Tuesday Tunes

While studying music was where I first heard it. Less is more. It was when we were covering the Reggae Unit, once everyone had settled into their various cliques. Analysing the sparse, staccato guitar and keyboard parts of Bob Marley songs versus the wall of sound that the previous Pop unit had inspired. Contrasting Evanescence or Linkin Park with Katchafire. Sometimes all you need is to hit your instrument once or twice every bar, and that’s okay. While I don’t agree that less is always more, and sometimes more is more. There’s a strange middle-ground that employs both of these strategies, and that middle ground is Punk.

The Song(s)
Song: She’s Nubs
Artist: NOFX
Album: War on Errorism - 2003 - Fat Wreck Records
Method of discovery: Friend sharing an album in 2003

Theory: Part of the Less is that Punk typically doesn’t stray to far from the standard chords set, Part of the More is that they change chords often enough for that not to be too noticeable. It embraces both Quantity (More) and Quality(Less), in that, Quality: our songs will be short and to the point, and Quantity: we’re going to fit an awful lot into that short time. The Main chords are IV-I-IV-I-IV-I-V, and the bridge section only strays to vi-IV-I-V, with both sections alternating the last two chords the second time around to create a resolution.

Research: NOFX have been around since the 80s, with this album released in 2003. She’s Nubs was written after the lead singer, Fat Mike, met the song’s inspiration, Talli Osborne. Osborne was born without ‘arms above the elbows and no femurs or knees’, a quote direct from her website linked below. She had a successful corporate career, and has since turned her talents to motivational speaking. She’s an embodiment of all that is good in punk. The song’s good too.

Personal thoughts: I don’t know how many times I hit rewind to start Whoa on the whoas over again. I got into a musical after they asked me to sing something I hadn’t prepared, and all I could think of was NOFX, most of which is not safe for work. There is a distinctly punk phase to my high school life that i’ll never forget, and every NOFX song is a little bit of nostalgia just waiting to hit me again. Punk is often seen as dangerous by those further away from it, and I think it’s sad that a few raucous dorks can ruin any good thing. But to me, Punks are people who can not keep their passion to themselves, so they wear it on their sleeves, in their hair, on their skin. They are fierce in their beliefs, and do not suffer fools. But they are generally more like Talli, than not.

Give it a go: If you feel like wearing your passion outward

Give it a miss: If you can’t even handle two minutes of the pop sort of punk.

[links]
Spotify: Tuesday Tunes, She’s Nubs by NOFX
NOFX: Website
Talli Osborne: Website, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
Other: VICE Article, Reddit Thread