Latest / Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars / London Calling - The Clash
Transcript
- 0:15Welcome to Viber cuts, beats and vibes.
- 0:17We're a father to daughter music podcast that slices into some of
- 0:20the greatest albums, one cut at a time.
- 0:22With no industry ties or formal training, just a shared love of
- 0:25music, we explore albums across genres, rating favorites and
- 0:30skips while digging into what makes each one iconic.
- 0:33I bring the beats. And I bring the bars and
- 0:36together we deliver real talk and fresh takes from both sides
- 0:39of the sound. Hey everyone, I'm Riley.
- 0:41And I'm Todd and welcome to this week's episode of Barber Cuts
- 0:45where we talk about our latest album, London calling by the
- 0:49Clash. And so before we get going on
- 0:52it, though, I also want to give a shout out to a another podcast
- 0:58who mentioned us recently. So our friends over at assorted
- 1:03crackers. And so they Lee is a a friend
- 1:07and he's one of the the hosts there and they gave their own
- 1:11takes on favorite albums of theirs.
- 1:14And I also don't want to give it away, but one of the ones they
- 1:18mentioned is coming up fairly soon, I think if I remember the
- 1:23order on on our list. So go go listen.
- 1:27The episode they have is Vinyl Verdicts.
- 1:32But recently, they also had Walker Jones from the Grove
- 1:35Collective talking about name, image likeness or NIL and
- 1:39college sports. Really interesting, even if you
- 1:42aren't an Ole Miss fan. And and I'm not, so I, I promise
- 1:45it is. And yeah, oh, so sad.
- 1:50But also just had Dale Sanders on, who is attempting to set a
- 1:57Guinness record as the oldest man to hike the Appalachian
- 2:00Trail, which is roughly just shy of 2200 miles.
- 2:05This guy's 90 years old, so that is quite the impressive feat.
- 2:12And then lastly, they they also give takes on bourbon.
- 2:16So if you're a bourbon fan, head on over, give them a listen.
- 2:20As a newly 21 year old I can safely say I am not a bourbon
- 2:25fan for the 1st 2 seconds of it being in my mouth and then a
- 2:29bourbon fan as soon as the bourbon taste wears off and it's
- 2:33just the flavouring. Yeah.
- 2:34So, so maybe if we can find on the video, we, we may have the
- 2:41first bourbon taste for, for Riley's face.
- 2:44So you can, so you can see your face.
- 2:46But anyway, so yeah, go give those guys a listen.
- 2:51Assorted crackers. They mentioned it and, and I've
- 2:54talked to Riley about it when she comes home over Christmas,
- 2:57Hopefully we'll try and get together with them and, and, and
- 3:01see what we can come up with to, to have a cross pollinated
- 3:06episode with them. So hopefully that'll work out.
- 3:09So slight diversion back to the Clash and London calling.
- 3:15Let's kick it with our Riley's laughing at me on video and I
- 3:19don't know why. So let's let's kick start it
- 3:23with our least favorite songs. Really quick, no one has video,
- 3:27but what I'm seeing right now on Zoom is it's randomly zooming in
- 3:34and out of your face. Yeah, like getting really close
- 3:38to your face and then getting really far away at really random
- 3:41times. The.
- 3:42Setting just updated to auto shift the camera around so that
- 3:46I stay in the middle and so it's really messing with me
- 3:50sometimes. Yeah, it's.
- 3:51Just it's not just me, it's just leaving it really.
- 3:54Close to his face and so that one just caught me off guard the
- 3:58first time that it happened. So least favorites The Clash
- 4:02back on track, my least favorites for the Clash were
- 4:08Lost in the Supermarket and Rong Amboyo respectfully.
- 4:13Talk about some annoying songs. These got on my nerves, just got
- 4:19on my nerves. Like in only listening through
- 4:21those songs like one time they got on my nerves.
- 4:24Like they're not that The Clash is very deep in a lot of their
- 4:29lyrics, but these ones were just very surface level annoying.
- 4:36Getting lost in the supermarket is about getting lost in the
- 4:40supermarket. I'm sure there's a deeper
- 4:43meaning. Like you could get like theory,
- 4:45ethical, philosophical about it. That's like, Aww, he's he's lost
- 4:50for another reason. And then wrong and bold is it's
- 4:56violent. It starts with like him talking
- 5:00about he's gonna like fight someone.
- 5:04And to me, this song is the equivalent of if anyone's ever
- 5:10like made the joke, That's like, oh, you can stop murder by just
- 5:15being like, please don't do that.
- 5:18Like this song feels like the equivalent.
- 5:20Like they seem like they're making like this big stand
- 5:22against other people. And it's like, you better stop.
- 5:26It's like. Yeah, so so Roland Boyo is like
- 5:29a double is that is that the one that starts off?
- 5:33It's staggerly. And so I think it's a it's it's
- 5:37a based on a true story from like the staggerly guy.
- 5:41And this is a reinterpretation of maybe the original, but and
- 5:47it and it starts off with almost A and this this was almost my
- 5:53best music moment of of the album, but it's not so I'll
- 5:58share it here. It starts off as almost a swing
- 6:01big band kind of sound. And then all of a sudden it
- 6:05start or it says hold on. And then it shifts like to ska
- 6:10music almost with a way different beat and jump.
- 6:13So musically, it was pretty neat what they did.
- 6:16But yeah, it is a song about violence and death and murder.
- 6:20But it was it was based off supposedly real things that
- 6:24happen so. Yeah, my thing is that it almost
- 6:27it just doesn't. It is about all of those things,
- 6:30but the I don't know, I can't, I can't figure out if it's like
- 6:35just describing it or if the like, it seems as if they're
- 6:39almost trying to say like you're doing bad things and it's like
- 6:42that's not helping anything. Like, yeah, it's a bad thing.
- 6:47My my, my understanding was it was 2 criminals and one one of
- 6:51them got the better of the other like, and best I could tell from
- 6:55the songs, there was the original and then, and I can't
- 6:59remember who it was by then somebody did a cover and then
- 7:02the Clash did a reinterpretation of the cover.
- 7:06So, but yeah, it's it's a. Little bit I just pulled up the
- 7:11lyrics to see and it's like the the chorus part I guess is yeah,
- 7:16where it says like, don't you know it's wrong to cheat the
- 7:18trying man? Like if it kind of repeats that,
- 7:20you better stop. And that's the part to me,
- 7:24that's just like, all right, what are we doing here?
- 7:27Yeah, I think, I think if I remember like in in the original
- 7:301 and then the first cover, they were saying that one person was
- 7:36to blame and then the Clash reinterpreted it and said, well,
- 7:40what if the other person was to blame?
- 7:44Yeah, I. Guess I don't know the Lord, so
- 7:46to me it's just an annoying song.
- 7:48Yeah, and, and I got, I, I got a little bit lost in trying to
- 7:51figure it out, but yeah, yeah, musically I, I liked what they
- 7:55did with the shifting of, of the beat and everything.
- 7:58But I I get your point. Yeah, So what about you?
- 8:02So my least favorites, so one of them was 4 Horsemen, and that's
- 8:11the one that sounded like it. You could have picked it up off
- 8:15of the Clash and dropped it over onto the Sex Pistols album that
- 8:19we reviewed. And so for a reason why it's my
- 8:24least favorite, go listen to that episode and hear what that
- 8:27rating was. And then also a brand new
- 8:30Cadillac again really sounded Sex Pistols punk.
- 8:35What you what you think of when you hear punk?
- 8:38But it it also had some pretty heavy rock'n'roll into it as
- 8:42well. Had a nice guitar solo in it.
- 8:45So so I said there is some rock in it, but had to come up with
- 8:50with two of them in it and it had the most punk sound to it
- 8:54there. So so those are my 2.
- 8:57All right now shifting to our favorite to Riley.
- 9:03What are your favorite two out two songs from London Calling?
- 9:08So I will say that it did not get picked as one of my
- 9:12favorite, so you're lucky, but 4 Horsemen was on there as like in
- 9:16the contenders, it got third. And if you want to know why
- 9:20that's the case, go listen to our Sex Pistols episode.
- 9:25I don't think I rated it very highly either, but I think I
- 9:27rated it a little higher than you.
- 9:29But that ended up not getting up there.
- 9:33So my second favorite was Jimmy Jazz.
- 9:39This one sounded like what it says, Jazz, and hearing it with
- 9:46the clashes specific voice was very interesting for me and I
- 9:53very much enjoyed it. Like because their voice is not
- 9:56jazzy at all at all. It's very punk.
- 10:02And so it's one that like, never would I think that jazz and punk
- 10:08could coexist in a song that I enjoyed.
- 10:13And the song proved me wrong. I thought the combination of the
- 10:18soft, soft jazz is what I'm calling it.
- 10:22Soft is like the wrong word, but jazz and just such a harsh, like
- 10:29raspy, rough around the edges voice was very interesting, like
- 10:37to listen and it was just a good song.
- 10:42I think it just stood out to me mainly because of that mix of
- 10:46genres that like clash a little bit.
- 10:52I that just became one of my favorites, but my actual
- 10:57favorite was I'm not down. This one, it just stuck out to
- 11:08me. I liked how it sounded, but the
- 11:13the lyrics to me were a lot more, I don't know,
- 11:19understandable, I guess would be the word.
- 11:23They were kind of talking about specific things that they're
- 11:26concerned about while not letting it get them down, which
- 11:31is like a really fun, fun thing to hear a band that I would say
- 11:37is pretty punk do cuz I think what I'm not calling the Clash
- 11:43punk necessarily. I just think they're with this
- 11:46album. I don't, I don't, I don't want
- 11:48anyone to get mad at me for calling them a genre when
- 11:50they're not a genre. Yeah, but they sound very punky
- 11:54and something like with the Sex Pistols, they get very
- 11:58catastrophic and then kind of are just like this sucks, life
- 12:03sucks, everything sucks. And like that's one of my big
- 12:08problems that I have with with punk a lot of the times is it
- 12:12just kind of leaves you in that Dead Space, which is not really
- 12:16good for anyone. Stay in.
- 12:20And so I really like the song that kind of talked about all of
- 12:26the stuff that's going wrong, but kind of ended it up with,
- 12:30hey, gotta keep, gotta keep going.
- 12:34So yeah, I just really enjoyed that message.
- 12:38Yeah, and I and I think this whole this will come up later
- 12:41and, and, and we can re talk about it, but I think, I think
- 12:46the Clash as a band is hard to classify and quotes into a
- 12:53genre. Early 1st 2 albums, from what
- 12:57I've gathered, they were punk and then this album really
- 13:04transformed them and they kept that transformation going.
- 13:09But if you listen carefully enough, I think in most all
- 13:12their songs and you mention it, you can still hear that
- 13:15foundation of punk come through. Some songs it's stronger than
- 13:19others, you know, but but you can, you can still hear it so.
- 13:25I'll say this, and I don't mean it as an insult.
- 13:27So I I hope no one takes it as it such with a, with a lead
- 13:32singer with a voice like that, you're always gonna hear a
- 13:34little bit of punk like that's I mean, and I like this.
- 13:40That's not me saying I dislike his voice.
- 13:43I think it works really well, and they work really hard to
- 13:47make it, like, more general of an audience, like, can receive
- 13:52it. But like, his voice is so like,
- 13:56just is a perfect fit for punk. Like just the raspy, like going
- 14:03back to the Sex Pistols, It's like a voice that's not pretty,
- 14:06a voice that's like, not necessarily good a lot of the
- 14:09times is like the best voice for punk.
- 14:13And I just think that this album shows that in a lot of ways.
- 14:16Yeah, at least to me, Yeah. So my, my 2 favorites, second
- 14:22one was between Rudy Can't fail and Jimmy Jazz.
- 14:29Jimmy Jazz. I really liked it the the the
- 14:32stuff that it did at the end. I was like, OK, that that's you
- 14:37know, I know it's, I know it was probably their play on the whole
- 14:41scat thing that, that you see. And so it's like, OK, I get what
- 14:46they were doing, but it was just weird to me.
- 14:48So basically that's what tipped it over to Rudy Can't Fail.
- 14:52But this one has a reggae fail to it.
- 14:56So we've now mentioned punk, ska and jazz and now reggae add to
- 15:05the list. So Rudy can Fail basically
- 15:08praises the rude boys of Jamaica and in the 1960s who challenged
- 15:13the status quo. That's all music stuff, but it's
- 15:17about a fun loving young man criticized by the elders for not
- 15:22acting like a responsible adult because he likes to drink beer
- 15:26breakfast and so they call him crude.
- 15:29This is from the lyric, Crude and feckless, he responds.
- 15:33I know that my life makes you nervous, but I tell you, I can't
- 15:37live in service. So it's really just about him
- 15:40saying I can't do what you want me to do.
- 15:43Which fits right into the punk genre and the punk nomenclature
- 15:51of Yep, I'm going to not do what you want me to do.
- 15:54So lyrics fit in great with the Clash and, and and the punk
- 16:00scene that they put reggae to it.
- 16:04And so musically, man, it is a happy, upbeat sounding song.
- 16:10I mean, and the song listening to it, if you ignore the lyrics,
- 16:14like makes you feel happy because like I think that's what
- 16:17all reggae music does and that don't.
- 16:21Worry. Be happy.
- 16:22Yeah. And so and I'll I'll touch more
- 16:25on that later as well. So my favorite song, though, was
- 16:30probably one of their more another sub genre here, pop
- 16:36train in vain. The last one and of the song and
- 16:42you'll see it with parentheses parenthetically, Stand by Me is
- 16:48there and it was added. Best I can tell it looks like it
- 16:53was added after the deal was done for the record.
- 16:56So the song was added into the vinyl at the end in the in the
- 17:01runoff area and the the sleeves had already been printed.
- 17:06So there was no mention of the song.
- 17:10So it was, you know, in 1979, December, so January 1980 in the
- 17:18US when it was released, they had a vinyl hidden track.
- 17:23And so the Stand By Me was added in the US and Canada, but in the
- 17:27Uki think it was just trained in vain.
- 17:30It was all done because of the popular Stand By Me song.
- 17:33So they wanted to make sure there was no, no confusion.
- 17:37And so interestingly enough, Mick Jones, who was one of the
- 17:42lead singers who wrote the song, said the track was like a train
- 17:47rhythm and there was once again that feeling of being lost.
- 17:52So that's his quote. Now, other things that you read
- 17:56and other people's interpretations of people that
- 17:59were close also mentioned that it could have gone to Eric,
- 18:04could have been a response to a song that was written by The
- 18:09Slits, another band. And Jones was dating a member of
- 18:13that, and they split up at the time.
- 18:17And I think she wrote a song about standing by, that they
- 18:21always would stand by their man. And then he wrote this.
- 18:24And if you look at the lyrics, it's about not standing by your
- 18:27man. And but she said he would never
- 18:31admit that it was about that, but she really thinks it is.
- 18:35So, you know, take it for a grain of salt, but it is just
- 18:39got a nice little rhythm. It's got a nice music.
- 18:42I mean, if it's nice, it plays well.
- 18:44You can definitely see it on the radio.
- 18:47And it was just nice to sit there and tap your song or tap
- 18:51your feet and and just Bob your head to that one.
- 18:54So I really, really like the train in vain.
- 18:59So favorite song. So Next up, why is this album on
- 19:04our list? Yes.
- 19:07So the Clash, another example of funk, I guess.
- 19:13But I think kind of like we talked about with Ed Sheeran and
- 19:19kind of like you briefly mentioned, this album was really
- 19:23when the Clash like became what they are known as, which I would
- 19:29say is not necessarily London Calling.
- 19:33The one that I think everyone will know is should I stay or
- 19:36should I go? Which is off the album that
- 19:40comes not directly after, but after this album.
- 19:43In general, Combat rock and this album seems to be where they
- 19:47experiment with what they want to be more than anything, if
- 19:52that makes sense, which is what makes it such an interesting
- 19:57album to listen to we've talked about in the past.
- 20:03We we both love it when I would say both love it when artists
- 20:08play around with as many genres as they can in one album.
- 20:13And I think what's interesting about this one is to me, it
- 20:18seemed as if other artists that we've listened to have seemed to
- 20:21try to master the genre and the genre shifts in their album The
- 20:27Clash with this one seems to literally just want to play
- 20:30around with it. They don't care about mastering
- 20:33it. They don't care about making it
- 20:34sound right. They don't care if it gets
- 20:36labeled reggae or pop or punk or rock or anything.
- 20:41They just want to dip their toes in as much as they possibly can
- 20:47to it seems as if to find their style.
- 20:53And so that's to me why this album is really interesting.
- 20:58And their style may be experimentation.
- 21:01Yeah, but you get to see, you get to see that band.
- 21:05You get to see a band that has like well known songs and as a
- 21:09well known band name, kind of figure out who they are.
- 21:12And that's really fun. Even if you don't like who they
- 21:16end up being, it's really fun to see a band play around and
- 21:21figure it out. Yeah, I agree.
- 21:24And so so first just a little bit of of history and context
- 21:27with the Clash. Their debut performance as as a
- 21:31band was July 4th 1976 as the debut for Sex Pistols.
- 21:39So they were the opening act for the Sex Pistols.
- 21:42The fact then, so. I squinted and that's if he
- 21:47leaves the pause in you'll hear a pause because I squinted was
- 21:53it was not a proud moment of mine.
- 21:55It was very American of me, but it was like who has shows on
- 21:58July 4th? Well.
- 21:59And that wouldn't cross my mind. But also being so American, I
- 22:04thought being old, I said 1776 and I said it wrong and didn't
- 22:10even realize it. So we're we're both American
- 22:13and. Well, no, I did notice you said
- 22:15you said 1976. Yeah, I did say.
- 22:19And so I thought like, oh, that's like a big one too,
- 22:22because it's like 200 years. Whatever.
- 22:25Yeah. So I was like, why are they
- 22:26playing? And I remember they're both
- 22:28British punk. Yeah.
- 22:29They could care less about July 4th.
- 22:31In fact, I'm surprised neither of them have a song directly
- 22:34about July 4th. Yeah, they probably did it on
- 22:37July 4th out of spite for the Americans.
- 22:40I don't know. I'm just.
- 22:42Which here listen sidetrack. Again, we're being American.
- 22:45We think people think so much of us, and people probably don't
- 22:49care. OK but sidetrack shower thought
- 22:52y'all can think about this this week.
- 22:54Why do we celebrate July 4th? We celebrate veterans and stuff
- 22:59like that by doing something that's like a known trigger for
- 23:03PTSD for veterans, which is fireworks.
- 23:07I don't know how. Neither do I.
- 23:09OK, you'll still do it though. So after after the debut, they
- 23:17and the Sex Pistols and and some others went to a Ramones show.
- 23:23So again another punk band that I think we have an album for way
- 23:28later. And the Ramones are out of New
- 23:31York City. So again, they they were heavy
- 23:36in the punk scene. Their second show that it was of
- 23:42quite a few weeks later, August 29th, supposedly the read where
- 23:47after that first show they're like, yeah, we need to get
- 23:50together and practice. So they got together and
- 23:53practiced. Second show was August 29th and
- 23:58again they opened for the Sex Pistols so they they wore
- 24:04heavily into that punk scene, especially at the beginning and
- 24:09really with London Calling, as we both mentioned and and Riley
- 24:15just talking about it London Calling albums when they really
- 24:18started experimenting with their music.
- 24:21And so again, London Calling the song is often considered by
- 24:26critics to be their Best Song, but the most popular one
- 24:31probably, and definitely most streamed on Spotify is as you
- 24:35mentioned, should I stay or should I go?
- 24:37So, so that's the that's the, that's the Clash.
- 24:40So they're, they're punk. They definitely have those punk
- 24:43undertones. But starting on this album, they
- 24:47started infusing other genres on top of punk.
- 24:53And if you listen, you can still hear it.
- 24:56But they they really started doing that with with some with
- 25:00the rest of their albums. Which should I stay or should I
- 25:03go? I think this is a testament to
- 25:08the Clash and something. I love it when bands are like
- 25:14this. Cage the Elephant is like this
- 25:17all like they sound. You could play like 5 Cage the
- 25:21Elephant songs and you'd be like, there's no way.
- 25:24That's all. It's not the same band.
- 25:26Yeah go listen to the KC elephant on shuffle and it's a
- 25:29wild trip but I I'm re watching through stranger things right
- 25:35now with the new season coming out.
- 25:38So I'm watching through season 1 and I completely forgot that a
- 25:44big song in season 1 Stranger things is should I stay or
- 25:47should I go? Because the Clash was seen as
- 25:50like this underground music that was introduced to Will the
- 25:53little boy, and he uses it as a way to communicate to his family
- 25:59that he's there. So he turns on the radio and
- 26:01starts playing the song and people talk about like he like
- 26:07sings it. And that's how they know it's
- 26:09Will because they'll say that. See, he's even singing that
- 26:12weird song he likes. And so I like, was listening to
- 26:17that and I was like, oh, yeah. And then at one point they say,
- 26:20so you like the Clash. And I was like, that's the
- 26:22Clash. I'm listening to the Clash.
- 26:25I've been listening to the Clash this whole week.
- 26:27And I had no idea that that was the Clash because I went
- 26:30straight to this album and didn't look at, like, their
- 26:33overall. Yeah.
- 26:34So that was really funny to like, be like, I can know that
- 26:38song. I know that song Well, Yeah.
- 26:42And the other one that you probably know I've heard is Rock
- 26:45the Casbah. Rock the Casbah.
- 26:50Well, that's the flash too. Those I think those two are on
- 26:54the same album. But you know, but this album
- 26:57specifically, it is our a lot of people still label it a punk
- 27:02album. Maybe they label it a punk album
- 27:04because it's from a punk band. But you know, I'm also not gonna
- 27:11disagree with somebody if they call it a different type of
- 27:14genre, but we got it labeled as a punk album.
- 27:17But because you can hear the undertones of punk, but it's
- 27:22definitely infused with, as we've talked about, reggae, pop,
- 27:25funk, scob. There's some R&B notes that
- 27:29country, rockabilly, rock'n'roll, obviously.
- 27:35So there's a there's a lot of different genres that are fused
- 27:39in there. The album itself is a #16 on
- 27:45Rolling Stones top 500 best albums, the highest of of any
- 27:50punk band, and a little Memphis trivia here.
- 27:57The album cover is well known. The It's the bassist smashing
- 28:03his bass guitar and the The base is now on display at the Museum
- 28:09of London, But the topography is a nod to Elvis Presley's debut
- 28:15album, with Elvis vertically in pink and Presley horizontally in
- 28:21green. The London Colin is the same
- 28:25way. London is vertically in pink,
- 28:28calling is horizontally and green and it looks to be the
- 28:32same font as Elvis Presley. So that's pretty neat being
- 28:36being from Memphis 2007 the album was inducted into the
- 28:41Grammy Holland Hall of Fame. Some people that have been
- 28:46influenced by it. The Edge.
- 28:48Who's the guitars from U2, The Offspring, Green Day, Jacob
- 28:53Dylan of The Wallflowers, Bob Dylan's son, Arctic Monkeys, Bad
- 28:58Religion, just to name a few of the bigger ones.
- 29:00And then outside of rock, Chuck D of Public Enemy, which we may
- 29:04have a Public Enemy album on our list, I have no idea.
- 29:10So even Chuck D is called them an inspiration.
- 29:14So that that's that's pretty neat that it, it got outside of
- 29:17rock and punk scene as well. I do also want to throw out a
- 29:20few like random things. Go ahead.
- 29:24So this is not about the clash, but things that we talked about
- 29:28with the clash that we need to circle back on.
- 29:31So one is with the Cure which I mixed up those bands for far too
- 29:40long because the names were similar.
- 29:44But also another pop culture reference that I got to witness
- 29:48is. I'm also re watch or watching
- 29:50through Gilmore Girls right now because it's finally feeling
- 29:53like fall a little bit at least here.
- 29:56I know y'all are not experiencing that.
- 29:59Still sweating, but in one of the episodes, Lorelei, the main
- 30:05character is says something along the lines of like, I
- 30:09really got to go in there. That's the cure playing meaning
- 30:12like someone's in distress. She goes like, oh, that's the
- 30:16cure, I gotta go handle this. And so she walks in and very
- 30:21somberly laying on the bed after a bad day is one of the
- 30:25characters listening to pictures of you by the cure.
- 30:30So even like game where girls franchise agrees with you that
- 30:36the cure, if the cure is playing, bad things happen.
- 30:40And then I just thought that. Was funny.
- 30:43That's a shout back to quite a few episodes ago.
- 30:47Yeah, and. Then not that you're not that
- 30:49you're calling because you, you let in saying I got these two
- 30:52bands confused. So you you are recognizing this
- 30:55is a legit Cure story and you have not gotten them confused?
- 31:00No, I'm just wanting to make sure that's clear for everybody.
- 31:04Before I listen to The Pure and The Clash, I used to get them
- 31:09confused because they sounded very similar name wise, very
- 31:14different every other way. Yeah, true.
- 31:17And then the other one is, I completely forgot to mention
- 31:20this last episode, but with you talking about the Clash opening
- 31:25for Sex Pistols and it being like, yeah, that makes perfect
- 31:30sense. It made me think of with, with
- 31:32Reliant K, they have opened for people that like like they
- 31:39opened for Avril Lavigne in 2025, like as a like pop punk
- 31:44reunion fest or something. But I think what would surprise
- 31:47a lot of people is that in 2010 the band opened for Paramore for
- 31:53their spring tour. Like Paramore is a giant band.
- 31:59What was your like Kay do in opening for Paramore?
- 32:02I don't know. Paramore recently opened for
- 32:04Taylor Swift on her tour for a few of the dates to like give an
- 32:09idea like big band. But those are also hot pun
- 32:13references which made me think of that.
- 32:15So few things to wrap up before moving on to.
- 32:20Ratings. Ratings.
- 32:22So let's hit those ratings, Riley, which I'll ray.
- 32:26My personal rating was A5. I love it.
- 32:30I didn't hate it. It got very annoying to me.
- 32:34We talked about this a little bit with ACDC, which we haven't
- 32:39recorded, but you and I have talked about this with ACDC of
- 32:44over time. I think that I think this is the
- 32:48only time that the way we do this setup kind of hurts the
- 32:52album is because we're supposed to listen to this album and
- 32:55familiarize ourselves within like a week or so, which is
- 32:58normally a perfect amount of time.
- 33:00But when the singer has a very distinct voice that's not
- 33:05necessarily pretty, such as ACDC, Sex Pistols, The Clash, it
- 33:10can get very annoying very quickly and you get so burnt out
- 33:15on the sound so quickly. And I would say instrumentally
- 33:20it like kept me engaged because like we said, they experiment so
- 33:23much. But I'm just not a huge fan of
- 33:25the voice. And so it just got on my nerves.
- 33:30I couldn't listen to it as much as I would have liked to
- 33:33familiarize myself and I just could not enjoy it as much as I
- 33:38think I could. If I listen to it very spaced
- 33:40out because I liked some songs enough to like, I would add them
- 33:45and I would like it. I wouldn't skip them if they
- 33:47popped up on my shuffle playlist or anything like that.
- 33:52But just in a row as an album, an hour of just this kind of
- 33:58like very punk emphasis, emphasized voice made it just
- 34:05smack in the middle for me, I would say.
- 34:09But I would say objectively, I would say an 8.
- 34:14I would say an 8 because they do play around with so many genres.
- 34:18And I think that because because I said of what I said, they play
- 34:22around with so many. They don't aim to like perfect
- 34:24any. There are going to be those
- 34:26little like parts that don't exactly like fit.
- 34:29Kind of like were you talking about like throwing in like like
- 34:33randomly or like trying to scat or something like that?
- 34:36Like little bits and pieces where they were just playing
- 34:38around, but like to someone who's just trying to listen to
- 34:42it, it's like, why did you do that?
- 34:44Like that doesn't work, which makes sense given like the
- 34:48exploration of the album, but it's going to lower the
- 34:51objective rating, probably intentionally on their part so.
- 34:56Yeah, so for me, my personal rating was a 7.5.
- 35:00I liked it. So it's not as punk as Sex
- 35:07Pistols, which I enjoyed and and the the voice did not bother me
- 35:14as as much either. So I I actually enjoyed the
- 35:20album. There were, there were a couple
- 35:21songs that I wasn't a fan of and you know, the, the more I listen
- 35:26to it, it's like, OK, yeah, I can skip that one, you know.
- 35:30So again, not my favorite, but I did enjoy it.
- 35:33Objective half point higher 8.5 again from the music side of
- 35:39things, infusing so much of this into what they knew, which was
- 35:44the punk sound is impressive. And then seeing that
- 35:50experimentation and, and new wave and different things that,
- 35:54that, that come out of what this album did again, just, you know,
- 35:59it's, it's a good album. And most of these that we listen
- 36:02to, they're, they're going to have fairly high objective
- 36:05ratings because they're, you know, they, they've done
- 36:07something in in the musical pantheon.
- 36:12So, so those are our ratings. Now on to best beats and bars.
- 36:20What was What was the best bar from this album?
- 36:23I kind of talked about it with I'm Not Down, but I would say
- 36:26any of the lyrics from I'm Not Down are just kind of beautiful
- 36:32in their own little way. But my favorite part is it's a
- 36:39little bit long, so stick with me here.
- 36:41But it's great, It says, because I've lived that kind of day when
- 36:47none of your sorrows will go away.
- 36:48It goes down and down and hit the floor, down and down and
- 36:51down. Some more depression.
- 36:53But I know there will be some way when I can swing everything
- 36:56back my way, like size scrapers rising up floor by floor.
- 37:00I'm not getting up. And I mean, I just think that's
- 37:06beautiful. I mean, everyone's been there,
- 37:08everyone's been down, Everyone's had that day.
- 37:13But the reminder that floor by floor, like skyscrapers, you're
- 37:18not giving up. It's just like a really
- 37:20beautiful way to picture it that like you can go down, but just
- 37:24know that you're going back up again.
- 37:26Someday soon very good. So my best beat is short.
- 37:34It's the opening of the guns of Brixton.
- 37:38And so it's a bass line and some drums guitars kick in, you know,
- 37:43and it's also got a scratch of a vinyl needle that you can hear
- 37:47and there as well. And you know, I heard it and was
- 37:53like, OK, I'm, I'm instantly bopping head like, OK, this is
- 37:59this is a really smooth, could be hip hop beat.
- 38:04And so I was like, OK, let's let me let me look and see if
- 38:07anybody's actually sampled it or used it.
- 38:09And sure enough, Cypress Hill on their song.
- 38:14What's your number in 2004, same bass line.
- 38:21Fat Boy Slim copied sampled for a beats International song dub
- 38:28Be Good to Me in 1990. It's been sampled and used a few
- 38:31other times as well, but the baseline of it is just super
- 38:34slick and real nice. And the way it that song intros
- 38:37is is really cool. So that's my best beat of the
- 38:42album, which then leads us into our songs of the week, which is
- 38:49song of the week, alright. This is This is borderline my
- 38:53song of the week every week, but I like can never put it.
- 38:59Had the outcome been different on Saturday, your song of the
- 39:02week would have been Rocky Top. OK, so we don't need to talk
- 39:07about that. It's still Rocky Top.
- 39:10Fall for life baby, fall for life.
- 39:13This is probably one of my favorite songs.
- 39:16I love it. It's the thought by Holden
- 39:19Miller, specifically the thought Tomato version.
- 39:26The reason it's tomato version is because there's lyric in
- 39:29there that says, did you know I eat tomatoes now?
- 39:31I don't really like them, but it's nice to feel I've grown
- 39:34some way somehow talking about growing up after a breakup.
- 39:39And he's kind of it's he's talking to the other person in
- 39:44the breakup. And that's one of the lyrics is
- 39:47like, see, I've changed too. I've grown and I that's so funny
- 39:52to me as someone who does not like tomatoes.
- 39:55But the chorus of it is I've spent some days again, ways to
- 40:02tell you I miss you. But just like, you know, as a
- 40:04friend. So it's like, I'm still not over
- 40:06you, just not in the way where we kiss.
- 40:08I just missed the thought of like dinner and movies, dating
- 40:11and everything like that. And I just think that he put to
- 40:14words such a real feeling that so many people go through during
- 40:17breakups. And it's just the one where it's
- 40:21like, I don't want to date you, but I miss thinking about
- 40:24dating. I miss being in a relationship,
- 40:26but not with you. And so it's just such a fun
- 40:32song. It's it's, it's really fun to
- 40:36listen to, fun to sing along. It's a fun beat.
- 40:39It's very happy sounding and I just think it's a very real
- 40:43feeling that not enough people talk about.
- 40:46And so I love this song. I've loved this song for many
- 40:49years and today was finally the day it's deem it song of the
- 40:53week. Nice, so I've actually got 2
- 40:58songs of the week. Both brother inspired songs, not
- 41:02a whole album. Both inspired by the album so
- 41:08the So the first one is Paper Planes by Mia yes and So what do
- 41:17we. Call the sound effects.
- 41:18Yeah, yeah. Wesley, my brother, Brother Pod,
- 41:23you wanna talk about that? Brother Barber?
- 41:25What he likes the song. Oh gosh, he terrorized us with
- 41:29it for a little bit. This was the one he terrorized
- 41:31us with for a little bit. It wasn't the memorable ones,
- 41:36but he used to play the song on like repeat.
- 41:39He was obsessed with it and I got so annoyed with.
- 41:42It I like it. Well, anyway, it's, it's funny
- 41:47because I was listening to some other Clash songs and one of the
- 41:53songs that came on was Straight to Hell.
- 41:56And the intro was Paper Planes. Like I immediately started
- 42:02singing paper planes and, and I played it for the Mama Barber
- 42:07and she was like, yeah, that's paper planes.
- 42:11And so when looked at it, sure enough, she sampled this song or
- 42:15that song. So I was like, huh, that's,
- 42:17that's pretty funny. So, so that was one of them.
- 42:19So it made me go go listen to that one a couple of times.
- 42:22And then the other one, you inadvertently referenced it up
- 42:27at the top of the episode 3 Little Birds by Bob Marley.
- 42:32It was released on the Exodus album in 1977.
- 42:36And So what made me get there was there's a song called
- 42:41Revolution Rock next to last song on London Calling.
- 42:46And it again has a reggae sound to it.
- 42:50And there's a lyric from Revolution Rock that says, tell
- 42:54your ma, tell your Pennsylvania, everything's going to be all
- 42:57right. And I'm like, OK, immediately
- 43:00went to Bob Marley. Don't worry, you know about a
- 43:05thing because every little thing's going to be all right.
- 43:08And so 3 Little Birds is the actual name of the song.
- 43:12And again, fun, happy, like good to listen to when you're down.
- 43:18Because again, like, hey, every, everything's going to be all
- 43:22right. So I'm talking about 3 Little
- 43:25Birds, so I will. So London Calling made me think
- 43:31to talk about songs that make you think of other signs and I
- 43:33did get a listen to the song because of London Calling.
- 43:37London Calling always makes me think of London from Third Eye
- 43:43Blind, which is a whole song about not wanting to go to
- 43:47London. So any time I hear London
- 43:50Calling, all I can think of is don't want to go to London as if
- 43:56they're talking to one another. So that brings us to a close,
- 44:03but we have to talk about our next album.
- 44:08I guess before next album. Again, a reminder, we do have
- 44:12socials Barber cuts pod out there.
- 44:16So comments go like the photos also give us a a rating on the
- 44:23podcast where we are those, I think, help.
- 44:27And then you can also e-mail us Barbara cuts pod@gmail.com.
- 44:32So now that we've done our podcast, Obligatory now, next
- 44:38album. I'm scared about this one.
- 44:40I'm scared our next one, you're going to be excited.
- 44:44Oh, someone's Our next one is Purple Rain by Prince and the
- 44:49Revolution. Yeah.
- 44:52I'm scared. This is a good one.
- 44:54But I'm not scared. I'm scared because I have no
- 44:58idea what what to expect. I know the song Purple Rain, but
- 45:04I'm I'm so white, if you will, for Prince.
- 45:09So, so it's funny because yesterday Mama Barbara and I
- 45:14were out walking and and I was like, OK, have you know, this
- 45:22album really came out in in American in 1980 and I was like,
- 45:27what? And I was trying to think and it
- 45:29was going back to your forget not slow down about the the
- 45:35album. It's like, OK, this is now my
- 45:37music. And I was like, OK, what, why,
- 45:41why do I kick start really in early 90s with Pearl Jam,
- 45:45Nirvana as my music and, you know, 16 some odd years old then
- 45:51like, why did I skip the 80s? Like, and, and I was trying to
- 45:57think it's like, because most of the time I can't think of a lot
- 45:59of 80s music that I like that I really like.
- 46:03When I tell people, I I tell people like you went straight
- 46:08from like 70s Hard Rock to grunge.
- 46:12Yeah, and and so I did not have. Any in between?
- 46:16Yeah, and and so there's bits and pieces obviously of 80s
- 46:19music that I like. I didn't hate all of it, but,
- 46:24you know, use like Purple Rain. Never thought of French
- 46:26yesterday in that conversation of 80s music I like.
- 46:29This you like, Prince? I I OK spoiler spoiler alert I I
- 46:33like this album so. Mama Barber.
- 46:36Yeah, Mama. This is a This is This is a good
- 46:38album. I'll be interested to see your
- 46:41take. So I'll be too spoiled so, but
- 46:44yeah, I liked it. I'm excited cuz this is one of
- 46:47the first that has such. It's such a big name that I know
- 46:52nothing about really, so I'm excited and scared.
- 46:56So Purple Rain by Prince, 1984. So I'm not sure how many 80s
- 47:02albums we've had, but that's a good cliffhanger.
- 47:06So TuneIn next week, and I'll tell you how many 80s albums
- 47:12we've listened to thus far. And we'll figure out if I like
- 47:17Prince or not. Disappoint my music people are
- 47:19not. Yeah.
- 47:20Oh, it's going to be. What's it going to be?
- 47:23What's it going? To be, but until then.
- 47:25Yes. Until then, I'm done.
- 47:28And I'm Riley, and this is with another episode of Firework
- 47:31Cuts.