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(Part 2)

I feel like this release is very deserving of a remastering. Too low on the hi-fi (#seewhatididthere). It’s a classic album that needs to be in any good rock record collection.

5 ) The Copyrights: Make Sound ( Side A )

The Copyrights were formed in 2002 in Carbondale, Illinois. In my opinion, this particular album, 2007’s Make Sound (their first on Red Scare Records) is where the band solidified and hit their stride. It’s a functional pop punk rock manual for those that want to do it right. I could be a little biased though, as I feel like I literally watched this band grow up. I had the pleasure of meeting them in the early days (or last days, depending on how you look at it I suppose) before Moloko Plus turned into The Copyrights. If memory serves correctly, Adam and Luke picked up the leftover pieces of MP and met up with Brett and Ken and formed The Copyrights. They came up with the name partially because there was another band with the name Moloko Plus and were threatened with legal action, thus, brilliantly, The Copyrights were born. Essentially a raw stripped down version of MP but with a heavier Green Day meets Ramones, meets Teenage Bottlerocket influence. The real appeal of the band though is the truth and honesty in their lyrics. They just have this amazing intimate way of capturing the pure, raw emotions and situations that make punk rock (and life really) great. There’s no b#!!$#!t or pretentious attitudes in what they do. They’re just a great flipping band, playing catchy flipping music, and they’ll do it just the same on a big stage with lights at some 3 day festival, or in your college town campus punk house that does basement house shows. In short, they are modern legends. Legit. So let’s talk about this masterpiece of an album shall we? “Kids of the Blackhole” lays out in song everything I just described. Catchy riffs, harmonies and even harmonica!! Pretty sure it’s a tune about Carbondale, but that’s the beauty. IT’S ABOUT ANY SMALL TOWNIN AMERICA! “Headcount” is another powerful tune about solidarity and unity. The *ahem* title track if you will due to use of the album’s namesake. Follow that up with two real quick ones, “Knee Deep” and “Pentagrams”. Former is a little slower, and the latter quite fast-and I love the underlying meandering riff. Always look on the dark side, there’s so much more to see. It should be noted that this is only halfway in and in just around 8 minutes. It’s a great place to catch your breath though because the next song is “The Company”. Now, maybe there are other opinions but for me this is THEE BEST Copyrights tune. It’s the one that makes my (few remaining) hairs stand on end every time I hear it. I love the solid chords and the enthusiasm present. It didn’t hurt that at the time of its release I had a job I hated and a boss I hated even more which made it very relatable for me. All the same it is an extremely catchy tune with highly suggestive themes and a bad ass breakdown. If you have ever experienced a song that just stirs emotion in you every time you hear it, THIS is that song. 100% adrenaline. “Big Mistakes” follows with it’s similar catchiness but less brutality and more humility. The last song is the (also bad ass) “Planet Earth Nineteen-Ninety-Four”. A very nostalgic tune that really is a starting point for a lot of pop punk enthusiasts. It recalls the stupidity of youth with the rise of a band like Green Day and also highlights the cassette tape theme running through the album. Catchy, quick pop punk like ... well...Green Day! I am also fond of the “everything falls apart” ending. The band certainly didn’t make it as far as they have on their very radio friendly pop punk tunes (though they could easily be making millions and playing stadiums with the right label/promotion). No, they made it this far because of how they treat their music, scene, fans and humbleness. Everyone loves them because they love you back. This band “gets it” and they don’t really give a shit about that other stuff. They just love to play music with, for and to their fans and heroes. Happy to play. No this band got to where they are by being honest and true and being brilliant at what they do. They shred, and you should become familiar with them.

The Vinyl Four Battle #2

2 ) (The) Sweet: Desolation Boulevard ( Side 2 )

Vs.

5 ) The Copyrights: Make Sound ( Side A )

2 ) (The) Sweet: Desolation Boulevard ( Side 2 )

2 )The Sweet: Desolation Boulevard ( Side 2 )

Vs.

7 )Screeching Weasel: Television City Dream ( Side A )

2 )The Sweet: Desolation Boulevard ( Side 2 )

The second ranked Sweet (aka The Sweet, and originally The Sweetshop) are a House favorite at RRW HQ. Long considered an underrated gem, this album in particular hangs in my band room wall as a reminder of a kick ass collection. During the regular season, Sweet managed to impress the masses by burning 160 calories over 5 songs and 24 minutes. Let’s see if they can repeat. The Sweet are a British glam rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s. Best known (more “recently” anyway) for “Ballroom Blitz” ...you know, from Wayne’s World. They seamlessly (in my opinion) blend hard rock riffs with massive harmonies and catchy keyboards. They’re kind of the perfect band, really. All of the glam and showmanship with hardly any missteps. All killer, no filler. They didn’t start that way, however. At first they were very 60s pop oriented sounding more like cartoon band The Archies, but very quickly switched over to a Who influenced hard rock sound. Thank goodness! Actually those early hits aren’t at all bad either. Technically this is their third album (though it’s really a variation for U. S. Release collecting singles and paired with unreleased studio tracks). It’s absolutely the band in their prime. It starts with “Sweet F. A.” Let me tell you, it contains some sweet F*ing metal riffs!! Very ahead of the times if you’re asking me. Catchy hooks and keys to die for. Winding hybrid moments of satisfaction. Pretty darn good lead off batter, but wait...there’s more! “Fox on the Run” is next and a song you might be familiar with. If not, it is my highest recommendation to become so immediately. No single tune has better harmonies than this song. Glass shattering, ear drum piercing velocity. The Darkness had to learn that trick somewhere! Fox has the perfect tempo too, plugs right along. Is it possible to be in LOVE with a song? Exemplary talent and a service to the music buying public if you ask me. “Set Me Free” follows and is back to the brick heavy riffs of power pop punk. Breakneck madness with metal leanings. Certainly a contribution to a band like Van Halen and Guns ‘N’ Roses. As if that were not enough, the showmanship is effectively doubled in “Into The Night”. KISS is called to mind, however, this is pre (-ish) KISS and Boston (pops). The floating solos are like sonic waves of perfection. The last selection is “Solid Gold Brass” which is a slower jam to slam your head to. These guys just have hit after catchy ass hit! I would not say this often, but this stuff really is genius. It’s a little bit of bluesy intrusions with Jazz infusion. God Damn these guys for being so good! Just...WOW! The Hipgnosis cover (an art collective @ the center of coolness in the 70s) certainly doesn’t hurt either.

7 )Screeching Weasel: Television City Dream ( Side A )

Chicago punk legends return from the regular season, Screeching into 7th place. During the regular season they burned 140 calories over 18 minutes for an impressive 7.78 calories burned per minute. Let’s see if their punk pedigree can place them in the pole position (try saying that 5 times fast!). So I talked about how this was sort of a new era in Weasel-ology last time. The band has gone through many line up changes, some good, some bad, but it has lead to some pretty distinctive “eras” of the band (for lack of a better description). I would put this in the new era Weasel category. A reinvention of sorts. There was old school (pre Lookout), classic era (lookout years) and new era (post lookout). This particular album features Mass Giorgini, turning knobs as both a bass player and producer. Also, Dan Lumley on the drumley. A good team for sure. Solid anchors to hold down the swaying ship. I think it’s fair to say Weasel, and Ben in particular, was pretty well jaded by this point. It shows in the music, and specifically the lyrical content. With that, comes an irony as well. A certain maturity from the credentials and sheer time put into the band, but also an immaturity that is inherently present in punk rock. It’s like the best of both worlds. Like him or not, Ben Weasel does add a level of intelligence that is severely lacking in most punk rock bands. Sure it’s Ramones-core 1,2,3,4 but the subjects, and descriptions are colorful and accurate. A lot of the songs really capture your mind. They are little stories. I think that comes from Ben speaking his mind, very personal stuff. Honestly a lot of the records can be construed as personal, but this Weasel album in particular really locks in IMO. It all starts with “Count To Three”. The breaking glass sound effects say it all. Punk rock snot boots and Dan’s percussive blasts drive the beat home. The catchy AF harmonies of “Speed of Mutation” continue the fun and lovely harmonies, too. “Dummy Up” is another staccato hit before getting to some of the bonus tracks. Oh, I may have neglected to mention, this is the 2010 reissued version with extra unreleased tunes, the first of which is “Video”. Look up the incident in question, but it seems to be a response tune. I like to focus on the music, not the controversy so it’s a decent but mediocre tune, and probably the reason it was left off the original release. Side A plugs along with the punky, punky “Your Mortality” and gets followed with “Dirty Needles”. This one is just literally a PSA turned into a song and why Weasel is so creative. It works really well. The man knows how to write a hook. “Punk Rock Explained” Is another outtake And this one borrows from Joe King and The Queers territory (makes sense as they collaborated several times in the past). “Breaking Point” is perhaps autobiographical, while “My Own World” has an emotional tone. Maybe it’s an outtake from their album entitled Emo (#seewhatididthere). It’s actually one of the better bonus tracks. Not sure why it was left off other than perhaps time? Slower and more personal. The last song features a SW classic the one string solo. Weasel is king of the one string. “Outside of You” is the song’s name and you’re going to love it all the same. So generally 10 songs would normally be considered an album by most standards, but this album (one of SW’s most creative and poignant in my opinion) is not standard by any stretch of the definition. I feel like, especially in the later years, Screeching Weasel had become a mockery of itself and was constantly trying to reinvent the band, each time getting a little more Jaded, a little sharper, and a little less friendly pop punk. Television City Dream cemented that process and thus is one of the best “New Era” Weasel studio efforts.

Today it was Sweet desolating boulevards vs. Weasels that Screech in a Television City Dream. Sweet ended up burning 190 calories over 5 songs and 24 minutes. That is 38.0 calories burned per song and 7.92 calories burned per minute. This go around Sweet earned 13 out of 15 possible stars. Screeching Weasel managed to burn 144 calories over 10 songs and 20 minutes. That is 14.40 calories burned per song and 7.20 calories burned per minute. Weasel earned themselves 22 out of 30 possible stars. Looks like Desolation or not, The Sweet earn the Sweetest possible honor and advance to the Vinyl Four!

( The ) Sweet: “Fox On The Run” (seriously, such a great tune!! And I LOVE the air keys, look for it about halfway...)

https://youtu.be/9jNt7ZGCW-o

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The Great Eight Battle Battle #1

1)The Stipjes : Out To Lunch ( Side 1 )

Vs.

8)Jets To Brazil: Four Cornered Night ( Side 1 )

So here we are, season six in the books already! So by now you know the rules. These next few weeks will see the top 8 calorie burners face off in an elimination style playoff to get to the biggest calorie burner of the season! The best of the best, the FINAL VINYL! We are all set, so hopefully you’ve already filled out your bracket! Let the games begin!

1)The Stipjes : Out To Lunch ( Side 1 )

Those crazy garage rock Netherlandians (??) are back. They kill you with their buzzsaw guitar attack and raw rock ‘n’ roll approach. During the regular season they were the number one calorie burner, and burned a blitzing 90 calories in 11 minutes! Let’s see how they fare during the elimination process and determine if they can hold their number one rank or if it was just a fluke. Side one kicks right off with “Better Things To Do”. Sounding largely like Teengenerate they garage rock you into oblivion. 3 chords of board Stiff Records (#seewhatididthere) and playing it pretty straight. It’s simple verse chorus verse stuff but you won’t care. They top out in under 2 minutes so you know it’s real punk rock. Lots of F&#* you attitude. “Baby, I’m A Rockstar now” follows and we are right where we left off. The Motards come to mind with a bit of distortion on this one. Essentially however, more of the same. Like it or lump it, the songs are catchy. And you know the budget was somewhere around $12 euros to record. It sounds like something you would try to record at a show in the basement off a handheld tape recorder from back in the day, if you catch my drift. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Sexmuziek” features (I believe) a different singer but honestly it’s pretty hard to tell since it all sounds like it was recorded at a band practice and on a jam box that was placed in a trash can (that was then placed inside a second, larger trash can). I mean it IS on Rip Off Records, so...what do you expect... At any rate, BOTH singers are kind of horrible, but, don’t misunderstand they are supposed to be. You see in this genre, the more off key, sloppy and lo-fi it is, the more genius. It’s kind of like the opposite of something BIG and produced like Boston or Queen. This guy really is terrible though. Stick to the other singer. At least he does it with style. It sounds like this dude might actually be trying which is taboo in this subculture. “Beaversong” is in the cleanup spot. Not much to say other than breakneck speed and garage R-O-C-K! The end comes by way of “Problem” with it’s catchy hooks and buzz cola caffeinated riffs. Relentless. I think there is only 2 chords on this ditty. Gang vocals too. Lo-fi garage punk blast off!

8)Jets To Brazil: Four Cornered Night ( Side 1 )

What we have here is an early 2000s supergroup if you will. Last dance (a.k.a. During the regular season) JTB burned 132 calories in 17 minutes. Let’s see if they can fare as well this time. But first, to review for those uninitiated : The basis of what would eventually become Jets to Brazil was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach. He was the former frontman of Jawbreaker. Also at the helm and the other half was Mr. Jeremy Chatelain. When Schwarzenbach relocated to New York City after Jawbreaker had disbanded, the two of them began working on four-track recordings aided by drum machines. That is until former Texas Is the Reason drummer Chris Daly joined the band, and with such pedigrees they were almost immediately signed to Jade Tree Records. The origin of the band's name came from a suggestion by drummer Daly, after seeing it on a poster in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Got it? Good. JTB are a big departure in many ways from their former beginnings, but still retaining a fair amount of the influence. I think originally people were excited because they expected Jawbreaker 2.0. Not the case. A lot of this stuff is straight up indie rock or even alternative radio. Somewhat polarizing at the time to the built in fan base. Every bit of Ben Folds as much as it is Wilco or alt country to some degree. Now, ironically, heralded as geniuses in their own right. I personally may not go that far, but I do very much enjoy their music. This is their sophomore effort, and it really established what the band was trying to do. Set themselves apart from their past. I feel like Blake wanted everyone to know he was more than just Jawbreaker, so...mission accomplished. “You’re Having The Time of My Life” starts with a haunting build. It’s discordant and vastly produced. Then the catchy speed up in tempo reveals the rock about to come. Blake fires up his story time lyrics he is famous for and the staccato riff controls the tempo. It’s a great intro tune. Well played (#seewhatididthere). “One Summer Last Fall”is next and the middle of the trilogy. I say trilogy because this is the recently re-release version wherein the 12 songs are evenly split as 3 songs per side over two grey splatter vinyl. As the title suggests, it would make a great film name, and the story time lyrics so indicative of Blake are aptly suited for such a project. He is the master of painting a picture with words. The vibe is again somber and mellow. This time subjects are of loss and sorrow over a loss. Alternative more than anything, IF anything. The final tuneful number is called “Air Traffic Control”-which is another poppy gem. I would ensure that metaphors are ample and the riffs here are reminiscent of a band called Big In Japan. So in that regard these three songs examined as a collection are all over the place. Just one of the great things about Jets To Brazil. Diversity. Either way you look at the picture, this is certainly NOT Jawbreaker, and if you expect that you will be sadly mistaken. JTB are the underdogs in this fight, so let’s see if they cranked out a win.

In this very exciting first round, we saw a #8 seed (Jets To Brazil) vs a #1 seed (The Stipjes). The Stipjes were out to lunch, but also out for blood! The Netherland Natives burned 78 calories over 11 short minutes and 5 even shorter songs. That is an average of 15.60 calories burned per song and 7.09 calories burned per minute. 12 out of 15 possible stars were earned. Jets To Brazil experienced a Four Cornered Night but also a hardcore battle. They burned 85 calories over 12 short minutes as well and 3 storybook tunes. JTB burned an impressive 44.0 calories per song and 7.08 calories per minute earning 7 out of 9 possible stars. By merely a tenth of a calorie The Stipjes maintains their dominance of season 6 so far. Jets To Brazil are eliminated and The Stipjes win! The Stipjes will see YOU in The Vinyl Four!

The Stipjes : “Better Things To Do”

https://youtu.be/m8lthxiUU1g

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Is finished!! Ok RRW fans, just like Coca Cola, “this is it!” This is the most exciting part of a season of RRW, when we get down to the final vinyl that burned the most calories and gave the biggest fight. Usually it happens in March, but there was too much pressure this year to make that happen...it’s about working out and being healthy after all. I just took my time, but the concept is still the same. Who walks away as the best, biggest and most boastful calorie burner? There’s some pretty stiff competition too, so sit back, relax and enjoy this year’s final vinyl as they compete head to head (Side A to B?) for the bragging rights of Randomrecordworkoutseason6 champion!

Brackets coming soon...any guesses on who made the Great 8?

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