Sunday, December 30, 2007

#6: Feist - 1, 2, 3, 4

This was originally lower, but I have a funny story about this song that pushed it up a little bit.

A few months after I met my girlfriend, I met her family. She has a 2 1/2 year old niece who is a pretty perceptive little girl. Anyhow, as I feel that kids shouldn't just listen to the Wiggles and crap like that, I made a CD of "kid-friendly" music that she could listen to in the car. The CD included (among others) "Crabbuckit" by k-os, "Around the World" by Daft Punk, "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure, and"1, 2, 3, 4" by Feist.

A few weeks ago, I was having lunch at their house and she started singing "1, 2, 3, 4". She doesn't really know the words outside of "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10", and she just repeats this, but now we've encountered a new problem: when she counts to ten, she skips 7 and 8.

Feist: warping the concept of counting for young children since 2003!



Feist - 1, 2, 3, 4

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#7: Buck 65 - Indestructible Sam

I've always talked about how much I love Buck's music - and this is no different. Based on the true story of Samuel Dombey, Buck spins a quick 3-minute yarn about a man who just would not die. I really can't do the song justice, so just download it. It was on Buck's site available for download for free, and you really ought to just check out the entire EP he self-released.



Buck 65 - Indestructible Sam

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#8: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

I will now list the buzzwords and phrases used to describe Vampire Weekend these days:

"Influenced by Paul Simon's Graceland."
"Oh my God they went to Columbia!"
"White-boy afro-pop? Who knew!"
"Did you know they've never even been to Cape Cod?"

Yeah, they're still pretty damn good.



Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

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#9: Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running

So what if Neon Bible wasn't Funeral? Talk about having to live up to expectations. And it wasn't even as though NB wasn't great - it was. It's easily in my top 5 of 2007. It's just a growing process - nothing was going to replicate the lightning in a bottle that was Funeral. And in my opinion, the most impressive track on the album was the quirky "Keep The Car Running", the answer to Funeral's "Rebellion (Lies)".

That said, I have no idea what the song is actually about. Ideas?



Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running

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#10: LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

At this point, I don't think there is much left to say about "All My Friends". It's a really great track. One of James Murphy's best qualities as a producer is his unbelievable patience. He's more than willing to have a track grow over nine minutes. He's willing to let the first two or three minutes start slowly and to let it build into a beast, as he does with "All My Friends".

Just a great, great song.



LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

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#11: Klaxons - Golden Skans

Strangely, I think this is the kind of the song that could have come out any time in the last forty years. It's got a timeless quality to it - the vocals aren't really something you can place, the strings and piano are unique, and there is a strange somberness to the song that really allows for you to view it as... special. Does that make sense?



Klaxons - Golden Skans

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#12: Reverend & The Makers - Heavyweight Champion of the World

This was one of my favorite discoveries of the year. I love the concept of the song, the production, the lyrics, and most of all - the video. It's definitely one of the more "fun" songs I've heard in some time, just considering the simplicity alone.



Reverend & The Makers - Heavyweight Champion of the World

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

#14: Amy Winehouse - Rehab

blahblahblah soulful voice blahblahblah trouble with the law blahblahblah wandering streets looking like perry farrell blahblahblah bitch maybe really consider going to rehab blahblahblah okay, really great song.



Amy Winehouse feat. Jay-Z - Rehab

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#15: M.I.A. - Boyz

This isn't the last appearance on this list by M.I.A. Kala was arguably the best album of 2007, with 5 or 6 really strong songs. "Boyz" was her first single off it and while it wasn't her best, it was the one that really introduced more of the mainstream (I mean, you hear her songs in Juicy Couture stores now). I'm digging this acceptance.



M.I.A. - Boyz

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#16: Kid Sister feat. Kanye West - Pro Nails

My favorite hook of the year is in this song. "Got her toes done up, with her fingernails matchin'." Fuckin' awesome.

Here's the question - who's the coolest indie hip hop power couple: Kid Sister & A-Trak OR Diplo & M.I.A.? I don't have the answer, but this song makes it closer in my mind.




Kid Sister feat. Kanye West - Pro Nails

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#17: Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (Alive 2007 Remix)

I only wish I sprung for tickets to see them play in Brooklyn back in the summer. I can't even imagine (except by judging footage from the DVD I saw) how fucking amazing the show must have been.




Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (Alive 2007 Remix)

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#18: Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around, Comes Around

Hey, it's "Cry Me A River", version 2007! Okay, maybe this really was just a rip off of his own song, but that doesn't really matter. It's still a tremendously awesome song, one that from start-to-finish is really a great fuck-you to someone who he used to love.

Probably the best breakup song of the year.



Marilyn Manson - What Goes Around, Comes Around (Justin Timberlake cover)

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#19: Kanye West feat. T-Pain - The Good Life

Kanye's going to make a few more appearances on this list. I'm warning you now.

I could talk about how Kanye had a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude regarding the choice to use the same directors as Justice did for "D.A.N.C.E.", but that's been beat into the ground. I could also talk about how this song was perfectly used at the end of an Entourage episode, where Kanye just magically appeared and whisked Vince and Eric and the boys off to Cannes to premiere their new film. And I could also talk about Kanye's mom, or how T-Pain annoys the crap out of me, or how this song samples MJ's P.Y.T., or whatever.

It's just a party in about 3 minutes... and that's good enough for me.

Kanye West feat. T-Pain - The Good Life

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

#20: Jay-Z - Roc Boys (and the winner is)

The line "it's a celebration, bitches" really defines the song. Jay-Z's comeback after the mediocre Kingdom Come was the soundtrack to American Gangster. Despite the overarching influence of Diddy, the album came out terrific ("Blue Magic" also stands out). "Roc Boys" is one of those songs that not only sounds like a party, but feels like it. It's a blast from start to finish.

Jay-Z - Roc Boys

#21: Dude n Nem feat. Twista - Watch My Feet (Remix)

What a bizarre song. I remember hearing just the chorus and going "what in blazes is this?"

It's so insipid and silly and fun - and the remix with Twista (who fits perfectly into the concept of the song considering it's really fast, and Twista can, um, spit hot fire).



Dude n Nem feat. Twista - Watch My Feet (Remix)

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#22: Bangers & Cash - B.O.O.T.A.Y.

Hahahaha. I fuckin' love it. Between the 2 Live Crew samples, the Baltimore house sound, and the absolutely filthy rhymes it's like nothing else in music today. Spank Rock and Benny Blanco combine to make the duo of B&C, and really, they just make bass-heavy music to have spastic sex to. Or, at least what I'd imagine spastic sex to be like. Probably really sweaty and fast and possibly something that could injure you.



Bangers & Cash - B.O.O.T.A.Y.

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#23: Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

I've made my love of Fall Out Boy pretty clear on this site in the past, and I'm unashamed of it. They're stupidly fun pop punk and their new album really was pretty damn good. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs is the best track on the album - and they're a prime example of the crossover between hip-hop and pop punk these days. Jay-Z has long said how much he loves their music. Pete Wentz always talks about how he thinks Lil Wayne is the most emo act on the planet. Babyface produced a few songs on the album. Hell, check out the hip-hop remix of "Arms Race". Even going back to Under The Cork Tree, they had pretty solid 4/4 beats at dance-friendly BPM. I'm just saying.... it's something interesting.

Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

#24: Lenlow - I Love New England

Well, if you didn't know, The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the Second Time in Four Years. Yes, it's true. During the playoffs, the awesome DJ Lenlow made this fantastic mashup (my favorite of 2007, actually). It features:

The Standells - Dirty Water
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers - New England
Big D & the Kids Table - New England
Aerosmith - Walk This Way
Boston - More Than a Feeling
J Geils Band - Centerfold

Six songs -- and it works! Really, really, really, really, really well. It's pretty amazing, all things considered.

Lenlow - I Love New England

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#25: My Chemical Romance - Teenagers

I said at the end of my 2006 list that I regretted not putting this song on the list. It was one of my favorites of last year and I have no idea why it wasn't on the list. But thanks to the magic of radio airplay, "Teenagers" was a big hit this summer, so I'm putting it on this year's list.

I don't care that it sounds just like Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You", it's a fun song with a completely sing-a-long-able chorus.



My Chemical Romance - Teenagers

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#26: Unk - Walk It Out (Remix)

I really don't like Unk's music. "Walk It Out" isn't a great song. But... the remix with Andre 3000 features a set of lines so good that that alone gets it into the top 40.
I'm like jury duty
You're new to this part of town
Your white tee, well to me,
Looks like a a nightgown
Make ya mama proud
Take that thing two sizes down
Then you look like the man
That you are or what you could be
I mean, fuck. Hah. He's basically calling out everyone in the southern music scene for looking like a damn fool.

Unk feat. Andre 3000 & Jim Jones - Walk It Out (Remix)

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#27: Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It

In 2005, I was sent a copy of the Shout Out Louds debut album and loved it. So when their sophomore effort, Our Ill Wills came out, I was very exciting - and pleased. Their Irish influences are pretty apparent on this (I know, weird for a Swedish band to have Irish influences, but I'm convinced of this after listening to them for a few years), and it's a great thing to see develop. Considering they've gone two-for-two on great albums, I'm excited for what they have in store for their third album.



Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It

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#28: Stars - Window Bird

I have to admit, I really don't like Stars. I haven't for a long time. I don't know why - there are plenty of bands that sound like them that I like. This is probably the first song of theirs I really like a whole lot. "Window Bird" is a gorgeous song. Amy Milian's vocals are really terrific - some of her best I've heard yet. I also count a few chord changes, which I always fine fun (moreso than I should, probably).



Stars - Window Bird

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Friday, December 21, 2007

#29: Spoon - The Underdog

Hmmph.

I've long espoused the virtues of Spoon, dating back to my college days discussing how good Girls Can Tell is to a room of Risk players. I've always described them as "Sunday morning music", which is one of the best compliments I can give a band - music that I really enjoy on a sunny Sunday morning, reading the paper, drinking coffee, possibly shaking off a hangover. Their newest album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is possibly their best work yet - even better than Kill the Moonlight. The first single off the album was "The Underdog", a pop song if there ever was one - and maybe their best singular song to date (outside of "Stay Don't Go").

Anyhow.

Spoon - The Underdog

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

#30: MGMT - Time To Pretend

Hah.

Any time a band seems to utilize 8-bit noises (the horn/keys/whatever it is at the beginning), I love it. But MGMT's "Time To Pretend" goes beyond that fun bit - it's a beautiful song - lush in both sound and scope - it's the kind of song that you'd imagine hearing as the main character of a movie drives off into the distance as the sun rises.

It'll probably be a track I listen to a lot on New Year's Day. It seems like a nice way to start the new year. It's a song you can blow your speakers out to. And even though it technically came out in 2006, and the actual full-length album release with this on it doesn't arrive until 2008, we've reached the point where this is easily one of the best tracks in 2007. I feel like I'll regret placing this song so low in a few months.

MGMT - Time To Pretend

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#31: Modest Mouse - Dashboard

Off what was (in my eyes) a pretty disappointing album (We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank) came Modest Mouse's first single - and probably the only really worthwhile track on the album as a whole. But what a single - from the opening kicks and riffs to the crescendo around 3:41 or so into the song, it's a trip. If anything, Modest Mouse has been able to properly execute telling a story in their songs (even in their mega-hit "Float On"), and "Dashboard" is no different. Of course, it never hurts to have a truly great music video. Directed by Matthew Cullen and Grady Hall, it's full of little fun things you notice on the eighth viewing (the "radio"head, anyone?)



Modest Mouse - Dashboard

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Friday, December 07, 2007

#32: LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum

This is, in many ways, James Murphy's answer to the Arctic Monkey's "Fake Tales of San Francisco". There's something really refreshing to the song. And yes, while it's Murphy's take on Americans as "scum", and as assholes, which we are want to do sometimes, it's also interesting because it's kind of a retrospective on the last ten years of his life as an artist. He says "and for those of you who still they're from England, we're not, no" - he's established what this song is about. He's saying - guess what - whether you like it or not - you can't become British - you can't make yourself suddenly a European, and you can't change the fact that you are, in fact, an American. That doesn't mean that just because you're American that you're pro-war or pro-life or pro-gun or pro-death penalty or anything. What it means is that there's a whole bunch of us here living in this country and we are not the same.

LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum

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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Q & A with Girl Talk

Girl Talk, a.k.a. Gregg Gillis has been a long time favorite in these parts. I went to his show last Friday night here in Atlantic City and did a phone Q&A with him today.

Ben: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me.

Gregg: I’m going over to Australia in a couple of weeks and they scheduled all these interviews back-to-back-to-back-to-back like in one day and that’s what just went down. And it ran a little late.

Ben: Sounds like a lot of fun.

Gregg: Yeah [Laughs].

Ben: I’ll try to make this as brief as possible for your sake. First of all I saw you last Friday at the show in AC. I gotta tell you it was awesome – it was really terrific – I work as a DJ and it was inspiring to watch you work and see the crowd go that crazy for you.

Gregg: Thank you very much.

Ben: I actually ditched out of work for 90 minutes to check the show.

Gregg: Where do you live at, Atlantic City?

Ben: I live in AC, but I’m from Boston, but I work for a sports bar down here that’s also a nightclub.

Gregg: Atlantic City’s crazy, man. I had a really fun time that night. The guys who opened up for me are friends of mine and AC’s so close to other major cities so I just had a bunch of buddies come in and we all got hotel rooms in the building, so we all went back to my room and partied and then gambled and ran into people from the show. We never really went out, but the party just remained. It was the easiest after-party scenario because there’s a casino and you gamble and drink all night.

Ben: I’ll tell you it gets a little dangerous living in a city where you can drink 24 hours a day.

Gregg: I know, man, I can’t imagine living there, but I had a blast when I was there.

Ben: So lemme just ask you a couple of questions… how did that whole ‘everyone get on stage’ thing get started?

Gregg: I’m not sure. I’ve been playing with a computer for the last seven years or so, and it’s only been in the last year where that’s become a standard. Back in the day I played a lot basements or galleries or independent show spaces, so often times I would play on the floor, and if I didn’t I would invite people to come up to me. Back then it was before I played dance clubs so it was me trying to loosen up a more rock sort of crowd, and I usually failed horribly, but it was always about trying to interact with the crowd as much as possible. I can’t pinpoint, but it was sometime last fall when more favorable reviews for Night Ripper were coming out and I would start getting into the crowd. It was kind of a YouTube phenomenon and people would see it and check out the show and they’d think “That’s what I want my show to be like” and from there it just snowballed, and now every show it’s like that, it’s great for me.

Ben: It’s a really cool, but I imagine it’s a little chaotic for you with people requesting 50 songs.

Gregg: Right, because literally every change in the music I have to trigger I’m clicking the mouse, so I’m clicking once every 15 seconds, that’s just how it goes. Every loop I play is isolated – every drum, every snare, every hand clap there’s all isolated that I have to queue up individually. During a show, I’m used to it now, but it’s a bit insane… when someone comes up and they request a song, it’s like I’d really like to talk to you dude, but I can’t right now.

Ben: Have you developed Carpal Tunnel from all this clicking?

Gregg: [Laughs] I’ve got a really strong right hand right now.

Ben: Your older releases like Secret Diary, are more glitch-pop. How did this change with the release of Night Ripper?

Gregg: Every stage of the game, I’ve always tried to recontextualize the music with making new songs out of old songs with the blatant sampling. I think when I started Girl Talk in 2000, I was influenced by Kid 606 – I think it was just I was really into experimental music at that time so the whole idea was to make experimental music out of pop music and over the years people have put a lot of weird underground glitchy music out, and I’ve zoned out of that a bit. I just started to play more house parties and playing more beat-oriented stuff became more natural, so over the years I’ve just played more and more recognizable samples to the point where all my sets were all recognizable mashed up sounds of things. It’s really just a gradual evolution from wanting to make experimental pop to making new pop out of old pop.

Ben: Are you influenced by Boards of Canada?

Gregg: A lot of people who jam my music these days don’t really don’t understand that world of Boards of Canada or Squarepusher, that’s definitely my background in terms of the aesthetic I try to put together. Very tightly-edited kinds of stuff. Yeah, I love Boards of Canada.

Ben: Do you have thoughts about the whole DRM thing – where now on iTunes you can buy an un-DRM’d track for $1.99?

Gregg: Yeah, I don’t really know much about that because I don’t buy music digitally – I just got my first iPod last month from my parents for my birthday. I haven’t opened it yet – I’m leaving for Europe on Thursday so I’m trying to load it up with some music for the trip. I love my music being spread on the internet; I love people getting it for free. I know that money will come back to the artist in certain ways. I know a handful of artists living off of being musicians right now that do pretty weird music in my opinion, good music, but weird, and I’m impressed with how far music can spread with the help of the internet. Any way tot get the music out there is beneficial, and while probably some people are losing some money – maybe the billionaires are now millionaires, but outside of that so many mid-level to underground artists are living off this and so many people are coming to the shows, this would not have been possible five years ago.

Ben: That’s a really refreshing viewpoint on these things. The more artists I talk the more it seems that kind of perspective is coming around. Where the MP3 is a promotional tool to go out to the show and buy the T-Shirt and support the artist on a local level.

Gregg: I think it’s insane that this is my job – off the top of my head, my friend Dan Deacon is living off of this and for guys like us, it really is about the Internet and the spread of the music and information to people that couldn’t get it a few years back.

Ben: What are some of your favorite recent releases?

Gregg: From the last year, probably the Bone Thugs and Harmony album. I love the production it sounds like it comes from the 90s or today it doesn’t sound forced retro, it just sounds great. I like the UGK double disc it’s really good. I actually like the 50 Cent record a bit. I really like the Dan Deacon album from the weird world, even though he’s a buddy of mine. White Williams also a buddy of mine, I really like the record. I actually really love the new Silverchair single that everyone I know hates.

Ben: That’s “Straight Lines”?

Gregg: I just bought the record, and I love that song, but I haven’t really heard the record yet. I’m pumped you knew that, most people gave up on Silverchair a long time ago. I really like the Gucci Mane record which I think came out in 2006 but the singles just came out this year. But I’d have to put Bone Thugs at the top of my record list. I really like a lot the new hip hop, but I really love sample based production. You have to be really lucky to hear a sample-based hip hop song on the radio, because it’s all original synthesizer kinds of stuff, which is fine, but man my favorite hip hop song of the year was the UGK “International Player’s Anthem” based on that soul sample which I thought was phenomenal.

Ben: How do you get all the acapellas and instrumentals?

Gregg: I try not to make them because I don’t want to play anything that I don’t feel 100% about the quality, and I hate when I can hear little artifacts in the acapellas I make. I’m kind of a perfectionist about things, so acapellas I don’t buy many records, but I’ll buy the record occasionally and get the track myself, but mostly I can just get them online. I’ve been looking for acapellas for the past seven or eight years pretty consistently, and compared to four years ago it is so easy to find acapellas online now. And I think it goes back to that viral marketing thing. People really look at acapellas existing and people being able to do their own remixes, DJs being able to spin acapellas, as a positive thing for the promotion of the album. But mostly I get them online or from a friend. Occasionally, I’ll get something through a weird source – recently someone kicked me a Nirvana multi-track. That blew my mind – it was for “Pennyroyal Tea” and “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” off In Utero and there was one that was labeled “untitled” which ended up being the b-side “Moist Vagina”. It has the whole mix, with the instrumentals and acapellas. Sometimes that will happen, and that’s awesome because Nirvana acapellas really don’t exist.

Ben: I heard you sometimes a live version.

Gregg: Yeah, I do Scentless Apprentice sometimes. I almost did it in Atlantic City – I like it to feel like a rock show, and usually do it if the crowd isn’t crazy, because it’s a good excuse for me to get in the crowd and get crazy or if the crowd if overly crazy, and I get pushed back on the stage a bit it’s a good way for me to show my face a little bit.

Ben: You have a new album coming out; do you have a date for that yet?

Gregg: I don’t have a date yet. The label has a quick turnaround and my friend who has done the other album artwork is doing it again. I’m hoping early 2008. I’ve got so much material from all the live shows so I should be good to go. The album has always been a retrospective of the live shows. And Atlantic City for example was a lot of new material, so it’s a matter of going over that and deciding what’s my favorite material.

Ben: I got two more questions for you. Who uses better samples: Daft Punk or Diddy?

Gregg: Oh, man! [Laughs]. I love Daft Punk, but Diddy samples amazes things. Daft Punk are like the Michael Jackson of electronic music. But Diddy is like… Diddy. I’m going to have to go with Daft Punk on this because I heard Diddy got taken to court for recently for sample usage of a 10-second horn clip of Earth Wind and Fire or something and he backed down from the lawsuit rather than try to push the fair use issue, so that was a little disappointing.

Ben: One last question: you’re a big Steelers fan, right?

Gregg: Absolutely.

Ben: I’m a big Patriots fan – who’s winning on Sunday?

Gregg: Oh man, I love the Steelers, so I’ll give the Steelers by three. I mean, the Patriots almost lost to the Ravens. I thought the Patriots were dominant until last night’s game. I mean I have to hate the Patriots, there’s a bit of a rivalry, but I am also kind of pumped because any team dominating in the league is exciting to watch. But I think the Steelers are gonna deflate the tires this week.

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Sunday, December 02, 2007

#33: Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick

I really enjoyed the new QotSA album Era Vulgaris, as it was an improvement over their previous effort Lullabies to Paralyze. "Sick Sick Sick" is a straight-forward rock and roll jam that evokes early punk rock with the driving guitars and simplistic vocals. I like that Julian Casablancas is on the song and his backup vocals mix nicely with Homme's.

Not much else to say - just a good song. And as I've said in the past - any band with Josh Homme makes me want to party in a dirty and dark rock and roll bar. This song is no different.

Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick