"As I was saying it was 1964 / They put a color television on the second floor, didn’t that change everything?"
The art rock / power pop party that is "Apartment 3" by Naked Giants, the Seattle indie rock trio of vocalist/guitarist Grant Mullen, bassist/vocalist Gianni Aiello and drummer Henry LaVallee, feel incredibly freeing, experimental in it's story arc, a crush of 70's Todd Rundgren-esque pop and a kind of Glam rock Bowie / Queen thing and 80's Waterboys poetic license with a side of busker punk Violent Femmes. Hey, I know that is a lot to swallow, a whole eclectic cross generational, multi-genre sandwich to digest but that is what I am feeling from the top of my brain and down to my fingers typing my thoughts down in a total ID sort of way.
The random quality or should I say, the improvisational sense here (whether meticulously worked out or exorcised as a bouncing sonic ideas off each other in real time) feels inviting and magnetic and while I have not heard the band's third full length outing "Shine Away" my hopes are high based on this inspired track alone.
Some or a lot of excerpted LINER NOTES (in blue):
Despite these personal changes Shine Away contains the same sense of impetuous urgency that defined SLUFF. and the band’s preceding 2016 debut EP, R.I.P., and was still to be found within the fabric of The Shadow’s songs, too. So while the band might be removed from their younger selves, there are still traces of those people in these nine songs.
“I’ve realized that being an effective communicator is such an important part of being a musician,” adds Aiello. “We’re carrying the typical garage-rock ‘throw it at the wall and see what sticks’ ethos with us to this new phase of life. This time around, there’s room in the music (and in ourselves) not only for the young raucous kids we used to be, but also for the fully emotional people we’re becoming - people with hearts that love and break and ache and all that kind of stuff.”
All that kind of stuff takes place, of course, within the context of being in the band. And that’s the other thread that runs through these songs—they’re about what LaVallee calls “living that art life.” It’s a pure and honest expression of why they do what they do, a tangible manifestation of who and why they are, as well as an expression of the deep bond between the three of them.
“We’re only on this earth for a little bit of time,” says LaVallee. “Grant, Gianni and I are all such great friends, and we’ve grown to trust each other in a unique and special way where we can speak this certain Naked Giants language with each other. So, for me, this record really feels like a story told by Naked Giants about our life, in and out of the band, and our outlook on it.”
“Every thought connects to everything else,” adds Aiello. “It connects to our musical journey, which connects to our life journey… So much of our approach was coming to terms with the rock thing again. Having grown up on classic rock and then through the indie rock hype, and seeing so many idols who turn out to be deeply troubled or abuse the power dynamics of the industry, a part of our job on this album is reckoning with this and getting back in touch with rock music authentically. This is clearly a valuable art form to us. Because we keep doing it for some reason, and we have to figure out why.”
I hope these mere youngsters (to me, I am fucking old) get what I am saying. I hope my words resonate in some way or gets anyone who is reading to delve into some of the referential artists I mention from time to time.
Have fun
do good things
Cheers Robb
https://www.instagram.com/naked_giants/
https://www.facebook.com/NKDGNTS
https://linktr.ee/naked_giants
When Naked Giants formed in 2014, the Seattle trio—vocalist/guitarist Grant Mullen, bassist/vocalist Gianni Aiello and drummer Henry LaVallee—were all eighteen years old, and full of the reckless, restless energy of youth. A decade on, both they and the world have changed immensely. Shine Away—the band’s third full-length, following on from 2018’s SLUFF and 2020’s The Shadow—is very much an acknowledgement of that. It’s an album that doesn’t just reflect on the personal life and times of the three of them and the world at large, but casts a discerning, self-reflective eye on what it’s like to be in, and be, Naked Giants. It’s the sound of a band coming into, and becoming, themselves. Of course, that’s a never-ending process, but for the first time in their career, Naked Giants are taking stock of their journey—who and what they were, are, and want to be. Pre-order 'Shine Away' here: https://orcd.co/shineaway Praise for Naked Giants: "Naked Giants - sounds good for your dad" "I listen to Naked Giants whenever I'm in traffic" "It's like they're all taking a solo at the same time" "Good set!"
As I was saying it was 1964
They put a color television on the second floor, didn’t that change everything?
I don’t know how to explain it, I feel like I’ve heard this one before…
But it’s alright, it’s alright, I’m really ok
I’m getting used to repetition repetition and change
So put me in that television like I’m Tom Verlaine
You, me
Alone together in Apartment 3
Though it’s just drywall, the neighbors couldn’t be farther away
It’s alright, it’s alright, I’m really ok
I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t but that’s not-ah-ah-ah
And now I’m running, I’m running, I’m the yolk of an egg
Am I dreaming, am I living, is this all a mistake? I don’t know…
They put a color television on the second floor, didn’t that change everything?
I don’t know how to explain it, I feel like I’ve heard this one before…
But it’s alright, it’s alright, I’m really ok
I’m getting used to repetition repetition and change
So put me in that television like I’m Tom Verlaine
You, me
Alone together in Apartment 3
Though it’s just drywall, the neighbors couldn’t be farther away
It’s alright, it’s alright, I’m really ok
I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t but that’s not-ah-ah-ah
And now I’m running, I’m running, I’m the yolk of an egg
Am I dreaming, am I living, is this all a mistake? I don’t know…
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/naked_giants/
https://www.facebook.com/NKDGNTS
https://linktr.ee/naked_giants
When Naked Giants formed in 2014, the Seattle trio—vocalist/guitarist Grant Mullen, bassist/vocalist Gianni Aiello and drummer Henry LaVallee—were all eighteen years old, and full of the reckless, restless energy of youth. A decade on, both they and the world have changed immensely. Shine Away—the band’s third full-length, following on from 2018’s SLUFF and 2020’s The Shadow—is very much an acknowledgement of that. It’s an album that doesn’t just reflect on the personal life and times of the three of them and the world at large, but casts a discerning, self-reflective eye on what it’s like to be in, and be, Naked Giants. It’s the sound of a band coming into, and becoming, themselves. Of course, that’s a never-ending process, but for the first time in their career, Naked Giants are taking stock of their journey—who and what they were, are, and want to be. Pre-order 'Shine Away' here: https://orcd.co/shineaway Praise for Naked Giants: "Naked Giants - sounds good for your dad" "I listen to Naked Giants whenever I'm in traffic" "It's like they're all taking a solo at the same time" "Good set!"
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