The Good Stuff: Early 2000s Indie Rock
Midrange Staff @midrangeyvr
Welcome to a new feature on Midrange, The Good Stuff. In each instalment the Midrange Staff revisits a series of noteworthy albums from a particular moment or trend in music, and highlight their favourite parts. Today we look the indie rock renaissance of the early 2000s. Lets dig in.
The Strokes - Room On Fire- 2003
Daniel Thomas Williams- Repitlia- 2:55-3:40
.In a stunning display of blissful hypocrisy, I initially looked down on The Strokes’ revival sound. At the ripe age of 14, I was keen to identify and avoid poseurs, an interesting habit for a person perfectly qualified for a firm position in the sights of my own scorn. I can distinctly remember, however, having my preconceptions wiped out entirely with their first performance on Saturday Night Live. Quite suddenly, their brash live music video for Last Nite made sense. These guys were the real deal. But this is meant to be a comment on the second album, in which case I would say the obvious best part is the band members’ names: Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond Jr., Fabrizio Moretti, and Nick Valensi. But, specific to Room On Fire timestamps, I’ll go with the part of Reptilia when I feel the album really kicks off into the catchy momentum and tales of elite youth capers afforded to the son of a business mogul and former Miss Denmark.
Tristan Young- Reptilia- 2:02-2:18
The second half of Nick Valensi’s guitar solo. It was at the time the most pronounced and acute speed hook they had ever integrated into a song. Their at times breezy veneer was shredded for something so tight and sonically piercing. It persists so tenaciously at the upper register of notation that it seems unsustainable. But Valensi keeps it going, before eventually dropping it down the scale so sharply it almost gives you vertigo.
Jamie Mah- Reptilia- 2:02-2:18
I agree with Tristan on this one, this is by far the best part of the song. This guitar solo captures the essence of the band superbly as it just makes you want to dance, a feeling this group has perfected immensely with past hits Is this It and Someday. Sometimes all you need is a killer guitar solo and this song has it in spades.
Interpol- Turn On The Bright Lights- 2002
Tristan Young- PDA- 4:22-4:52
After a sombre comedown that succeeds the anxious tenor of the track, Paul Banks’ vocals cautiously return, calmly moaning “Nothing to say/nothing to do”. But this time his words are twisted and worn down by emotion and exhaustion. Previously his vocals were very front center and anodyne, but now so much distance separates him and the listener. It’s the first time in the track he is trying to connect via empathy but his vocals are obscured by fog, unable to get through when he finally feels the urgency to do just that. It’s a beautiful mixture of despair and inspiration.
Jamie Mah- Leif Erikson- 3:15-3:32
Shit this song brings back memories. By far my favourite track on the album. Similar to my Strokes response, the part of this song I enjoy the most is the wicked guitar solo by Daniel Kessler. Paul Banks sets up the sequence beautifully when he sings,
“You come here to me/ we’ll collect those lonely parts and set them down/ you come here to me”
It’s a killer segment I can never resist. Side note: Did you know that Daniel Kessler owns a fantastic Manhattan restaurant called Bergen Hill? It was featured on my favourite Munchies episode back in 2015. Honourable mention: Hands Away — Best Part: 0:50–2:35 — This sequence is unreal.
Daniel Thomas Williams- NYC- 2:05-2:54
This album comes with a lot of mental souvenirs for me. First of all, Obstacle 1 was featured in Brian Anderson’s part in Girl Skateboards’ 2003 video, the pinnacle of its time, Yeah Right! As an obsessed skater of the era, it’s impossible to let that go without mention. Secondly, NYC was one of only two songs the only band I was ever a member of (if it qualified as a band) practiced but never performed. (Our attempt at The Pixies started a fight at the only show we ever played.) Topping off the nostalgia, after driving to Seattle to find out Explosions in the Sky had cancelled, while driving through the city listening to Antics, the driver somehow managed to spot Interpol’s bassist, Carlos Dengler, in a laundromat. Ejecting the CD from the stereo, we flooded the laundromat. “Are you the guy from Interpol?” someone asked. “Well, I’m one of them.” Dressed in uniform, a modest white button up and sport coat, it was unclear to me what he would be washing, though he did sign the CD. My favourite part of TOTBL has to be the instrumental break of NYC. The high end of the synth turns my blood to ice while the rapid but gentle lead guitar wraps me in a blanket. Honourable mention to Stella.
Arcade Fire- Funeral- 2004
Jamie Mah- Wake Up- 3:52-5:35
There are few songs that can just make an entire crowd go ape shit. This is one of them. It’s the song they almost always end with when they play live. It’s a stadium ballad if there ever was one. It’s songs such as these which truly separate Arcade Fire from their contemporaries. When that 3:52 mark hits, I just want to get up, jump and sing my heart out. It’s still the best song I’ve ever heard live. September 2010. Pacific Coliseum. 11,000 screaming fans. An unreal moment. I’ll never forget it. I mean just watch this shit. So fun!
Daniel Thomas Williams- Haiti- 2:06-2:26
Unfortunately this is an album that no longer really resonates with me. It is beautiful, yet so much a time capsule of teen angst, I have no current need to revisit. Both a great album and a memory of misunderstood depression, the circus organs, the verge-of-tears warble of Win Butler, it’s a constant barrage of pulled heart strongs (in one way or the other) to elicit maximum melancholy. As I’m sure this was exactly the point, I would say that makes it a success. For the Best Part, I would say the instrumental section in Haiti. The melody, the vocals, the atmosphere of it, it does something for me even now.
Tristan Young- In The Back Seat- 2:47-3:47
Régine Chassagne is the secret weapon. Her voice is tuned like a grand piano. She takes the lead on this track, gracefully if somewhat reserved and timid the whole time. She hints at the iron core of her voice but restrains herself; until you get to the good part that is. As she pushes the final key phrase “Alice died in the night/I’ve been learning to drive my whole life”, you can sense the density of her words. The resultant quivering of her body language implies she is feeling the reverberation of the gravity of what she has just said. Rather than trying to continue to sculpt into words a force that is actively refusing to be, she just lets loose an animalistic howl.
Feist- Let It Die- 2004
Daniel Thomas Williams- Inside And Out- (recurring)
This album reminds me of the passenger seat of my friend Connor McGuire’s beautiful blue Oldsmobile (and its luxurious velvety interior) driving along Highway 99 from White Rock to Vancouver to see a show at Richard’s on Richards. For good reason, Feist albums were a standard feature in these days. Without the dramatic punches typical in some of the other albums involved, it’s harder to put a time stamp on this one. So, in honour of local skateboard video of roughly 2005 vintage, Baby Steps, I will say the bassline through Inside and Out. I feel I have to admit, though, I can’t remember which part it was in or what to do with my DVD copy.
Tristan Young- When I Was A Young Girl- 0:11-0:36
It’s the solitude of the opening verse. Feist, for all of her undeniable pleasantries, has often exuded a really seductive allure, especially in her earlier work. There is a subtle, implicit danger in being alone with just her. The minimalist delivery of her intro, less poetic and elegant, more in the vein of rustic folklore, captures this side of her very well. Pro tip- you may not think it necessary, but listen to this track on a really good sound system and you’ll pick up on a wicked sinister base line that kicks in towards the end of this first verse.
Jamie Mah- Inside And Out- 1:10-1:32
Originally a 1979 hit single by the Bee Gees titled, Love You Inside Out, what Feist does here is phenomenal. I mean that voice. Sheesh. Beauty. I could listen to this all day long. I remember my boss at my old job in Toronto playing this after work a lot. He was good friends with Feist. She used to come into the restaurant often and say hello. She’s really nice. All of Broken Social Scene used to come in actually. But come on, this part. Wow! That chorus, “I ain’t no vision, I’m the girl who loves you inside and out”. She belts it out. Feels so personal. Pure. Just lovely.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever To Tell- 2003
Tristan Young- Date With The Night- 1:56-2:08
The track gives you about 2 minutes of vociferous adrenaline. It just inundates you with it, and like a gut punch, you feel the need to catch your breath. Towards the end, the track finally downsizes to just those greasy industrial chord loops and then the snare drum just POPS; a single percussive outburst serving as a starkly galvanizing statement. Or more like an announcement, that Karen O has just a little more for you. She jumps right back in with, “Buying out the fight/ gonna walk on water”. You’re so excited to hear her again, and that’s when you realize just how thoroughly she has you hooked.
Jamie Mah- No No No- 0:58-2:58
This long sequence is just rad. Reminds me of something I’d have heard off of a Hole or Smashing Pumpkins record in 1995. The bass line. The pounding drums. Karen O’s voice piercing through all the way. Then at the 2:25 mark it just hits. Classic rock n’ roll. Fantastic.
Daniel Thomas Williams- No No No- 0:00-0:12
I was first introduced to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs through Cliche Skateboards’ 2004 Bon Appetit video. I remember watching it on my friend’s computer and instantly recognizing Y Control as a song I would be listening to on repeat for at least the next year to come. As I skated home that cold night I plotted ways to get my mp3 player prepared for the job. For the best part, I have to say the ‘Sorry’ part at the beginning of No No No. A song with a satisfying lead in, that goes as hard as any of the others, and also features a long weird psychedelic section to break up the thrash of the album’s majority.