Squid: Bright Green FieldSquid belong to a cohort of UK bands who are marrying the rhythmic economy and literate alienation of post-punk with the instrumental dexterity and formal ambition of prog. Drop in on the first few minutes of any given song from their debut full-length and you might hear only the former: The guitars are tightly wound, the hi-hats are ticking away, someone is nervously shouting. Stick around a little longer and the world opens up. Jazzy fills poke in at the edges, grooves dissolve into long stretches of synthesized drone. The songs may stretch to seven or eight minutes, but they’re never indulgent, eschewing individual showmanship in favor of scorching collective peaks. –Andy Cush
this is really annoying to me for some reason, just completely ahistorical and ignores entire scenes and traditions of post-rock, math rock, chopsy punk like nomeansno, sui generis weirdos like cardiacs or cheer accident or u.s. maple or melt banana or giddy motors, like a thousand bands that were doing things operating in a sphere between postpunk/punk/noise/prog
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 18:22 (two years ago) link
One in three marriages between the rhythmic economy and literate alienation of post-punk, and the instrumental dexterity and formal ambition of prog, end in divorce.
― katebishopfan616 (morrisp), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 18:28 (two years ago) link
yeah seriously, and they're not even very good at it xp
― imago, Wednesday, 8 December 2021 18:28 (two years ago) link
idk, the bolded part still seems true even if it doesn't include a two paragraph sidebar on Dazzling Killmen
― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 19:02 (two years ago) link
Like take out all the extra stuff, it's pretty inarguable
Squid [are one of many] UK bands who are [combining] ... post-punk with ... prog.
― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 19:05 (two years ago) link
heh i just ran into the main killman at the jeff parker show last friday
thing is, i don't really see any of these bands as influenced by prog
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 December 2021 20:09 (two years ago) link
I'm w mississippi, post punk was interlinked w prog, it's like saying they combined the impact of rock with the passions of roll.
― Freeze Instr., Wednesday, 8 December 2021 20:50 (two years ago) link
this is really annoying to me for some reason, just completely ahistorical and ignores entire scenes and traditions of post-rock, math rock, chopsy punk like nomeansno, sui generis weirdos like cardiacs or cheer accident or u.s. maple or melt banana or giddy motors, like a thousand bands that were doing things operating in a sphere between postpunk/punk/noise/prog― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, December 8, 2021 1:22 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, December 8, 2021 1:22 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
i thought you were gonna say This Heat which would have been a good example (although i didn't read andy as implying that they are are the first bands to ever mix prog and post-punk) but i disagree that most of these bands are doing something related to Squid. i personally don't hear any prog in us maple. nomeansno are a skate punk/post-hardcore band with above-average amount of exotic time signatures. as far as skingraft bands go melt banana and the whole noisy speed-core sound is its own thing, i do hear some influence of like six finger satelite/chinese stars in the sharp guitar stabs and rhythms
I'm w mississippi, post punk was interlinked w prog, it's like saying they combined the impact of rock with the passions of roll.― Freeze Instr., Wednesday, December 8, 2021 3:50 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Freeze Instr., Wednesday, December 8, 2021 3:50 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
imho they are pretty different. it seems wrong to me to think of, like, Yes as somehow "interlocked" with Gang of Four. i think of the canonical post punk bands as mining tension from minimalism, restraint, repetition. p much the opposite of prog
i'm still kinda ambivalent on squid, mostly because the singer annoys me and some of the lyrics are cringey. but i like a lot of the album
― flopson, Thursday, 9 December 2021 00:34 (two years ago) link
it seems wrong to me to think of, like, Yes as somehow "interlocked" with Gang of Four. i think of the canonical post punk bands as mining tension from minimalism, restraint, repetition. p much the opposite of prog
Nah, listen to what Chris Squire was doing on Yes's late '70s/early '80s albums, Going For The One and Drama. There's some real aggression and minimalism in there. Everyone else around him is going nuts, but he's the anchor.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 9 December 2021 00:45 (two years ago) link
Ruins are the missing link between prog and pigfuck / Skin Graft-style post punk imo
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 9 December 2021 00:46 (two years ago) link
I didn't say that Skin Graft was prog, I'm disputing the claim that this stuff is actually tied to prog in any real way, rather the continuation of many threads of underground rock. I think anytime something is chopsy or weird people use prog as a lazy term. I don't think Squid has shit to do with prog.
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 9 December 2021 00:50 (two years ago) link
not even like, black midi? i don't particularly hear it with squid but it's certainly more prominent in other acts in that whole scene
squid are easily my favourites though, but they're more firmly in the post-punk revival bucket (& their take on it is particularly strong), rather than the skronk of black midi etc who are maybe more distinct and experimental but less compelling
― ufo, Thursday, 9 December 2021 01:53 (two years ago) link
otm, amazing band
― flamboyant goon tie included, Thursday, 9 December 2021 02:30 (two years ago) link
Keith Levene was a Yes obsessive, Lydon a Van der Graaf Generator and Can aficionano, This Heat of course, Robert Wyatt, arguably Eno, Henry Cow / Slapp Happy fades directly into postpunk-type stuff, Peter Hook was way into the Groundhogs, Conny Plank produced early Ultravox and Phew, the connections were direct and real.
Gang of Four is one example where it doesn't work as they were more into Free and Dr. Feelgood along with funk
There were a lot of genre vectors washing around in postpunk - reggae obviously and pervasively, britfolk (Green Gartside loved Steeleye Span), hope taping weirdness etc. But to treat "prog" and "postpunk" as wholly discrete forms that the band Squid is uniquely connecting in 2021 is only possible if your historical grasp on postpunk starts with the Rapture and Hot Hot Heat.
― Freeze Instr., Thursday, 9 December 2021 02:51 (two years ago) link
Squid mention Neu! as an influence in interviews
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Thursday, 9 December 2021 02:52 (two years ago) link
To me Squid sound like a band based 90% on side B of Remain in Light
(Another link: Adrian Belew went from playing with Talking Heads to being a member of King Crimson mark 2 iirc; Fripp's path in this era is another case in point)
― Freeze Instr., Thursday, 9 December 2021 03:17 (two years ago) link
Devo's first album was kinda proggy too. there's a straighter line here than a lotta people think. P-Model started as a prog group called Mandrake that was way into Yes. if you listen to their (very proggy) demos, you can hear a lot of the stuff that made it to their hyperactive Zolo pop debut.
― frogbs, Thursday, 9 December 2021 03:23 (two years ago) link
Didn't he come to Talking Heads from Zappa's band to begin with? So prog->new wave->prog/new wave crossover or something? Also that was surely at least mk 3! xp
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 03:35 (two years ago) link
I haven't heard Squid, though.
Iirc, Rush were one of the only contemporary mainstream rock bands Carducci praised in Rock and the Pop Narcotic.
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 03:36 (two years ago) link
& fripp played on fear of music a little too
squid's key influences are very obviously like, talking heads, neu! and the fall. not really anything people haven't heard before but they're particularly great at it to my ears
― ufo, Thursday, 9 December 2021 03:37 (two years ago) link
good posts
it would be a miracle if there weren't any influences or overlaps in personnel between post-punk and prog bands, just due to it all being all of a broader rock scene in a particular time and in a small number of cities with a lot of open minded people in it. still, if you put Rush and Joy Division side by side on a mixtape it would be jarring eclecticism. krautrock is way more simpatico with post punk imho
― flopson, Thursday, 9 December 2021 05:39 (two years ago) link
I'm pretty sure I have done that.
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 12:41 (two years ago) link
Fantastic posts Freeze Instr.
― imago, Thursday, 9 December 2021 12:44 (two years ago) link
My main problem with any of these Windmill Scene writeups is that they treat all the bands as equals when they're clearly going for distinct things. Squid do feel very Krauty/TH-y but for every successful Paddling or Pamphlets (which are both very good) there's a GSK or Narrator to induce terminal cringe. They're young though, they'll improve. It's imo scary how good Black Midi are already.
Also, if you want good proggy postpunk from recent years, I could make a playlist from The Fall's final lineup that would best anything else, they really were the gold standard right to the end
― imago, Thursday, 9 December 2021 12:50 (two years ago) link
Rush were themselves prog/new wave crossover by 1980.xps
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 13:05 (two years ago) link
I made jarring mix tapes, though, tbf.
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 13:07 (two years ago) link
Anyway, I should listen to these bands. Kalakendra festival on rn tho.
― treat the gelignite tenderly for me (Sund4r), Thursday, 9 December 2021 13:08 (two years ago) link
Some great posts, I probably overstated my case it just really raises my hackles when writers throw out "prog" lazily anytime something is vaguely technical or non standard
I don't see these kids sitting around listening to Gentle Giant
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 9 December 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
I can very easily see Black Midi doing that tbf!
― imago, Thursday, 9 December 2021 14:56 (two years ago) link
https://www.talkhouse.com/morgan-simpson-of-black-midi-talks-with-bill-bruford-king-crimson-yes-on-the-talkhouse-podcast/
― J. Sam, Thursday, 9 December 2021 15:04 (two years ago) link
i stand corrected!
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 9 December 2021 15:06 (two years ago) link
Travis Scott’s Cacti Hard Seltzer Discontinued
― katebishopfan616 (morrisp), Saturday, 11 December 2021 06:53 (two years ago) link
Really good review of King Sunny Ade's Juju Music today. I disagree with the idea that Synchro System or Aura are inferior, but otherwise it's dead on.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 12 December 2021 12:58 (two years ago) link
I prefer Aura but JM was an essential intro.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 December 2021 13:13 (two years ago) link
xp I found all three of those LPs a couple years ago, about $30 for all three, great shape. It was a wonderful and upbeat week, musically
― my hands are always in my pockets or gesturing. (Karl Malone), Sunday, 12 December 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link
When I think "marrying the rhythmic economy and literate alienation of post-punk with the instrumental dexterity and formal ambition of prog," I think of Wire's "154." Meanwhile:
Fripp's path in this era is another case in point
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVACopYezIU
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 12 December 2021 16:49 (two years ago) link
BadBadNotGood’s Matthew Tavares Shares Statement on Departure From Band
To be unfollowed by the Instagram you made is a funny feeling.
HERE'S WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT YOU
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Monday, 13 December 2021 16:43 (two years ago) link
hahahahahaha
― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 13 December 2021 16:50 (two years ago) link
Hahaha bravo
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 December 2021 17:01 (two years ago) link
X-post - those into King Sunny Ade should check out a movie doc on old school Nigerian musicians called Elder’s Corner that is now at some online and in person film festivals or one off events. The youngish Nigerian Director doesn’t have much of a budget. The film covers Ebenezer Obey , Fela, and more obscure musicians but Ade is in there for a bit .
― curmudgeon, Monday, 13 December 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link
I like the idea of a catch-all list of random stuff that may have otherwise escaped notice, but cringe at "progressive pop music"... no one says that.
― katebishopfan616 (morrisp), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 20:39 (two years ago) link
progressive pop music is Supertramp
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 20:48 (two years ago) link
good list that
― nxd, Friday, 17 December 2021 19:45 (two years ago) link
ok, I would have rather seen a deep dive on The Chinese Album but still nice to read about Spacehog again. I always found them so much more charming and enjoyable than 90% of the other post-grunge alt-rock radio fodder of the same period.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 20 December 2021 16:28 (two years ago) link
really great caspa/rusko review today.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Sunday, 9 January 2022 17:54 (two years ago) link
i know, the writers don't choose the score. still, i love that "being submerged in a warm bath for 95 minutes" is a 7.0 experience, lol
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 13 January 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link
i guess you would start to get all pruned up after a while. maybe a 95 minute warm bath really is a 7.0
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 13 January 2022 15:47 (two years ago) link
The final Audioslave album is like being a slave to audio for 48 miunutes
― jpg trouble in wallo gina (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 13 January 2022 15:50 (two years ago) link
Heyyyyyoo
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 13 January 2022 16:05 (two years ago) link
The Worst Party Ever album is like
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Thursday, 13 January 2022 17:29 (two years ago) link