"Icemakers empty / Got that look in your eyes / It′s barely 2:30 / You got something poured right..."
The wistful alt folk strewn bloodletting and indie rock punches of "Taught Me the Game", by New York City's No Stupid Question, bristles with the existential weight of growing up and long familial shadows. From the onset, the intertwining guitars, one strumming, one fanning dreamily yet strident notes, slapping drum beat and rolling bass lines as a framework for Brian Cropp's vocal countenance, torn, gritty, maybe a bit bruised and battered but fully passionate, is a formula that draws you into the storytelling like one of those hard choices indie flicks. I am loving how the chorus melody is constructed moving from somber reflection to powerfully expressed questions. As the song pushes forward in a steady sonic and emotional ascension, it eventually explodes with a killer impassioned lead guitar break, courtesy of Jake Baynum, that feels like an emotional extension of Cropp's vocal wails.
Cropp shares: “I wrote this song for my dad... the one who Taught Me the Game. The older I get, the more I realize how much of who I am, good and bad, comes from him.”
I am digging the weight of the sound and the emphasis on the storytelling told with such emotional verve. Attitudinally I am feeling some connections to Happy Just to See You and Dashboard Confessional and Counting Crows and Pearl Jam because all those bands, like NSQ obviously want you to feel something, or rather, need to purge feelings that, in reality, are communal in nature. Suffice it to say, it is easy to feel the gut punches. No Stupid Question is Brian Cropp (vocals + guitar), Jake Baynum (guitar + piano), Adam Keltz (bass + backup vocals), and Kevin Socolow (drums). I am also impressed (and happy) the way this track was laid down (see below).
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[“Taught Me the Game” begins with the recognition of inheritance. It’s rooted in watching a parent grow older, begin to struggle, and seeing parts of yourself reflected back. “You’re far away, got a lot to say, but we don’t talk as much as I wanted to”, the song admits in a line that captures both the distance and the weight of time. It all culminates in a soaring guitar solo from NSQ’s Jake Baynum that releases the tension of the song with a little feedback and drive.
The songwriting was initially inspired by a night watching The National perform live, a band whose separately inspired Brian and Jake’s work. The production mirrors the emotional weight of the lyrics. Recorded at Dimension 70 with engineer Alex Poeppel, the band made a deliberate choice to track the song without a click track with all live instruments, a nod to the recording practices of artists from the 1960s-1970s like Led Zeppelin cutting to tape. The result is a live-room performance that pulses with subtle tempo shifts, each one mapping the song’s emotional rises and withdrawals. The solo from Jake Baynum with vocals from Brian draw from the likes of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.]
The songwriting was initially inspired by a night watching The National perform live, a band whose separately inspired Brian and Jake’s work. The production mirrors the emotional weight of the lyrics. Recorded at Dimension 70 with engineer Alex Poeppel, the band made a deliberate choice to track the song without a click track with all live instruments, a nod to the recording practices of artists from the 1960s-1970s like Led Zeppelin cutting to tape. The result is a live-room performance that pulses with subtle tempo shifts, each one mapping the song’s emotional rises and withdrawals. The solo from Jake Baynum with vocals from Brian draw from the likes of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
LYRICS
Icemakers empty
Got that look in your eyes
It′s barely 2:30
You got something poured right
It's not like I′m perfect
Got my vices the same
But more likely than not
That you taught me the game
Well you're getting older
Got my head in the clouds
You're drifting away
And I′m not holding it down
Keeping getting high
Just to cope with the changing
You keep on drinking
Just to keep it the same
You are far away
Gotta a lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
You are far away
Gotta a lot to say
But we don't talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
I hope this gets on through to you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
You′re telling stories
We've all heard before
Cause you can′t remember
The ones that we've heard
And I mix up my plans up
By the end of the week
And I use my photos
As my memory
God, I′m so stubborn
Why do I need to be right
Those nights in the kitchen
Yeah, you taught me to fight
Look in the mirror
Yeah you don't see the change
More likely than not that
You taught me the game
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don't talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
Oh I hope this gets on through to you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
https://www.instagram.com/@nostupidquestionsband
https://www.tiktok.com/@nostupidquestionsband
https://nostupidquestionsband.com/
We’ve all heard a downtrodden teacher try to coax their students into raising their hand by gently reminding them “There’s no such thing as a stupid question…”
The problem is, that isn’t true, and NSQ makes music for the people at the back of the class, asking stupid questions that no one wants to know the answers to.
NSQ arrived at New York the long way: trekking from the flannels of Seattle to the polos of Long Island before joining forces at a cramped Brooklyn bar on a Saturday afternoon in 2022. Like most bands that form in Brooklyn bars, they put their musical influences in the shaker and drank the contents, creating a sonic cocktail consisting of equal parts indie alternative and Americana, with a dash of Dadrock and a grungy garnish.
Bearded singer/songwriter Brian Cropp, guitarist and stressed-out producer Jake Baynum, bass player with the big pants Adam Keltz, and alarmingly laid-back drummer Kevin Socolow put their roughly three brains together to perform on the sticky-floored venues across New York City, spilling beers and writing songs along the way. Now if you’ll please press play, put down your phone, and lower your hand, we can finally conclude the lecture and begin the show. Any questions?
It′s barely 2:30
You got something poured right
It's not like I′m perfect
Got my vices the same
But more likely than not
That you taught me the game
Well you're getting older
Got my head in the clouds
You're drifting away
And I′m not holding it down
Keeping getting high
Just to cope with the changing
You keep on drinking
Just to keep it the same
You are far away
Gotta a lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
You are far away
Gotta a lot to say
But we don't talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
I hope this gets on through to you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
You′re telling stories
We've all heard before
Cause you can′t remember
The ones that we've heard
And I mix up my plans up
By the end of the week
And I use my photos
As my memory
God, I′m so stubborn
Why do I need to be right
Those nights in the kitchen
Yeah, you taught me to fight
Look in the mirror
Yeah you don't see the change
More likely than not that
You taught me the game
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don't talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
Oh I hope this gets on through to you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
You are far away
Gotta lot to say
But we don′t talk as much as I wanted to
I hope this gets on through to you
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/@nostupidquestionsband
https://www.tiktok.com/@nostupidquestionsband
https://nostupidquestionsband.com/
We’ve all heard a downtrodden teacher try to coax their students into raising their hand by gently reminding them “There’s no such thing as a stupid question…”
The problem is, that isn’t true, and NSQ makes music for the people at the back of the class, asking stupid questions that no one wants to know the answers to.
NSQ arrived at New York the long way: trekking from the flannels of Seattle to the polos of Long Island before joining forces at a cramped Brooklyn bar on a Saturday afternoon in 2022. Like most bands that form in Brooklyn bars, they put their musical influences in the shaker and drank the contents, creating a sonic cocktail consisting of equal parts indie alternative and Americana, with a dash of Dadrock and a grungy garnish.
Bearded singer/songwriter Brian Cropp, guitarist and stressed-out producer Jake Baynum, bass player with the big pants Adam Keltz, and alarmingly laid-back drummer Kevin Socolow put their roughly three brains together to perform on the sticky-floored venues across New York City, spilling beers and writing songs along the way. Now if you’ll please press play, put down your phone, and lower your hand, we can finally conclude the lecture and begin the show. Any questions?
No Stupid Questions, Brooklyn, NYC, indie rock, alt rock, folk rock, deep storytelling, heavy guitar breaks, sonically rich sound, single "Taught Me the Game", existential rock, power punching vocal performance,
No comments:
Post a Comment