Saturday, December 31, 2016

Rancid - The Brothels

This is one of those tracks that appeared on compilations and as a B-Side. I first heard it live at a festival show, when we got to shout out which of two songs we wanted to hear. I can't remember the other choice, but the other one won out. Or at least Lars said it did, and his vote was the one that counted.



It's got this great Ramones backbeat to it, and I can't imagine why it wasn't a main album track for them.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Cock Sparrer - England Belongs to Me

Cock Sparrer was one of those bands I'd heard of back in the day but did not get to hear. I eventually heard them years later most thanks to watching MMA - this was Dan Hardy's walk-in song.



Catchy.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Sham 69 - Borstal Breakout

First note to end, this song is pure angry crunch. But like a lot of rage-fueled 70s English rock, it just makes me happy.

I once had the privilege of singing this side-by-side with Lindsay Anderson aka Kitty Kowalski at a SUX show. I think of that every time I hear this song.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Friday, December 23, 2016

NOFX: Radio & Rancid: Radio

I do this posts called "I like the cover better." Love the original, like the cover better.

This is not one of them.

The song is Radio. The original is by Rancid, the cover is by NOFX.

The Rancid original is amazing. It's one of the best tracks on the slamming Let's Go - the first Rancid CD I heard and owned. If you've seen them live, you know what this song means. It's generally a few songs into the set. It starts slow, but builds. When Tim screams "YOU KNOOOOOOWWWWWW!" the mosh pit just explodes into motion. The song kicks off the show even more than whatever they actually open with.



Along comes NOFX on the BYO Split Series CD they did with Rancid. They cover Radio.

And they turn it into a slow, rhythmic reggae song.



Yesterday I was driving in my car and flipped over to the BYO Split and listened to the NOFX cover. Then I quickly flipped over to Let's Go and listened to the original. I like to hear them back to back. NOFX really takes the song and does something else with it, but with love of the musical influences on Rancid. You can't hear a lot of reggae in Radio, but you can hear it elsewhere in the Rancid canon.