Confessions of a Fanboy 006: Guster - Ganging Up on the Sun
Published June 28, 2006
I cannot imagine a better lyric will be penned this year.
Mark Saleski:
It's true. I heard "One Man Wrecking Machine" and had one of those moments where it seemed like the rest of the world fell away for a time. Great music does that to me. It triggers a sort of unexplainable resonation.
When I spoke to Guster's Ryan Miller, we tossed this idea around a little and came to a fairly decent description for this phenomenon: when you first hear a melody or chorus and that musical fragment seems both familiar and entirely new. It's a weird thing. For me, the melody of "One Man Wrecking Machine" made absolutely perfect sense, as if it couldn't have sounded any other way.
And here's some even better news, the rest of this record contains many more "new classics."
DJRadiohead:
As much as I love "One Man Wrecking Machine," I think the masterpiece of the album is "Ruby Falls." I am still trying to figure out how this one got left off Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Maybe it is because Elton John and Bernie Taupin did not write it. They could have. They should have. What a terrific song.
Ryan Miller's vocals soar the way Sir Elton's used to in the '70s when he was famous for his music.
Leave it to my filth-obsessed mind to turn the song's structure into something sexual. When I listen to it, though, it does make sense. Gentle vocal and a slight, electric guitar figure is the clothed kissing. Some organ is added 30 seconds in — we're getting a little more serious about this and the clothes are being flung at the cats to get them to leave the room. (Who can make love in front of their pets? Seriously.)
One minute in, the full ensemble is added in the form of bass, drum, and an electric guitar with a little more heft. Copulation has commenced. There is even some screeching guitar and keyboard along the way so it sounds like we are having a good time.
The song climaxes into a glorious eruption of harmonies and then it takes a deep breath. Playing the character of afterglow and the essential post-coital smoke is a wonderful muted trumpet. This use of trumpet is brilliant, giving the song a touch of Sinatra-like cool and class.
Josh Hathaway is Assistant Music Editor for BC Magazine. He is formerly an award-winning journalist and broadcaster and publishes the BC Network site Confessions of a Fanboy .
- Confessions of a Fanboy 006: Guster - Ganging Up on the Sun
- Published: June 28, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Adult Alternative, Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Rock
- Part of a feature: Confessions of a Fanboy
- Writer: Josh Hathaway
- Josh Hathaway's BC Writer page
- Josh Hathaway's personal site
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you see, sir brewster...we have this all figured out. if you spend only, say, $50/year on clothing, then you've got extra cash for music.
Gents, I've given this album the iTunes preview listen twice now. While I will say musically that the sounds were pleasant, there was nothing that grabbed me... I will describe it as somewhere between Tom Petty and upbeat Travis, perhaps a little too upbeat for my tastes. I will try to revisit it in a week and see if anything changes.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the post. You know, it's funny in retrospect, but what began as a little tiff over Eliot Smith has evolved into some interesting discussions. A Boba Fett nod to you both... happy 4th of July.
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Good job fellas. Glad to see the fanboy is back. Guess I'll add another record to my increasingly long list of "to buy." One of you has some explaining to do with my wife when she sees the music bill.