Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
160. Jimmy Eat World – Authority Song
The band’s breakthrough was in the form of a pretty spectacular power pop album, and while their new sounds reveal the group to have eased into generic territory, this self-titled disc (originally called Bleed American, but changed due to the post-9/11 attack on media and music) was a welcome escape from the over-saturation of bland hip-hop and post nu-metal radio dreck. “Authority Song” is a forgotten album track that has more hooks than the uplifting, cheesy lead single “The Middle.”
When Interscope turned down Feeler, the sophomore effort from Dallas natives the Toadies, back in 1997, they probably had no idea what they were hearing – an alt-rock sound slightly more progressive and ahead of its time than what was filling up the airwaves at the moment. The late 90’s were a transforming period for most of popular music; we had yet to see the short-lived Latin craze, the boy band saga, or the nu-metal movement take full swing. The execs at the major label quickly tossed this promising album aside because they simply didn’t hear another “Possum Kingdom,” the track that helped the band’s debut Rubberneck go multi-platinum.
After the promising second album Hell Below Stars Above, the band called it quits for a while, then returned with the hit-or-miss comeback album No Deliverance. But this retooling of that lost album is a shining point in the band’s catalog, no doubt. The crew went into the studio this summer and re-recorded a portion of the tracks from Feeler, giving them a fresher, edgier, and louder touch. Frontman Vaden Todd Lewis’ now-raspy Texan wail provides a more aggressive approach to the already-pristine material. The new album reveals a refreshed band playing previously shelved masterpieces from the era of their creative peak. An essential listen for all Toadies and Texas music fans.
Today marks the official first day of autumn 2010. As far as music goes, there is usually one “song of the summer” – a track that we will forever associate with the previous season of this particular year. This song usually embodies the typical moods related to summer – laziness, partying, a carefree, optimistic attitude, et al.
While I’m not going to try and pick this song, I have my nominations – songs that will bring me back to this summer, my first few months in a new city, and, as with most summers, a good time in near-intolerable heat.
The pilot of HBO’s new series, a riveting portrayal of gangster-ridden America during the Prohibition era, certainly feels very Scorsese, and you could sense that without knowing he directed the episode and is an executive producer along with A-lister Mark Wahlberg. The introduction to our main “protagonists” is very convincing, leaving room for more development, but ultimately quickly exposing our heroes for what they really are – corrupted people in power seeking to make it rich by selling bootleg alcohol.
The most likable quickly become abrasive and violent, but not without their soft sides (Steve Buscemi’s remarkable, brilliant portrayal of “Nucky” Thompson, based on Enoch Johnson, is rapidly ruthless, but also charitable). Scorsese’s vision is seen throughout and will remain for future episodes, and it’s a perfect mood that Marty has mastered – telling the darkest tales of our history under his watchful eye. Boardwalk Empire is one to look out for next awards season.
