Sunday, November 30, 2003
Free Song of the Day
Everything Went Numb by Streetlight Manifesto, from the album "Everything Goes Numb."
"Ski mask (check)
Sawed off (check)
Guilty conscience, fear of death (check check check)
Everything went numb when he stumbled upon what he thought
Was going to be another means to the end
The silence
The sirens
It all went down like his nightmare the night before
I don't want to hear
I don't want to be near
I do what i got to do just to keep my nose clean."
Streetlight Manifesto is essentially the continuation of "Keasbey Nights"-era Catch-22, with about half the latter band leaving to form the former. Ska is basically dead as it's own genre, but in Streetlight Manifesto, it has been catchily combined with punk in a way that should satisfy all ska-core fans. Tomas Kalnoky's fast-paced and thoughtful lyrics, combined with a slower but meaningful horn section make a nice contrast. It's what I'd call "sad ska." Happy ska is song about your girlfriend leaving you or how much you like beer; sad ska tends to be more instrumental and the singer just doesn't sound happy. Most, if not all, traces of swing have been eradicated, and so while it's a lot harder to dance to this, it's addictive to hear. To me, it sounds a little like Russian or Klezmer (ethnic Jewish) music at times. I got the album and told my parents to give it to me for Christmas; it's going to be painful to wait. As good as the "Keasbey Nights" album is, I'm told that "Everything Goes Numb" is even better.
Everything Went Numb by Streetlight Manifesto, from the album "Everything Goes Numb."
"Ski mask (check)
Sawed off (check)
Guilty conscience, fear of death (check check check)
Everything went numb when he stumbled upon what he thought
Was going to be another means to the end
The silence
The sirens
It all went down like his nightmare the night before
I don't want to hear
I don't want to be near
I do what i got to do just to keep my nose clean."
Streetlight Manifesto is essentially the continuation of "Keasbey Nights"-era Catch-22, with about half the latter band leaving to form the former. Ska is basically dead as it's own genre, but in Streetlight Manifesto, it has been catchily combined with punk in a way that should satisfy all ska-core fans. Tomas Kalnoky's fast-paced and thoughtful lyrics, combined with a slower but meaningful horn section make a nice contrast. It's what I'd call "sad ska." Happy ska is song about your girlfriend leaving you or how much you like beer; sad ska tends to be more instrumental and the singer just doesn't sound happy. Most, if not all, traces of swing have been eradicated, and so while it's a lot harder to dance to this, it's addictive to hear. To me, it sounds a little like Russian or Klezmer (ethnic Jewish) music at times. I got the album and told my parents to give it to me for Christmas; it's going to be painful to wait. As good as the "Keasbey Nights" album is, I'm told that "Everything Goes Numb" is even better.
