Say Something Nice or Interesting about: Smash Mouth (or possibly Sugar Ray)

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If I'm a cartoon character, you're no different.

While I'd argue I've laid down plenty of foundation in the threads where these artists were discussed, if you read my post I was saying I found it odd you would use the same unwarranted techniques that are used upon you.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Korn is the nu-metal XTC.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link

That comment made my brane hurt, DP.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm merely bristling at your misguided comparison. XTC are SACRED to me, heretic.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Ecstasy is the raver-drug XTC.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Cocks are the human reproductive organ XTC.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link

The difference, Anthony, is that I believe Killing Joke are worthy of defense, whereas Warrant, Good Charlotte and Limp Bizkit are nothing worth fighting for.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:52 (nineteen years ago) link

You do tend to defend your favorite bands the same way Jesus freaks defend the bible, Alex. I'll admit that my reasons are based more on what the bands offer me in a literal, agnostic sense.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:52 (nineteen years ago) link

comparable != equivalent

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

You do tend to defend your favorite bands the same way Jesus freaks defend the bible, Alex. I'll admit that my reasons are based more on what the bands offer me in a literal, agnostic sense.

You're being presumptious, as always. You have no idea how/why I appreciate the bands I like. But speak ill of them or make ludicrous claims about them and you're likely to get me firing back.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:55 (nineteen years ago) link

We have an idea of how you respond, though!

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:57 (nineteen years ago) link

I'll admit that my reasons are based more on what the bands offer me in a literal, agnostic sense.

That's a very strange distinction to draw.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Wow, I guess I haven't heard enough Smashmouth, because I would never have compared these two bands. I mean, the tunes don't sound similar, the vocals don't sound anywhere close to similar, they don't even sound like they listened to the same music. Is there a song or two by Smashmouth that I need to hear to make this comparison plausible?

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:58 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, whatever. Smashmouth are nothing like XTC, apart from the fact that all concerned parties are white males who play music.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 17:58 (nineteen years ago) link

...and wear pants.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd love to hear what it would sound like for Smash Mouth to do a cover of "Life Begins at the Hop" (One the other hand, I suspect that a Smash Mouth cover version of "Dear God" or "Chalkhills and Children" would suck worse than a Celine Dion cover of "Iron Man")

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link

Dominique did you see the specific songs I compared? Are people just seeing the number of new messages and jumping in screaming "NOW ME!" without reading what's already been said?

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link

a Celine Dion cover of "Iron Man"

That I'd be curious to hear.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Anyone who brings up Skylarking after this post is ignorant, inattentive and needs to learn how to read before engaging in an online discussion (or somebody just trying to get my goat).

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:02 (nineteen years ago) link

haha I had to erase about five epithets from that last sentence.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:03 (nineteen years ago) link

The singer for Smashmouth, based solely on the idiosyncracies of his voice, reminds me of that one random somewhat plump guy at the party that is constantly attempting to start a game of spin the bottle and everyone's trying to ignore him, even though he's actually kind of a nice guy, where the singer dude for XTC sounds like the guy that sits quietly near the stereo, waiting 'til no one's paying attention, so he can put on some obscure Animals album in place of "Party Hard", which has been on repeat for the last three hours.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Lead Smashmouth meatneck dude is NOT the vocalist Andy Partridge nor Colin Moulding (nor even Barry Andrews) are/were.

Smashmouth's lyrical oeuvre does NOT stand up to XTC by a fuckin' country mile.

Smashmouth's bass player couldn't keep up with Colin Moulding's bass playing if his very life depended on it.

Smashmouth are all tiki drinks with paper umbrellas and hawaiian shirts and Vans. Nothing more.

And YES, I'm referring to the first few albums, Anthony, not Skylarking or even Black Sea. I take it you mean White Music through Drums & Wires.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link

OK, now I saw your list. From it, I've only heard "Walking On the Sun", but I still don't see the connection. "Statue of Liberty"? In that time, on that song, XTC were like these vaguely nerdy guys who were probably dumbing everything down so they wouldn't alienate all their punk neighbors, but still couldn't hold down their hyperactivity, so it came out all herky and jerky, and also kind of old-fashioned since they were really just a 60s pop band all along anyway. "Walking on the Sun" is like what a marketing exec would come up with in response to Odelay-period Beck. "All-Star" is like that too. It's a halfway realized genre exercise, kind of like Poochie from the Simpsons. And yes, I am trying to find ways of working Poochie into my posts.

x-post

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Can we get back on topic talking about how cool Sugar Ray are?

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Okay, lets make this thread completely fall apart

Andy Partidge == Robert Smith without the weepy gothishness
Smash Mouth Guy == Frank Black with a tan and a tequila

(I tried to build some kind of comparison between Smash Mouth Guy and Andrew Elridge, but I fear that if I had succeeded in crafting a comparison that worked, the entire universe would collapse in on itself and we'd all be killed.)

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:13 (nineteen years ago) link

i have no doubt that andy partridge and colin moulding, like any savvy songwriters with a '60s pop fixation, would've loved to have written "walking on the sun."

and i have no doubt that smashmouth would've loved to have written any of 100 or so xtc songs.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:13 (nineteen years ago) link

Smashmouth's lyrical oeuvre does NOT stand up to XTC by a fuckin' country mile.

this is the one point I'd seriously debate (I'll concede that XTC were perhaps flashier musicians, but it's a compliment to XTC that I'd never think to laud them for Rush-like qualities) and I brought up the vocal difference before anyone else.

I think Andy Partridge would look at the lyrical puns and subject shifts within tracks like "All Star" and "Walking On The Sun" and be very impressed. The second verse of "All Star" is a hysterical example of intentional self-contradiction:

It's a cool place, and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now, wait till you get older
But the media men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
The ice we skate is gettin pretty thin
The water's gettin warm so you might as well swim
My world's on fire, how about yours?
Cuz that's the way i like it and i never get bored

A lot of Smashmouth's tracks are cynical in the same manner as XTC, ESPECIALLY "Walking On The Sun," which I consider their most XTC like track. I doubt any of you have actually paid attention to the lyrics of a Smashmouth song, so I don't know why you're claiming to know if they have any value.

Dominique, there's LOTS of secret intelligence bubbling forth underneath Smashmouth's Shrek-sellage. The lyrics of "Walking On The Sun" (which I didn't even notice back when the video was all over) are railings demanding responsibility and a lack of political apathy. Andy P would SO approve.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link

I never really got into Smashmouth until a year after Astro Lounge came out, when someone pointed out the lyrics to "Walking On The Sun". Beforehand I just wrote them off as dopey party boys. A more playful and poppy Lit.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:17 (nineteen years ago) link

(ILM in glossing over inoffensive-sounding pop not not done by a woman with her ass and tits out SHOCKAH)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:18 (nineteen years ago) link

My biggest problem with Smashmouth is their lyrics; while I appreciate that they write songs with adult subject matter, it doesn't change the fact that the style of their writing is incredibly base and adolescent. I guess I like my lyrics bloated and obscure and pretentious or something.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, I certainly wasn't even thinking in terms of lyrics. They could be similar, for all I know. Musically, I don't hear it.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link

XTC still has better lyrics.
"The fur is genuine, but the orgasms fake"

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link

The one valid difference I can see to being offended in the XTC-Smashmouth comparison IS that XTC did engage in more complex musicianship, while Smashmouth relies on fleshed-out production and sound effects for sonic interest. It's a proggy complaint (both were just making dancey ska-acknoweldging party music with witty lyrics), but based on reality.

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link

(ILM in glossing over inoffensive-sounding pop not not done by a woman with her ass and tits out SHOCKAH)
Would YOU like to see Andy Partridge dressed up like Christina Aguilera?

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I'll concede that XTC were perhaps flashier musicians, but it's a compliment to XTC that I'd never think to laud them for Rush-like qualities

Style does not always equate with technical chops. Being a great musician, I think, doesn't necessarily mean you are the most technically versed player.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Even as far as "dancey ska-acknowledging party music", I don't hear XTC that way. I mean, AP was definitely into some ska and reggae, but mostly I hear his stuff as being pogo-y because he happened to be a hyper, pogo-y guy. Like, I hear more Sparks, Kinks and Eno (especially circa Tiger Mountain) in early XTC than ska. You just have to imagine it all sped up.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Smashmouth sound like teenagers laughing over the fact that they've just eaten fifteen cheeseburgers in five minutes.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:29 (nineteen years ago) link

If you took away Smashmouth's bells and whistles they quite possibly couldn't compete with the rave-up break on "Are You Receiving Me?" or the stop-start blitzing on live TV performances I have of XTC added on my bootleg video tape of Look Look (I have no idea how flashy Smashmouth could get, just cuz they don't bother doesn't mean they can't do it), but then again XTC would never hold studio tomfoolery against another band these days, would they? (dig "We're All Light" for proof)

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:29 (nineteen years ago) link

(Still waiting to know what "OC" means as a musical adjective.)

― OAH SEA BICH, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:29 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't really hear smash mouth-xtc connex either but i'm in interested in why alex hasn't really been able to debunk miccio except by spewing hyperbole (alex fawning over pussy new wave shit that doesn't rock shocker). talk about the music maaan.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:32 (nineteen years ago) link

'oc' as musical adjective - socal + suburbia, probable retro tendencies?

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link

These days, XTC couldn't hold studio tomfoolery over anyone (except to say, "we could do that if we could afford it"). Early XTC didn't do it more only because AP felt his songs had to work live. When he stopped caring, they went baroque.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:34 (nineteen years ago) link

oc = more comfortable with commercialism, smiling for the cameras, hip-hop happened

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:35 (nineteen years ago) link

success via McG video more important than people getting the song's message is very OC

― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:35 (nineteen years ago) link

seven years ago maybe

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link

There's also a very important aspect of XTC as a band who at no point was ever really very comfortable with being popular. Smashmouth seemed designed to be popular, at least on TV during the summer.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:38 (nineteen years ago) link

well andy partridge was definitely more self concious about his paunch than smash mouth dude (manthony tell me you know his name), but that's oc vs. uk

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link

does anyone know what Andy Partridge sang on The Residents' Commercial Album?

― big chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link

" 'ow's about a wee more pudding guv"?

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Google says "Margaret Freeman"

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 18:43 (nineteen years ago) link

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