Paul Battison – Page 2

Nirvana – Nevermind

November 1, 2012 Paul Battison 13 comments

Back in 1991, a band crept out of the Seattle Grunge underground to release an album which would transform the music industry forever. Nirvana’s second studio album, Nevermind, brought alternative rock to to the large mainstream audience and paved the way for many of the alternative rock bands we hear today.

Nobody in the world, including the band, could have predicted the level of success Nevermind would enjoy. In January 1992, it knocked pop icon Michael Jackson’s album off the top of the Billboard charts and of today, has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The album spawned four hit singles—the first being the hugely popular track, Smells Like Teen Spirit, which can still be heard shaking the foundations of nightclubs today. The other three singles released were Come as You Are, Lithium and In Bloom.

Nevermind cover art

The late Kurt Cobain was the front man and main songwriter in Nirvana. He cited bands such as the Pixies and the Meat Puppets as his biggest influences when writing the songs for Nevermind. The album starts with arguably the most famous alternative rock track of all time, Smells Like Teen Spirit. As soon as Cobain’s simple four-chord, clean guitar intro subsides, the song and album come to life, exploding with the sound of crashing symbols and distortion. This is a regular theme throughout the album, with the band sounding quite mellow in the verses before surprising the listener by erupting in the choruses.

Make no mistake though, Nirvana and the album Nevermind have a lot more in their locker than the surprise element. Tracks such as Come as You Are show the band’s talent as it contains perhaps, one of the most recognizable guitar riffs and bass lines ever created. The fourth track on the album, Breed, is full of aggression, driven by drummer Dave Grohl’s relentless drumming and bassist Krist Novoselic’s pounding bass line.

Kurt Cobain’s lyrics add the gloss to these songs. Whether he’s singing lyrics from somewhere deep inside or screaming at the top of his lungs, he has the voice which compliments every song on the album in its own unique way. The seventh track, Territorial Pissings, is just over two minutes of punk rock onslaught where as the song Polly, is a beautiful acoustic track, showing there’s far more to Nevermind than loud amps and distortion pedals.

In truth, there’s not a weak song on the album and every track has something memorable about it. Nirvana opened the doors of success for many of the bands around today, including Flyleaf and Staind who both cite Nirvana as major influences. It’s 21 years on since the release of Nevermind and the album still sounds like it could have been released in this day and age.

For me, albums which stand the test of time are the best ones and that’s why Nirvana’s Nevermind, will go down as one of the greatest albums of all time.

Jake & The Jellyfish @ Duke of Wellington

October 25, 2012 Paul Battison 15 comments

Jake & The Jellyfish are every bit as intriguing and innovative as their name suggests. With their infectious mix of punk, folk and reggae with a violin to boot, their live shows bring to the table the energy and passion which demonstrate everything which is great about the UK punk scene at the moment. In fact, their headline gig alongside three great local bands at The Duke of Wellington last night, proves the age-old saying wrong: punk is not dead—it’s thriving.

Jake & The Jellyfish

Opening act Joe Davis, from Lincoln based band, That’s Not Me, warmed the crowd up nicely with a solo acoustic performance. He even took a leaf out of the great Bob Dylan’s book by bringing out a harmonica for one song to accompany his guitar playing and singing.

Stereoepic were up next, a four-piece pop punk band from Gainsborough. With their catchy choruses and teenage life inspired lyrics, they’ve gone with a tried and tested formula, similar to that of pop punk giants Blink 182 and New Found Glory. The formula works very well for their live shows though, with the band having a friendly stage presence and bringing a real feel good factor to the audience.

The third band to take to the stage for the night were Wisecrack, a three-piece punk band from Lincoln. This was their first show with a completely new line-up with vocalist and guitarist Matt Colwell, drafting in a new bass player and drummer to replace previous band members who had left. For anyone on the night who wouldn’t have known this snippet of information however, I don’t think they could ever have guessed. The band played with the skill and confidence that made it easy to believe they’d played together for years. Playing upbeat songs such as the title track from their first album, released earlier this year, called Pining For The Road, the band managed to get the crowd moving. Perhaps the highlight of their performance was the hugely uplifting Sunflower Song, where half of the audience joined in with the band to sing along. I have a sneaking suspicion Lincoln will be seeing a lot more of these guys in the months to come.

Headline act Jake & The Jellyfish were last up on stage and they proved to be the perfect band to crown a memorable night at the Duke of Wellington. The four-piece outfit from Leeds are hard to nail down to a particular musical genre which is a compliment in itself. They manage to knit together punk, folk, and reggae to form an innovative blend of music which is a treat to experience live. Think of combining Against Me! and Frank Turner with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen and you’ll come up with a cocktail similar in taste to that of Jake & The Jellyfish. Playing songs off their E.P called Landfills, which was released last year, the band converted the audience into a sea of dancing bodies and flying beer. They ended the night by coming into the crowd to play the painfully honest, but beautiful track Same Old, Same Old, which went down so well, the audience asked for an encore.

I turned up to the gig thinking that with a name as inventive as Jake & The Jellyfish, this band had to be something special. They did not disappoint in any way.