Category Archives: album

WTF Album Covers: Loggers Loving Loggers

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In the 60s, lots of so-called manly album covers wound up looking more like unintentionally homo-erotic ones. Here’s a great example, crammed full of “we didn’t mean that” double-entendre song titles.

In hindsight, how ELSE can you interpret a song like Whistle Punk Pete or There Walks a Man? If “whistle punk” isn’t some kind of euphemism for a rent boy, what is? Somebody get George Takei on the phone and ask him what HE thinks a whistle punk is good for.

It must be understood that unlike Rick Santorum, we have no qualms with homo-eroticism. No, the comedy value here is the exact opposite–people trying SO VERY HARD (ahem) to present a “manly” image that they wind up flying in the complete opposite direction. When you’ve got tunes on your record like Sick of Settin’ Chokers and Fire Danger, what else are we supposed to think?

Then again, maybe that’s the point–are loggers privvy to a secret side of their industry the rest of us don’t know? Maybe it’s a sexual free-for-all in those woods and the rest of us are missing out. A record like this definitely gives the game away…maybe you’d like to hitch a ride on the log truck? Now everybody SING: “I’m a lumberjack and I’m O.K……..”

PiL Vinyl–First in 20 Years! Coming For Record Store Day

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The music blogs are abuzz about the new Public Image Limited four-song vinyl EP due out as part of Record Store Day on April  21, 2012. It’s a precursor to the new PiL album, This Is Public Image Limited due out in the summer.

In an interview for the BBC, John Lydon told interviewers Adrian Larkin & Matt Everitt, “…we record live, some songs are made up on the spot,” and adds that the new songs are “not moody and terrible” and making a point to mention the “completely experimental” nature of the new material.

You can get a listen to the new PiL track, One Drop, at the SlicingUpEyeballs Soundcloud account. The track and commentary are via the BBC.

Soundwise, One Drop hearkens back to mid-period Public Image Limited, taking the more commercial (but still quite enjoyable) sounds of 9, stripped down a bit with a bit more dub space added for good measure. It’s nowhere near as dub-influenced as the Wobble-era recordings, but you’ll feel a bit of the Jamaican vibe, definitely. There’s even a bit of vocal harmony–PiL has always sounded stronger with additional voices to counterbalance Lydon’s verbal assault vocal style. Well done, lads.

Lydon’s voice sounds more vulnerable than in the past. The swagger is still there, but it’s been tempered by age and tragedy. Lydon had a death in the family prior to this recording–whether or not that factors into the actual songwriting, his material sounds more thoughtful, less antagonistic. Could that be reading too much into one single? Perhaps.

Lyrically, he’s revisiting his past. The track is said to be an autobiographical snapshot of his life in the early days. It sounds strange to hear Lydon, the grand old warhorse of the rock-n-roll swindle, singing “We are teenagers”…but the track is solid, no doubt about it. Any PiL follower would be happy to have this in the collection.

PiL and John Lydon fans will also be interested in the new Public Image Limited Live At Rock Palast DVD which is, at the time of this writing, is in the pre-order stage, due to be released on February 21.

WTF Album Covers: Lil’ Wayne Tha Carter IV

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Seriously?

Oh, the prison tats on the little kid…I’m sure SOMEBODY thought that was CUTE. How cute is it? Well, let’s see what that bastion of accuracy Wikipedia has to say:

“The teardrop tattoo or tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath the eye. It has no fixed meaning but almost all meanings have some connection to prison. In the United States, it can mean the wearer has killed someone and the number of teardrops may indicate the number of killings. It can also indicate the number of years served in prison or the loss of a loved one or fellow gang member.

In at least one prison, (Oaxaca State) it indicates that the wearer was raped in prison.”

Ohhhhhh dear.

WTF Album Covers: Mew And The Glass Handed Kites

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The WTF factor on this album art by Mew is so high that you might get a nosebleed while contemplating its awfulness. Fortunately for this band, the music itself does not choke the way the cover does.

And The Glass Handed Kits features music that sounds a bit like a more pop-oriented (and less uber-trippy) Gang Gang Dance. There’s an epic quality to many of the tracks on this record that are totally misrepresented by this violently awful cover. Though it has to be said, they manage to veer excruciatingly off into Neil Young “Harvest” territory at times…and do we really need anybody besides Neil Young warbling away like that? Er, not realllllly.

Ignore the cover and try to head toward the experimental pop portions of this Mew record. You can preview bits of all tracks at the Mew And The Glass Handed Kites Amazon page.