January 30, 2012
#4: Snowing - I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted As I mentioned earlier when writing about Algernon Cadwallader, there’s been somewhat of a trend within the underground pop-punk/emo subculture of bands that sound like Cap’n Jazz. Algernon are probably the defining band in that trend, considering that they came first and, due to Peter Helmis’s extreme vocal resemblance to Tim Kinsella, probably sound the most like Cap’n Jazz. However, at least in 2011, Snowing was my favorite of the Cap’n Jazz-derived bands on the scene. It’s funny to look at my 2011 list and realize that Cap’n Jazz original members Tim Kinsella and Victor Villareal placed lower than Cap’n Jazz revival inciters Algernon Cadwallader, who in turn placed lower than did a newer band from their town who they obviously inspired. Guess it goes to show that, at least in my mind, one’s role in inventing a style of music matters less than one’s present-tense execution of that style. I discovered Snowing when they played the third day of a local pop-punk fest. They went on about four slots before headliners Algernon Cadwallader, the band I was really there to see. Snowing came out of nowhere and blew me away, and within a few weeks, I’d hunted down their album, which was available for free download on their label’s website. It’d be easy to claim a great musical resemblance between Snowing and Cap’n Jazz, and that’s definitely the shorthand I use when attempting to explain them in one sentence to friends who haven’t heard them. But in truth, there’s a good bit more going on here, musically, than such a comparison would indicate. The song construction on this LP sticks quite a bit more closely to standard verse-chorus-verse pop tropes, and despite the tangling arpeggios that form many of their guitar riffs, they tend to deliver straightforward choruses in almost every song here. The final product is less like Cap’n Jazz than some strange hybrid of post-Cap’n Jazz bands The Promise Ring and Owls. Snowing’s singer doesn’t sound much at all like Tim Kinsella, instead delivering his lyrics in a heartfelt bleat that is probably closer to the vocals of the Promise Ring’s Davey VonBohlen. But he makes up for his lack of vocal polish with passionate delivery and some pretty great lyrics. This album’s main lyrical themes all relate to coming of age, and they’re reflected in the tempered jubilance of the album’s title—which sounds like the simultaneous realization of someone who has just moved out of their parents’ house. “I can stay up as late as I want and eat cereal for dinner,” they think, “but if I don’t make sure I wake up and get to work on time, no one will.” These songs are about learning to navigate the perilous world of adulthood, to deal with responsibilities and cultivate interpersonal relationships that go beyond the surface level. A lot of these songs deal subtly about insecurity and difficulties in communication; for example, “Mark Z. Danielewski” begins with two friends talking about the book House Of Leaves, but soon moves below the surface, with the singer expressing fears that he’s not a good conversationalist and talking about using tiredness as a go-to excuse to prematurely bail on conversations. Throughout the song though, whenever he mentions being tired, he always follows up by mumbling, “…and I’m tired of being alone.” Other songs, such as “KJ Jammin” and “So I Shotgunned A Beer And Went To Bed,” focus on alcohol as both a shield from and an instigator of awkward situations. In turn, on “It’s Just A Party,” he sings, “I spent my last six bucks on whiskey and I sent a thousand texts that I regret.” “It’s Just A Party,” an uptempo song with an unforgettable chorus, is both my favorite song on this album and the one that related most closely to my life over the course of this year. I actually spent a little over two months of 2011 dating someone, which isn’t that much of the year but seems like a lot in light of the fact that it was my first time dating anyone in over four years. When things inevitably fell apart, music was often my refuge from feelings of embarrassment and self-doubt, and I came back to this album quite a bit. “It’s Just A Party” was the song that seemed to most accurately describe what I was going through—a combination of frustration at having put myself in such a position in the first place and a desperate longing to be right back in that position. During the pre-chorus, the singer declares, “I never meant to cause you drama—I never meant to fall in love. I could deny it, or try to hide it, but with one kiss I would be done.” Then the band charges into the chorus: “Hey there, Melissa! You’re fucking awesome! I just keep going on and on whenever you’re not around.” The song sounds like a happy one at first, until you start to notice the lyrics of the verses and pick up on the true implications of the chorus. Like a great deal of this album, “It’s Just A Party” is a song that attempts to shrug off feelings of rueful awkwardness, and doesn’t always succeed. In our modern American pop culture, we describe feelings and experiences like these as “coming of age” stories (I did it myself earlier in this review), but as I grow older and yet continue to relate to albums like this, I really wonder whether awkwardness and struggles with communication and being responsible aren’t just the human condition. I turned 36 last week, and I’m still struggling with all of these issues. Who knows, maybe I’m just immature. But regardless, Snowing did a good job of summing up my personal emotional condition this year, and did so over some really excellent quirky, melodic emocore, thereby ensuring that I played this album a whole lot in 2011.

#4: Snowing - I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted

As I mentioned earlier when writing about Algernon Cadwallader, there’s been somewhat of a trend within the underground pop-punk/emo subculture of bands that sound like Cap’n Jazz. Algernon are probably the defining band in that trend, considering that they came first and, due to Peter Helmis’s extreme vocal resemblance to Tim Kinsella, probably sound the most like Cap’n Jazz. However, at least in 2011, Snowing was my favorite of the Cap’n Jazz-derived bands on the scene. It’s funny to look at my 2011 list and realize that Cap’n Jazz original members Tim Kinsella and Victor Villareal placed lower than Cap’n Jazz revival inciters Algernon Cadwallader, who in turn placed lower than did a newer band from their town who they obviously inspired. Guess it goes to show that, at least in my mind, one’s role in inventing a style of music matters less than one’s present-tense execution of that style.

I discovered Snowing when they played the third day of a local pop-punk fest. They went on about four slots before headliners Algernon Cadwallader, the band I was really there to see. Snowing came out of nowhere and blew me away, and within a few weeks, I’d hunted down their album, which was available for free download on their label’s website. It’d be easy to claim a great musical resemblance between Snowing and Cap’n Jazz, and that’s definitely the shorthand I use when attempting to explain them in one sentence to friends who haven’t heard them. But in truth, there’s a good bit more going on here, musically, than such a comparison would indicate. The song construction on this LP sticks quite a bit more closely to standard verse-chorus-verse pop tropes, and despite the tangling arpeggios that form many of their guitar riffs, they tend to deliver straightforward choruses in almost every song here. The final product is less like Cap’n Jazz than some strange hybrid of post-Cap’n Jazz bands The Promise Ring and Owls.

Snowing’s singer doesn’t sound much at all like Tim Kinsella, instead delivering his lyrics in a heartfelt bleat that is probably closer to the vocals of the Promise Ring’s Davey VonBohlen. But he makes up for his lack of vocal polish with passionate delivery and some pretty great lyrics. This album’s main lyrical themes all relate to coming of age, and they’re reflected in the tempered jubilance of the album’s title—which sounds like the simultaneous realization of someone who has just moved out of their parents’ house. “I can stay up as late as I want and eat cereal for dinner,” they think, “but if I don’t make sure I wake up and get to work on time, no one will.” These songs are about learning to navigate the perilous world of adulthood, to deal with responsibilities and cultivate interpersonal relationships that go beyond the surface level.

A lot of these songs deal subtly about insecurity and difficulties in communication; for example, “Mark Z. Danielewski” begins with two friends talking about the book House Of Leaves, but soon moves below the surface, with the singer expressing fears that he’s not a good conversationalist and talking about using tiredness as a go-to excuse to prematurely bail on conversations. Throughout the song though, whenever he mentions being tired, he always follows up by mumbling, “…and I’m tired of being alone.” Other songs, such as “KJ Jammin” and “So I Shotgunned A Beer And Went To Bed,” focus on alcohol as both a shield from and an instigator of awkward situations. In turn, on “It’s Just A Party,” he sings, “I spent my last six bucks on whiskey and I sent a thousand texts that I regret.”

“It’s Just A Party,” an uptempo song with an unforgettable chorus, is both my favorite song on this album and the one that related most closely to my life over the course of this year. I actually spent a little over two months of 2011 dating someone, which isn’t that much of the year but seems like a lot in light of the fact that it was my first time dating anyone in over four years. When things inevitably fell apart, music was often my refuge from feelings of embarrassment and self-doubt, and I came back to this album quite a bit. “It’s Just A Party” was the song that seemed to most accurately describe what I was going through—a combination of frustration at having put myself in such a position in the first place and a desperate longing to be right back in that position.

During the pre-chorus, the singer declares, “I never meant to cause you drama—I never meant to fall in love. I could deny it, or try to hide it, but with one kiss I would be done.” Then the band charges into the chorus: “Hey there, Melissa! You’re fucking awesome! I just keep going on and on whenever you’re not around.” The song sounds like a happy one at first, until you start to notice the lyrics of the verses and pick up on the true implications of the chorus. Like a great deal of this album, “It’s Just A Party” is a song that attempts to shrug off feelings of rueful awkwardness, and doesn’t always succeed.

In our modern American pop culture, we describe feelings and experiences like these as “coming of age” stories (I did it myself earlier in this review), but as I grow older and yet continue to relate to albums like this, I really wonder whether awkwardness and struggles with communication and being responsible aren’t just the human condition. I turned 36 last week, and I’m still struggling with all of these issues. Who knows, maybe I’m just immature. But regardless, Snowing did a good job of summing up my personal emotional condition this year, and did so over some really excellent quirky, melodic emocore, thereby ensuring that I played this album a whole lot in 2011.

12:22pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z-FUayFdKQ66
(Notes: 7)
  
Filed under: Top 20 of 2011 
  1. andrewtsks posted this