Let me say just a few words about this album, which happens to be one of my favourites of all time. Actually, if you like good music, this album should rate pretty high with you too, so you can just listen to me laud Alexisonfire. And let me tell all you non-awesome-music-loving people who stumble across this blog that 1) Alexisonfire are awe-inspiring, and 2) their name is pronounced Alexis-on-fire. There may be an Alex on fire somewhere, but here no one cares. Even though Alexisonfire released an album prior to Watch Out!, I think most people will agree that Watch Out! is generally the better album. I bought it in August of 2005, around the time I bought my car, and when I got my license it was the only album I played while driving around. ‘It was fear of myself that made me odd’ was one of the few songs I could fit on my MP3 player at the time I went on a cruise holiday with my best mate, and let me tell you, sitting above the vast black Pacific ocean looking out into the night puts your life into perspective.
The first track sets up the tone for the album, ‘Accidents’ presents disassociation from the perpetually ineffectual circle of perceived need in culture. The song calls for the need to redefine what we constitute as important in our lives. One of the best aspects of the lyrics from Alexisonfire, is the fact that they avoid being openly insulting about features of society that the band find problematic. Without literally saying “this is shit”, the music projects into existence multiple alternatives to what is commonly accepted.
‘No Transitory’ is another song that immediately caught my attention; the protracted wail that there’s “no tomorrow” really makes you think about the life we create for ourselves today. Similarly, ‘Happiness by the Kilowatt’ also had a major impact on my life. So much so that I’m still considering having the title tattooed on my back. The haunting lyrics “wake up” stick in your mind when you think about all the stupid moves pulled in the past, and instead fills you with thoughts of your own future; you feel unstoppable because this one song lets you see that if you pull your head out, maybe you can achieve something worthwhile. What the band display is a phenomenal talent for getting across is the fact that life doesn’t get any better while sitting around thinking about how things haven’t turned out your way, the music has the capacity for getting into your head and inspiring you to do something better.
But most of all, this amazing band Alexisonfire really bring home the fact that living your life with and through music, as many of us do, is not about the scene that mindless followers have created for themselves; “this shit is not about pants, and this shit's not about shirts, and this shit is definitely not about hair,”. This shit, this life, is about “having a good fucking time.” Maybe if we all listened to bands that are trying to put out a message that can really motivate instead of just what is marketed as popular, we’d all think more about what we’re doing. Alexisonfire proved, to me at least, that “maybe music isn't dead” after all.
The first track sets up the tone for the album, ‘Accidents’ presents disassociation from the perpetually ineffectual circle of perceived need in culture. The song calls for the need to redefine what we constitute as important in our lives. One of the best aspects of the lyrics from Alexisonfire, is the fact that they avoid being openly insulting about features of society that the band find problematic. Without literally saying “this is shit”, the music projects into existence multiple alternatives to what is commonly accepted.
‘No Transitory’ is another song that immediately caught my attention; the protracted wail that there’s “no tomorrow” really makes you think about the life we create for ourselves today. Similarly, ‘Happiness by the Kilowatt’ also had a major impact on my life. So much so that I’m still considering having the title tattooed on my back. The haunting lyrics “wake up” stick in your mind when you think about all the stupid moves pulled in the past, and instead fills you with thoughts of your own future; you feel unstoppable because this one song lets you see that if you pull your head out, maybe you can achieve something worthwhile. What the band display is a phenomenal talent for getting across is the fact that life doesn’t get any better while sitting around thinking about how things haven’t turned out your way, the music has the capacity for getting into your head and inspiring you to do something better.
But most of all, this amazing band Alexisonfire really bring home the fact that living your life with and through music, as many of us do, is not about the scene that mindless followers have created for themselves; “this shit is not about pants, and this shit's not about shirts, and this shit is definitely not about hair,”. This shit, this life, is about “having a good fucking time.” Maybe if we all listened to bands that are trying to put out a message that can really motivate instead of just what is marketed as popular, we’d all think more about what we’re doing. Alexisonfire proved, to me at least, that “maybe music isn't dead” after all.
wow i's been a long time since i've listened to alexisonfire...
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