Opinion

Kings of recycling get their crown

First, one little Australia Day gripe: Leo Sayer. All the stories about the citizenship test being prohibitively difficult are clearly wildly exaggerated. Surely, for the sake of national integrity, in amongst all the Don Bradman questions (eye colour? cat or dog man?) should be a question that goes, did you ever release a string of really crappy and annoying pop songs?

Yes means no.

Remember that Sayer once put out a song with a chorus that went: ‘Wo-ooo wo-ooo yay-ee yay-ee/ I love you more than I can say-ee’.

Of course, Australians made it a hit. Jeez, maybe we deserve the guy.

Moving on, we now have the Triple J Top 10. I'm just about speechless at how lame some of those songs are. It's a case of everything old is new again … and yet still really old.

I mean, Kings of Leon – could they be any more retro? They started at about 1974, and with Sex on Fire they're up to about 1982. I guess that’s reasonable progress over five years.

But talk about songwriting by numbers. Sex on Fire recycles the rock reggae groove of The Clash for its intro, before descending into one part U2, two parts Bryan Adams, and five parts tedium. And this is number one?

Use Somebody is even worse. It’s as vapid as pop music gets - plodding, unimaginative, and boring. And the lyrics! 'I could use somebody/ someone like you and all you know and all you speak'. Then something about lovers and covers. Moon and June, too, probably.

Everyone goes on about that ‘soulful voice’, but it just sounds overwrought to me. It’s kind of like … Michael Bolton.

And yet Kings of Leon got first and third place.

As for The Presets, give them effeminate mullets and they wouldn’t be out of place on the Countdown re-runs the ABC shows late on weekends. The synth-pop of the early Eighties is best left very far behind, surely. Do we really need to hear Flock of Seagulls again?

The Presets also got two songs in the Top 10!

Worst of all, there’s not a single song in there by The Drones – the best Australian band of 2008, by far.

But then, it took 10 years for Augie March to get some real, popular recognition (before disappointing everybody with Watch Me Disappear). I’m not holding my breath for The Drones.

Posted By: Dave Curry on 27/01/2009 2:46:03 PM | Comments (8)

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You actually listen to that rubbish?? FM radio?? What do you expect? There hasn't been an original band since about 1978 and the people voting are musically illiterate drones. Its not about music anymore - its all about the look. In regards to 'music' I suggest never turning your radio on again or TV for that matter - I realised this when I was about 14 years old.

Posted by Tom, 27/01/2009 3:25:03 PM

Awwww, Leo Sayer ain't that bad. Long Tall Glasses and Thunder In My Heart are fine songs, though I don't like the one you mentioned, blah. I agree with Tom that it's all about the look. And like Tom, I rarely listen to the music stations on the radio anymore, unless they're being played on the bus. I gave up the radio in the late 1980s. I'd not even heard of The Kings of Leon until reading your blog. Gimme some Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple!

Posted by Elizabeth Florence, 27/01/2009 7:14:03 PM

Sadly it typifies Australian music scene in general. It seems the epitomy of our music talents can only be seen on manufactured media platforms such as Idol. The attitude now seems to be, if you cant win Idol you sux. We have very little if any, local grass roots support, facilities, or training for budding musicians. Given the current economic climate, I feel that our so called music industry will continue to slide into mediocrity over the coming years.

Posted by Aussieman, 27/01/2009 8:33:55 PM

Kings of Leon are sellouts - plain and simple. They recorded a near masterpiece with Aha Shake Heartbreak and followed it up with two limp, uninspiring stadium albums. 'Use Somebody' should have been titled 'Use Some money' (as in 'You know that I could use some money').

Posted by dudringer, 28/01/2009 9:35:58 AM

Dudringer - 'use some money', that's funny. Spot on, too. That song reeks of a band meeting with the theme, 'How to maximise sales'. More troubling to me, though, is that Australians ate it up on Triple J, which prides itself on being a truly independent radio station. What are us people with impeccable taste to do?

Dave Curry

Posted by David Curry, 28/01/2009 5:58:27 PM

'The synth-pop of the early Eighties is best left very far behind, surely. ' The eighties are over...? Come on, it wasn't that bad-New Order, Devo, Depeche Mode, The Models, Ultravox ... Feel the love! I will now crawl back under my synth-rock

Posted by youroldmatejimbo, 30/01/2009 10:04:46 AM

Dave, suprised one of your tunes isn't out there on the waves. Strange to see you with the facial hair.

Posted by Netty, 30/01/2009 4:29:29 PM

Recycling what exactly? The vocals are unique, the guitar tone subtle and not too overbearing, and the drumming brilliant. Besides that they don't do boring I-IV-V songs and have interesting bridges. As for the lyrics, this is the stuff music is made of, ala U2's 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', 'With Or Without You': Kitsch as you'll ever get, it's called pop music. Not too sure what your background is music wise, but your blog seems pretty muisic-review-by-numbers, no offense.

Posted by Raymo, 15/02/2009 6:15:02 PM