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Give it up for the fucking Gin Blossoms

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This is such a weird thread. I had no idea about you people.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 6 September 2004 01:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Follow You Down," "Til I Hear It From You", "Found Out About You"... Jesus, the song titles alone are making me yawn. And those horrible harmony vocals in every chorus... ack. Gin Blossoms make Better Than Ezra sound like Pixies.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 6 September 2004 01:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Good" rocks!

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 6 September 2004 01:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

but Better Than Ezra leads us into the world of donkey voice, which leads us to Rob Thomas. The waters now truly get dangerous.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 6 September 2004 01:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

I. AM. APPALLED.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

I have this weird vision where punk rock began with Frampton.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

"For me, the Gin Blossoms were part of that whole Third-Matchbox-From-The-Eye-Tonic wave, an era that is probably best forgotten. "

WE MUST NEVER FORGET.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

NEVER AGAIN!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

but Better Than Ezra leads us into the world of donkey voice, which leads us to Rob Thomas. The waters now truly get dangerous.

donkey voice? please expound on this.

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

i dunno, gin blossoms were much less aggressive than those other bands, their music is relatively unpretentious and, as noted above, really even-keeled (this is an observation not a criticism or compliment). also they had better songs and an inoffensive lead singer.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 03:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

For me, the Gin Blossoms were part of that whole Third-Matchbox-From-The-Eye-Tonic wave, an era that is probably best forgotten.

What? Not only are Gin Blossoms about five times as good as any of these bands, they were hardly from the same era--none of these bands even had a single hit before the Blossoms were broken up.

And Anthony's right, BTE aren't nearly that bad--I'd peg 'em one below the Gin Blossoms. "Good," "In the Blood," "Desperately Wanting" are all fine songs.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:38 (8 years ago) Permalink

ts bte vs bto

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

Oh, and "Hey Jealousy" > "Dyslexic Heart," but "Waiting for Somebody" is arguably just as good. And "6th Avenue Heartache" is way better than "One Headlight"

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

"one headlight" is the only song i like by them because of the aforementioned disco effect

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Good," "In the Blood," "Desperately Wanting" are all fine songs.

Word. Actually, I picked both BTE albums up really cheap. Not very good, and "In The Blood" sounded awful - I remember it being less harsh. Must have been a single mix that I liked. "Desperately Wanting" is really, really good though.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

"In the Blood" is my favorite, actually.

Haha, recently I found both Soul Asylum's Grave Dancer's Union and BTE's Deluxe for $3 each, and I could only buy one--I ended up going with Soul Asylum, but now I'm not so sure.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

such purchases would disrupt the immaculate purity of my record collection

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

I still like In The Blood, but having not heard it in five years when I bought that album, for it to sound completely different, more jagged and less poppy than I'd remembered, was really weird. I do think you made the wrong choice buying Soul Asylum, though. DW has probably aged the best, King of New Orleans has not aged well at all, and it wasn't very good back then. A lot of the BTE hate must stem from that song.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

I already said all of this, though:

Top Ten Mediocre Post-Grunge/Alternative Bands

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

i'm so glad the 90s are over

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

What can I say, I'm a sucker for "Somebody to Shove".

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, it was nice seeing a few other people out of the woodwork on that. Is holystoning on here?

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

I don't think so. He writes for I Love the 90s though.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 6 September 2004 04:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

I cannot believe this thread. I cannot believe this band has champions. I need to go outside and get some fresh air.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

Alex, your venom is delightful, but you're not always right.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

Oh yes I am. Hahahaha. My wife better not read this.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

Really, I was just listening to Follow You Down today, and it reminds me that at the time (I'd have been 13 or 14) it sounded like the sort of music that mid-20s, vacuous office workers would have on while they typed away, sort of humming along.

I've become one of those people and life's not all bad, and Follow You Down is still bloody great.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

Alex, your venom is delightful, but you're not always right.
-- edward o (edwardo...), September 6th, 2004.

he's right in this instance.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'd let out a big, boistrous "FUCKIN' A!",...but I'm sitting in neighborhood coffee shop/internet cafe.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

Your claque doesn't faze me!

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

:::goes to look up 'claque' in the dictionary:::

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

(I mean the word in its less insulting sense, obviously)

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 6 September 2004 13:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...
Found Out About you is a bad Byrds rewrite with a lazy chorus and the rest of those bands are awful, but Hey Jelousy is pretty undeniable if you enjoy hooks.

― danh (danh), Wednesday, 6 October 2004 16:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...
i'd rather not have to wait for the singles poll to load to have continue this discussion.

from there:
The Replacements couldn't work up the same dippy enthusiasm for lightweight stuff that the Gin Blossoms did, cuz they weren't as dippy.

I guess it depends on the meaning of the word "lightweight". Lightweigh in what way?

― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 22:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

I also sort of wonder if some people hold the band's later singles against "Hey Jealousy"--songs like "Allison Road," "'Til I Hear it From You" and "Follow You Down," while all still excellent, are far wimpier and much less energetic than "Hey Jealousy"'s vitality, and perhaps make the song lose any sort of edge through association. There's nothing "lightweight" about "Hey Jealousy," though, not really.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 22:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

Personally, I love "Allison Road". It may not ring as "true" or "genunie" as "Hey Jealousy", but it's damn close to being a perfect pop song.

― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, "Allison Road" is good stuff. Not one of my personal favorites but a pretty enough jangle-pop number.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

of all the alt-rock hitmakers who flopped on the followup and fell off the face of the earth, this was the second most surprising to me, after live)(who i guess didn't really fall off the face of the earth), and sorta vaguely smashing pumpkins.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

Hey Jealousy fucking rules. IT IS A KILLER JAM, NO DOUBT.

― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

I do love how the narrator/singer "Hey Jealousy" sounds completely defeated from the first line of the song, though. The "All I wanna do's be with you / Feel like I matter, too" line comes out like the self-directed rambling of a man who's at his wits end.

Also, the way he drags out "yeaars" (in "If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago") a bit longer than the rest of the words is truly depressing. Maybe cuz he's so desperate for something that happened a long time ago. This is not some fresh wound. It's been festering.

― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

Right, exactly. He's drunk, he's not thinking clearly but he's being more honest than he has been in a very long time. This is his last chance and he knows it.

Thinking about it, this song actually has a lot in common with "There is a Light That Never Goes Out"--the driving theme, the sense of urgency and importance of the moment ("oh god, my chance has come at last"), the feeling of having nowhere else to turn, the doomed and hopeless romanticism. The main difference, I suppose, is that Morrissey couldn't be totally honest ("but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask") but Wilson / Hopkins are, though the next day they'll probably wish they hadn't been.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

The sound of "Hey Jealousy" is pretty lightweight. As I said on that thread, the schism for me is Wilson/Hopkins as opposed to Westerberg/Westerberg.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

admittedly its also tainted by context, polish and croon.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

and do remember that I voted for "Hey Jealousy." So I ain't a hater.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

I don't hear the lightweighted-ness at all, Anthony. No more than any other alternative rock song of the period, anyway--maybe it's a bit light compared to grungers like AIC or Soundgarden, but it's not much lighter than, say, Soul Asylum or Cracker. That's just the way most alternative rock sounded around '93, I think.

The guitar solo is one of the best parts of the song, also.

(yeah, I saw that you voted for it--really the fact that 10 people voted for it at all is sort of an accomplishment, even if it wasn't quite enough to get it on the list. It's a start.)

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

xpost:
along those lines... this song does adam durwitz kinda goes for the same thing on "Mr. Jones". the drunk, desperate man placing his hopes in the hands of a someone else's acceptance. granted it's a different scene, different moment, different attitude. durwitz takes it from wanting the blonde across the bar to wanting to become a "big big star". "when everybody loves me, i'm never gonna be lonely" is as tragic in its own way as grovelling drunk at the feet of your ex. just more narcisisticly so.

― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

remove "this song does" in my last post

― john'n'chi cago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

When I heard that "Mr. Jones" was about Duritz's cock, it sort of ruined any chances of me taking the song seriously. I'll try to the next time I hear it, though.

I guess I sort of understand what you're saying, with the "believe in me / 'coz I don't believe in anything" break especially. That song always seemed a bit too good-timey to really be a cry of desperation, though. I think closer to "Hey Jealousy," in fact, is "A Long December"--it's much slower, but it sounds just as desperate and defeated. The video goes along way towards that as well.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

agreed re: "a long december". it's a great song and way better than "mr. jones".

part of what ended up getting cut in my editing was that "hey jealousy" does what "mr. jones" tries to do much better.

― john'n'chicago, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I'll agree with that.

Another song along the same lines is Soul Asylum's "Somebody to Shove," though it's a bit more hopeful sounding and (unfortunately) has a bit of a throwaway bridge and title. The chorus, though, fucking knocks me dead.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 23:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 16 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

mental note: ridicule cad at next bos-fap

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, 11 June 2010 22:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

lol excellent revive by me

― call all destroyer, Friday, 11 June 2010 22:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

the story about them I saw on VH1 was pretty sad: band member who writes most of their songs including biggest hit is kicked out of band for drinking problem, holds grudge against them and commits suicide.

Huh I was just reading about that on their wikipedia article, inspired by this thread revive - bummer, man.

― atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 11 June 2010 22:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

...sorry to be a downer on lighthearted 90s nostalgia thread. Got to admit I was glad to youtube Hey Jealousy after all these years.

― atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 11 June 2010 22:50 (3 years ago) Permalink

(Also obv my reading of the article was inspired by this thread, not the article itself. Time I was less awake and less on the internet.)

― atoms breaking heart (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 11 June 2010 22:51 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

appreciating the off-balance progression in the chorus of "Found Out About You". This is a lot like "With Every Heartbeat" - you never really get a nice return to the tonic, except a fake one that has the loud 1 note on "Whispers at the bus stop" but is actually a IV chord. They could have done away with the bridge but it's 1992 after all so I forgive them.

― skip, Thursday, 16 February 2012 00:28 (1 year ago) Permalink


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