Album video: Our final song by Guadalcanal Diary is the trippy, Beatles- influenced “Lips of Steel.” I hear a little bit of “Tomorrow Never Knows” in its backwards guitar and its relaxed-vocal-over-urgent-drumming construction. Ah, I wish more people knew about … Continue reading
3474. “3 AM” by Guadalcanal Diary
Album cover video: “3 AM” is the emotional peak of 2 X 4. A heart rending, moving song about alcoholism co-written by Attaway and Walls, the song used to go straight over my head. Now, about 25 years later, having … Continue reading
Live: This track has always sounded a bit like “Cattle Prod” to me, which isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, you record a novelty song and I imagine you grow sick of singing the lyrics, even if you love the music. … Continue reading
Album cover video: If “Newborn” sounds nothing like REM, guitarist Jeff Walls’ “Winds of Change” could almost have been straight off a band by Athens’ famous sons. The thing I appreciate the most about this song is the Byrds’ influenced … Continue reading
3471. “Newborn” by Guadalcanal Diary
Fan video: “Newborn” opens with a heavy bass riff by Rhett Crowe before resolving into a great rock song with an unusual time signature. Well, it sounds unusual to my ear, though I couldn’t tell you what it might be. … Continue reading
3470. “Where Angels Fear to Tread” by Guadalcanal Diary
Fan video: Jeff Walls wrote a couple of the finest songs on 2 X 4 and “Where Angels Fear To Tread” stands as his strongest contribution to Guadalcanal Diary’s songbook. A hard rocking, uptempo piece, it is a piece about … Continue reading
Album cover video: And the Beatles’ original: I mentioned this when writing about The Beatles’ version in 2008, but I genuinely prefer this version to the original. Its a little cleaner and simpler in all the right ways – but … Continue reading
3468. “Let the Big Wheel Roll” by Guadalcanal Diary
Listen to the original at Grooveshark or watch it live: “Let The Big Wheel Roll” is guitarist Jeff Walls’ insanely catchy character study of a reasonably carefree trucker. Possibly the coolest trucker on Earth. Certainly one of the happiest. Attaway’s … Continue reading
Listen to it at Grooveshark. The title “Things Fall Apart” is a clear reference to W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming:” Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; … Continue reading
3466. “Little Birds” by Guadalcanal Diary
Listen to the original at Grooveshark. Live: “Little Birds” is one of the loveliest songs in Guadalcanal Diary’s catalog. Chief songwriter and vocalist Murray Attaway often wrote songs about childhood and this is a great one that focuses on the … Continue reading