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PuppyKillingMachine

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Posts posted by PuppyKillingMachine

  1. 54 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

    nah, there are many, many more. think about the sheer number of songs written in the pop rock genre since the 1950s built on I–V–vi–IV.

    i think what locks this bon jon song in there with good old days is the tempo (both beat and speed of the chord changes) and the similarity in melody.

    which is not to say that mark heard that song in 2016 and copied it. it just means both hoppus and jovi are basically uncreative songwriters at this point in their careers. ;)

    I don't think it's copied at all. But you can sing those choruses together at the same time and the rhythm and melody of the vocals is *identical*. That's not true for most song with that progression. Agree to disagree I suppose.

  2. On 5/27/2017 at 7:39 AM, daveyjones said:

    same progression and tempo, different key. there's only so many melodies you can mumble over I–V–vi–IV.

    I dunno. The chorus vocal melody is almost *identical*. A zillion songs have that progression; only these two have that chorus melody.

  3. It's about equal to California in terms of quality. Insofar as they were hoping it sounded like a second disc to a singular album, they succeeded. Insofar as they were wanting to continue to evolve and take "the sound" new places, they also succeeded. There's more going on musically on this record. But the songs are slightly catchier on the first disc. So whichever you prefer.

    "Misery," "Long Lost Feeling," "Good Old Days," and "Pregnant" are the standout songs to me.

    The bridge to Misery is amazing - it's one of blink's best moments. It makes the whole thing worth it.

    • Like 1
  4. 55 minutes ago, boxelder said:

    saw this while scrolling twitter -- it's jack from the band bleachers inside his high school bedroom. he played in several unsuccessful punk bands prior to fun and bleachers. i zoomed in and there's a flyer for BOXCAR -- was that travis's early 90s punk band that later got adopted for BCR??

    rs-jack-antonoff-v1-5b56ed0a-c056-4a2c-a

    I doubt it - there's a synthpop band called Boxcar that is probably more likely the culprit, especially given the synthpop connection to Bleachers. I don't think Travis's Boxcar was ever big enough to headline shows, even local ones. I could be wrong though.

  5. On 3/10/2017 at 3:24 PM, boxelder said:

    a lot of the songs on that station sound especially loud, but SOOHM is the worst offender. i even heard around the world by RHCP today -- famously a loudness war song -- and it didn't sound half as bad as SOOHM. suppose it's so much going on in the chorus that causes it to sound so static-y

    I've had the exact opposite experience, weirdly enough. SOOHM sounds WAY better on the radio to me.

  6. I think Skiba's doing well for the band. One thing that complicates assessing his input is that the processing of writing and recording California has been truly collaborative - Matt came up with the "black shirt, black skirt and Bauhaus stuck in her head" lyric, even though Mark sings it. And Matt was instrumental in writing and arranging the song California, even though he barely comes through as a background vocalist on the song. So it's harder to gauge just how important he's been; I'm assuming many of his contributions aren't obviously his, and conversely, some of the lyrics or riffs he plays might have come from someone else.

  7. 1 hour ago, daveyjones said:

    pretty much all of this.

    i've been a drummer for 30 years. travis is a more skilled technical player. no doubt. but scott has a certain energy and soul in his playing that is undeniable. technical prowse is only one dimension to mastering an instrument. i've said it before elsewhere on these forums, but travis' machine-like delivery just leaves me cold; i find it boring. i prefer scott's playing.

    While I prefer Travis's playing (by a lot), I do agree with this basic assessment. Scott's groovier -- and actually, one of the groovier punk drummers of the era, in any band -- and that's something he has on Travis (if you like that sort of thing). But his drumming just wasn't professional enough to take the band where it wanted to go.

    Unrelated, but Travis's drumming has also gotten worse (at least stylistically) in the last five or ten years. He's not as spunky or creative as he used to be. Some of his beats have gotten harder to play, but that's about the only "improvement" against a myriad of downgrades to his skill.

    • Like 1
  8. It makes sense as a first song to share and as an album opener.

    There's an obvious Rancid/NOFX/90s Epitaph punk influence to the song. It's kind of an "ode" to that era of music and its sonic and poetic ideas. I don't think they've ever done that so explicitly.

    You could almost call this song "Anthem Part Three," to be honest. From the lightning speed drum beats to the drum-god fills to the suburban-pride lyrics about drinking and parking lots and trouble, it fills that niche on the record.

    It's also a bit more operatic and musically complex than most of the California songs. Lots of changes and parts and rhythms and melodies. Reminds me a slight bit of American Idiot-era Green Day, in that regard.

    Good tune.

    • Like 2
  9. If it were purely a binary choice between an album w/ Skiba every two years vs. an album w/ Tom every four years, I'd stick with Tom. The music is significantly better as to warrant a longer gap between releases. But realistically, it's a lot more complicated than that.

    I think in Mark's mind, blink ought to be putting out a new album every two years from here on out. At least ideally. And it's hard to see Tom committing to that schedule, even if he came back more focused on the band. I see a few different options going forward:

    1) Tom is ready to get back into the studio on Mark's schedule, early 2020, and a new album w/ Tom is out that summer.

    2) Tom comes back for some 20th anniversary Enema shows in 2019, but then goes back to his current endeavors. Maybe puts together a new Boxcar album w/ Travis at some point in 2020. Tom basically abandons blink for good, sparing the occasional festival gig or what have you.

    3) Mark, Matt and Travis complete a trilogy of albums and ride out this new wave of success. Then, blink re-becomes Mark, Tom and Travis a few years later and they release music and perform more sporadically.

    California has been too successful a record to include a "Skiba-blink hangs up the towel after the tour and awaits Tom's return" option. That being said, more likely than not -- even if it's just some Enema shows or concert reunions later down the road -- I really doubt we've seen the last of those three on stage together. Whether there's new music with Tom someday might be 50/50 odds.

    • Like 2
  10. 8 hours ago, boxelder said:

    it blows me away that tom takes the time (or presumably, a TTS employee) to block people. just silly

    I mean, wouldn't you block people for being a dick to you on your insta? I agree, it's a horse of a different color when you're a public figure, but the idea remains the same?

    • Like 1
  11. 9 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

    from the source that i got the mp3s from:

    "44disasters.com (sister site of the late and great PunkDisasters.com) uploaded this a couple years back to go with an exclusive interview with Mark Hoppus. 
    These are early demos done while Carol Heller was still in the band.

    1. Cliff Diving
    2. Little Death (instrumental)
    3. Puppy Killing Machine (early title of Make You Smile)"

    Oh, cool. So presumably they came from Mark?

  12. 2 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

    yes. notice i wasn't commenting on mark's ability or lack there of. i simply said that playing along with him is not challenging, and i mentioned a bass player who challenges me.
    so really, i'm not saying anything about mark at all. only about my own bass chops (and lack thereof).

    For sure. Wasn't trying to argue or "correct" you, just chiming in with my thoughts. And I agree about Alvarez (and Tony Lombardo!) as a killer bassist.

    • Like 1
  13. 2 minutes ago, Olidamus said:

    I think they thing that makes a quality bass player is being able to come up with a bassline that is both complex when it needs to be, simply when it needs to be, but fits the song.

    I have never really heard Mark play much more than the root notes of a power chord (A few examples aside)

     

    This, is worlds ahead of anything Mark has ever done.

     

    I agree - he's no Sir Paul. Still, I don't hear many blink songs where I wish they had more complex bass lines. It's just not really that kind of music. Subtleties are much more important.

    • Like 1
  14. 14 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

    agree 100%. if i want to challenge myself, i throw on some ALL / descendents. karl alvarez...now that's some bass lines.

    Mark's a very average bassist in terms of technique. However, I could care less about "chops" - creativity and cleverness are much more important. Unfortunately, he's also not very good at that. Most of the time, anyway.

    But the multiple bass tracks on "Always" are incredible. Actually, he did some interesting stuff all over the Untitled record. And California seemed like a step forward in many ways too.

    Really, the best bass skill Mark has is knowing how to play something simple, but just different enough from what Tom or Matt is playing. That's the talent. And he deserves props for that. 

    And at least he's not an annoying bassist. There's nothing worse than a tacky bass line that just doesn't fit the song and seems needlessly complex or otherwise awkward. He steers clear of that.

    • Like 6
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