"Way Down Now.m4a"
“Infectious” is one of those words that’s so common in music reviews that it’s beyond a cliché. It has spread into common language, has become the go-to descriptor for any and all pop songs that are upbeat and impossibly catchy. In the face of all this, it’s a really good word to describe music. “Way Down Now” is infectious pop.
The song appeared on World Party's 1990 album Goodbye Jumbo. Too British for many Americans, what with “faceless gits” and “Sympathy for the Devil”-aping “who-who’s” running amok, it’s a song that was lost in time. It missed its chance at a snug little spot between “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “The Kids Are Alright” on the charts, and finally poked its head out to a world that no longer fell for songs that sound like 3 and ½ minute choruses with an English accent.
It’s also kind of a mess really. In fact, I think that’s what made it a revelation for me hearing it as an impressionable young high-schooler. It was sloppier than most anything I’d ever heard before. It certainly didn’t sound radio ready to my 15 year old ears in 1990. Therein lied its charm. It was glorious and perfect and sloppy as hell. I was infected, and am yet to recover.
And watch the video here. It's not nice to make fun of their hair, yours would have been (or might have been) just as stylish.
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Ever heard a cover version of a song you always hated, or in this case for me always ignored, and it turns out that it’s possible for the song to be way, way better than you ever gave it credit for? Check out this version of “I Will Always Love You” over at Said the Gramaphone. Yep, “I Will Always Love You”. You callin’ me a sissy?
If you scroll down on the page you can read the song write-up here that really captures the song. It’s by a guy named Viking Moses.
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“Infectious” is one of those words that’s so common in music reviews that it’s beyond a cliché. It has spread into common language, has become the go-to descriptor for any and all pop songs that are upbeat and impossibly catchy. In the face of all this, it’s a really good word to describe music. “Way Down Now” is infectious pop.
The song appeared on World Party's 1990 album Goodbye Jumbo. Too British for many Americans, what with “faceless gits” and “Sympathy for the Devil”-aping “who-who’s” running amok, it’s a song that was lost in time. It missed its chance at a snug little spot between “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “The Kids Are Alright” on the charts, and finally poked its head out to a world that no longer fell for songs that sound like 3 and ½ minute choruses with an English accent.
It’s also kind of a mess really. In fact, I think that’s what made it a revelation for me hearing it as an impressionable young high-schooler. It was sloppier than most anything I’d ever heard before. It certainly didn’t sound radio ready to my 15 year old ears in 1990. Therein lied its charm. It was glorious and perfect and sloppy as hell. I was infected, and am yet to recover.
And watch the video here. It's not nice to make fun of their hair, yours would have been (or might have been) just as stylish.
*******************************************
Ever heard a cover version of a song you always hated, or in this case for me always ignored, and it turns out that it’s possible for the song to be way, way better than you ever gave it credit for? Check out this version of “I Will Always Love You” over at Said the Gramaphone. Yep, “I Will Always Love You”. You callin’ me a sissy?
If you scroll down on the page you can read the song write-up here that really captures the song. It’s by a guy named Viking Moses.
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