Natural's Not In It
Heard the new Gang Of Four record. It's been 15 years, apparently since their last. You just can't win with the reunion/hanging on thing; and I'm not even referring to the Stones/Who/Aerosmith groups who should be euthanized already. But take Jesus and Mary Chain and New Order for an example. Jesus and Mary Chain took a kind of "dance with who brung ya" attitude, and made boring record after boring record. New Order kind of abandoned all their former convention and tried, I think, to age more gracefully. That worked, their new stuff does stand on it's own; you don't have to like old New Order to like, ahem, new New Order. I, personally think the stuff is pretty miserable anyway, if a bit more natural sounding.
Gang of Four sounds nothing like these two groups, and has, and had, a lot more to say both artistically and politically. But on Gang of Four's new record, they tried to take their tried-and-true tricks (off-beat, abrasive riff-based guitar) and simultaneously update their material to sound current, some kind of amalgamation of the methods employed by all hangers-on and reunionists. The end result is uneven and undeniably regrettable. Their "modern" stuff sounds older than the age of their previous record, reminding me of something by Elastica, or Republica, or whichever of those 'ica' bands from 95 that did that "A conNECtion is made' song. (Elastica - Connection.)
Anyway, hear it for yourself. It's cool to hear about, if not as cool to actually hear.
Gang Of Four - Streaming from NPR
Or just stick to what works:
Gang Of Four - I Found That Essence Rare (From "Entertainment!" 1978)
Gang of Four sounds nothing like these two groups, and has, and had, a lot more to say both artistically and politically. But on Gang of Four's new record, they tried to take their tried-and-true tricks (off-beat, abrasive riff-based guitar) and simultaneously update their material to sound current, some kind of amalgamation of the methods employed by all hangers-on and reunionists. The end result is uneven and undeniably regrettable. Their "modern" stuff sounds older than the age of their previous record, reminding me of something by Elastica, or Republica, or whichever of those 'ica' bands from 95 that did that "A conNECtion is made' song. (Elastica - Connection.)
Anyway, hear it for yourself. It's cool to hear about, if not as cool to actually hear.
Gang Of Four - Streaming from NPR
Or just stick to what works:
Gang Of Four - I Found That Essence Rare (From "Entertainment!" 1978)