Sometime after returning home from Ezra's party Saturday night, I seem to have logged into eMusic and downloaded a copy of Rancid's Let's Go which I bought way back when but somehow lost my copy of. Since then I've been listening to it. Over and over. Is it wrong that I think I like it better than anything I was considering listing as one of the top ten albums of 2006?
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When I Got the Music, I Got a Place to Go
18 Dec 2006 09:42 am
Comments (42)
Rancid are by far the best melodic songwriters of any punk band of the last 20 years. No shame at all.
I submitted Life Won't Wait to the local public radio affiliate's "Submit your top 3 American albums for our July 4 countdown show" project. I think that's gotten them to start playing "Wrongful Suspicion" every now and then.
Dan's comment, however, is wrongheaded and ignorant. Sure, music was infinitely better in the good ol' days, 11 years ago. Why bother.
No. And with Spencer referencing Jawbreaker lyrics I'm really into your team these days. You should keep the DC-NorCal thing going.
You should have just asked me for the record; I could have saved you money.
For the crowd: The 7" version of "Radio" or the Let's Go version? I vote for the 7".
You're obviously not listening to The Thermals! But yeah that is a great album, even if it is only their 3rd best.
Sorry, but Rancid is now sufficiently popular that liking them is now a "pretty lame opinion to have". ;-)
You should have just asked me for the record; I could have saved you money.
Well, I wanted it on my iPod. Nothing says punk rock like a 60 gig iPod video with Etymotics ER6 isolator earphones.
I also re-obtained Kerplunk and some random Screeching Weasel tunes.
Yes, it is very wrong. Rancid is unoriginal and really pretty mediocre. Not even that catchy - Green Day is much better at "sell-out punk." The only reason you like this stuff is because you are already wallowing in nostalgia for your lost high-school youth, which is kind of pathetic for someone as young as you are. If you want punk music listen to old Circle Jerks or Black Flag.
And seriously, you think "Let's Go" is better than "Crane Wife"? Please.
Dude, it's burned onto my iTunes. I only have Out Come The Wolves on vinyl.
In case anyone is interested in checking out The Thermals, who released the best album of 2006 for sure, my name links to a youtube video of their single. =)
If you bought a copy of that album once, you know, you have an undeniable right to download a backup copy from one of the free P2P networks.
A good rule of thumb: if you're wondering "How Good?" it isn't very.
From "I Got Rhythm" ~1922 to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ~1992, the music that's been worth it has simply made its own space in your ear.
I liked that Thermals song. I'll download the album when my eMusic account refreshes on Wednesday.
Everything I like about Rancid is what they stole from the Clash. Get yerself a copy of Super Black Market Clash and you'll see how pale the Rancid tunes seem.
Replace the nouns in the above sentance with Green Day, Buzzcocks, and Singles Going Steady, repeat until spanked.
-J
You should have come to NYC for the Rainer Maria swan song...
Actually, I think Rancid hasn't sounded like the Clash for years. I've heard lots of people say they sound similar, but I just don't see it.
For the record, I think Rancid beats the Clash with a stick...
Just about any Rancid is better than anything you listened to in 2006. And I agree, Rancid smacks the Clash all over the place (at least musically imo).
Whoa there. In terms of musical innovation -- and sheer brilliance -- Rancid can't touch the Clash. Rancid would be the first people to make that point. They are, however, one of the four greatest punk bands of the 1990s. (The others being Los Crudos, Bikini Kill and the Refused.) Personal taste might compel one to prefer select Rancid songs to select Clash songs. But in absolutely no sense is Rancid a better band than the Clash.
Spencer speaks the truth. None should dare denigrate the Clash.
Spencer - forgive me for making a pedestrian and obvious point, but there's no such thing as a "better band," it's all just a statement of personal opinion.
Musical innovation is not necessarily a measure of greatness; who (except my hippie father) is going around trumpeting the everlasting greatness of the Butthole Surfers, or the Bonzo Dog Band, or Godley and Creme?
As for me, I almost never listen to the Clash, and I often listen to Rancid. I think they have better melodies, better guitar effects, and definitely better lyrics.
De gustibus non est disputandum...
Mr. Noah, I have to dispute you here. It does no good to debate which band is better than which unless we fix some criteria. Once we do so, we can determine superiority. Which would you like to adopt?
Methinks Mr. Noah has been sniffing glue again. Or maybe I should give Rancid a try. Mr. Noah what Rancid songs should I listen to that would demonstrate they are better lyrically and musically than the Clash? When I hear Rancid I hear a band that would probably not have even gotten a record deal had they existed in 1979. But maybe I'm listening to the wrong songs.
I think Op Ivy was better than Rancid.
"De gustibus non est disputandum..."
Just because there's no disputing taste don't mean some taste ain't better than others.
Operation Ivy > Rancid
But Let's Go is a fantastic album in its own right
I'm happy to hear that Screeching Weasel is still getting some love. Anthem for a New Tomorrow is an excellent record.
The Clash definitely have the edge on Rancid in the category of being dead.
Let's Go definitely falls into better albums I heard
Spencer asks for criteria but there aren't any. All a critic can do is hector and point.
However, I believe we can reach consensus to determine empirically that The Shaggs are the greatest Rock 'n' Roll band of all time.
That one passes on a simple voice vote.
to return to matthew's original point, i'm a big believer that new great music is always being created, but that doesn't mean that the best albums of the past are necessarily inferior to this year's best: there are very few rock albums ever that beat, for example, the velvet underground and nico or the british version of the first clash lp, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying, oh, wussy, for instance.
so yes, it's not theoretically impossible that a specific Rancid album might, to matthew's ears, be "better" than the "best" of 2006. That may, of course, speak to whether matthew gets out enough anymore....
I disagree with the specific point, but in general 2006 was kind of a disappointing year. Two landmark albums (The Hold Steady, Jenny Lewis), a few more very good-to-great ones (Rainer Maria, the Long Winters, We Are Scientists) and a lot of solid but forgettable pop.
Any discussion that leaves out Scissorfight's "Jaggernaut" is not a real discussion. Maybe not one of Scissorfight's best works, but probably a top-20 album for 2006. Oh, and better and more punk than Rancid, FWIW.
If you can't have the Clash anymore, why not have a Clash tribute band like Rancid? And if you can't have the Sex Pistols and the Jam anymore, then Green Day is a fine replacement.
I agree with Veenstra that The Hold Steady's album is pretty good - I think all the hipster sites will tell you that, though. But back to The Thermals, I checked out their pitchfork review and it hilariously misses every single direct biblical reference on the album, claiming it refers to some modern day oppression. Even their review of the single, "A Pillar of Salt," fails to mention Sodom, Gomorrha, or Lot. And that is one reason among many that pitchfork is awful.
Matthew Yglesias wrote: "I liked that Thermals song. I'll download the album when my eMusic account refreshes on Wednesday."
I don't think The Thermals albums is available on eMusic. If I'm wrong, please let me know. I want to dowload it, too.
Nearly every blues band that ever existed was a rip-off of Robert Johnson, Huddie Ledbetter, or Muddy Waters (or, more commonly, all three). But I never listen to Robert Johnson or Leadbelly, even though they were "the greats". I'd much sooner listen to Howlin' Wolf, or BB King, even though those guys just refined what their predecessors had done (Muddy Waters rulez, though). Just a matter of personal preference, I guess.
I bet there are a lot of people who love Radiohead but are lukewarm on the Smiths. Despite the fact that almost all Radiohead's best stuff was as much a Smiths tribute as Rancid is a Clash tribute.
Def not wrong. Always liked that one.
SAT: What the Black Crowes are to The Faces, Rancid is to:
A. The Clash
B. Big Audio Dynamite
C. PIL
D. Dead Boys
Easy right? Rancid is fine but thats about it.
I guess it's up to me to set you all straight.
I don't really care for Rancid anymore, but Let's Go was a truly great album.
I love the Clash, but even loving them as I do, they are way overrated. Their early stuff is the tits, the latter stuff is torturous. So yeah, the whole "you can't say anything bad about the Clash" stuff tightens my jaws.
Jawbreaker, also overrated, except for Boxcar, which is the greatest song ever written.
Dillinger Four is the best melodic punk band, not Rancid. Although I prefer the term Hardcore Pop.
If you like 80's punk like the Circle Jerks, DRI, etc, be sure to check out Career Suicide. I'm 35 and those kids inspire circle pits in my living room.
I agree with the Los Crudos love.
Mr T Experience > Screeching Weasel. Especially Love Is Dead.
Lifter Puller > The Hold Steady. Sad that you have to move to New York and change your name to get noticed.
Everyone should support Emusic for doing the online music thing the right way. I wish more labels would open up their catalogs, but I can usually find plenty of punk/hardcore. Picked up the New Bomb Turks collection of B-Sides. Great stuff.
Soapbox is now free.
xjerryx wrote:
"I love the Clash, but even loving them as I do, they are way overrated. Their early stuff is the tits, the latter stuff is torturous. So yeah, the whole "you can't say anything bad about the Clash" stuff tightens my jaws."
The best way to listen to late-period Clash is the live material - little or no filler and tighter performances.
I'll second the Shaggs vote! I think that any instructor looking for a test case about the irrelevance of authorial intent should have the Shaggs on hand. Could they have possibly intended to record an album like that? Death of the author, indeed.
MTX definitely rules the pop punk roost. But I'm going to check out the Dillinger Four now. Thanks.
Comments closed January 01, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
No, because Let's Go is catchy and most rock today is pretentious and boring.
Posted by Dan | December 18, 2006 10:08 AM