Monday, November 16, 2009

PQs Top 10 Songs of the 2000s: No.9

I like The White Stripes. Particularly their first three albums when they were more about rockin' out and singing about 'my baby' and gettin' it on and all that shit. Since then, they've got a bit earnest for my liking. But two of their early songs, 'Fell In Love With A Girl' and 'Let's Build A Home' were shortlisted for my Top 10 but neither made it. They did get into the Top 40 though.

That could've been a blow for old-skool lo-fi two-piece drums n' guitar rock music, but enter, at No.9, the band called No Age.

No Age are the same lineup as White Stripes. Drums and a guitar, and that's it. Like White Stripes, they rock out (though where White Stripes have that blues influence, No Age seem to have come via the artcore/grunge school), but beyond the similarities end. White Stripes are cool, hip, stylish. No Age are dags. They're just two suburban kids, rockin' out.

They have a couple of EPs out and one album that was released in 2008 called 'Nouns' and it is fucking awesome. It's rock, it's punk, but it's also very lush and soundscapey. They have found a 'sound' that suits them, the way they play, and the result is one of the best albums of the decade.

I think what I love about the band is their everydayness... I grew up in the 'burbs and I like rock music. It's like they are what I wished I was, or something.

The song I have put in at Number Nine is Eraser, which is Track 2 of the the Nouns album. Track 1 is a kind of noise piece, so this song heralds the rest of the album. It's like the gateway to the masterpiece.

I have included below two videos, and I urge you to watch them both.

The first is them performing the song live on a TV show. They actually do a pretty poor version of the song, like, really shit, in fact, if you watch it you'll think 'how the hell did he put that at number 9'? But the background story of the performance, as you will see, is interesting, and you do get to see them totally raw.

The second video is the actual videoclip, where you hear the song as it appears on the album, so really, if you could only be bothered to watch one, watch the second clip... which, by the way, wins my 'Best Videoclip of the Decade' award. It is a strangely beautiful video.

Here is the first video, where they play it badly.




Because the second video is issued to You Tube by the record company, I can't embed it so THE CLIP IS HERE.

Enjoy.

Oh, and Weekend Wrap. Got a kitten. 6 weeks old. Male. Meet Lord Byron:




Is it gay to own two cats when you're a single, neat male?

26 comments:

Melba said...

I'm not going to know any of your Top 10, am I?

Perseus said...

No.

Melba said...

Didn't think so.

Hay I'm seeing Painters 'n' Dockers on Froiday though. Do I get any respeck for that?

Unknown said...

It may well be gay to own two cats when you're a neat, single male but if one of them's called Lord Byron, then it's butch as all hell.

I can't help myself with the White Stripes. About 10 years ago I went out on a few dates with a stoner I knew from Philosophy tutes. We went out to a bar, the White Stripes were playing, we kissed, it was awesome. He took me home & kissed again. It was awesome again. The next week I called him up to ask him out to a movie, he told me he preferred to go to the movies on his own. I never saw him again. He's now living in Canada with some chick. Oh, the angst.

Srsly, he was a really good kisser, but at the time I was all embarrassed because I'd asked him out on a date and he'd basically refused. Honestly, I'd have let him feel me up and everything.

Oh well. His loss. Right? Right?!

Fuckit. I should've insisted we go to the movies together. Bah.

Perseus said...

Melba - Yes, you do. they were always great live.

EMS - You should have feeled him up. We'll do anything if you do that.

Unknown said...

Who says I didn't?

homesick said...

Is it gay to own two cats when you're a single, neat male?

If you smell lovely, are well groomed and like penises other than your own then yes you're gay Pers.

Melba I remember P&D very well. "Die Yuppie die' was a bit of an anthem for a while there. "Eat shit & die" was another favourite off the same album.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

What's the other cat called, Shelley?

Mad Cat Lady said...

that's is a cutie of a kitten - though are you dooming yourself to wakeful nights and fanged feet by naming it after someone who was reputedly mad, bad and dangerous to know?

Mad Cat Lady said...

bugger - i mean just that is or that's - someone was talking to me when i was typing - its not my fault

Lewd Bob said...

Yep, good song, good clip. I remember when Pitchfork gave it a 9.2. I never got around to buying the album. P'raps I will now, p'raps I will.

Puss In Boots said...

Damn. I got all excited when I saw the words White Stripes. I thought I might actually know something in your Top 10.

As for your kitten - so adorable! And no, it isn't gay. I would choose a neat guy with 2 cats over a slob with dogs any day.

kitten said...

No, but if you were female and single and owned two cats, you would be called the sad crazy spinster cat lady!

Double standards suck.

squib said...

I love the White Stripes and I'm annoyed I've never seen them live. These guys are good too and an interesting little aside about Obama

My fave song at the moment is The White Rabbits 'Percussion Gun'

Mad Cat Lady said...

do I get to be a 'crazy spinster cat lady' without the sad if I have seven?

Lewd Bob said...

Perhaps Crazy Spinster Multi-Cat Lady.

Mad Cat Lady said...

are small typo away from moulty-cat lady - which is not far from the truth - ah summer - the time of cat vomit and hairy clothes

Mad Cat Lady said...

and i meant 'a' small typo - sigh - i am away with the fairies today

WitchOne said...

How do you get 7 cats registered MCL? I can only have 2 legally and it makes me sad.

I'm resigned to never knowing any bands in Pers' top ten.

francesca said...

About Painters and Dockers- two members of the band were burnt out in the fires in february. Nothing has changed.

Perseus said...

Rae, prima facie, your first sentence doesn't seem to have any relation to the second sentence.

Explain.

Andrew Gerald Hales said...

Jack White is a Genius. White Stripes is one of those bands that, to me, every song is good.

Mad Cat Lady said...

At this point in time, where I live does not require one to register ones cats.

I can't bring myself to put the poor little feral suckers down - i tried that with the last feral cat i found and i was a mess for weeks afterwards.

kitten said...

My sister (the bitch) said I was becoming one of those "crazy cat ladies" because I am unmarried and have 2 cats. I thought I could change one of two things - therefore I am still single but now also have 2 dogs.

I was walking my dogs, along with my friends two dogs (they are all the same breed and related), and we went to the local pub, and as I left, I heard someone say "thats like the crazy cat lady on the Simpsons". Can't win.

Mad Cat Lady said...

I've met a startling number of people who just don't seem to like pets since I moved back home.

Only purpose for dogs appears to be pig hunting and security and there is no purpose for cats at all, other than they apparently make good crab bait.

i grew up with pets and cannot conceive of an existance with out them.

Melba said...

Great film clip. Nice to see a drummer singing, don't like the bandana on the guitar dude. Don't like a bandana on anyone really. Liked the balloons.