Spaghettification in Stereo
Fun Trick Noisemaker - The Apples in Stereo (Blast from the Past Sunday)
A few years ago, I learned about spaghettification in science class. This is a scientific term, I promise you! It’s actually pretty morbid, as it details how an object (usually an astronaut, when it’s being explained) gets stretched to an impossibly vertical state when it gets near a black hole. Well, I like to think of The Apples in Stereo and their 1995 album Fun Trick Noisemaker as a black hole, one that lures you in with fantastically flamboyant sound from the get-go. However, in this instance, your brain is being spaghettified, molded and changed forever in the best way possible!
The spaghettification begins on the second track “Tidal Wave”, as crashing, thrashing drums nearly bowl you over! This is a perfect introduction track to The Apples in Stereo, with a powerful instrumental that somehow perfectly complements the laid back vocals, which have always reminded me of a particularly psychedelic Ray Davies. This is a total “disconnect from the world and dance” kind of song, one that exudes friendliness and a welcome warmth at every moment. “Tidal Wave” wraps you up, surrounds you… in fact, this song generously gives the gift of surround sound even if you don’t have a fancy speaker system!
The song following it, “High Tide”, is like a relaxed version of “Pinball Wizard”, with relentless yet comfortable acoustic guitars throughout the verses. I was THRILLED to hear sleigh bells in this song, maybe more thrilled than I should have been. Either way, they certainly earned brownie points in my book with that subtle addition! The echo-y vocals when they sing “high (high) tide (tide)” give a sparkly feel to the lyrics, which are then enhanced again by lovely, floating harmonies!
Out of all the songs on the album, “Green Machine” takes the cake for me. While my parents used to play this album a lot, it was during the summer of 2020 that I became obsessed with this song. To this day, I can’t exactly pinpoint why it was on repeat so much, though I do have my theories. “Green Machine” perfectly captures the melancholy yet energizing feeling that nostalgia gives you, something that isn’t so easy to display. “Saturdays and Superfriends/these are things that I can still remember/Saturdays and Superfriends/these are things I thought would last forever” is one of the most simple yet powerful lines of any song I’ve heard. For me, “Green Machine” is a cloudy summer day, iced tea lemonade, and rollerblading in circles on the patio, and it always bring me a smile when I listen to it.
Spotify jogged my memory about track 7, “Glowworm”. (Another win for my track 7 rule, by the way, because I sure do love this song!) As a consequence of this, I have had the line “put a penny in the pot/put a nickel in your pocket/every nickel that you’ve got/is a nickel in the slot” stuck in my head for WEEKS now. However, I’m not mad about it at all, because this song is a total jam. The little electric noises are so nice to listen to, and they add so much to the tune with their small contribution! Another reason why I love this song so much is that it’s primarily based on “la la la” moments. Any “la la la” moment is an automatic green flag for me, so it’s only natural that I love this song. “Glowwrom” is a bright, loud, colorful, and fun song, one that makes the listener feel pretty damn honored to be compared to a worm!
By far the most popular song on the album is the 10th song, “Innerspace”, and it’s easy to see why. I’m always blown away by artists who are able to convey deep emotion through an instrumental alone. This is a moment where a reassuring feeling is so powerful that it doesn’t need any words to make you feel it in your bones. “Innerspace” is a close your eyes, everything will be alright kind of song, one that I feel sounds exactly the way that stars look in the most beautiful way possible.
The track following it, “Show the World”, took me by surprise. I couldn’t remember having heard this song before, but truthfully, I just don’t think I was really listening. “Show the World” breaks the rules of The Apples in Stereo right in the beginning, with close, intimate vocals being featured instead of them being pushed to the background. I love the use of cymbals in the song, because it gives a repetitive “count-on-it” sound that isn’t too overwhelming. The bass line also can’t be ignored, because it drives the song perfectly! However, what made me stop in my tracks was the line “I could have cried to see you hide behind your hair/smile, little girl and show the world that you are there”, which is so beautiful that I’ll just leave it there with no comment at all.
With “Fun Trick Noisemaker”, The Apples in Stereo achieved cosmic perfection, with layers upon layers of supersonic musicianship that solidify this album as one of my favorites. I’ll happily go towards the black hole that is this album again and again, even if it means certain spaghettification.
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