Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Tuesdays with Media: Forsythia

We've had a couple of downers for songs so far, so let's have one that's happier?  I think?


Since I listen to a lot of Beck, I'm used to nonsensical lyrics but I have pretty much no clue what Veruca Salt's songs are about most of the time, though sometimes I guess it's pretty clearer.  I think a lot of their songs are pretty fun, but I have to ignore the words because they can be a bit maddening.  "Forsythia" is a perfect example of that: "Spider monkey, a spider monkey is a good lie / But I don't know why"  Whaaa ... ?  While "Forsythia," off of the band's first album, American Thighs, was never released as a single, it's got a nice beat and a fun melody.  If the lyrics made any sense it would be a pretty great song, but as it is, it's only okay.

And if I'm being totally honest, Veruca Salt isn't a very good band.  Weird lyrics aside, they're just another mid-90s alternative rock band that owe much of their success to Nirvana paving the way for them.  That's not to say that they're completely untalented, just don't expect a lot of variety out of them.  That said, I still enjoy some of the band's better songs and it is nice to have a rock band that's 50% female (seriously, it's like them, Heart, and the White Stripes - I didn't count the Donnas since their 100% female).

So if you're craving some music that reeks of the 90s, you could certainly do worse than Veruca Salt.

American Thighs is distributed by Minty Fresh Records.

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