I have to admit I harbor a loathesome contempt for Pearl Jam. Despite being from my hometown, I could never get past Eddie's mouth-full-of-shit vocals. When he did the soundtrack for 'Into the Wild' a couple years ago and actually started singing, well, I relented a bit. And maybe I've grown a little less snobbish about things--but probably not...I still can't listen to 'Ten' without wretching.
Anyway, he covered an obscure song called "Big Hard Sun" by Indio for 'Into the Wild' that I'd come to like back in my college DJ days...so I had to give him props for that...and the rest of that album is pretty OK too. On his (or Pearl Jam's) latest vinyl 7" release--a 2008 Christmastime single that shipped out this week--he covers John Doe's "The Golden State" with Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney--the original of which I just put on a mix for a friend a couple weeks ago, which seems too much of a coincidence, particularly on the flipside of a song called 'Santa Cruz'...which would make a perfect soundtrack for my thoughts as I pedaled my bike over the hill from San Jose this morning on Bike to Work Day. Add to that blog mistress Heather Browne's musings on coming over the Hill (I know, I know--Valley Go Home) and it all seems too much of a coincidence. Not to mention the fact that half the Santa Cruz Skateboards logo is on the record sleeve.
But blah, blah, blah....you can listen to both songs here on Heather's excellent music blog I am Fuel, You Are Friends which takes its title, incidentally, from a Pearl Jam lyric.
3 comments:
"Despite being from my hometown..."
Huh? I didn't know that you were from Seattle.
First I learn that you're a Sox fan and then this bombshell. Don, I feel like I hardly know ya!
My apologies Mr. Laker, I can see how you were confused by my hometown reference. It was not the band to which I was referring--indeed Pearl Jam formed in Seattle--rather the lead singer, Mr. Eddie Vedder is from Evanston, Illinois, a suburb directly adjacent to Chicago, my hometown. I'll admit to a bit of cloudiness in the way it was hastily written. I would think me including a suburb as part of my "hometown" would be more shocking to you. Or even the assumed relevance of mine and Eddie's one-time close geographic proximity...though I'm wondering if I ever played against him in HS water polo (we played Evanston all the time) and if, perhaps, I hit him with a Kung Fu throat blast to the Adam's apple which would cause him to sing that way. I did that to a lot of people.
Nicely stated, Mr. 'Goose. I had forgotten that Mr. Vedder was indeed from Evanston.
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