new york/new jersey not in the middle of a dry spell...
Allanah Myles - Black Velvet
Sorry for lack of posts lately--there was a hurricane which... got the internet... wet? Anyway, here is one of those songs you might have heard a lot on the radio (and/or in the background of your sultry yet emotional dream sequences) but don't actually know who it's by. Well, the answer, it turns out, is Canadians: written by Canadians David Tyson and Christopher Ward, and performed by Canadian Allanah Myles, who could very be off captaining the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars' karaoke team right now. But actually, her Canadian-ness is not incidental to the song--that kind of cross-border line-straddling permeates both the music and everything around it. Beyond the obvious bit of it being a Canadian eulogy of that American icon Elvis (which, ok, is not really that weird at all--even before the internet trampled all over the idea of the regional music scene, it's not like Canada was fucking Atlantis or something), the whole thing is very firmly a product of that strange, liminal time in which no one was quite sure as to whether it was the 80's or 90's yet.
Like, the production has that vaguely southern, pop country throwback twang that would come to erupt all over our faces like so like so much accidentally ingested floam*--but also those lovably ridiculous FM synth pads that it took ten years to realize don't actually sound like whatever the fuck instrument they were trying to imitate, a bassline that much forum wrangling has determined to be a synth, and that quintessentially 80's distorted guitar chorus--along with all those awesome (or, depending on your perspective, wanky) little guitar fills, which you would never, ever hear in a pop song today.
And at the same time, the video literally alternates between that classic 80's "leathery hairsprayed, band-on-stage bein' all fun and attractive and weirdly leaning all over each other" video trope, and that soon-to-be-established-as-classic 90's "girl in jeans just sort of hanging around steadicam shots of some house or cottage and like singing or something I dunno"** video trope. And while it might be reading way too into it to point out that the video begins with a shot of a record player in a video made just on the cusp of the CD/digital age, I am going to point it out anyway.
'cause, just watching them play, there's a kid of husky, alt vibe you get from watching them play the song that just feels kind of 90's. Maybe it's just coming from the attitude of anyone willing to combine all this contemporary, synthy, country-but-also-looks-like-hair-metal? shit with quasi-religious lyrics about mid-century Americana that may or may not be told from the perspective of old people--which was of course the very attitude that made possible the oncoming and surprisingly diverse alt-rock boom, or whatever you want to call it. Or maybe it's just that there's a rock band with a female member in it, the relative upswing in of which being other best part of said boom, because for the love of god is rock too mired in dudeness. I dunno. Whatever they got, their steaming badassedness either perfectly blends with or even transcends their cheesy production trappings in a way this actual, though fairly popular in its own right country cover never could.
'cause, just watching them play, there's a kid of husky, alt vibe you get from watching them play the song that just feels kind of 90's. Maybe it's just coming from the attitude of anyone willing to combine all this contemporary, synthy, country-but-also-looks-like-hair-metal? shit with quasi-religious lyrics about mid-century Americana that may or may not be told from the perspective of old people--which was of course the very attitude that made possible the oncoming and surprisingly diverse alt-rock boom, or whatever you want to call it. Or maybe it's just that there's a rock band with a female member in it, the relative upswing in of which being other best part of said boom, because for the love of god is rock too mired in dudeness. I dunno. Whatever they got, their steaming badassedness either perfectly blends with or even transcends their cheesy production trappings in a way this actual, though fairly popular in its own right country cover never could.
*pop country fans, I kid! also, do you guys think Taylor Swift is like a pop country sell out? is there some sort of standard of pop country authenticity with which to hold artists to? if for some reason you are reading this, I am honestly just curious
**and if you think I'm somehow cherry-picking or exaggerating well then brace yourself and click here
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