In Your Bones
Friday Night (Is Killing Me) - Bash & Pop (Blast from the Past Tuesday)
I’m starting up my concert marathon month, something that just happened to build up for me as I purchased tickets over the summer. Three artists in four weeks, and I am more excited than I can even express. This week is the kickoff, with a solo show by Tommy Stinson. My dad showed me everything I know about Tommy & The Replacements, and so he’s one of those artists that feels like home to me. He’s actually playing in my hometown the night before the show I’m going to, so it’s like one of those things that just feels like it was meant to be! Anyways, I figured it’d be cool to revisit one of my favorite Stinson songs, the terrific “Friday Night is Killing Me” he did with Bash & Pop.
This is one of the songs that was on my ipod nano growing up, the type of thing that must have been synced with the rest of the songs my parents had. I’m sure it went over my head, but even if I didn’t get the lyrics quite yet, the instruments alone convey a type of emotion that you just feel in your bones. I think this is especially shown in the guitar, the way it builds and builds and tries to stay strong but ends up sounding like a whine or a cry at the chorus. It matches the yelled-out vocals, their charged strain perfect for the words. I love how there’s only a single track for the majority of the tune, giving a real vulnerability to the phrasing that otherwise sounds snarly, this sort of defensive yet self-aware tone showing a true talent for expression. The drums are hot on this one, methodical yet loose enough to hear the bounceback on every beat. I’d be silly not to mention just how terrific the production is on this one, especially for the drums…. the crisp sound of the snare, the cymbal crashes that don’t overwhelm, the bass drum that sounds like a heartbeat deep in your chest… absolutely STELLAR!
Tommy Stinson sure knows what he’s doing, and I think “Friday Night is Killing Me” is a great example of that. I feel like a lot of people could use a listen of it at least once in their lives. I come out of the nearly five minutes of the song with a different feeling every time, but I always feel it deep in my heart, and that’s something I consider to be the sign of a true great.
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