, In Our Gun, Ping One Down & Detroit Swing 66 receive regular spots in the band’s live sets but highlights for me on this album include: Sound of Sounds, Miles End, 1000 times and Drench.

Split The Difference [2004]

What a brilliant album this is. For me, this is the album where Gomez found the perfect balance between their old and new sound. This is a less Indie-alternative sounding release and a more pop/rock sounding effort. There are more up-tempo tracks with a slight step back from the synth-electro sound. 14 tracks of rocking guitar riffs, nice harmonies and a general positive feeling and throughout. It is Tom Gray who shines for me on this one with highlights including; Silence, Sweet Virginia and Catch Me Up.

Out West (Live At The Fillmore) [2005]

A live double-album recorded in San Francisco showcases how good a band Gomez are live. There is a good mix of new and old on the album, including two covers, one a great version of Tom Waits' Going Out West.

Five Men In A Hut [2006]

A split from their record label resulted in the retrospective; Five Men In A Hut. It is more than a best of in that it contains many b-sides and rarities. A release worth having but certainly no substitute for their albums. The track Step Inside is a great example of the power of Ben Ottewell’s voice. Dire Tribe is mental, Flight is beautiful and Chicken Bones is very different and very cool.

How We Operate [2006]

Another great release and another change in sound. Here we see a more mature and relaxed Gomez. This album is less rocky and far more relaxed. This does not mean however that it is any less brilliant, just different. The opening track Notice was the perfect choice to set the mood of the album and is such a nice song (The brief pauses and timing in the song I think is the bands way of saying, ‘we are still here’). This album I think is the bands most accessible and probably found them many new fans. Highlights for me include Notice, Girlshapedlovedrug, All Too Much, Don’t Make Me Laugh and the title track How We Operate (which interestingly includes a section from an unreleased track from ’98 called Brother Lead).

A New Tide [2009]

A new tide indeed. This is exactly what it should have been. The next logical step from How We Operate. This is a really easy to listen to album. It is much less rocky, much less electronic sounding and overall a very chilled and laid back listening experience. I did say earlier it was my least favorite release, this is not to say it is not impressive. It is a very good album, but is also a change in pace for the band. It is hard to pick highlights off of this album but I do really enjoy; Mix, Little Pieces, Win Park Slope, Natural Selection, Other Plans and it is very hard to not enjoy Airstream Driver, a track that makes for a brief change in pace on the album.

Whatever’s On Your Mind [2011]

Present day Gomez. As I said earlier, this album finds the perfect balance between their more recent and mature soft-rock, chilled out sound and the quirkiness and unique sounds of their earlier days. Gomez are not the same sounding band as they were in 1998, but this is not necessarily a bad thing, why should they be? This release, 13 years on from their first is what I would imagine Gomez in 2011 should sound like. It has the same polished studio vibe as A New Tide without being quite as chilled out as that album. Whatever’s On Your Mind features a mix of tracks featuring big choruses, harmonies and string sections, but also features some more up tempo tracks which are a welcome change of pace, making for a more ‘Gomez’ sounding album. I am really enjoying this album at the moment and am glad the band are not yet getting tired of putting out records. Highlights include; Options, The Place and the People and Song In My Heart.

Gomez are an amazing band well worth checking out. Have a go! You’ll be glad you did.

Albums available from:  http://www.gomeztheband.com/records/

Mine Is Yours

There have been so many good releases in 2011 already! One that I can not stop listening to lately is Mine is Yours by Cold War Kids. This album is Indie-Rock / Pop perfection. I have never understood why some bands do not receive airplay on commercial radio (I am talking Western Australian radio.) I am of the opinion that the average human being is a moron and will listen to whatever he / she is fed, not because they necessarily like it, but more they are not interested enough to really listen to the music they are exposed to. That being the case, I find it infuriatingly frustrating that we can’t be listening to bands such as Cold War Kids on the radio.

Granted their earlier releases were more on the ‘indie’ side of things, but this little gem has it all. Short, easy to listen to tracks, nice lyrics and very catchy choruses. While I have always enjoyed the music of Cold War Kids, I have never really been overly impressed by any of the previous efforts. Robbers & Cowards and Loyalty to Loyalty were good albums; I just never really took to them the way I have with this release.

My attention was sparked with the release of their Behave Yourself EP, or more specifically the single; Audience. It was, I thought, a slightly different sound for the band and one that I really enjoyed. After this release I heard the track Louder than Ever from Mine is Yours. It was a really nice upbeat song with a very catchy chorus which worked itself into my mind and sat on repeat. I found this to be the song I would randomly be singing to myself around the house or at work for at least a couple of weeks.

On the strength of Louder than Ever, I purchased myself a copy of the album. Some albums take a few listens to fully appreciate and some take even longer to really make an impression. Mine is Yours was nothing like this however as it was catchy enough to sink my teeth straight in to it.

Every track is strong. There is no filler on this album. The album opens will the slow building mellow-ish title track and is followed by Louder than Ever. It then progresses into track-after-track of catchy soft rock perfection closing with Flying Upside Down, a track as strong as any other on the album.

After smashing this disc on heavy rotation I can honestly say it is one of the best albums I have purchased in a long time. It is not that it is ground-breaking or life changing music, it is simply a damn good record which is really easy to listen to and really easy to enjoy. Highlights for me include the tracks Finally Begin and Skip the Charades. It is impossible to not sing along to these two songs.

A quick look at the Wikipedia page for the album reveals that it did not fare to well with critics, receiving quite an average response from magazines such as Rolling Stone & NME. Heading back to the issue with commercial radio not playing music by bands like Cold War Kids, and considering what is popular with publications like these in 2011, to me, this is all the proof you need that this is an album of substance, which is worth giving a go. I am still listening to this disc and liked it enough to buy a vinyl copy to add to my record collection and as I don’t see this album hitting the radio stations any time soon, that will have to do. 

Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren)

Recently I went to see Troll Hunter and what a film it turned out to be. I was under the impression that this was going to be a Blair Witch style horror film and knew nothing about the movie, other than hearing some hype about it being good.

It turns out this is not a horror film at all, I think it was more of a fantasy / adventure film disguised as something more sinister. It was a very enjoyable movie. The comparisons to Blair Witch are accurate in that it is shot through an amateur camera as a documentary made by students, but it certainly is not as shy as Blair Witch in showing you what it is that is wreaking havoc on the characters.

I really enjoyed the balance in this film between humor and suspense. Although the film is never really scary, there are plenty of suspenseful moments which are usually broken up quite nicely with funny one-liners and observations from the characters.

You can’t help but be a little disappointed at the sudden ending of the film, but this I think is due to the fact that the film is so enjoyable. Although the ending is sudden, it is wrapped up quite nicely through a short, post-story clip.

Troll Hunter was great. If you enjoy adventures, old folk lore and myths and are not put off by subtitles, then this is definitely a film worth checking out. I loved it and will definitely be purchasing myself a copy when we see a DVD release.