Somebody Likes It

late night conversation via text:

Ryan: What is this week’s album again?
Shane: Sylvan Esso
Ryan: I have no idea what that means
Shane: It’s a band/album...you sound like somebody’s old uncle
Ryan: What does that even mean?

This week we listen to the album Sylvan Esso by the band “Sylvan Esso”...well, not exactly a band, but it is two people making music, so not exactly a solo act. I guess I could have said “duo”, but somehow that just doesn’t feel right. We all agree that singer Amelia Meath has a honeyed voice that makes one weak in the knees...but that’s pretty much all we agreed on.

Next time around? We yell about Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü and I might throw in All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You by Heart during the intermission...tune in to see if I actually do that (Spoiler Alert! I do that). Till then,

A couple of years ago I used to go to happy hour at a bar where the beautiful Scottish bartender was fond of listening to Poison, Warrant, Ratt and countless other mid-80’s hair metal bands. I never could figure out how that kind of music aroused passions good or bad. Well, after listening to Poison’s Open Up and Say Ahh I still feel that way, but I can’t say the same for Ryan and Kevin...step inside and get rocked won’t you?

The Music Men put together another mixtape for ya, this time in honor of Memorial Day, as they talk about all the songs on their collection...

Damn Yankees– High Enough: Where do you go after you see this one? Ted Nugent in animal print kimono deflecting bullets with his guitar solo.

Archie Bell and the Drells– The Tighten Up: Ever wondered what it would be like to be conscripted into a dubious foreign war and hear your song become a massive hit, played over Armed Forces radio, while you are trying to fend off the Viet Cong? No? Well, Archie Bell can, and he’s a Houston product, to boot. Highly recommended.

Naked Eyes– Always Something There To Remind Me: First of all, did anyone remember that this was a Burt Bacharach cover? What the what? The video presents the torrid tale of the guy who loses the girl, the other guy (who just happens to be his bandmate) who gets her, and the weird scenario where the local newspaper prints the lowlights of locals’ love lives. At the very least, you’d think that would make you look out for paparazzi. But it’s hooky.

4 Non-Blondes– What’s Up: I picked this because I knew how much it would make Ryan squirm, not counting on the fact I would have to listen to it too. We couldn’t even make it all the way through. Truly one of the worst songs ever recorded.

Starland Vocal Band– Afternoon Delight: Some of my earliest musical memories are of hearing this carpet-bomb 70’s Top-40 radio, and, of course, having no idea of the (not-very-thinly-couched) subtext therein. It’s a song about doin’ it in the daytime. And I completely, unironically, love it.

Carl Douglas– Kung Fu Fighting: There’s a great story in a great book on comedy writing where Steven Seagal was hosting SNL & Rob Schneider wrote a monologue for him where he was supposed to come out and claim that he was really a musician at heart, instead of a martial arts movie star. And then he’d sit down and play an acoustic version of Kung Fu Fighting. That didn’t happen (because Steven Seagal), but it’s a testament to the staying power of this oddball classic.

Timbuk3– Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades: Oh the 80’s!

Positive K– I Got a Man: This feels like a backyard barbecue when I get sprung from prison, except it’s a back-and-forth between a lusty gentleman and a reluctant female paramour. In an M. Night Shyamalan-like twist, turns out they’re the same person. Evidently, it takes all kinds. Still love this tune.

Terence Trent D’Arby– Wishing Well: A pretty rock solid way to make sure you’re ridiculed for years is to claim that your one hit song sets you up to be Bigger Than The Beatles. Also, if you’re Terence Trent D’Arby. But we all sort of sang it while it spun.

Billy Ray Cyrus– Achy Breaky Heart: Hahahahahahaha! Damn that was some dumb-ass hair. Also, we are pretty sure this video was recorded right here in Austin at the Paramount Theater...

The Undertones– Teenage Kicks: This song may barely qualify for “hit” status, but it apparently affected the late, massively influential UK DJ John Peel so much that he’d play it twice in a row. And then had lyrics from it inscribed on his headstone. I don’t know if it can ever reach that level for me, but it’s pretty damn great.

The Knack– My Sharona: There’s a certain part of me that figures that in the quiet parts of the world, where you can’t hear anything, you can probably hear a little bit of My Sharona. But what’s weirder is that this song was based on an actual girl, who the author dated for four years, and who then had to spend the rest of her life presumably listening to people singing that track back to her ad nauseum. Sometimes the substance abuse problems come find you.

Welcome to another riveting installment of Somebody Likes It. Wherein our heroes brave the beginnings of another endless Texas summer heat wave to bring you beautiful musings on the 2009 inaugural release from London’s Fanfarlo, Reservoir. Ryan spends the first 20 minutes speaking into the wrong end of the microphone. Kevin learns us on how Ted Leo & The Pharmacists went from garage band to music superstars overnight through the miracle of musical theater. Ryan wraps it all up with the catchy, if someone annoying, Spirits from The Strumbellas.

Next up... join us for our retrospective Memorial Day Mix Tape show as we take a look back at some of our favorite one-hit-wonders. Until then!

Long before he found himself wandering around emitting, out loud, sounds associated with brain cell loss, Ozzy Osbourne leapt into a solo career that, one might competitively say, is more responsible for his legacy than his work in Black Sabbath.

Oh sure, some things remain constant - he still doesn't linger in the recording studio - and he’s surrounded here by musicians that would prove iconic — including some, like Randy Rhoads, whose legacy cemented through prowess and tragedy alike.

There are ugly legal battles that linger, but in the moment Diary of a Madman captures the touchstone of an artist’s trajectory. Just the kind of thing metalheads never forget.

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