Satisfaction - Nothing Oh Nothing

Deep down I know the OC is just a television show, but driving around Newport Beach, I still keep my eye out for Seth Cohen on his skateboard. Just east of Newport Beach is the Orange County city of Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa is home to the band Satisfaction. Satisfaction are a band that could easily show up on the famed, fake OC venue The Bait Shop. They’re infectious and unintentionally creating a style that could begin to be associated with Orange County as well as The OC. Taking cue from OC alums, Phantom Planet and Rooney, Satisfaction play aggressively poppy piano punk that incorporates elements of the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys, who never surfed, were from one county North in the town of Hawthorne, but their style survived on the beaches of Huntington. OC punk bands like The Crowd and Agent Orange added aspects of surf rock into their hardcore punk sound. Those sun-kissed harmonies and heavily percussive instrumentation is now distilled into the music of the Satisfaction. The air of Brian Wilson washes over the music of Satisfaction like the waves covering Laguna Beach.

The Rolling Stones wrote a song called Satisfaction and it’s anything but satisfying. It’s hot, bothered and frustrating. “Nothing Oh Nothing” is Satisfaction’s stab at their own version. With lyrics like “Nothing, I’m done feeling nothing. So count me in for pain and for suffering,” Satisfaction attempt the impossible. Like the Mick Jagger looking for empathy over insatiability, Satisfaction’s pleading is damn near masochistic. But, poor Mick, surrounded by tons of beautiful women and he still can’t get no satisfaction. How many times did he try? He’s not so broken up he can’t still brag about it. For Satisfaction feeling bad is better than not feeling anything at all. And whether that numbness is narcotic or apathetic, its end still rings true even if it doesn’t necessarily sound very appealing. “Nothing Oh Nothing” may be Satisfaction’s “Satisfaction”, their signature riff however, is played on a keyboard.

Website: Satisfaction
Music: Nothing Oh Nothing
Myspace: Satisfaction

The Wideworld of Blog Posts

From the Worldwide Faith News archives...

I read a lot of news articles at work and am amazed at the names of some of these sites trying to pass themselves off as reputable. Or maybe in this political climate reputablity isn't a concern.

The Worldwide Faith News site strikes me as neither news nor reaching worldwide.

It's just like ABC's The Wideworld of Sports. You know they weren't going to show a baseball game or a football game, it was going to be Bowling or Badminton, or downhill skiing. Nothing worth watching.

The Seconds - Kratitude

The Seconds are a side project featuring members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Ex-Models. This Brooklyn band’s brand of raw noisy art punk has roots in the more artful punk bands of the late 70s like the Raincoats and Magazine but is familiar in it’s connection to more current bands like the Blood Brothers and Liars. Kratitude exists somewhere between the frantic spasms the Blood Brothers call songs and the exercises in simplicity and repetition on the Liars album Drums Not Dead. It is often in the same song that the Seconds astride these elements. Their song “Sleeping” begins with a slow dirge of a guitarline and then speeds up into a rushed chant before slowing down again. On the other hand, “S&V” is 2 minutes of a repeated guitar chord progression. While Kratitude has its moments of great intensity (Sister8myson), it’s their more reserved simplicity (S&V) that reveals their strength.

Website: The Seconds

Label: 5RC

Music: Sister8myson

Matthew Friedberger

Winter Women & Holy Ghost Language School

Matthew Friedberger, ½ of the Brother /Sister duo, The Fiery Furnaces, makes up for the loss of his sister Eleanor on his first solo outing by recording two albums. The first of which, Winter Women is the more accessible of the pair. Winter Women is full of bright synth melodies and basic drum machine beats that, along with washed out sound of Friedberger’s vocals, dissolve the esoteric subject matter of the songs that at times read like clippings from old newspapers. Holy Ghost Language School on the other hand, is dense and has a wandering sound that only rarely falls into a groove. However intentional that may be, it still sounds scattered. Think of these discs as both sides of Friedberger’s songwriting capabilities. Where Winter women is tight and poppy, Holy Language is more loose and unusual. On the Fiery Furnances’ records you can appreciate the contrast, but here they are isolated.

Winter Women & Holy Ghost Language School will be released Tuesday August 8th on 859 Recordings.

Website: The Fiery Furnaces
Label: 859 Recordings