The Only Things – “Dandelion”
“The only thing I know is I know nothing.”
“The only thing that makes reality is death.”
“The only thing that stays the same is change.”
The Only Things are a band, not some aphorisms. (“A pithy observation that contains a general truth.”) And I believe that last quote might be by the great philosopher, David Lee Roth.
But, more importantly, they are a band unlike most I write about. They’re not hardcore, grindcore, certainly not metal and roam the nether regions of melodic, I refuse to use or utter the term, pop/punk.
Oops!
And this band has such great tunes, lyrics and performances- then you would have to exclude such great bands from the History of Punk as The Replacements and The Pixies, and I’d rather nail my head to a tree, pluck my eyeballs out and feed them to the birds than to do such.
The only things that matter to me is art, music and literature. Any kind of art that strikes me hard into my soul, that makes me double up in joy and agony like I just received a powerful jab to my audio or visual perceptions…
That I was expecting a customary glance and I was pulverized, knocked out on the floor.
The Only Things do that to me, do it to the ninth degree. Wanna check them out and see if you agree?
“Dandelion” starts like a live recording, with lots of hootin’ and a hollerin’ and a carryin’ on!. Before the song kicks in a furtive voice says, “This band sucks.” Then, immediately we’re thrust into a propulsive, grunge-y garage like groove. This song pulses and pummels, like a steel hammer or like a great Psychedelic Furs song, all the while the chorus explodes with energy and excitement. “On November ninth, I kinda lost my mind. And kinda lost my faith in mankind. And the way we live, what we buy. What we like to show, what we’ve tried to hide.” The chorus chants “Could’ve been great” but I can’t imagine this song being greater than it is.
“I punch the clock and stare out windows.” So starts out “Windows” a hard-hitting, hard driving melodic punk tune with floating, vocal harmonies. This song may be catchy but it is more true and intense than most heavy metal songs you run into, out there. “And shuffle papers around my desk. I fly beneath your radio signal…you goddamn will take what I give you.” This was the song I was humming to myself while making breakfast the next day. I will gladly take songs like this that are so overflowing with passion, power and belief creating something that computer systems will never be able to fathom.
“Now I Know” starts off at a more moderate pace. “Should’ve told me to just shut up and my opinion of all this stuff don’t mean nothin’…I’m thinking too hard, yeah- nobody’s listening. And where your passion is gone, is it really a mystery?” A guitar solo with dissonant, twangy notes swoop down as the song pushes on and emotions are laid bare. With it’s great music and reflective lyrics, it’s no mystery to me why I like this song so much.
“Hold My Heart” is another one of their successful waltz tunes, usually reserved for the most schmaltzy songs in the annals of music. This band plays them like sea chanteys sung by drunken sailors holding onto bar tops for dear life. “Forever and ever, hold my heart.” This song has a short, upbeat passage and appears to be a plea for the crazy magic of a woman. “You stay pretty, I’ll say crude stuff.” Call this song grindcore waltz if that makes it more relevant to you or consider it simply a great song about desire and love, as I do.
The Only Things proclaim to be a “rock’n’roll band” and that’s fine with me, though to me rock’n’roll is Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard and this music is not quite like that.
The only thing that matters is how you perceive things.
The only thing that matters is what you believe in.
The only things that matters is- will you still love me tomorrow?
But I do love this band, even if they might not be my definition of rock’n’roll or punk, two of my favorite styles, because they have all the ingredients that embody those genres and those terms.
The Only Things matter. They’re powerful, passionately potent and pure. They have highly energetic, emotionally true songs that tare at your heart, grab you by the balls (or whatever genitalia you happen to be sporting at the time) and take a two-by-four, lovingly, to your senses.
Hey, I’m just a writer, accepting the impossible task to describe the indescribable.
But I’m not complaining when I get a chance to sort out music like this- ’cause the last thing I”m worried about is definitions.
Because I know that everything they contain, everything they reflect is synonymous with everything that I believe in, in music.
The only thing that matters might be The Only Things.
But more accurately-
what they so successfully, reflect and represent.
(Slimedog)
