"Spiders" by Lovedrug, Thursday, November 21, 2024 (repost)
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First appearing in 2001,Lovedrugreleased theireponymous EPin 2002 and theirRocknrollEP in 2004 before releasing their debut record,Pretend You're Alive, in June 2004. Selling over 20,000 records soon after the record was released, the band was signed toColumbia Records,and their song "Spiders" was intended to be marketed as a radio hit. But rock star grandeur was never really in Lovedrug's reach, as the label dropped the band in the middle of restructuring. Lovedrug was a hard-working band, touring with acts such asThe Killers,Robert Plant,Sam Phillips,Switchfoot, andCopeland. They would enjoy some success with their follow-up record,Everything Starts Where It Ends, but would continue making music until 2020, although they are probably best remembered for their first two records.
SEARCHING ON A WIRE FOR A WIRE. The Militia Group was a record label founded by former Tooth & Nail Records employee Chad Pearson. Pearson founded the label in 1998, and some artists in Tooth & Nail's sphere signed to The Militia Group. Pearson who grew up overseas in Papua New Guinea in a missionary family had discovered Christian rock through Tooth & Nail Records. Pearson curated a group of artists who were ambiguously faith-based or ambiguously agnostic. Lakes (Watashi Wa's Seth Roberts' band post-Eager Seas' failure on Tooth & Nail), Waking Ashland's Jonathan Jones' We Shot the Moon, and Denison Witmer all called The Militia Group their home along with groups like The Beautiful Mistake, Copeland, The Rocket Summer, Quietdrive, Rufio, The Summer Set, Acceptance, and their most successful act, Cartel. At one point, they almost signed Fall Out Boy. In this context, Lovedrug signed with The Militia Group. They toured with fellow Militia Group acts and played at Cornerstone, which led many fans to think that they were a faith-based band. However, in a 2011 interview with IndieVision, the interviewer is awkwardly shut down when guitarist Jeremy Gifford explains that the band is not Christian, though he doesn't claim to speak on behalf of everyone in the band's beliefs. In fact, Christian media, back in the late '00s were keen to include bands with any kind of faith into the fold. Jesusfreakhideout included Lovedrug's Everything Starts Where It Ends and Paramore's Riot!on their best of 2007 list.
CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF THIS TWISTED FREQUENCY I'VE SPUN.Joan Osborne asked the question "What If God Was One of Us?" Plumb tells us that "There's a God Shaped Hole in all of us." Both of these songs were on the Bruce Almightysoundtrack, a movie that was both praised and condemned by Christians for handling the lesson that no human could do a better job than God. Or Morgan Freeman for that matter. When an overtly religious song evokes God, there's a theological agenda. Sometimes a Christian band tries to be cool, singing about girls and nonsense for fourteen songs and tacks on a ballad about being lost without any direction until finding God. This track is either in the center of the album or attached to the end as sort of an epilogue to the album, either to be skipped or included to fulfill a contract. Sometimes, the band feels that this inclusion--no longer having to meet the j's per minute quota of the '90s--is the real purpose of the album. They would usually give a 15-minute speech toward the end of their set, saying something like, "You know guys, our band believes that you are here for a reason" or something like what Roma Downey said on every episode of Touched By an Angel. Using God in a song, though, whether by an evangelical band or by one that is agnostic immediately triggers a confirmation bias in listeners' minds. "But God doesn't it feel so good?" Paramore declares in their breakthrough hit "Misery Business." "I've found God," The Fray declares in "You Found Me." Hundreds of examples would make the band palatable to a Christian audience. When Michael Sheppard imagines "If God (or god) was on the radio," listeners at Cornerstone, at the Copeland tour, and at the Nothing Is Sound Tour with Switchfoot heard what they wanted to hear. God was on the radio, speaking to them, telling them exactly what they already knew. Funny how that happens.
In the summer of 2003, a rock station in LA started playing an inside cut from The Ataris ' So Long, Astoria , an album built on the late '70s and early '80s nostalgia. The band's first single, " In This Diary " reached number 11 on the Modern Rock chart. They were set to release the second single, " My Reply ," but the accidental hit " The Boys of Summer " overshadowed anything the band would produce in their twenty-five-year career. A cover of Don Henley 's 1984 number 1 hit, The Ataris' punk-rock reworking took the single to number 20 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the Modern Rock chart, unable to beat Linkin Park 's " Faint ." Eighteen or thirty-seven summers later, "The Boys of Summer" remains a melancholy reminder that summer is over and that we all are getting older. I SAW A BLACK FLAG STICKER ON A CADILLAC. Written by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ' guitarist, Mike Campbell , ...
"I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I. Don't want a lot for Christmas." *struggles to change the radio dial amid gridlocked holiday traffic* "There's just one thing I need" *hurry up with my damn latte! I think I'm going to die. Why the hell is Starbucks playing Christmas music in mid-October?* "I don't care about the presents" *internal Elaine monologue 'I think I'm going to die in this department store. Ma'am, why must you spray the perfume so close to my face. I can't breathe! What if the earth begins to shake and we're stuck in here forever underneath mannequins and holiday shoppers and that damn Mariah Carey song stuck on repeat?'* "Underneath the Christmas tree" "No" *raising a strict finger to students who should be studying in the back* "Not before Thanksgiving." "I just want you for my own/ More than you could ever know." Every year, Christmas music gets earlier and earli...
It was Superbowl Sunday of 2005 when I bought Anberlin ’s Never Take Friendship Personal . It was the perfect album for high school. The band’s style took a turn on their sophomore album from a classic or '90s rock sound to a more emotional, mid-2000s sound. The band would redefine themselves with this album, becoming a lesser-known emo staple. Stephen Christian ’s vocals meeting Joseph Milligan ’s riffs, Deon Rexroat ’s heavy bass, and Nathan Young ’s reliance on the cymbals make this one of the band’s heaviest records. The band released two recordings of this song on two different albums and many fans debate which one is better. THIS WAS OVER BEFORE IT EVER BEGAN. The original version of "The Feel Good Drag" feels grungier and Stephen’s scream on the bridge was perfectly aligned with the musical trends of the day. The New Surrender version , renamed "Feel Good Drag," beefs up t he guitar intro, and the solo has a quite satisfying bend. However, having ...
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