Friday, February 11, 2011

Reeling In The Years: 2004

by Simon Lawson

As a 16 year old NME reader in 2004 these songs may be very much of a time and place, but yeah listening back to some of them now they're still pretty awesome.

The Vines - Animal Machine
I remember Winning Days only getting a 5 out of 10 in the NME. Maybe my first first hand experience of backlash against hype but it was as powerful (if not quite as consistent) a record as their first and I loved it. Animal Machine is a super song.

Tom Vek - If You Want
My girlfriend of the time had Sky TV and importantly MTV2, going over to hers was my first real taste of music television and I remember If You Want was one of the first songs that I heard on there and then went out to buy. New album in 2011 I hear... Lolz

Ben Kweller - I Need You Back

The Polyphonic Spree - Hold Me Now
People still like The Polyphonic Spree right? I've somehow never seen them play live. Not sure how as they were really active around the same time that I was. This is a fantastic song. Have you heard their cover of Lithium off that EP between this album and their most recent?

The Hives - B Is For Brutus
I could understand some reading this list and thinking I'm picking all these bands 2-3 years after they hit their peak and while past their best but The Hives are brilliant. The chords are always brilliant and the vocal parts are a perfect fit grabbing yr attention just right like they should in a song I feel. The songs never outstayed their welcome either, I mean this is 2:30 and they only ever broke 3 minutes if it was needed.

Adam Green - Emily
Gemstones is a brill collection of croon pop tunes and I'm not quite sure how he got so popular with it amidst all the rocking of the age. Maybe it was the smuttiness...

50 Foot Wave - Clara Bow
I'll admit that I didn't hear this one until a couple of years after it's release but I'd started university and yeah. I never got into Biffy really so maybe 50 Foot Wave were my weird time rock band. More conventional and with a girl singer sounds infinitely better.

The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Rise Of The Eagles
This has been on maybe a third of the mix tapes I've made since 2004.

Eastern Lane - Saffron
I wrote about this a bit ago. It's still awesome.

Graham Coxon - Freakin' Out
This got pounded by XFM on it's initial release. The b-side to his next single Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery, Right To Pop, was great as well :D

The Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love
Re-released in 2004 and the album came out here then so it kinda counts. I wrote about this one as well. I maintain that every time I hear this song it's the best 2 minutes of my life ever.


Master list

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