The Exploders

Posted: 29th October 2007

Ehhhnn. The Exploder's debut album is... not too bad. It's something of a compilation, since all but one of the songs are from the band's first two EPs, and I suspect they're the same recordings as well, but I could be wrong. To be honest though, I'm quite conflicted about this album. Sometimes I'm convinced a lot it of can be a rather samey and it's at times underwhelming. I mean, there's nothing really mind blowing on this album (though there a few rather nice songs). It's just good old fashioned garage-y rock and roll. But then there's other times, I'll listen to the album and realise that most of the songs are pretty decent, and it's quite a fun album. That, and if I criticise it too heavily, I'll probably get beaten up by a few friends of mine. (And/or the band at their next Geelong gig)

Despite my constantly changing thoughts, there's definitely some good songs. My Country Brain is a good start to the album, with its simple, but cool riff, its catchy chorus, and I love the "na-na-na-na" breakdown bit. It's a fine song! Then there's the kick ass Gods Above, which I'd probably rank as the album's best song. It's got the best chorus on the album, a neat guitar solo, and there's a great buildup at one part of the song. (Though, the lyrics are a tad confusing... is he wearing a red dress? If so, why?!). And album closer Everybody Knows is actually a very close contender for best song. It's well written, has a neat chorus, and the amusing outro involves several guitars all noodling around. Got a spiffy guitar solo too.

There is some filler though. Cowboy Jim is a cute little acoustic country ditty, which doesn't do much during its two minutes, and Hugh's Lullaby is an alright psychedelic instrumental, with heartbeat-like drumming and some interesting guitar parts, but it's probably too lengthy at three and a half minutes. And interestingly, there's either some really weird distortion on the guitar, or parts of Hugh's Lullaby sounds like it's played on a kazoo. Heh heh. There is one song that I actively dislike though: Fuzz Bomb, which is unfortunately sandwiched between the album's two best songs. It's a slow languid ballad, with T.J. distortedly whining and nothing interesting happens at all. And unless, my ears are mistaking me, I hear more kazoos. A whole freaking orchestra of kazoos, intent on annoying the living crap out of me. Ok, I liked the kazoo on Hugh's Lullaby, but on Fuzz Bomb it's just plain obnoxious. (Like me!)

Anyway, the rest of the songs are all decent. Most of them have nice melodies, and they're all pretty enjoyable. Stepping Out, Can't Sleep, and Please, Please are all have their moments, and I love the line in Can't Sleep where T.J. sings "I'd kill my mother for some coffee!". Plus the band are decent musicians, and T.J. rips a few nice solos from time to time (though nothing really memorable offhand, they're usually just impressive sounding flurries of notes).

On a good day, this is a nice album, and it has admittedly rather grown on me, and I'd probably give it a very solid 10. However because I dislike the rusted spike to the eardrum that is Fuzz Bomb so much, I'm going to knock off a whole point and give it a 9. It's probably harsh, but damn, I seriously dislike that song. But if you like the band and its style, feel free to knock it up a point or two, cause it's if you ignore that one song, it's a pretty neat deal. Seriously, don't beat me up!

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Posted: 4th March 2008

Maybe you worked it out? That maybe I didn't think The Exploders were really my thang? I mean, back when Love Outside Andromeda and The Exploders regularly played gigs in Geelong, I and various other friends would go and see both bands whenever they were in town. I'd go to Exploders gigs, but I was more a Love Outside Andromeda fan than an Exploders fan.

See, The Exploders appeared to have a limited style. I didn't mind their first album; there was some pretty nice songs on it. Problem was, if a song wasn't a rocker, it was probably filler. Think about it! Cowboy Jim is cute, but it's not a "real" song like My Country Brain is it? Ditto for Hugh's Lullaby. BBC Intro is an intro (duh!). And boy, isn't Fuzz Bomb really awful? I also had a few other minor complaints: the album sounded under-produced, there was very little arrangement variety on the rockers... just distorted guitars, bass and drums. Some rockers felt generic and samey. Oh, and there's far too much kazoo as well. Yeah, that too. Whinge, whinge, whinge. Still, despite my endless moaning, I think it's a pretty decent album with some pretty good songs. Honest!

Anyway, Easy and the Sun is a definite step forward, and rectifies all my whiny complaints. There's more diversity in styles, and considerably better production and arrangement ideas. We touch upon sixties pop, hard rock, pretty balladry, some fuzz bass'd funk, even a psychedelic mini-prog epic, and there's a few "Exploders Rock Songs" as well. There's also lotsa different instrumentation: electric and acoustic guitars, pianos, horns, xylophone, even some cool theramin on the title track! Best of all, no kazoo! But to put things into perspective, the band's debut was a collection of demos recorded at T.J.'s home studio, which explains (and forgives) the under-production and arrangments, and maybe some of the filler. This album was recorded on the other side of the world, in Dallas, with a producer and a budget, and was actually intended to be an album. Might as well be their proper debut. And maybe some of this expansion can be credited to the producer(s), but the self-titled suggested they had these ambitions, what with songs like Cowboy Jim and Hugh's Lullaby and "epics" like Gods Above and Everybody Knows.

There's some really good songs here too: I enjoy the first six songs quite a bit. Straight Ahead is stupendously awesome; a real ball-tearer and possibly the hardest they've rocked. It's a wild ride, and lotsa fun. They also give pop music a crack, and come up with Little Summer Dress and Cola, both of which are pretty good. Little Summer Dress sounds particularly sixties-pop, and even has some groovy horns. There's also a rather neat "artsy" sequence beginning with the lovely Blueberry Lane, and concluding two songs later with the psychedelic mini-prog epic It's Alright Blackbird. The former is easily their best ballad so far, with a fiddly acoustic intro and gorgeously melodic choruses, while the latter finally makes it to an album, though considerably more acoustic than its live persona. Who cares, it's a freakin' cool song! And bridging the two songs is Huckleberry Finn, a totally trippy psychedelic semi-instrumental. Like Hugh's Lullaby! But better!

The second half though, is somewhat weaker. It's where most of the "Exploders Rock Songs" are, and some songs just don't overly excite me. That being said, none of them suck either, so maybe I should shut up already. I Can't Dance is nifty and sounds very similar to its original EP incarnation, but now has cool female backing vocals. Both Nevil (nice piano!) and Pretty Girls are decent. And I really, really dig the title track: love the funky riff, fuzz-bass, and pounding piano. The crunching breakdown is a gas as well! Not too keen on the album closer though, the half-assedly titled Bass Song. It's an okay ballad, but suitably "epic" enough album-ender. Ehhn.

So that's that. It's kind of pointless to compare this to their debut, since it's demos versus an actual album, but regardless, they've definitely progressed, and I enjoy this a whole heap more. In the end, after a raging internal debate and violently arguing between a 10 (B-) and a 11 (B), I've grudgingly settled on a low, low, low 11 (B). After all, there's several fine songs, it's diverse, fun, and sounds good. Good enough for me! Might be good enough for you too! Check it out already!

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