Dear Friends,
Yesterday was a much better day.
Work was good. Home was good. I did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping and picked up a few cool records for an upcoming DJ gig. I also got my supplies for my holiday party with the kids.
*****
The What We Do In The Shadows series finale was rad. I loved that they did the alternative endings, too. They really killed the ending and that was a relief. I watched the first part of season 1, episode 1 last night and I feel like I can revisit the whole series soon and enjoy it just as much as the first time.
Consistently good TV is sorely lacking even though there are more choices than ever.
Between Somebody, Somewhere and What We Do In The Shadows, the permanent bow outs of some of my favorite shows is a bummer right now. I’m not sure where I am going to turn my attention at the moment. I’m savoring the last couple of Shrinking episodes, though, and I will probably go back to watching some of the other Apple shows. I might just give TV a break for a while, too, in January. Maybe take the month off…other than ASU football.
Maybe a Suns game, too.
I honestly don’t know if I could do it. A whole month without TV? I might have to keep the blog going and write about life without TV.
*****
If I had known that Ragin’ Full On existed in 1986, my life would have gotten so much better. I was late to the party by a few years. I don’t remember who turned me on to this record, but I owe them a debt of thanks. Usually, I remember these types of things, but in this case, I don’t.
I started going to see the band around 1991, I think, so maybe I was really late to the party. Either way, though, by 1991, I was listening to Ragin’ Full On a lot. Truth be told, when I heard fIREHOSE, I bonded with them more than I ever bonded with Minutemen. I’m not sure why.
There is love in my heart, a lot of it, for both bands. There is just something about Ragin’ Full On that has made it one of my all-time favorite records. As previously mentioned, I haven’t tried to rank these records yet. I’m going to play around with that notion at another time.
The pace of Ragin’ Full On is so damn good. Sofa king good. The record just flows and flows. By the time I get to “Another Theory Shot to Shit” with its killer riff, I am always blown away by the fact that I’m already five songs in.
The songs wrap themselves up in each other in a way that very few records are able to do. It’s still George Hurley on drums and Mike Watt, the legend, on bass, so there is a real kinship with the Minutemen stuff, but Ed Crawford’s guitar and vocals are different from the late D. Boon. Where Boon was smooth, even when he was laying down cold, electric blasts of punky protest funk, Crawford is spazzy and jazzy and frenetic.
I didn’t mean to skip over “Brave Captain” or “Under the Influence of Meat Puppets,” “It Matters,” or “Chemical Wire.” I love all those songs. They just flow together into one massive jolt to the cerebellum. By the time you get past “On Your Knees” and into “Locked In,” the realization hits that this is one of the finest record sides in post-punk history.
Some people overlook Ragin’ Full On and I just don’t get it. I like the later fIREHOSE stuff a lot, too, but this one is my first love when it comes to the band. I loved seeing them live and their sets were always just as badass as they could be, but I would get very excited about hearing this collection of songs the most.
‘Brave Captain” is such a good song. Crawford lays any doubt to whether or not he is a worthy bandmate for Hurley and Watt to rest with this one. Similarly, “Chemical Wire” demonstrates a similar ownership of his new role. Both of those tracks are standouts on Side Ed, but all of them are just super rad.
On side More Ed, “The Candle and the Flame” is pretty tender. I love the earnestness of the song. It’s freaking beautiful in how heartfelt it is and the music is simply cool and great. I am fumbling with my ability to laud this record and band properly.
“Choose Any Memory” is another move and shaker, as is “Perfect Pairs.” Watt fucking rules on the latter. Actually, he rules on every song on this record. It’s another one of those records where I think about trying to learn a bass line or two and then just give up. I’m not in that league.
I also don’t really understand how to play songs like these. My brain just doesn’t work that way. I wish it did, but then again, part of me likes to just listen to these and not even worry about how to play them. I’ve kind of faked a little Watt style stuff here and there and I can live with that.
That run towards the end of “Perfect Pairs” is exactly what I’m talking about.
“This…” is another pretty one. It’s not even two minutes long, but it packs quite a punch. It’s just Crawford on an acoustic guitar. Even though Hurley and Watt are not on here, it doesn’t seem out of place at all. That is a tribute to the unit they had already become at this point.
I have to believe that dedicated Minutemen fans were generally pleased with fIREHOSE.
“Caroms” bounces right back (see what I did there) with the funky goodness. It’s not dissimilar to “Relatin’ Dudes to Jazz” in the funk capacity. Both of those songs are keepers, as is the last track, “Things Could Turn Around.” The tone, though, of “Things Could Turn Around” is decidedly lower key and mellow.
The songs are great, and the feel of this record is even better. Most of all, though, it makes me feel young. Ragin’ Full On reminds me of being around 20 years old and just being so damn happy to be listening to a great record that not a lot of people I knew were into at the time. I loved turning people on to it.
I love doing that. Everybody should know about great records. Ragin’ Full On is a great record, in my opinion. I know everyone doesn’t agree, but they can bite me.
*****
See you tomorrow.
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