THE GRUNGE MATCH - 109

Match 109:

Alice In Chains "When The Sun Rose Again" (2009)
Nirvana "Verse Chorus Verse" (1991)
Pearl Jam "Just Breathe" (2009)
Soundgarden "Heretic" (1990)

Now this sounds like Alice In Chains.  "When The Sun Rose Again" is one of the better songs they've done with William DuVall.  Which is weird, because...there's nothing to it.  It's an acoustic song with a shaker for percussion, some pretty standard lyrics, and I've already written more about it than I thought I would.  But for some reason (the vocal harmony), it works.

"Verse Chorus Verse" is not the song I thought it was.  I always thought "Sappy" was "Verse Chorus Verse" (which it was on the "No Alternative" compilation), so I'm a bit thrown for a loop to hear this "Nevermind" outtake that is distinct enough from the rest of its brethren but only because it's a cut below their mark.  It's "Nevermind" without the energy, "Incesticide" without the punk and "In Utero" without the savagery, but with a little work, it could've been at home on any.

Not a good sign that "Just Breathe" starts with a guitar riff out of every commercial you've heard in the last eight years (minus the whistling and child's xylophone), but then holy shit I've actually heard this song before.  This single got airplay.  And in spite of having overtones of a 70's AM radio ballad in the chorus, the verses and the lyrics set up enough "earnestness equity" that they can get away with a little cheese.  They earn that shit with interest.  It does end abruptly, but that winds up being okay.

"Heretic" was a B-Side to "Hands All Over" and was issued on the "Loudest Love" EP.  And it's pretty dumb.  It's one of their less shitty dumb songs but still hard to get into.  I guess it's the most amusing of their not-serious songs and it's got enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.  Hell, it's better than at least a third of the "Louder Than Love" LP.  And unlike "Verse Chorus Verse", it wasn't boring, so I guess:

"When The Sun Rose Again": 4
"Just Breathe": 3
"Heretic": 2
"Verse Chorus Verse": 1

TOTALS:

Soundgarden: 297
Alice In Chains: 282
Pearl Jam: 270
Nirvana: 240

This just keeps getting weirder...

Comments

Popular Posts