Last Updated on February 17, 2024
S01 E61
Music is frequently best when it is a communal experience. This is perhaps why we go and see bands perform live the exact version of a song we know from a record, it is why we pay good money to see this, and it is spoilt by the fuckers singing along over the vocalist. I did not pay to get in to hear you sing Born in the USA.
Except, frequently, in the best of experiences (for us), it is exactly what I paid for. It’s what I want, it’s what I crave. It is what destroys the stage, more than any declaration by a punk band that the “stage is yours” only to be invaded by macho morons who think music should be expressed with a kick in the head. Fuck you. No, the voice is ours: it is what breaks down the individualism of the modern age, it is what grounds us in the here and now: there is no past, no future, only our voices.
This week, Andrew and Sam explore the singalong. They take their fair time to get there, but they enjoy themselves in the process. And then they discover the joy of singing along not only to the vocals but riffs. RIFFS. Madness, hey.
Riffs of the week
Dr Sam’s Riff
- John Prine – Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore (opening)
Andrew’s Riff
- Crowded House – Locked out (0:12)
Dr Sam’s track choices
- Metallica – Master of Puppets (4.00)
- Ursus Factory – Rakkauttasi tarviten (3.20)
- Sick of it All – Scratch the Surface (0:05)
- Against Me! – We Laugh at Danger (2.30)
Andrew’s track choices
- Sex Pistols – Buddies (0:22)
- Black Sabbath – War Pigs (1:50)
- Red Flag 77 – How Low (0:55)
- Against me! – Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious (1:10)
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