So, you're doubtless wondering to yourself, what's the deal with Rancid's "Olympia, WA" off 1995's ... And Out Come The Wolves. Okay, you're probably not wondering, but Spencer and I were talking about the issue last night. He clued me in to the fact that the reason he wishes he were going back to Olympia is that he's carrying a torch for Tobi Vail, while on tour in New York City. With that context in place, "hanging on the corner of 52nd and Broadway" suddenly snapped into place for me -- they're playing at Roseland not just hanging out in midtown. But what's on sixth street? Visiting the old Curry Row?
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Monday Rancid Lyrics Blogging
05 May 2008 09:03 am
Comments (25)
But what's on sixth street?
"L.A. bus doors open
Kicking both doors open
When it rested on 6th street
That's when he drug a girl inside."
Probably not the right city, though.
I am second to no one in my love for Avail. I am constitutionally incapable of driving south on I-95 without blasting "Southbound 95." I am planning a Richmond show for my band in which we will cover that song.
But for the love of God you have to admit to yourself that Rancid rule. If you do not like Rancid I have a hard time seeing how you like punk rock. We're not 15 anymore, man. We don't have to lie to ourselves, and to others. There's no punk police who are going to give us citations for screaming out the lyrics to "Radio." You will be so much happier when you come to terms with this. I promise.
@ James Gary, if Tim did Tobi Vail like Johnny hit-and-ran Pauline, I promise you Bikini Kill would have written a song about it.
It's not a question of punk police or any of that pap, it's just I can't see through their inherent ridiculousness. They were a nostalgia act for movement that rejected nostalgia. That didn't sit well with me in 1995, and it sits less well with me now at my ripe age of 32.
There is no reason not to like Rancid. Coming late in the game shouldn't disqualify someone for making good music, and they did. Besides, they're pretty harmless as far as mid-90s punks go: they just played music. In the trio of 'punk revival' bands of the time, Green Day finally got some cred with American Idiot, a fantastic statement in the Bush era, perhaps the best of anyone, after years as a pop-punk outfit; Offspring was almost instantly annoying; and Rancid just wanted to play music and had a catchy sense for writing songs. No hate there.
The record MY references above still sounds pretty great and "Olympia WA" is a standout track on it.
@tonydogs, punk never rejected nostalgia, it just flattered itself that it did. It's one of the most nostalgic youth/music movements ever. But look past the fashion! Rancid made only one bad record -- Life Won't Wait -- and their first three are perfect/near-perfect.
Huh. Glad this post made me look up the reference. In 1990 after Calvin Johnson played a show at Harvard I wound up chatting with the girl who was playing drums afterwards, dark hair, name was Toby or Tobi, outside the Adams House dining hall as she was having a smoke. Now it seems according to Wikipedia that was my brush with fame!
I should have paid more attention during the '90s.
It's not just the fashion, it's that's there's no substance behind the music either. I think Armstrong's a terrible lyricist and their music was a precursor to all that "Bro-Hymn" type punk that happened in the late 90's.
As for punk being nostalgic, in a way you're right. The Ramones used obvious 50's references in both their music and their lyrics, but as a whole, the movement was about going forward and rejecting what came before. Check out The Filth and the Fury (if you've already haven't) to see what I mean. But that might be a more British attitude and less of an American one. Perhaps in this regard I am an anglophile.
...as a whole, the movement was about going forward and rejecting what came before.
No it wasn't. It only said it was. Ha ha. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
All right dude, explain what you're talking about. Don't just negate what I'm saying -- prove what you're saying.
Attackerman's "punk police" remark puts me in the mind of Jawbreaker's "Boxcar" -- how could it not? Which leads me to wonder: what in the ever-living fuck happened with Blake Schwarzenbach? The dude was my hero. And I still maintain the JTB's Orange Rhyming Dicitonary is an amazing album. But then ... Perfecting Loneliness? Part of my sould died when I heard that horrible, horrible album.
"Currently, Schwarzenbach teaches undergraduates as a member of the Adjunct Faculty in the Department of English at Hunter College, which is part of the CUNY public university system in New York City." Per Wikipedia.
P.S. Jimmy said he could handle this.
San Francisco, Portland, and Olympia were at that time joined in a kind of invisible musical ecosystem. People would drive or take the bus up there in the 90s to see bands and the people they knew and people up there would drive or take the bus down to the Bay Area to see bands and the people they knew.
The place I live now is one corner in a kind of hippie triangle connecting here, a certain point in Oregon, and another one in Colorado.
Yeah, I know he's teaching now. His (pretty hilarious) RateMyProfessor page is here:http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=544942
But, I wondering what happened to the guy's songwriting ability, which fell off precipitously around Y2K.
Sidebar: I just want to say I appreciate the unexpected positive references to Avail on one of my favorite political blogs. As a former resident of Richmond, nothing has made me happier this morning.
I don't know about nostolgia but one aspect of punk rock was this self-aware posture, this awarness of ROCK HISTORY. Maybe people don't think like that anymore,b ut when I was a kid we were rebels dude.
Wow, that's a stumper. I don't know anyplace called the Funhouse or anything similar; however, the treehouse-looking thing in the community garden at 6th and Ave. B is quite bizarre- and carnival-looking and might fit the bill. Around the corner on 5th is ACE Bar, which I believe has a pinball machine---but the skee-ball installations are more popular.
So in short: I don't know.
however, the treehouse-looking thing in the community garden at 6th and Ave. B is quite bizarre- and carnival-looking and might fit the bill.
Yeah, the only thing I could come up with are the community gardens up and down 6th street. The one on the corner of Ave. B with all the "art" is wierd.
Or maybe Cooper Union?
"he's carrying a torch for Tobi Vail,"
My torch object:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yNHU6em3TY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMm8eSK7wyI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=732qBYxjYaI&feature=related
This is fantastic. Can we turn this into a weekly thing? After coming to the bay, I actually did door-to-door canvassing in the neighborhood called Blackhawk, and I can assure you it is in fact where all the rich people hide.
@tonydogs: You're crazy. From his time as Lint, to sleeping on the streets while he traded janitorial services for practice time at Gilman, to putting together a nationally-recognized indie punk label, no one has more credibility than Armstrong. Get over yourself. :)
@Attackerman: You're crazy. Life Won't Wait is a terrific, intricate, daring album that sounds even better today. Much better, IMO, than Out Come The Wolves, which was overproduced for radio play--and considering LWW came out immediately after than record, when the band was on the brink of major cross-over and commercial appeal, makes the choice to break away from the sound they were selling even more laudatory.
LWW is like Rancid's Sandinista, only musically coherent and less sprawling.
One Love!
@Scythia, I want to agree with you -- really, I do. I respect what they were trying to do with LWW (even if it really did follow the Clash's template with Sandinista, even going back to the old-time religion with 2000, as the Clash did to a lesser degree with Combat Rock). But the songwriting just isn't there. I recently bought the CD just to see if it's better than I remembered it from 10 years ago and I lamented that it wasn't.
Meanwhile, you need to write about your Blackhawk experiences and I will publish them on Attackerman. Email me through my blog.
Here's Sixth Street as an html table:
http://www.nysonglines.com/6st.htm
Nothing particularly jumps out at me, either--maybe Sidewalk, though I don't know how much of a punk scene it's ever had. And wouldn't you say you'd been hanging out on Avenue A anyway?
Was Cherry Tavern a punk hangout? There's a squat at 719 East; maybe that's what they mean.
I think it is Cherry Tavern, actually. The Time Out New York capsule review:
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/bars-clubs/east-village/4910/cherry-tavern
"Pool table: check. Video games: check. Cheap drinks: check. It’s an East Village bar, all right, set a bit apart by a jukebox that ranges from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Weezer and the Used. Many of the original punk rockers used to hang here back in the day; their bedraggled descendants are still around, slamming back $5 Tecate and tequila combos."
Comments closed May 19, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Rancid was one of the worst bands. These guys look like they were straight out of a Smithsonian exhibit on punk rock and their "roots radical" shtick was so tired. And just how old was Lars Fredrickson anyway? That guy looks like he had to drink the blood of seven virgins just to get up in the morning. Feh. Rancid sucked. Give me Avail any day.
Posted by tonydogs | May 5, 2008 9:15 AM