Music Banter - View Single Post

Oriphiel · 12-31-2014, 08:51 AM

The west coast has seemingly always been a hotbed of musical activity, on the cutting edge of the current of culture. During the 1960's, there was a surge of Folk and Vocal-Pop bands. During the 1970's, Southern-Rock bands like The Eagles and CCR attacked the charts with their brand of Pop-sensible caterwaulin', and as the 1970's moved on Punk and Post-Punk bands sprang up seemingly out of nowhere. When the 1980's came around, west coast rockers were trying their hands at Pop-Rock, Ska and Hair Metal, which with the coverage provided by MTV became the hot new genres. Alternative Rock and Post-Punk were driven underground as the 1980's rolled on, thriving in local club circuits as various "scenes" flourished. Record labels began taking notice of these underground bands and their growing fanbases, and naturally decided to capitalize on them.

After raising levels of commercialism among musical acts, some would say that the effect of MTV on the various musical scenes of the world was a big step back for mankind. Heh, I couldn't resist making that joke. Sorry MTV, I love ya'!

During the late 1980's into the early 1990's, there was a large wave of underground bands that suddenly found themselves with record contracts, and the "Do It Yourself" mentality of the original Punk Rock movement returned in charming style. From the mid 1980's onward, so-called "Cult" movies once again became the next big thing (essentially being to the 80's and 90's what drive-in flicks were to the youth of the 50's, 60's and 70's), with figure-heads like John Hughes focusing on making quirky coming-of-age movies rather than massive-budget dramas.

These odd-ball comedies often had soundtracks provided by not only famous musical acts, but also unknown and independent artists, and the trend continued into the 1990's. The band we'll be looking at today was apart of this second wave of Punk Rock, and was featured in the cult classic movie "Clueless", as well as in the most well known cult TV show of all time, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It's time for...

The Muffs

Yup, The Muffs! After the 1960's Revival came to a slow-down, the all-girl band The Pandoras decided to try their hand at Hair Metal. Bassist Kim Shattuck and keyboardist Melanie Vammen weren't ready to turn their backs on the underground Punk scene, and left to start a band of their own. Kim became the defacto leader, serving as the main songwriter and lead vocalist, while Melanie became the lead guitarist. Ronnie Barnett and Criss Crass joined up, taking bass and drums respectively. After releasing a slew of singles and EP's, they joined the Warner Brothers label and cut their first LP, titled "The Muffs".

After their debut, Melanie was at odds with the band over issues of creative control, and left to join the cult Punk band "The Leaving Trains". Criss Crass left as well, and drumming duties were taken up by new-comer Roy McDonald. With Kim as vocalist and lead guitarist, Ronnie on bass, and Roy on drums, they have stayed in this line-up to this day. Now, it's time for the music...

1. "Lucky Guy" - Starting the album is a great Punk number with rough guitars and uncompromising screams, balanced out by some nice vocal harmonies in the chorus. The Muffs are off to a great start!

The Muffs! Clockwise from bottom right: Kim Shattuck, Melanie Vammen, Ronnie Barnett, and Criss Crass.

2. "Saying Goodbye" - This is another fast and hard number, with a splash of the energetic yet melodic Skate-Punk that came to define much of the youth of the 1990's. Apparently, this song is all over the place, popping up in the cult show "What's New Scooby Doo?" and the love-it-or-hate-it "Bye Bye Love".

3. Everywhere I Go" - A little softer than the first two tracks, this one still has a nice Punk attitude to it. Fun fact: This song was used in a Fruitopia commercial, back in the day! Man, The Muffs' songs just pop up everywhere, huh?

4. "Better Than Me" - Speeding up again, The Muffs lash out with another catchy melodic Punk number. Love the screaming at the end!

Few Punk Rockers have the courage to wear a Burger King crown on stage!

5. "From Your Girl" - Changing things up a bit, this Punk track opens with a fun keyboard intro! Other than that, however, it's in the same vein as "Everywhere I Go".

6. "Not Like Me" - Ronnie's bass playing and Criss' drumming are really fantastic here, along with Melanie's thrashy guitar work. Kim's vocals are great as well, being pretty clean and catchy! Love the guitar solo, by the way.

7. "Baby Go Round" - The Muffs are pretty good at hitting a nice balance between smooth and rough! This is a Pop number with an injection of grit, and is a great track that stands out very well!

Thought you all might like a video of them playing live! Warning, there is some damn swearing in it.

8. "North Pole" - I've got no clue what's up with this one. It's an instrumental with sleigh bells and gusts of wind, lasting about thirty seconds.

9. "Big Mouth" - A fun song about the inevitable wave of karma that hits you when you spread rumors. It's definitely got energy to it!

10. "Every Single Thing" - This is a great song in it's own right, but I wonder if a lot of these tracks would have been stronger if they'd been a bit more varied. The wall of sound created by the guitars, bass, and drums is top-notch Punk work, but makes every song sound very similar.

11. "Don't Waste Another Day" - I really like this one, simply because it tries to mix things up from the formula of the other tracks. Opening with a clean guitar riff, the very distorted and dirty guitars come in bursts later on. It's not a huge change, but even a little variety can do wonders in keeping audiences interested.

Yup, the Muffs are still going to this day. And apparently Kim found the fountain of youth!

12. "Stupid Jerk" - Another roughly thirty second long track, this one has nice slamming drums, and changes things up by having a male vocalist. I'm not sure who exactly is doing the vocals, but I'd bet on Criss Crass, seeing as how he's sung the occasional song for The Muffs (Like "Do the Robot").

13. "Another Day" - Changing things up once again, this song drops the Punk wall of sound in favor of a relatively clean and compelling number that takes it's cues from the 1960's Revival bands, like The Bangles. It still has a fair bit of grit to it, and the vocal harmonies work very well. Probably my favorite track of the album so far!

14. "Eye to Eye" - Back to the Pop-Punk thrashing and distortion that The Muffs are known for! Not bad. Apparently, this is one of the few songs that has Melanie Vammen credited as a song writer (and may actually be the only one).

15. "I Need You" - I wish this one was a cover of The Kinks' Garage Punk classic (how fun would that have been?), but this one is a very rough and wild original. Still, it has a bit of a Garage Rock feeling to it, especially with the vocal patterns and the fuzz-guitar in the background. Definitely one of the stand-out tracks of the album! This is one of only two songs on this album that Ronnie helped pen, the other being the odd-ball "North Pole.

16. "All For Nothing" - The last song of the album! This one kicks off with an acoustic guitar riff that reminds me of The Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". The change of pace is welcome and effective, and this is a solid and catchy number.

And now we've come to the end. I absolutely loved this album, however it does have it's fair share of issues. While The Muffs do experiment and mix things up (especially from the halfway point onwards), much of the album still comes off as sounding very homogeneous. While fans of Punk Rock will be able to find and appreciate the variety of sounds that The Muffs worked with, outsiders to the genre will probably find it very repetitive, and difficult to listen to in one sitting. As a collection of individual songs, this is a great album to get and I highly recommend it, as each one is very catchy and energetic. But as an album, it could have used more variety.

12-31-2014, 08:51 AM	#56 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Punk/Post-Punk The west coast has seemingly always been a hotbed of musical activity, on the cutting edge of the current of culture. During the 1960's, there was a surge of Folk and Vocal-Pop bands. During the 1970's, Southern-Rock bands like The Eagles and CCR attacked the charts with their brand of Pop-sensible caterwaulin', and as the 1970's moved on Punk and Post-Punk bands sprang up seemingly out of nowhere. When the 1980's came around, west coast rockers were trying their hands at Pop-Rock, Ska and Hair Metal, which with the coverage provided by MTV became the hot new genres. Alternative Rock and Post-Punk were driven underground as the 1980's rolled on, thriving in local club circuits as various "scenes" flourished. Record labels began taking notice of these underground bands and their growing fanbases, and naturally decided to capitalize on them. After raising levels of commercialism among musical acts, some would say that the effect of MTV on the various musical scenes of the world was a big step back for mankind. Heh, I couldn't resist making that joke. Sorry MTV, I love ya'! During the late 1980's into the early 1990's, there was a large wave of underground bands that suddenly found themselves with record contracts, and the "Do It Yourself" mentality of the original Punk Rock movement returned in charming style. From the mid 1980's onward, so-called "Cult" movies once again became the next big thing (essentially being to the 80's and 90's what drive-in flicks were to the youth of the 50's, 60's and 70's), with figure-heads like John Hughes focusing on making quirky coming-of-age movies rather than massive-budget dramas. These odd-ball comedies often had soundtracks provided by not only famous musical acts, but also unknown and independent artists, and the trend continued into the 1990's. The band we'll be looking at today was apart of this second wave of Punk Rock, and was featured in the cult classic movie "Clueless", as well as in the most well known cult TV show of all time, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It's time for... The Muffs Yup, The Muffs! After the 1960's Revival came to a slow-down, the all-girl band The Pandoras decided to try their hand at Hair Metal. Bassist Kim Shattuck and keyboardist Melanie Vammen weren't ready to turn their backs on the underground Punk scene, and left to start a band of their own. Kim became the defacto leader, serving as the main songwriter and lead vocalist, while Melanie became the lead guitarist. Ronnie Barnett and Criss Crass joined up, taking bass and drums respectively. After releasing a slew of singles and EP's, they joined the Warner Brothers label and cut their first LP, titled "The Muffs". After their debut, Melanie was at odds with the band over issues of creative control, and left to join the cult Punk band "The Leaving Trains". Criss Crass left as well, and drumming duties were taken up by new-comer Roy McDonald. With Kim as vocalist and lead guitarist, Ronnie on bass, and Roy on drums, they have stayed in this line-up to this day. Now, it's time for the music... 1. "Lucky Guy" - Starting the album is a great Punk number with rough guitars and uncompromising screams, balanced out by some nice vocal harmonies in the chorus. The Muffs are off to a great start! The Muffs! Clockwise from bottom right: Kim Shattuck, Melanie Vammen, Ronnie Barnett, and Criss Crass. 2. "Saying Goodbye" - This is another fast and hard number, with a splash of the energetic yet melodic Skate-Punk that came to define much of the youth of the 1990's. Apparently, this song is all over the place, popping up in the cult show "What's New Scooby Doo?" and the love-it-or-hate-it "Bye Bye Love". 3. Everywhere I Go" - A little softer than the first two tracks, this one still has a nice Punk attitude to it. Fun fact: This song was used in a Fruitopia commercial, back in the day! Man, The Muffs' songs just pop up everywhere, huh? 4. "Better Than Me" - Speeding up again, The Muffs lash out with another catchy melodic Punk number. Love the screaming at the end! Few Punk Rockers have the courage to wear a Burger King crown on stage! 5. "From Your Girl" - Changing things up a bit, this Punk track opens with a fun keyboard intro! Other than that, however, it's in the same vein as "Everywhere I Go". 6. "Not Like Me" - Ronnie's bass playing and Criss' drumming are really fantastic here, along with Melanie's thrashy guitar work. Kim's vocals are great as well, being pretty clean and catchy! Love the guitar solo, by the way. 7. "Baby Go Round" - The Muffs are pretty good at hitting a nice balance between smooth and rough! This is a Pop number with an injection of grit, and is a great track that stands out very well! Thought you all might like a video of them playing live! Warning, there is some damn swearing in it. 8. "North Pole" - I've got no clue what's up with this one. It's an instrumental with sleigh bells and gusts of wind, lasting about thirty seconds. 9. "Big Mouth" - A fun song about the inevitable wave of karma that hits you when you spread rumors. It's definitely got energy to it! 10. "Every Single Thing" - This is a great song in it's own right, but I wonder if a lot of these tracks would have been stronger if they'd been a bit more varied. The wall of sound created by the guitars, bass, and drums is top-notch Punk work, but makes every song sound very similar. 11. "Don't Waste Another Day" - I really like this one, simply because it tries to mix things up from the formula of the other tracks. Opening with a clean guitar riff, the very distorted and dirty guitars come in bursts later on. It's not a huge change, but even a little variety can do wonders in keeping audiences interested. Yup, the Muffs are still going to this day. And apparently Kim found the fountain of youth! 12. "Stupid Jerk" - Another roughly thirty second long track, this one has nice slamming drums, and changes things up by having a male vocalist. I'm not sure who exactly is doing the vocals, but I'd bet on Criss Crass, seeing as how he's sung the occasional song for The Muffs (Like "Do the Robot"). 13. "Another Day" - Changing things up once again, this song drops the Punk wall of sound in favor of a relatively clean and compelling number that takes it's cues from the 1960's Revival bands, like The Bangles. It still has a fair bit of grit to it, and the vocal harmonies work very well. Probably my favorite track of the album so far! 14. "Eye to Eye" - Back to the Pop-Punk thrashing and distortion that The Muffs are known for! Not bad. Apparently, this is one of the few songs that has Melanie Vammen credited as a song writer (and may actually be the only one). 15. "I Need You" - I wish this one was a cover of The Kinks' Garage Punk classic (how fun would that have been?), but this one is a very rough and wild original. Still, it has a bit of a Garage Rock feeling to it, especially with the vocal patterns and the fuzz-guitar in the background. Definitely one of the stand-out tracks of the album! This is one of only two songs on this album that Ronnie helped pen, the other being the odd-ball "North Pole. 16. "All For Nothing" - The last song of the album! This one kicks off with an acoustic guitar riff that reminds me of The Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". The change of pace is welcome and effective, and this is a solid and catchy number. And now we've come to the end. I absolutely loved this album, however it does have it's fair share of issues. While The Muffs do experiment and mix things up (especially from the halfway point onwards), much of the album still comes off as sounding very homogeneous. While fans of Punk Rock will be able to find and appreciate the variety of sounds that The Muffs worked with, outsiders to the genre will probably find it very repetitive, and difficult to listen to in one sitting. As a collection of individual songs, this is a great album to get and I highly recommend it, as each one is very catchy and energetic. But as an album, it could have used more variety. Last edited by Oriphiel; 01-06-2015 at 05:00 AM.