Silverchair was a kick-ass 90s band that I loved when I was growing up. I not only enjoyed their music, but I very much enjoyed the concept of a few 16 year-olds making it big in the music industry. Daniel Johns is a great songwriter that tends to investigate pop/rock songs in a very dirty/heavy way. Let's look at some of their sweet jams.
"Israel's Son" - The opening track of "Frogstomp" is a great way to get the blood flowing. A slow, plodding bass line builds to explosion once the verse pops in. I could almost see a WWE Wrestler coming out to this song.
"Tomorrow" - It would be difficult to do a Silverchair post without including their biggest hit. This song makes virtually no sense lyrically, but it is catchy as all hell and is just as much fun to listen to now as it was back in the 90s.
"Shade" - Depending on who you talk to, "Shade" could be highly under OR over rated. It was never a huge hit, but this song seems to have a cult following of sorts. The D minor hammer-on chord to start the song is fucking money. Does anyone care to explain how a teenager has such a deep sing voice?
"Slave" - Opening the album "Freak Show" in similar fashion to "Israel's Son," "Slave" puts a nice metal twist on Silverchair's signature grungy sound. These teenagers were angry!!! The chorus reminds me of something Filter would have done.
"Freak" - More dark lyrics from a brooding teenagers, but this song is oddly catchy. Regardless of immaturity at the time, the talent does show right through. They must have had a lot of fun touring with these songs.
"Roses" - This is probably as close as Silverchair comes to imitating Nirvana (more "In Utero" style.) The verse riff is dirty and the chorus is catchy with a rock/metal flavor. Very underrated tune.
"Ana's Song" - This was another decent size hit back in the late 90s. I believe it references Johns' fight with anorexia, but who knows? What I do know, is that this song is awesome!
"Emotion Sickness" - So after listening to all that dirty rock, watch them bring the string section along for this excellent song. "Neon Ballroom" is definitely where the band begins to mature as musicians and people. Not to say I don't enjoy their early work more, but you can see them reach another level of musicianship on this record.
So there you go- Silverchair is the band of the day here. Have any favorite songs that I missed? Let me know in the comments.
2 comments:
I barely remember these (I think) Aussies although I do own the Frogstomp album. I always thought that they looked like "Dirty Hanson".
I stand by the fact that Silverchair is worth listening to. You are correct in your assumption that they are Aussies.
"Dirty Hanson" sounds like a name for one of those weird sexual positions or actions like Cleveland Steamer or Donkey Punch. I would definitely involve "MMMBop" playing in the background.
Post a Comment