The Wooden Finger Five: April 2013

1.    Sacrilege – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

As the opening track (and first single) of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new album, ‘Sacrilege’ has a lot to live up to – previous opening tracks ‘Gold Lion’ and particularly ‘Zero’ were two of the band’s greatest songs. This is not quite in the same league, but it is an interesting listen, with Karen O being backed by a gospel choir(!) for the latter part of the song. Similarly, the latest album ‘Mosquito’ does not rock quite as hard as its predecessors, but it is far from a disappointment.

2.    Boss Of Me – David Bowie

Not to dump too much on the Duke’s past three decades of output, but ‘The Next Day’ sounds like the album that many people would have wanted Bowie to release after ‘Let’s Dance’. My favourite track on the album, ‘Boss Of Me’, is one that would have neatly fit into the mid-80s, although what also elevates it above the other songs for me is the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’-like bridge.

3.    Let The Day Begin – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Yep, bet you thought they disbanded years ago. Indeed, whenever I hear a new track by them it takes me about fifteen seconds or so to register who it is. For example, I first heard this track being played during the football on TV and thought the following:

a)    Gee, that’s a cool track, I wonder who it is?

b)   I should look up who sings it

c)    Hang on … I bet it’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

d)   Why yes, it is (hail the internet)

Another thought: are BRMC now at the stage where they are considered elder statesmen?

4.    Double Nickels On The Dime – Minutemen (album)

Yes, I am including a whole album, but how can you separate the 43 tracks on this ‘underground’ punk classic? Well, there are a few standouts: ‘Corona’ brings images of driving on a desert road chugging down the Mexican beer, ‘Jesus and Tequila’ images of stopping at a desert shack downing shots, ‘History Lesson Part II’ is a very nice reflective piece about the Minutemen’s origin, and ‘Dr. Wu’ out-ironizes both They Might Be Giants and Weezer. The perfect set for people with uber-short attention spans.

5.    Get Lucky – Daft Punk 

And you thought David Bowie sounded retro. Daft Punk travel back to the disco era on their latest ‘comeback’ track. Pharrell Williams provides vocals, but to Daft Punk’s (and his) credit does not dominate the track at all.