Posts tagged frenetic writing style
five finger death punch (a song write up)
Feb 13th
I am not sure if I am truly writing a song review because I like the song or if it is because I always have wanted to begin a post with ‘five finger death punch.’
I guess I should begin with something my mother often says about today’s music world … where the hell do some of these bands come up with their names?
(note: this is an update 2/18 because one of the cool guys in my office – interactive of course – explained the five finger death punch. it is the mysterious move in Kill Bill that only she knows as the death punch. so. now at least we all know the reference point for the group. just wanted to fill in a gap as i found more information.)
So.
Where the hell did these guys come up with this name? (no clue but i bet it has some karate/ju-jitsu type reference). The band music typically lives up to its name. It feels like a death punch to your head.
Okay.
Next.
The song. Its not a “make your head explode hard rock song” (although they are quite capable of that type of song). This is a ‘make your head explode’ band playing a ballad. And a pretty good one.
Walk Away: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS803Oc2DCY&feature=related
And … for all you old folk … they also did a remake of Bad Company’s “Bad Company” that was the first song of theirs that caught my ear.
Enjoy.
new song: Light Outside by WAKEY!WAKEY!
Jul 26th
So. About the only thing I am a sucker for in songwriting, beyond a bass player who writes songs, is a keyboard singer/songwriter. This guy is a dynamic personality at the piano and isn’t afraid to wrap different instruments (violins and strings) to fill out a pretty frenetic writing style. 
Also has a wonderful habit of filling in the harmony with a female voice which is interesting because his voice has a higher quality anyway.
Anyway. Light Outside is a simple but complex song which probably makes it interesting.
Simple in that at its core it is just a piano player singing a minimalistic lyric story.
Complex because it has a parallel frenetic and calm musical style.
Anyway. His singing style isn’t really conducive to a love ballad but his song has a heart wrenching thread to it that kind of tugs at your heart and makes you think. (I include another track at the end of the post too.)
Light Outside youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD02bI09dOM&feature=related
(i don’t particularly like the official video so I didn’t include it)
The lead singer is really interesting. This comes from their website:
“I was a scrawny, dopey kid—the worst athlete on the face of the planet,” says Wakey!Wakey! frontman Mike Grubbs. “You know tee ball? I got to first base one time.”
Grubbs grew up in a house learning to play a burgundy baby grand in a music room that also housed a French horn, clarinet, violin and autoharp. In his youth his mother—a longtime piano teacher and choir director—would ask the kids to sight read songs before they could even think of eating cereal.
“For every school subject done,” he says, “I could play the piano for an hour. It was almost like video games for me.” The games got a bit more complicated in high school, as Grubbs stumbled upon the songbooks of Billy Joel and Elton John. Not to mention the arena-ready anthems of Led Zeppelin as well as Bach, Beethoven and Brahms (you will note a classical thread in his music).
“One of my main influences now is the fact that I didn’t have someone teach me proper jazz or rock playing,” explains Grubbs. “I had no idea how to put a song together; no one telling me, ‘Hey, you should check out Gershwin,’ but it was all so fascinating to me. So I found my own style by experimenting with what works and what doesn’t.”
It is a different style of music. It is an infectious frenetic pop sound with classical (or maybe jazz) undertones. Pick up the song. Heck. Pick up the cd.
Oh.
A bonus. “Almost Everything.” It is the second song I heard from Wakey!Wakey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQo6DoXknY
It sounds really good. It will be interesting to follow these guys.
