Friday, December 22, 2006

Her Sonic Youth CD's were nowhere to be seen

James Bourne, you are a pop genius. But--and I say this gently, and knowing it doesn't really matter...


...could we please get you to change your hairstyle? I won't even worry about clothes yet, and I'm not saying you have to get spikes, but could we just redye it? Maybe? I know it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things, but it just seems strange to see someone with such amazing talent looking...awkward.

(P.S. When are we getting another Son of Dork album? And is it true you are going to tour the U.S.? Please do not be infected by the music here--if you come back sounding like Hawthorne Heights, I may very well be heartbroken.)

Anyhow, James was a member of Busted and, since the group's breakup, has put together the group Son of Dork, which has released one album and an excellent soundtrack-only song ("We're Not Alone"). My relationship with their album, Welcome to Loserville, has been far from what I expected. I may have said this before, but I thought their album would definitely be one of the "instant pleasure" types--if you're going to enjoy it, you'll enjoy it immediately. For some songs, that turned out to be the case; as much as Son of Dork seem to be disliked throughout pop circles, I instantly loved songs like "Ticket Out Of Loserville" and "Eddie's Song." However, in the months since I first got the album, something unexpected happened: I've begun to like more and more songs on it. I always liked the album, but now, there's only a couple of songs on the album I'm not particularly fond of, and I can't imagine why I didn't love songs like "Holly, I'm The One" and "Little Things" instantly. In short, Welcome to Loserville is a grower, something I never would have expected. Today's song, though, is one of the "instant" ones for me.

Murdered In The Mosh--I don't want to hear that Son of Dork/James don't like pop, or think they are better than boy bands/"traditional" boy bands--this song, and others on the album, show that they think that kind of posturing is ridiculous ("Boy Band," which is tongue-in-cheek, could be confusing in that respect, but the references are there all the same--"Good Charlotte said they liked McFly/is half their fan base gonna cry?").* How can you not love a song with the line "Just go to concerts that you love/'cause there's no shame in liking Backstreet Boys"? The whole song fits with this; it's about a girl's attempts to pretend she likes hardcore rock, because it's "cooler," even though she likes pop, and how ridiculous that makes her look. It's not the fact that she doesn't know Jane's Addiction's songs that makes the boys "fall over laughing;" it's that she claims to be "into Jane's Addiction," but doesn't know the words to their songs.

Enough lyrical analysis: the real reason to love this song is its catchiness and ability to make you want to go bounce off the walls. Yes, the sound is a little harder than Busted's, but not too much--maybe some more emo or rock influence, but really, mainly just that rushing, driving feeling. There's usually a template that songs like this follow, where the pace picks up about two-thirds in, but "Murdered in the Mosh" has this great slowed-down ending, where it gets the tiniest bit choral--no more shredding guitars, but instead overlapping, uniting voices.

I know it'll be unpopular for me to say this, but their album is really great and fun, and I definitely recommend buying it; you can get it here (physical) or here (digital). This song, though I love it, isn't even the best on the album, so, if you even sort of like this, Welcome to Loserville is a worthy purchase.

Next up: maybe that remix.

*If you want to dislike them because of their music, I have no argument with that--it's all to taste. To be honest, a much deeper analysis of the dynamics surrounding Son of Dork in relation to issues like this could probably be done, because--if we look beyond their lyrics (or even into them more)--it probably is more complex than I've made out here. I think the same general conclusion would still be reached, though.

6 comments:

humanclay said...

This record was a strange one for me...i loved both Busted records (who should have had the opportunity to be huge in the states but my feelings on that are all 2 known...) but when i first heard the Son Of Dork record i didn't really get it...which is odd since it's really just a James Busted record so one would think the transition would be smooth...but over time since it's release i have really come to love this record...whether it be for the ode to a stalker in "Sick" or the decimation of a love lost (quite sadly) in "The Party's Over" these are not just great songs...but really well crafted and well thought out stories...something that with pop music the writers seem 2 4get at times...

Paul said...

i'm kinda with Humanclay - i think son of dork were really just Busted's third album. Now i did like Busted but once McFly came along and did it so much better i didn't need Busted anymore and didn't really pay SOD much attention. That said some of their songs really got into my head and ended up on a little greatest hits of Busted i ended up doing. I'd like to hear a sophomore set from them...

Poster Girl said...

Humanclay, you named two of the songs that were growers for me--I didn't get "Sick" or "Party's Over" immediately, but they've really done more than held up to repeated listens, but really increased their appeal--you're so right about them being well-crafted and thought out stories.

Paul, (as you can tell) I'd like another album from them, too, but I'm worried about how it would turn out--I could imagine them moving into territory I wouldn't be so fond of. Then again, I thought "We're Not Alone" was excellent, and if that's an indication of where they're going, I shouldn't worry.

Anonymous said...

I haven't really bothered listening to the SoD album although I did interview them. Woops. James wouldn't really let anyone else talk.

Anyway I was at a party held by Matt Willis a couple of weeks ago (sorry I'm not trying to sound all showbiz) and the blonde one from SoD was there, but not Bourne monkey face!!!

Poster Girl said...

If you didn't like the singles at all (which I'm guessing you heard), I'd be really surprised if you'd like the album. I don't know that much about the band itself, and it's sort of a shame to hear that James is like that, but then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised--does anyone really think of them as anything other than James out of Busted's band? He doesn't even do all the lead vocals, I think, but I couldn't tell you a thing about anyone else in the band.

And no, not too showbiz; that's the closest I'll get to inside info!

Anonymous said...

Well I liked Eddie's song, but not so much the first track. It all seemed a little too contrived, pushing the lovely happy fun Busted idea to the next level.

Plus, he was just going on and on about how he was writing with Bowling for Soup and grrh his whole I AM SO AMERICAN thing just erked me :)