90s Music Monday
So, last week I did Oasis which, as part of the natural order of things, basically forces me to do Blur this week.
The putative rivalry between the two bands reached its peak in 1995 when the media whipped up a frenzy when Blur's "Country House" and Oasis' "Roll With It" were released on the same day despite the fact that really the two bands weren't at all similar in style. But you know, anything for a good story.
Blur won the battle, for what it's worth partly because their video had page 3 "stunna" Jo Guest and models Vanessa Upton and Sara Stockbridge in it as well as popular comedians Keith "My daughter's more famous than me now" Allen and Matt Lucas.
Anyway, I'm not going to talk about that - nor their oddly menacing breakout video for "There's no other way" which thrilled teenagers since it featured the actor who played Arthur Fowler from EastEnders and the actress who played Mrs Mclusky from Grange Hill. Which, for thems that don't know, are British TV programs concerned with unglamorous people which, as I understand it, are a totally alien concept in the US.
Of course, I use the word "thrilled" here when what I mean is really "not thrilled in any way". More that odd frisson that one gets from seeing actors from beloved institutions in unusual roles.
Anyway ... neither am I going to talk about the video for the single that really made them megastars (well, in the UK anyway) - "Park Life" which featured Phil Daniels from Quadrophenia. Nor am I going to talk about the disturbingly catchy "Girls and Boys" which announced their move away from their Madchester / baggy / shoegazing sound to a more daring, disco tinged sound.
I'm going to talk about "Song 2".
I have to admit that I'm somewhat conflicted by this since, for a start, it's too obvious. Especially in the US it's the song that everybody knows is by Blur. It's used as the kind of odd pump up music for trailers and sporting events that sits at odds with Blur's image. Hell, the US military allegedly wanted to use it when unveiling the B2 Stealth Bomber.
Secondly - it's not really representative of Blur's oeuvre in any way sense or form.
However it is an awesome 2 minute pop song. If I was drunk and feeling ebullient I would say that it's almost the perfect slice of addictively catchy energetic rock and, under certain circumstances I might even go as far as to say that it was better in that regard than "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Maybe.
It's funny - I personally really love this video, mostly because being slammed against a carpetted wall like that looks like all kinds of fun but I have the feeling it could easily have ended up as being being a bit rubbish. It does look an awful lot like the video for "Popscene" though.
Comments
MOR is a better song of-that-type than Song 2.