God damn. Every time I hear this song i remember why I love this band, and why they were so important for me and my band mates back in the day. Yeah it's toes the line of being simple, palatable punk but they were also STUPIDLY creative and varied in their songwriting, jamming all sorts of styles into an album and making it all sound like just ... Reuben. You know? Great analysis of the song too 👏
@@progperljungman8218 Definitely worth starting at the beginning and working through in progression. Even the 'B-sides and rarities' album is jam packed with so many tracks equally as great..
Absolutely fucking can't give enough love to this band. I'm a musician also. Everytime I write, reuben comes out. Jamie is a true hero, if you are reading this Jamie ( which I doubt) please know, I'm 40, and still listen to you everyday. Your music made my life x
Regarding merchandise being the primary money maker for bands: there are more venues than you realise taking a hefty cut from the artists. I know that here in the UK somebody has been compiling a list of all the venues that do not, this way smaller bands can book accordingly. To anybody that may be looking to buy from bands, might be worth checking with them at their merch desks and see them later outside the venue instead so that they make the 100% that they deserve from your purchase. Also, a lot more artists/bands are seeing the benefits on being independent now so it is always worth seeing if they respond to a social media DM asking where would be best to buy their music, be it Bandcamp, personal website etc.
First time here, can't believe people are saying this is poppy 🤯 love this band and been waiting for a good reaction! Also agree with a few of your points
Sound like a revival of music of bands from the 80's and the early 90's that we listened to in France when we could get it from the UK. It feels like they synthetize many influences from punk to hard rock (as far as I can recognize thoses influences)
If you ever get to listening to Jamie Lenman's Muscle Memory album, there is an interesting puzzle within it. I won't say anything more. It took a while before it was unearthed originally.
You can't go wrong with checking their stuff out, pretty much everything is great. They're hugely influenced by The Wildhearts, I can't wait for them to come up one day.
While I believe the message of this song is pretty evergreen, this song came out at a time (at least in the UK) where rock/guitar music was a lot more bankable in terms of chart success than it is now. And record labels, such is the nature of capitalism, tried to exploit this trend by cycling through a lot of 'the next big things'. More songs should take the music industry to task. Unfortunately, Reuben did split up after releasing their 3rd album (this is from their 2nd). The singer is still performing solo though so it's not all bad.
I think a lot of this is aimed directly at us. Lenman used to be visibly annoyed sometimes at how many people seemed to know his songs, like "well we don't sell anywhere near enough records for all the people that seem to like this band" - I swear he made some comment like that now I think of it. I bought this CD on release but had pirated Racecar...when I heard this song I rectified it twice - CD and Vinyl!
Really enjoyed this! I'd say it's some kinda punk with an uncommon "finesse" and inventiveness - even bordering to prog (aka "pronk"). And yeah, certainly some core:y elements as well. Very good analysis indeed!
Pretty fun track. I guess I'd categorize it as poppy post-hardcore? I've said before that when it comes to punk-derived genres I tend not to care much for the punk based more around attitude than the artier takes on punk, and this track seems to tread something of a middle ground between the artiest and rawer punk elements. I find myself mostly attracted to the former and turned off the latter, though the latter elements didn't annoy me as much as they often can; I think it's because the track felt more playful than serious. I still found myself missing some more interesting instrumental parts or playing because as interesting as it is in its structure it's still pretty simplistic musically. So I guess you could say I'm rather ambivalent; like some elements, dislike or am indifferent about others. I think the lyrics and lyrics discussion were even more compelling than the music. When I was growing up I thought for the longest time I was going to be a writer. I wrote non-stop throughout my childhood and through much of my teens, but the sad fact is that there are far more writers than there are jobs for writers, and especially when it comes to fiction or poetry there's not much money to be made unless you're in the top few percent, and most writers will make most of their money from other professions like teaching, which isn't all that lucrative either. I went into poker and decided that writing would always be a passion at most and a hobby at the least. I'm still writing, but mostly poetry, and mostly just for myself. To me, the most satisfying aspect of writing is the creative act itself, much more rewarding than sharing it with people, most of whom couldn't care less because of... well, for a variety of reasons.
Sadly these stories are so common in most creative areas. Sometimes I think of all the stories told through painting, film, language, and music that don't ever make it to other people. Whether that's because they project never gets finished (lack of time, money, motiviation, etc) or it never gets that marketing push or word of mouth for people to know about it. Sure not all of it is going to be an amazing gem, but the fact that even a single great work has probably been lost is disheartening.
@@CriticalReactions My favorite comic book series of all time is Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and one issue of that series had Dream wandering through his kingdom in a room that contained all the unfinished, unreleased, or lost works of art that were ever dreamed up. It is sad to think about, but, on the other hand, there's already so much art out there and not near enough life for any of us to experience but the tiniest fraction of it.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 Too true. Y'all really have given me so much music to dive into from years past that I've missed + all of the new stuff coming out. It really is a great time to be a music fan as the barriers to creation are lower than ever and so many unique voices are out there now. Totally different wavelength, but I wonder if film will have a bedroom resurgence with iPhone's taking decent enough footage and products like Hitfilm and DaVinci providing free, professional video editors that are easy to use.
@@CriticalReactions While I could see there being a resurgence of indie films made with iPhones and such programs, I doubt they will ever take the place of mainstream films that cost millions of dollars to make. As complex as music is to make, films are much more so, and so many things in film require an inordinate amount of money to do at all, much less to do well.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 No, I would never expect them to take the place of mainstream films in the same way that there are very few bedroom productions in the Top 40. On the flip side, (despite hugely cherry picking here) Clerks was basically what I'm talking about today but done decades ago. I wonder if there are any "2020s Clerks" being released that are being buried in all of the media released or lack any sort of marketing. I can't remember if Clerks had a theatrical release though, which would be a massive help vs what most would have to do today, which would be to release on RUclips or Vimeo and then post about it on social media.
Woah a Reuben reaction! Still one of my favourite bands.
God damn. Every time I hear this song i remember why I love this band, and why they were so important for me and my band mates back in the day. Yeah it's toes the line of being simple, palatable punk but they were also STUPIDLY creative and varied in their songwriting, jamming all sorts of styles into an album and making it all sound like just ... Reuben. You know? Great analysis of the song too 👏
Think I gotta dive into this band 😊
@@progperljungman8218 if you like this, I'm sure you'll like a lot of their stuff!
@@progperljungman8218 Definitely worth starting at the beginning and working through in progression. Even the 'B-sides and rarities' album is jam packed with so many tracks equally as great..
Absolutely fucking can't give enough love to this band. I'm a musician also. Everytime I write, reuben comes out. Jamie is a true hero, if you are reading this Jamie ( which I doubt) please know, I'm 40, and still listen to you everyday. Your music made my life x
Your reviews are so insightful :) would love to hear you review more Reuben!
reuben were such an awesome band, still listen to them a ton.
It's so hard to not fall in love with Reuben (and Jamie Lenman's solo stuff), long time favourite band of mine. I'm glad you stumbled upon them!
Regarding merchandise being the primary money maker for bands: there are more venues than you realise taking a hefty cut from the artists. I know that here in the UK somebody has been compiling a list of all the venues that do not, this way smaller bands can book accordingly.
To anybody that may be looking to buy from bands, might be worth checking with them at their merch desks and see them later outside the venue instead so that they make the 100% that they deserve from your purchase.
Also, a lot more artists/bands are seeing the benefits on being independent now so it is always worth seeing if they respond to a social media DM asking where would be best to buy their music, be it Bandcamp, personal website etc.
First time here, can't believe people are saying this is poppy 🤯 love this band and been waiting for a good reaction! Also agree with a few of your points
Can you do more Reuben reviews?
Love finding new band like this from your channel
You should check out jamie lenman (singer of reubens) solo album devolver. Its insanely good. Great review
Sound like a revival of music of bands from the 80's and the early 90's that we listened to in France when we could get it from the UK. It feels like they synthetize many influences from punk to hard rock (as far as I can recognize thoses influences)
Jamie lenman has a solo project and a new song came out today called Talk hard
Love this band so so much!! So happy! 🙂
First time listen, really good man.
If you ever get to listening to Jamie Lenman's Muscle Memory album, there is an interesting puzzle within it. I won't say anything more. It took a while before it was unearthed originally.
You can't go wrong with checking their stuff out, pretty much everything is great. They're hugely influenced by The Wildhearts, I can't wait for them to come up one day.
While I believe the message of this song is pretty evergreen, this song came out at a time (at least in the UK) where rock/guitar music was a lot more bankable in terms of chart success than it is now. And record labels, such is the nature of capitalism, tried to exploit this trend by cycling through a lot of 'the next big things'. More songs should take the music industry to task.
Unfortunately, Reuben did split up after releasing their 3rd album (this is from their 2nd). The singer is still performing solo though so it's not all bad.
I think a lot of this is aimed directly at us. Lenman used to be visibly annoyed sometimes at how many people seemed to know his songs, like "well we don't sell anywhere near enough records for all the people that seem to like this band" - I swear he made some comment like that now I think of it. I bought this CD on release but had pirated Racecar...when I heard this song I rectified it twice - CD and Vinyl!
Yeah he always seemed to have a pretty strong dislike of the industry as a whole. Its a theme that runs through a number of their songs
It's about the music industry, not the fans!
Great band
Really enjoyed this! I'd say it's some kinda punk with an uncommon "finesse" and inventiveness - even bordering to prog (aka "pronk"). And yeah, certainly some core:y elements as well. Very good analysis indeed!
I always forget about pronk, primarily because it's a funny word but prog-punk just seems like an oxymoron 😄
@@CriticalReactions Well, since punk was very much regarded as an opposition to (among other things) "pretentious" music - it kinda is 😁
PLEEEEEASE CHECK OUT Hiatus Kaiyote - Breathing Underwater
Pretty fun track. I guess I'd categorize it as poppy post-hardcore? I've said before that when it comes to punk-derived genres I tend not to care much for the punk based more around attitude than the artier takes on punk, and this track seems to tread something of a middle ground between the artiest and rawer punk elements. I find myself mostly attracted to the former and turned off the latter, though the latter elements didn't annoy me as much as they often can; I think it's because the track felt more playful than serious. I still found myself missing some more interesting instrumental parts or playing because as interesting as it is in its structure it's still pretty simplistic musically. So I guess you could say I'm rather ambivalent; like some elements, dislike or am indifferent about others.
I think the lyrics and lyrics discussion were even more compelling than the music. When I was growing up I thought for the longest time I was going to be a writer. I wrote non-stop throughout my childhood and through much of my teens, but the sad fact is that there are far more writers than there are jobs for writers, and especially when it comes to fiction or poetry there's not much money to be made unless you're in the top few percent, and most writers will make most of their money from other professions like teaching, which isn't all that lucrative either. I went into poker and decided that writing would always be a passion at most and a hobby at the least. I'm still writing, but mostly poetry, and mostly just for myself. To me, the most satisfying aspect of writing is the creative act itself, much more rewarding than sharing it with people, most of whom couldn't care less because of... well, for a variety of reasons.
Sadly these stories are so common in most creative areas. Sometimes I think of all the stories told through painting, film, language, and music that don't ever make it to other people. Whether that's because they project never gets finished (lack of time, money, motiviation, etc) or it never gets that marketing push or word of mouth for people to know about it. Sure not all of it is going to be an amazing gem, but the fact that even a single great work has probably been lost is disheartening.
@@CriticalReactions My favorite comic book series of all time is Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and one issue of that series had Dream wandering through his kingdom in a room that contained all the unfinished, unreleased, or lost works of art that were ever dreamed up. It is sad to think about, but, on the other hand, there's already so much art out there and not near enough life for any of us to experience but the tiniest fraction of it.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 Too true. Y'all really have given me so much music to dive into from years past that I've missed + all of the new stuff coming out. It really is a great time to be a music fan as the barriers to creation are lower than ever and so many unique voices are out there now.
Totally different wavelength, but I wonder if film will have a bedroom resurgence with iPhone's taking decent enough footage and products like Hitfilm and DaVinci providing free, professional video editors that are easy to use.
@@CriticalReactions While I could see there being a resurgence of indie films made with iPhones and such programs, I doubt they will ever take the place of mainstream films that cost millions of dollars to make. As complex as music is to make, films are much more so, and so many things in film require an inordinate amount of money to do at all, much less to do well.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 No, I would never expect them to take the place of mainstream films in the same way that there are very few bedroom productions in the Top 40. On the flip side, (despite hugely cherry picking here) Clerks was basically what I'm talking about today but done decades ago. I wonder if there are any "2020s Clerks" being released that are being buried in all of the media released or lack any sort of marketing. I can't remember if Clerks had a theatrical release though, which would be a massive help vs what most would have to do today, which would be to release on RUclips or Vimeo and then post about it on social media.
Title said return of the jedi. I see the thumbnail. I didn't see luke or Vader